AP National News

NEW YORK (AP) — ABC News has released a clip in which Alec Baldwin tells George Stephanopoulos that he did not pull the trigger on a gun that went off on a New Mexico film set, killing a cinematographer. The interview will air as a prime-time special Thursday on ABC and will stream later on

By COREY WILLIAMS and ED WHITE Associated Press OXFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A 15-year-old boy has been charged with murder and terrorism for a shooting that killed four fellow students and injured others at a Michigan high school. Authorities on Wednesday revealed that his parents were summoned just a few hours before the bloodshed.

By MICHAEL BALSAMO and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A person in California has become the first  in the U.S. to have an identified case of the omicron variant of COVID-19. Dr. Anthony Fauci said the person was a traveler who returned from South Africa on Nov. 22 and tested positive on Nov.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky author Ed McClanahan has died at his home at the age of 89. McClanahan was a friend of counterculture icon Ken Kesey, who wrote “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” McClanahan was born in Brooksville in Bracken County. In 1962, he was at Stanford University when he met Kesey, and

By HOPE YEN Associated Press The National Transportation Safety Board has issued a safety alert to subway systems and commuter railroads over a wheelset problem that led to a derailment in the nation’s capital in October. The agency says the defect can be easily missed without careful inspection and that a derailment “could be catastrophic.”

JEMISON, Ala. (AP) — Police say nearly two dozen FedEx packages have been found in woods along a rural Alabama road about 75 miles from a ravine where hundreds of undelivered FedEx parcels previously were discovered. Police in Jemison said in a statement Wednesday that about 20 packages bound for locations on nine different roads

By JAY REEVES Associated Press MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama’s governor is honoring the state’s first Black poet laureate, a creative writing teacher from Birmingham who delves into the pain and difficulty of being Black in America. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey presented a commendation Wednesday to 31-year-old Ashley M. Jones. Jones’ most recent book is

By MICHAEL BALSAMO and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A person in California has become the first  in the U.S. to have an identified case of the omicron variant of COVID-19. Dr. Anthony Fauci said the person was a traveler who returned from South Africa on Nov. 22 and tested positive on Nov.

By TOM HAYS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The defense at the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell is trying to cast doubt on a key accuser’s allegation that the British socialite helped financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually the woman for years, starting when she was 14. A lawyer confronted the witness on Wednesday with FBI documents

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Rep. Peter DeFazio, the longest serving U.S. House member in Oregon’s history, is retiring. The 74-year-old Democrat is the powerful chairman of the House Transportation Committee and announced Wednesday that he won’t seek re-election next year. DeFazio represents Oregon’s 4th District. It covers the southwestern portion of the state, including coastal

By RYAN KRYSKA and MIKE HOUSEHOLDER Associated Press OXFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A fourth student, a 17-year-old boy, has died from wounds he suffered when a sophomore opened fire at a Michigan high school. Authorities identified the teen Wednesday as Justin Shilling. Investigators were still trying to determine a motive for Tuesday’s shooting at

By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The head of Visa says he believes the pandemic caused a permanent shift of how consumers choose to pay for goods and services away from cash and into payments. In an interview with The Associated Press, CEO Al Kelly said the coronavirus outbreak helped accelerate

By MARK SHERMAN and JESSICA GRESKO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court’s conservative majority justices are signaling they will allow states to ban abortion much earlier in pregnancy. And they’re indicating they may go even further to overturn the nationwide Roe v. Wade right that has existed for nearly 50 years. After nearly

By CHRIS PIZZELLO, STEFANIE DAZIO and ANDREW DALTON Associated Press BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — A Los Angeles philanthropist and the wife of music legend Clarence Avant has been fatally shot at home in Beverly Hills, California. Police say Jacqueline Avant was killed in the shooting early Wednesday. She was 81. Police Chief Mark Stainbrook

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that the Federal Reserve can’t be sure that inflation will fade in the second half of next year, as many economists expect, a fresh sign of the Fed’s growing concern about rising prices. Powell, in comments to the House Financial Services

By RYAN KRYSKA and MIKE HOUSEHOLDER Associated Press OXFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Authorities say a 17-year-old boy has become the fourth student to die from a school shooting in Michigan. The Oakland County sheriff’s office identified the teen Wednesday as Justin Shilling. The shooting occurred Tuesday at Oxford High School in Oakland County. The

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — An 11-year-old girl who survived a Michigan plane crash that killed her father and three other people has been released from a rehabilitation hospital. Laney Perdue of Gaylord was one of five people in a plane that crashed on Beaver Island off Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula on Nov. 13. The

By STEVE KARNOWSKI and AMY FORLITI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Prosecutors and attorneys for the suburban Minneapolis police officer charged in Daunte Wright’s shooting death have seated four more jurors for her trial, including a woman who said she owns both a gun and a stun gun. Kim Potter, who is white, is charged

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA Associated Press KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda deployed foot soldiers inside Congolese territory, intensifying a military assault against rebels accused of attacking civilians in Congo and Uganda, according to a Ugandan military official. Ugandan military spokeswoman Brig. Flavia Byekwaso said that Ugandan infantry troops crossed the border into eastern Congo Wednesday, the

By STAN CHOE and DAMIAN J. TROISE AP Business Writers NEW YORK (AP) — The latest move in Wall Street’s jolting roller-coaster ride is back up, as stocks, oil and bond yields climb in Wednesday morning trading to recover some of their sharp losses from the day before. The S&P 500 was 1.6% higher following