AP National News

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia’s government has eased the current lockdown for vaccinated people and those who have recovered from COVID-19. Health Minister Vladimir Lengvarsky says starting on Friday, all shops will reopen for those two groups people, including services such as hairdressers. Ski resorts and fitness centers will also be open for a limited

By DUSAN STOJANOVIC Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Trying to defuse large protests by environmentalists, Serbia’s populist government has decided to suspend two key laws that would help mining giant Rio Tinto launch a lithium mine in western Serbia. For two consecutive weekends, thousands of protesters in Belgrade and elsewhere have blocked main roads

By ADAM BEAM Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — State lawmakers may help pay for people from other states to come to California for abortions if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. A report released Wednesday by dozens of abortion providers and advocacy groups asks state policymakers to pay for things such as

By The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The fraud trial of fallen Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes continues Wednesday with additional cross-examination of Holmes and possibly additional testimony from other witnesses. Holmes, 37, has pleaded not guilty to charges of defrauding investors and patients by failing to deliver on her promise to revolutionize health care

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — TV celebrity and former football great Michael Strahan is going to have to wait another few days before rocketing into space. Strahan was supposed to blast off Thursday from West Texas with five others for the 10-minute flight.  But on Wednesday, Jeff Bezos’ space

By AMY FORLITI and STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A prosecutor at the manslaughter trial of the Minnesota police officer who killed Daunte Wright has told jurors that Kim Potter violated her training and “betrayed a 20-year-old kid.” Prosecutor Erin Eldridge began her opening statement Wednesday by saying that the fundamental duty of

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is rebranding his bipartisan infrastructure package with the slogan “Building a Better America.” The White House unveiled the new slogan as Biden headed to Kansas City, Missouri, on Wednesday to promote the $1 trillion infrastructure deal. It will be Biden’s first visit to Missouri

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A new $56,000-a-year Alzheimer’s medication that’s leading to one of the biggest increases ever in Medicare premiums is highlighting the limitations of President Joe Biden’s strategy for curbing prescription drug costs. The medication known as Aduhelm would be protected from Medicare price negotiations for more than a

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Disassembly work on an enormous pedestal that until recently held a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee has commenced in Virginia’s capital city.  A crew atop scaffolding and a large crane truck worked to dislodge and lift away a hunk of the stone pedestal Wednesday morning in Richmond. It marked

NORWOOD, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts cannabis company is celebrating National Brownie Day with what it believes is the “largest THC-infused brownie ever made.” MariMed Inc. said the massive confection is 3-feet-by-3-feet square and 15 inches tall, weighs 850 pounds and contains 20,000 mg of THC. In additional to National Brownie Day on Wednesday, the

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Australia’s foreign minister has started a European tour in Athens. Marise Payne on Wednesday welcomed a recent initiative by the European Union to boost its presence in the Indo-Pacific region despite a spat with EU member France over the cancellation of a major submarine order. The initiative was announced in September

RIVERVIEW, Fla. (AP) — A body camera video shows that a Florida deputy who fatally shot an 88-year-old man while checking on his welfare repeatedly identified herself, telling him to put his gun down and firing only after he advanced on her and threatened to shoot her. The video released by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s

By GRANT PECK Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Outrage is spreading on social media in Myanmar over images and accounts of the alleged killing and burning of 11 villagers captured by government troops in the country’s northwest. Photos and a video of charred corpses in a village in Sagaing region have circulated widely. They are

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer The National Academy of Sciences says the world needs to look into making oceans suck up more carbon dioxide to fight climate change. The panel isn’t recommending doing this type of geoengineering but researching it better. Wednesday’s report outlines six ways to tinker with the oceans to make them

By DON BABWIN and SARA BURNETT Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Closing arguments are underway in the case against former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett. He’s accused of staging a racist, anti-gay attack against himself in downtown Chicago. Prosecutor Dan Webb told jurors there’s “overwhelming” evidence Smollett lied about the January 2019 attack. An attorney for

By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Navy says that a SEAL commander has died from injuries he got during a training accident in Virginia. Naval Special Warfare Command said Wednesday that Cmdr. Brian Bourgeois was injured Saturday. The 43-year-old fell while fast-roping down from a helicopter. The cause of his

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A former high school employee serving a life-without-parole sentence for recruiting her teenage lover to kill her husband in 1990 is once again asking New Hampshire officials for a chance at freedom, saying she has accepted responsibility for her role in her husband’s death. WMUR-TV reports in a letter, Pamela Smart

By DASHA LITVINOVA, AAMER MADHANI and VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin says that Moscow will submit its proposals for a security dialogue with the U.S. a week after his call with U.S. President Joe Biden amid Western concerns about a Russian military buildup near the Ukrainian border. The Russian

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A jury in South Florida delivered a manslaughter verdict, only to have its decision rescinded moments later when a juror said she didn’t agree. Now they have to deliberate some more on whether 27-year-old Dayonte Resiles is guilty of manslaughter or first-degree murder, or is innocent in the 2014 death