AP National News

By JAY REEVES Associated Press BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A judge has approved a request to wipe clean the court record of a Black woman who was arrested for refusing to move to the back of a segregated Alabama bus in 1955. Claudette Colvin was arrested months before Rosa Parks gained international fame for refusing

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The European Union drug regulator has issued advice on the use of Pfizer’s experimental pill to treat COVID-19 for countries where authorities may want to use it before it is officially authorized amid surging infection rates. The European Medicines Agency said Thursday the medicine, which

By HALELUYA HADERO Associated Press Americans across the country are pitching in to help after last week’s tornadoes ravaged the South and Midwest, killing at least 90 people and displacing hundreds. Some are removing broken tree limbs from the ground. Others are preparing hot meals and shelters for those who have nowhere to turn. And

By BEN NUCKOLS Associated Press LeVar Burton has been hired as host of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Burton gives the competition a celebrity headliner who’s also a longtime literacy advocate. His addition to the bee lineup comes as Scripps prepares to take over production of the telecast. Scripps has ended its longtime partnership with

By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press RALEIGH. N.C. (AP) — A prominent U.S. Senate candidate in North Carolina has withdrawn from next year’s race for the Democratic nomination. State Sen. Jeff Jackson of Charlotte endorsed former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley in a video released Thursday. Jackson got in the race nearly a

By EVENS SANON and PETER SMITH Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The remaining members of a U.S.-based missionary group who were kidnapped two months ago have been freed. That’s according to the group and to Haitian police. The spokesman for Haiti’s National Police confirmed to The Associated Press on Thursday that the remaining hostages

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A former employee for financier Jeffrey Epstein testified at the sex abuse trial of Ghislaine Maxwell has testified she worked on a daily basis with Maxwell for six years and only admiration for her. The testimony on Thursday came after a New York City jury heard

By AL-HADJI KUDRA MALIRO Associated Press BENI, Congo (AP) — Congolese health authorities have declared an end to the Ebola outbreak in the country’s east that had killed at least six people since October. The outbreak was the second of its kind in eastern Congo this year alone. The World Health Organization says research shows

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Germany is scrambling to procure more vaccines to fuel what the new health minister calls a “very offensive” and fast booster strategy that would leave the country better prepared for the onslaught of the new omicron variant. Germany on Wednesday administered nearly 1.5 million shots, its highest

By AMY FORLITI and STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Prosecutors have rested their case against Kim Potter, the Minnesota police officer charged in the shooting death of Black motorist Daunte Wright. Prosecutors wrapped up their weeklong case against the former Brooklyn Center officer on Thursday. It’s now the defense’s turn, and Potter’s attorneys

By BRUCE SCHREINER Associated Press MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP) — Survivors of a tornado that leveled a Kentucky candle factory have filed a lawsuit against their employer. They claim Mayfield Consumer Products demonstrated “flagrant indifference” by refusing to allow employees to go home early. The suit was filed in state court. It seeks unspecified compensatory and

BERLIN (AP) — The seats in Germany’s parliament will have to be rearranged after lawmakers backed the wish of one party in the new coalition government not to sit next to the far-right Alternative for Germany. The seats in Germany’s lower house, or Bundestag, are arranged in a semicircle, with the Left Party at one

By JUWON PARK AP Entertainment Writer SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Anupam Tripathi said his grandfather sometimes read his palm and told him he’d be rich one day. He jokingly responded: “Where is my money!” The 33-year-old Tripathi was rightfully doubtful. The Indian actor who relocated to South Korea more than a decade ago eked

By JAY REEVES 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 factory that was

By TRACEE M. HERBAUGH Associated Press Boxed convenience foods aren’t just dinner. For many people born in the latter half of the 20th century, they’re also a source of nostalgia. AP writer Tracee Herbaugh recently bought some Betty Crocker’s Suddenly Salad after her grandmother died. Herbaugh was raised on boxed foods in her grandma’s house.

The Associated Press Stocks are edging mostly higher on Wall Street in early trading as investors study more moves by central banks a day after the Federal Reserve of the U.S. announced an acceleration of its pullback of economic stimulus as it pivots to fighting inflation. The S&P 500 rose 0.1%, enough to get it

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — New home construction in the U.S. rebounded 11.8% in November, as strong demand continues to boost builder confidence even with the slower winter season approaching. The double-digit percentage increase last month left home construction at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.68 million units,

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh has marked 50 years of victory over Pakistan in a bloody war for independence by hosting a military parade with the Indian president as a guest of honor. On Dec. 16, 1971, Pakistani soldiers surrendered to a joint India-Bangladesh force, formally making Bangladesh a new nation under the leadership of

By MARCELA ISAZA AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bay Area-rapper Saweetie wants to win a Grammy for the West Coast. Nominated for best new artist and best rap song, the icy queen with the sharp lyrics has taken the rap game by storm and has been named one of the Associated Press’ Breakthrough

By MARGERY A. BECK and MARGARET STAFFORD Associated Press OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say one person has died as a powerful storm system swept across the Great Plains and Midwest amid unseasonably warm temperatures, bringing hurricane-force wind gusts and spawning reported tornadoes in Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota. It’s a weather outbreak that experts described