AP National News

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX’s next astronaut flight is off until at least next week as more bad weather looms. Flight surgeons, meanwhile, are continuing to monitor the “minor medical issue” affecting one of the four astronauts awaiting liftoff at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. NASA says the astronaut

By GRANT SCHULTE Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska attorney general’s office investigation has identified 258 victims who made credible allegations of sexual abuse against 57 Catholic church officials in the state going back decades. In many cases, high-ranking church leaders knew about the abuse but didn’t report it to the authorities. Attorney

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN and CHRISTOPHER RUGABER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — As the U.S. economy rebounds from the ongoing pandemic, many women are choosing to sit out the labor force. The pandemic has laid bare the disproportionate burdens many women shoulder in caring for children or aging parents, as well as highlighted the

NEWTON, Mass. (AP) — A tiny house in a Boston suburb has sold after about a month on the market for far less than the original asking price of almost $450,000. Coldwell Banker Realty’s Hans Brings Results agency says the roughly 250-square-foot home in Newton sold on Monday for $315,000. The home is on a

By JONATHAN MATTISE Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Two civil rights groups have filed a federal court challenge against a Tennessee law that bars transgender athletes from playing public high school or middle school sports aligned with their gender identity. The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee and Lambda Legal filed the lawsuit Thursday

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press The Senate has confirmed Robert Santos as the next U.S. Census Bureau director. As a third-generation Mexican American, he will be the first person of color to lead the nation’s largest statistical agency on a permanent basis. The bureau conducts the once-a-decade census, often described as the nation’s largest civilian

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — News agencies report that the body of a Louisiana man who wanted it donated for science was dissected before paying viewers at an event marketed as an “Oddities and Curiosities Expo” in Oregon. His wife is aghast. Elsie Saunders of Baker calls it horrible and unethical. She says the papers

By ANDREW MELDRUM Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa’s voters have delivered a significant rebuke to the governing African National Congress, the party of late anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, which got less than 50% of ballots cast in local government elections. Widespread corruption, persistently high rates of unemployment, crippling power blackouts and ineffective delivery

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s powerful Orthodox Church is urging members of its congregations to attend services with vaccination or test certificates, as the country’s daily number of confirmed new infections hit a record high  for the second time in a few days. The church’s governing Holy Synod made the recommendations Thursday in a directive

By JOHN HANNA Associated Press TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 21-year-old Kansas lawmaker charged with domestic battery over a disturbance involving his brother says he’s stepping away from his legislative duties for a week. Freshman Democratic state Rep. Aaron Coleman of Kansas City tweeted Thursday that he’s taking what he called a leave of absence

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press A federal appeals court has upheld a judge’s ruling that Baltimore city officials cannot ban a conservative Roman Catholic media outlet from holding a rally at a city-owned pavilion during a U.S. bishops’ meeting. A three-judge panel from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals didn’t explain its decision late

By NOMAAN MERCHANT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge is questioning Donald Trump’s efforts to withhold documents from Congress related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Judge Tanya Chutkan expressed skepticism Thursday when attorneys for the former president asked her to block the handover of documents to a House committee. Chutkan

By JACQUES BILLEAUD and LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press A Texas real estate agent who bragged she wasn’t going to jail for storming the U.S. Capitol because she is white, has blond hair and good job has been sentenced to two months behind bars. The judge who sentenced Jennifer Leigh Ryan on Thursday questioned whether she

By FRANK JORDANS and SETH BORENSTEIN Associated Press GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — In the fight to curb climate change, several major coal-using nations have announced steps to wean themselves off of the heavily polluting fossil fuel. Though some will only do it slowly. The pledges to phase out coal come on top of other promises

By SARAH RANKIN Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Republican Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin and outgoing Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam are pledging a smooth transition of power. The two met at the governor’s mansion Thursday for a lunch, joined by their wives. Youngkin said in brief remarks afterward that the meeting marked the beginning of

By AMY FORLITI, TAMMY WEBBER and MICHAEL TARM Associated Press KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — A witness at Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial says the first man shot on the streets of Kenosha seemed to “lunge” toward Rittenhouse’s gun in an attempt to take it away just before Rittenhouse fired.  Jamie McGinniss is a video director for

GENEVA (AP) — Top officials at the World Health Organization say there has been more than a 50% jump in coronavirus cases across Europe in the last month, making it the epicenter of the pandemic. WHO emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan said that despite an ample supply of vaccines, uptake has been uneven throughout the

By JIM SALTER Associated Press O’FALLON, Mo. (AP) — A federal lawsuit accuses the National Rifle Association of violating campaign finance laws by using shell companies to illegally funnel up to $35 million to Republican candidates, including former President Donald Trump, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri and others. The Campaign Legal Center filed the lawsuit

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department’s internal watchdog says that a missing $6,000 bottle of Japanese whisky given to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo remains unaccounted for. It also says the “gift vault” in which presents given to senior U.S. officials are stored was in “a state of