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By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer If you’re flying on a plane or taking a train, be ready to keep wearing that face mask for a few more months. The Transportation Security Administration said Tuesday it will extend the face-mask rule on public transportation. The mandate was scheduled to expire Sept. 13 but will now

By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina lawmakers have finalized legislation to raise the minimum age to get married in the state from 14 or 16. The Senate voted unanimously on Tuesday to accept House changes to the measure, which now goes to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper for his expected

By PAUL J. WEBER Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has tested positive for COVID-19. His office said Tuesday that Abbot is in good health and experiencing no symptoms. Spokesman Mark Miner says Abbott is isolating in the governor’s mansion in Austin and receiving monoclonal antibody treatment. Abbott was vaccinated

By MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press After five frustrating years of mire and bureaucratic delays, Bahaudin Mujtaba and wife Lisa had hoped this year to finally bring the 10-year-old Afghan boy they’re adopting to their home in Florida for a chance at a different future. But with the Taliban’s rapid takeover of Afghanistan over the

By CHRISTINA A. CASSIDY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — House Democrats are offering a new proposal to update the landmark Voting Rights Act. The bill from Rep. Terri Sewell of Alabama seeks to restore a key provision of the federal law that compelled states with a history of discrimination to undergo a federal review before

BY ALAN FRAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Top Democrats are planning House votes next week on a budget resolution that would clear a path for future passage of the party’s ambitious plans for social and environment programs. And that suggests a showdown ahead with rebellious party moderates. Nine centrist Democrats have said they’ll vote

GREENSBURG, Pa. (AP) — A former relief pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates has been sentenced to two to four years behind bars for statutory sexual assault and other charges in a case involving a girl who was 13 when the encounters began. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Tuesday that 30-year-old Felipe Vazquez has already served almost

By JONATHAN MATTISE and ADRIAN SAINZ Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — An order by the Tennessee governor letting parents opt their children out of following mask rules at school has drawn defiance from officials in Memphis and Nashville. Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk offered an assurance Tuesday to a school board member that he

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — The family of a man identified as a suspect in the fatal shooting of a deputy in southwestern Michigan said he had been “tormented by invasive and irrational thoughts.” Gary Goidosik and Kim Goidosik referred to themselves in a statement Tuesday as the family of the shooter in the weekend death

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Health activists in Africa have slammed Johnson & Johnson for exporting vaccines produced in South Africa to countries in Europe, which have already immunized a large proportion of their populations and often have a surplus of vaccines. The J&J doses were exported from South Africa, where they