AP National News

By BEN FINLEY Associated Press VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — A three-judge panel overseeing a recount in a close Virginia Beach state House race has upheld the Republican candidate’s victory. The decision on Friday reaffirms the GOP’s takeover of the chamber. The certified results from the Nov. 2 election showed Republicans leading in 52 districts

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration will not designate any country as a currency manipulator, but it did name China, Vietnam and Taiwan among the nations that have failed to live up to global agreements not to use their currencies to gain unfair trade advantages. In a report to

NEW YORK (AP) — In a story published December 2, 2021, about the National Board of Review Awards, The Associated Press erroneously reported that Questlove’s “Summer of Soul (…Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” took best director honors. The film received best documentary honors.

By MANUEL VALDES Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle, a city known for soggy weather, has seen its wettest fall on record. The National Weather Service says 19.04 inches of rain fell between Sept. 1 and Nov. 30, breaking a record set in 2006.  A series of wet storms caused by so-called “atmospheric rivers” pounded

By COREY WILLIAMS and ED WHITE Associated Press PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A prosecutor has filed involuntary manslaughter charges against the parents of a 15-year-old accused of killing four students and wounding seven other people at a Michigan high school. James and Jennifer Crumbley were charged Friday with four counts each. Authorities have said Ethan

By YURAS KARMANAU The Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Belarus court has sentenced neighborhood activist Volha Zalatar to four years in prison for creating an “extremist group” on the messaging app Telegram, the country’s top rights group, Viasna, reported. Zalatar, a 38-year old mother of five underaged children, has been held in custody

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s unemployment rate tumbled last month to its lowest point since the pandemic struck, even as employers appeared to slow their hiring — a mixed picture that pointed to a resilient economy that’s putting more people to work. The government reported Friday that private businesses and

By ALEXANDRA JAFFE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has at least one thing in common with thousands of parents and grandparents this winter: He’s picked up a cold from his young grandson. The president has had an unusually low, scratchy voice and an occasional cough all week, prompting questions from the press

By STEVE KARNOWSKI and AMY FORLITI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A mostly white jury has been seated for the trial of a white, former Minnesota police officer who claims she mixed up her gun and Taser when she shot and killed Black motorist Daunte Wright. Kim Potter is charged with manslaughter in Wright’s death

By MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A federal judge in Virginia has ruled that war-crimes lawsuits against a Libyan military commander who used to live in the U.S. must stay on hold for now to avoid interfering with upcoming presidential elections there. At a hearing Friday in Alexandria, Judge Leonie Brinkema rejected

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (AP) — Prosecutors say DNA recovered from the interior of a conch shell thought to have been used as a weapon in the 2001 killing of a Massachusetts woman has led to the indictment on a murder charge of the victim’s half-brother. The Bristol district attorney says 53-year-old David Reed was indicted

MOSCOW (AP) — More regions of Russia have made COVID-19 vaccines mandatory for residents age 60 and over as the country tries to control coronavirus infections and to keep the omicron variant at bay. Authorities in the northern region of Komi said Friday that people in that age group are required to get fully vaccinated

CHICAGO (AP) — The mother of an Illinois State University graduate student who vanished in August and was later found dead in a river has hired a prominent civil rights attorney to investigate the Black man’s death. A coroner determined in October that Jelania Day died from drowning, but said it was unclear how the

By ANDREW MELDRUM Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The new omicron variant appears to be driving a dramatic surge in South Africa, providing the world a glimpse of where the pandemic might be headed. New cases in South Africa have burgeoned from about 200 a day in mid-November to more than 11,500 on Thursday. Health

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are churning lower on Wall Street Friday after a mixed reading on U.S. jobs led to zig-zag trading, the latest abrupt U-turns for markets following an already dizzying week. The S&P 500 fell 1% in morning trading after giving up an early gain of

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS and NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Pope Francis denounced the “indifference” that the West shows migrants as the Vatican confirmed at least a dozen asylum-seekers would be transferred from the Mediterranean island nation to Italy. The Vatican said the Rome-based Sant’Egidio Community, working with governments, had arranged to bring the

By The Associated Press This week’s new entertainment releases include a double album from Alicia Keys and a posthumous one from Juice Wrld, Sandra Bullock playing an ex-con in the Netflix film “The Unforgivable” and Will Smith testing himself in a wildlife documentary series. If a comedy sequel for grown-ups is more your taste, consider

By GARY GERARD HAMILTON Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Kenny Gorelick, known to millions as Kenny G, has been one of the most beloved — and hated — figures in music throughout the last three decades. But the music superstar has ignored his critics and remained largely unbothered. Kenny G’s unconventional journey to the

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka has confirmed its first case of the omicron variant of the coronavirus in an unvaccinated person who returned from Nigeria. The health ministry says the 25-year-old Sri Lankan woman returned on Nov. 24, four days before the government banned travelers from six African

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Growth in the services sector, where most Americans work, hit an all-time high in November, surpassing the previous record set in October. The Institute for Supply Management reported Friday that its monthly survey of service industries increased by 2.4 percentage points in November from October record