AP National News

By DAVID PITT Associated Press DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Three media organizations and their reporters are suing Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, alleging she has repeatedly violated the state’s open records laws by ignoring requests for government records. In the lawsuit filed Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa is representing Laura Belin, who

By JAY REEVES and SUDHIN THANAWALA Associated Press Details about the fathers and mothers, friends, siblings and children who died during a tornado outbreak that ripped through the Midwest and South are still coming into focus nearly a week after the onslaught. Lannis Joe Ward was a father and boyfriend who worked at a candle

By FRANK BAJAK AP Technology Writer BOSTON (AP) — Security researchers say they discovered two different types of commercial spyware on the phone of a leading exiled Egyptian dissident, documenting for the first time a hack by a little-known competitor of Israel’s notorious NSO Group. They say it’s the latest evidence that the hacker-for-hire industry

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health regulators are lifting long-standing restrictions on how women obtain the abortion pill. The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it will no longer require women to pick up the medication in person. The decision is certain to spur legal challenges and new restrictions in

By DANICA KIRKA and MIKE CORDER Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Soaring infections in Britain driven in part by the omicron variant of the coronavirus are rattling Europe. The renewed spread prompted new restrictions on the Continent and fueled a familiar dread on both sides of the Atlantic about entering a new phase of the

By PAUL J. WEBER Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas’ Republican governor has told Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that the state will not direct its National Guard members to comply with a Biden administration order requiring all members of the military to get vaccinated for COVID-19. Gov. Greg Abbott’s rejection of the order Thursday

By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials say all of the military services have now begun disciplinary actions and discharges for troops who have refused to get the mandated coronavirus vaccine, with as many as 20,000 unvaccinated forces at risk of being removed from service. On Thursday, the Marine Corp said

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Technology companies led stocks lower on Wall Street Thursday as investors weighed the implications of higher interest rates as the Federal Reserve prepares to begin raising rates next year to fight inflation. The S&P 500 fell 0.9% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq slid 2.5%, its biggest

By The Associated Press One photo shows a man lying on the beach of a Spanish enclave in northern Africa after swimming there from Morocco. Another image shows a group of migrants just rescued in the Mediterranean. Their eyes are filled with tentative hope. Or take a glimpse from above at the long dirt road

By AMY FORLITI and STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kim Potter’s police chief at the time she shot and killed Daunte Wright testified at her manslaughter trial, calling Potter “a fine officer” and saying he “saw no violation” of policy in Potter’s actions at the scene. Tim Gannon resigned as chief in the

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A federal prosecutor on Thursday described Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes as a shameless fraudster who duped investors and patents while concealing dangerous defects in her startup’s blood-testing technology. Federal prosecutors made their closing arguments in the three-month trial in which Holmes stands accused of

By KEVIN McGILL Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal appeals court in New Orleans has upheld a federal ban on “bump stocks” — devices attached to semiautomatic firearms to let a shooter fire multiple rounds with a single trigger pull. The ban was instituted in 2019 by the Trump administration after a sniper

By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — Officials say the 10 people who lost their lives in a massive crowd surge at the Astroworld music festival in Houston died from compression asphyxia.  One medical expert says the 10 victims essentially had the air squeezed out of their lungs, lost consciousness and died from

KANSAS CITY, Mo (AP) — Three people were killed when a firetruck collided with a sport utility vehicle, then plowed over a sidewalk and into a building in a Kansas City entertainment district. Police said the collision happened Wednesday night as the truck was headed to an emergency call with its lights flashing and sirens

By LAURAN NEERGAARD and MIKE STOBBE Associated Press U.S. health advisers are recommending that most Americans get the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines instead of the Johnson & Johnson shot. Thursday’s recommendation came after government advisers reviewed new safety data about rare but potentially life-threatening blood clots linked to J&J’s shot. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines

By BERNARD CONDON Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A congressional report says the federal agency overseeing the lease of the luxury hotel that Donald Trump’s family company runs in the nation’s capital failed to carry out its basic responsibilities. The report by a Democratic-run House committee says the General Services Administration never tracked the

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Technology companies led stocks mostly lower on Wall Street in afternoon trading Thursday, as investors weighed the implications of higher interest rates as the Federal Reserve prepares to begin raising rates next year to fight inflation. The S&P 500 fell 0.7%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq slid

BOSTON (AP) — The chief executive of a California liquor distribution company who authorities say paid $500,000 to get her son into college as a bogus athletic recruit was sentenced to six weeks’ imprisonment on Thursday. Marci Palatella was sentenced in Boston federal court after pleading guilty to a charge of conspiracy to conspiracy to

By KEN RITTER Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — Fireworks are returning to the Las Vegas Strip this New Year’s Eve with a theme pointed toward 2022 — Deuces Wild. Officials noted Thursday that last year’s event was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, although thousands of revelers still congregated on casino-lined Las Vegas Boulevard.

By ALEXANDRA JAFFE and AAMER MADHANI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has presented the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military award for valor in combat, to three soldiers who fought in Afghanistan and Iraq. Two were recognized posthumously. Master Sgt. Earl Plumlee is a Special Forces soldier who fought off Taliban