AP National News

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s message to the American people on confronting the omicron coronavirus variant comes with a heavy dose of cajoling. That’s while some other countries are issuing decrees to their citizens. America’s ideologically polarized reaction to vaccines and masks, and its federal system in which states

By ASHRAF KHALIL Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The District of Columbia government is imposing a series of Covid-19 vaccine mandates in response to spiraling infection numbers and the march of the omicron variant. Starting in mid-January, residents over age 12 will have to show proof of vaccination to enter any restaurant, bar, nightclub or

By AMY FORLITI and SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Jurors in the manslaughter trial of the suburban Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed Black motorist Daunte Wright are deliberating for a third day. The jury resumed deliberating on Wednesday after asking Judge Regina Chu late Tuesday afternoon what to do if members

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Court officials are edging closer to dividing up pop superstar Prince’s estate. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Wednesday that November tax filings show the Internal Revenue Service and Comerica Bank & Trust, the estate administrator, have reached an agreement on the total value of Prince’s assets. The specific number hasn’t been disclosed

By KEVIN FREKING and FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell is openly recruiting Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin after his fractious split with the White House over the president’s social and environmental spending package. McConnell says Manchin “feels like a man alone” and if he were to switch parties, “he

By ALEXANDRA JAFFE Associated press WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden will spend his first Christmas as president at the White House with family and is giving up his New Year’s tradition of sun and St. Croix for the chill of Delaware this year. The decision, announced Wednesday by White House press secretary Jen Psaki, was

By LISA MASCARO and FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden, along with progressive and moderate Democrats, appears determined to return to the negotiating table with Sen. Joe Manchin. Manchin is the holdout Democrat who effectively sank the party’s signature $2 trillion domestic policy initiative. Republicans are voicing greater confidence now that

McLEAN, Va. (AP) — Former U.S. Sen. Chuck Robb and his wife, Lynda, have been hospitalized after a fire destroyed their northern Virginia home. Fire officials say the injuries weren’t life-threatening. Robb’s family confirmed in a statement issued through Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam that their parents were taken to the hospital by ambulance and that

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria has had to destroy more than 1 million doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine that were too close to their expiry date to be used. Faisal Shuaib, head of Nigeria’s National Primary Health Care Development Agency, said health officials were left with little choice. He said

By BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA Associated Press TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — COVID-19 vaccination passes have become obligatory for Tunisians, who will now be asked for proof they have received both vaccine doses to enter public spaces or keep working at state institutions, universities and certain private businesses. The measure was passed by decree by President Kais

By SIGAL RATNER-ARIAS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — As part of the cast of “Clyde’s,” Reza Salazar does eight performances a week at the Hayes Theater on Broadway alongside award-winning Uzo Aduba. It is an achievement he does not take for granted: The Peruvian actor began his career out of necessity at a very

By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York City officials say they’re opening more COVID-19 testing sites and restricting visitation at city-run hospitals and jails. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday that no decision had been made to ban people from the annual New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square even

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says President Joe Biden has tested negative for COVID-19. Biden had come into close contact on Air Force One last week with a staff member who later tested positive for the coronavirus and began showing signs of COVID-19. The 79-year-old president is regularly tested, but the development required additional

By KATIE TAM and ZEN SOO Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — A monument at a Hong Kong university that commemorates the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has been boarded up by workers, prompting fears it may be destroyed as the city’s authorities crack down on dissent. The 26-foot-tall Pillar of Shame, which depicts 50 torn

By JOHN SEEWER Associated Press A judge in Ohio is keeping the death penalty on table for a man accused in the slayings of eight people from a single family. Lawyers for George Wagner IV wanted the judge to dismiss the aggravated murder charges after they said Wagner’s brother admitted to killing five of the

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. has authorized the first pill against COVID-19, a Pfizer drug that Americans can take at home to reduce the risk of hospitalization and death. The Food and Drug Administration announcement comes as the U.S. braces for a wave of new infections from the omicron

By THANASSIS STAVRAKIS and DEREK GATOPOULOS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Public health authorities in Greece have stepped up a campaign to deliver booster shots to seniors and people with mobility difficulties at home, with some agencies using taxi companies to take healthcare workers to where the vaccinations are needed. The country is fighting

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Stocks closed higher on Wall Street Wednesday, adding to the week’s gains ahead of the Christmas holiday. The S&P 500 rose 1%, the Nasdaq rose 1.2% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7%. The Russell 2000, a measure of small-company stocks, rose 0.9%. Technology