AP National News

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel says people have a duty to get vaccinated against the coronavirus to protect others. She spoke as Germany grapples with a new surge of infections, which reached a record daily high of 50,000 on Thursday. Merkel talked for 30 minutes with

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Attorneys in Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial are sparring over the technology used to zoom in on digital images and video. Prosecutors alleged on Thursday that the defense was taking advantage of the 75-year-old judge’s admitted lack of understanding about current technology. Judge Bruce Schroeder says he

PHOENIX (AP) — A jury has awarded $2.75 million to a legislative staffer who said she was fired from her job as a policy adviser for Senate Democrats because of discrimination based on her race and gender. The Tuesday verdict marks the second trial victory for Talonya Adams, a Black woman who acted as her

By SOPHIA TAREEN Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — The CEO of McDonald’s is facing increasing criticism, including calls for resignation, following text messages where he seemed to blame the deaths of two Black and Latino children killed in gun violence on their parents. Community groups and U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush have demanded Chris Kempczinski resign.

By REGINA GARCIA CANO Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — Six U.S. oil executives detained in Venezuela for four years on corruption charges have been granted a hearing before an appeals court, a rare decision by the judicial system in the South American country. A judge this week scheduled for Tuesday the hearing for the

By JILL COLVIN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — In the past week, Republican Rep. Paul Gosar tweeted a video showing a character with his face killing a figure with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s face. Several House Republicans who backed a bipartisan infrastructure bill said they faced threats after their vote. In one voicemail, a caller

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A SpaceX capsule carrying four astronauts has pulled up at the International Space Station, their new home until spring. It took 21 hours for the flight from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the glittering outpost, where docking occurred Thursday evening. The astronauts

By SAM METZ AP / Report for America CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Kimi Cole wants to become the country’s first openly transgender politician elected to a statewide office. The Nevada Democrat announced plans to run for lieutenant governor on Wednesday. If elected, Cole would join a growing list of transgender politicians serving in elected

By SCOTT SONNER Associated Press RENO, Nev. (AP) — Two Native American tribes have failed again in their bid to persuade a federal judge in Nevada that a lithium mine planned near the Oregon line is on sacred lands where their ancestors were massacred in 1865. U.S. District Judge Miranda Du ruled this week that

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Five Republican state lawmakers want Gov. Kevin Stitt to grant clemency to Julius Jones, who is scheduled for execution next Thursday. Among the five are two state House members representing the Oklahoma City suburb where Paul Howell was shot dead during a 1999 carjacking. Jones was convicted of Howell’s killing and

By JILL COLVIN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — In the past week, Republican Rep. Paul Gosar tweeted a video showing a character with his face killing a figure with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s face. Several House Republicans who backed a bipartisan infrastructure bill said they faced threats after their vote. In one voicemail, a caller

By CLAUDIA TORRENS, PHILIP MARCELO and ELLIOT SPAGAT Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly six months ago, U.S. immigration courts established a fast-track docket for families who recently crossed the border. They go to the front of the line with the idea that others will be less likely to migrate knowing a backlog of

By JAMES ANDERSON Associated Press DENVER (AP) — Colorado’s Democratic Gov. Jared Polis has defied federal guidance on COVID-19 booster shots by issuing an order allowing all residents 18 years old and older to get them. U.S. Food and Drug Administration rules allow booster shots for those 18 and older who are at high risk

By JOSH FUNK AP Business Writer OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Kellogg Co. has filed a lawsuit against its local union in Omaha. It’s complaining that striking workers are blocking entrances to its cereal plant and intimidating replacement workers who are entering the plant. The company based in Battle Creek, Michigan, asked a judge to

By MARCOS ALEMAN Associated Press SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — Combined patrols of soldiers and police have fanned out across the capital of El Salvador after a spate of killings left about 30 people dead in two days. El Salador’s homicide rate had dropped from the violent days of the mid-2010s, when 15 or

NEW YORK (AP) — Twitter says it’s permanently banned Newsmax White House correspondent Emerald Robinson for repeated violations of its COVID-19 misinformation policy. Robinson had earlier received a one-week ban for a false tweet that coronavirus vaccines contained a marker that allows people to be tracked. She returned to the social media service on Tuesday

DALLAS (AP) — A Texas jury has sentenced a 24-year-old man to 37 years in prison for strangling a transgender woman to death in 2019 and dumping her body in a lake. The Dallas County jury sentenced Ruben Alvarado a day after finding him guilty of first-degree murder in the death of 26-year-old Chynal Lindsey

By JUAN LOZANO Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — A 22-year-old college senior who was critically injured at the Astroworld festival in Houston has died. Attorney James Lassiter says Bharti Shahani died Wednesday. Her family says Shahani was studying electronics systems engineering at Texas A&M University and had been set to graduate next spring. She is

By DAMIAN J. TROISE AP Business Writer Stocks managed to close mostly higher on Wall Street Thursday, but the S&P 500 is still on track for its first weekly loss in six weeks. The benchmark index eked out a gain of under 0.1%, while gains in technology companies helped push the Nasdaq up 0.5%. The