AP National News

AMSTERDAM (AP) — The European Union’s drug regulator says it’s started evaluating the coronavirus pill made by Pfizer Inc. to see if it might be used in emergency situations before it’s officially authorized. In a statement Friday, the European Medicines Agency said it’s looking at data on the effectiveness of Pfizer’s antiviral pill when given

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Senate Democrats said Friday they oppose the reappointment of Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal Reserve, as President Joe Biden is expected to announce within days who he will pick for the nation’s most powerful economic position. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse from Rhode Island and

By DAMIAN J. TROISE AP Business Writer Stocks wobbled in afternoon trading on Wall Street Friday and major indexes were on track for a mixed finish to a choppy week. The S&P 500 edged up 0.2%, a day after setting another record high. It’s still on track for a weekly gain. The Nasdaq, which also

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — New Year’s Eve celebrations will again be muted in the Netherlands after the government banned fireworks on Dec. 31 for the second straight year amid soaring coronavirus infections. The government said Friday that the ban is intended “to prevent, as much as possible, extra strain on health care, law enforcement

By ROB GILLIES Associated Press HALIFAX, Nova Scotia (AP) — Canada’s health regulator has approved Pfizer’s kid-size COVID-19 shot. Health Canada authorized the shots for children ages 5 to 11 on Friday. And as in the U.S., the doses will be a third of the amount given to teens and adults. The agency says the

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo’s health authorities are trying a new technique to urge the people get the COVID-19 vaccine — cooperating with the Muslim community at Friday prayers. Imams around Kosovo called on the faithful to have the jab, and medical teams waited in the mosques’ yards to inoculate believers. Despite a recent fall

By MICHAEL TARM, SCOTT BAUER and AMY FORLITI Associated Press KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — The jury at Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial has returned for a fourth day of deliberations, after a quiet day behind closed doors that ended with one juror asking if she could take home the jury instructions. Thursday’s court session was notable

By DENISE LAVOIE AP Legal Affairs Writer CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — A jury has completed the first day of deliberations in a civil trial of white nationalists accused of conspiring to commit racially motivated violence at the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in 2017. The jury in U.S. District Court deliberated for about

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Captain Snowpants; Yo Bro, No Snow; and Jennifer Snowpez are among the names that will be on some of Vermont’s snowplows this winter. Vermont school students participated in the state transportation department’s Name a Plow contest to come up with names for the snowplows serving their communities. The agency says the

By JONATHAN MATTISE and KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Emails obtained by The Associated Press show that Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s office warned top legislative staffers that a bill limiting public health measures during the COVID pandemic would violate federal law. It was passed anyway, and the Republican governor signed it into

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Officials say an earthquake with magnitude 5.1 has jolted Erzurum province in eastern Turkey, demolishing a number of houses in some villages. At least two people were extracted alive from beneath fallen rubble but there were no immediate reports of deaths or other people being trapped. Turkey’s disaster management agency said

By ALAN FRAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A sharply divided House has approved the Democrats’ sweeping social and environment bill, a big victory for President Joe Biden. Republicans solidly opposed the measure, but Democrats prevailed after the party’s progressives and moderates ended months of disputes over its size and scope. The legislation now moves

The Associated Press Stocks are off to a mostly lower start on Wall Street Friday, though gains for some big technology companies are sending the Nasdaq a bit higher. The S&P 500 was down less than 0.1%, a day after setting another record higher. The Nasdaq, which also set a record high a day earlier,

By ZEKE MILLER Associated Press BETHESDA, Md. (AP) — The White House says President Joe Biden will briefly transfer power to Vice President Kamala Harris when he undergoes a “routine colonoscopy.” Press secretary Jen Psaki says Biden will be under anesthesia Friday during the procedure at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and Harris “will

By MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Biden administration is considering new measures to protect a bird species once found across much of the U.S. West. The ground-dwelling bird called the greater sage grouse suffered drastic declines in recent decades due to oil and gas drilling, grazing and other human pressures. Friday’s

By KAREN MATTHEWS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A rare first printing of the U.S. Constitution has sold at Sotheby’s in New York for $43.2 million, a record price for a document or book sold at auction. Sotheby’s announced Friday that the buyer was hedge fund manager Kenneth Griffin. He will loan the Constitution

By MAHMOUD ILLEAN and JACK JEFFERY Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Vandals have slashed tires on nearly a dozen Palestinian-owned vehicles overnight in a tense Jerusalem neighborhood. Jewish settlers have been waging a decades-long legal battle to evict Palestinians from there. CCTV footage shows three hooded men entering a fenced-off area before slashing tires on

By TASSANEE VEJPONGSA Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Thais flocked to rivers and lakes to release small floats adorned with flowers and candles in an annual festival honoring the goddess of water, with thousands of the tiny boats ending up clogging and polluting the country’s waterways. Within hours of the Loy Krathong festival on Friday

By LAURAN NEERGAARD and MATTHEW PERRONE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration has opened up COVID-19 booster shots to all adults, letting them choose another dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. The move expands the U.S. government’s booster campaign to shore up protection and get ahead of rising coronavirus