AP National News

HOUSTON (AP) — Witnesses say a crime defendant punched and attacked a bailiff, prosecutor and judge after being denied bond in his fraud case in Houston. The Houston Chronicle reports Joseph Catarineau was making a routine appearance Tuesday before state District Judge Danny Lacayo when Lacayo asked if he needed an attorney. Witnesses say Lacayo

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Next week’s launch of NASA’s new space telescope is delayed for at least two days because of a communication problem between the observatory and the rocket. Liftoff of the James Webb Space Telescope is now targeted for no earlier than Dec. 24. NASA announced

By JANIE HAR Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco’s mayor has announced even more initiatives aimed at curbing open drug use and brazen home break-ins that she says have made a mockery of the city’s famed tolerance and compassion. At a news conference Tuesday attended by the sheriff and police chief, Mayor London

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH Associated Press MISSION, Kan. (AP) — The death toll from COVID-19 has hit 800,000 in the U.S., bringing an end to an especially difficult year for the many families who lost loved ones during the pandemic. Carolyn Burnett is bracing for her first Christmas without her son Chris, a beloved Kansas high

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH Associated Press The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 has topped 800,000. That is according to the count kept by Johns Hopkins University. The once-unimaginable milestone was hit Tuesday. It’s seen as doubly tragic, given that more than 200,000 of those lives were lost after the vaccine became available practically for the asking

By DYLAN LOVAN and RUSS BYNUM Associated Press A Kentucky woman who worked her way up from school bus driver to become an administrator and school board member is among dozens of victims killed by tornadoes that ripped through five states in the Midwest and South. Sixty-five-year-old Jenny Bruce of Dawson Springs, Kentucky, worked for

By The Associated Press The year started with a lot of promise. The world had a vaccine. And even as the planet reached 2 million dead by the middle of the month of January, people in hard-hit countries including the United States and Britain, began receiving the life-saving shots. But as the year progressed, a

By ASHRAF KHALIL Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The District of Columbia has filed a civil lawsuit seeking harsh financial penalties against far-right groups Proud Boys and Oath Keepers over their role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump. The suit also names dozens of the groups’

By FARNOUSH AMIRI and MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The House is nearing a vote on recommending criminal contempt charges against former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. The action would rebuke Meadows for saying he would no longer cooperate with the panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. That panel

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The Greek foreign minister has voiced worries over potential plans by Spain to boost military cooperation with Greece’s regional rival, and NATO ally, Turkey. Nikos Dendias made the comments following talks Tuesday with visiting Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares in Athens. “I expressed concern over Spain’s possible intention to strengthen

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republican Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says the investigation he ordered into the 2020 presidential election will spill into next year and cost more money, factors he blamed on Democrats who are fighting subpoenas. The current contract Vos signed with former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The star-filled readings of old episodes of ‘The Facts of Life’ and ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ proved to be ABC’s most popular show program last week. With 4.8 million viewers, it didn’t crack the Nielsen company’s top 20, but the Jimmy Kimmel-hosted special received some solid reviews.

NEW YORK (AP) — A judge says a secret 2008 settlement that a lawyer for Prince Andrew says would protect him against a lawsuit claiming that he sexually abused an American when she was 17 should be made public. The agreement was reached between Virginia Giuffre and financier Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself in 2019

Associated Press THE VILLAGES, Fla. (AP) — Three voters from a Florida retirement community that’s a GOP stronghold have been arrested on charges of voting more than once. The arrests come weeks after Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made a pledge to create a law enforcement agency to investigate election crimes, despite there being little

By BABA AHMED Associated Press BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — The French military says that its forces have left the northern Malian city of Timbuktu. The move is a part of a troop drawdown in the Sahel region of Africa, where France was once the colonial power. The departure from Timbuktu late Tuesday comes nearly nine

By The Associated Press It was the year that mental health took a prominent position in the sports world — led by two female athletes, Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka. Biles came back to earn a bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics after taking herself out of several competitions to deal with a dreaded mental

By MIKE HOUSEHOLDER Associated Press ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (AP) — A judge has granted a Michigan prosecutor more time to collect and share additional evidence against the parents of a boy charged with killing four students at Oxford High School. It’s partly because prosecutor Karen McDonald wants to give the Michigan community “time to heal”

By BRIAN SLODYSKO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is moving to lift the nation’s debt limit by $2.5 trillion. The Senate has approved the measure 50-49 in a party-line vote, sending the legislation to the House. A House could come as early as Tuesday night, sending the measure to President Joe Biden. The flurry