In The News

WASHINGTON — An agreement has been reached on a stopgap spending bill that will keep the federal government running until Feb. 18. House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said the agreement on the continuing resolution was filed at 8... Read More

ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) — Even Christmas trees aren’t immune to the pandemic-induced shortages and inflation plaguing the economy. Extreme weather and supply chain disruptions have reduced supplies of both real and artificial trees this season. American shoppers should expect to... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court heard arguments in which it was asked to overturn a nationwide right to abortion that has existed for nearly 50 years. The fate of the court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion throughout the United... Read More

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is set to roll out a comprehensive plan Monday to step up the nation’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic over the winter months. The moves, which will be announced during a visit to the National... Read More

Researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine completed a recent study on how blood biomarkers can help diagnose and treat mood disorders. “The tests are now being made available to interested doctors through a company I co-founded, called MindX... Read More

ATLANTA — Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams announced on Wednesday she will again run for governor in 2022. Abrams previously sought to become Georgia’s first Black female governor in 2018 when she lost to current Gov. Brian Kemp. That election came... Read More

WASHINGTON — Conservative judges on the Supreme Court suggested this week during arguments in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit over Medicare drug reimbursement that now might be the time to overturn a decades-old guiding principle of administrative law. The issue in American... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Wednesday signaled it would uphold Mississippi's 15-week ban on abortion and may go much further to overturn the nationwide right to abortion that has existed for nearly 50 years. The fate... Read More

WASHINGTON — Advocates for the passage of paid family and medical leave into law are pushing the policy as a solution to what could be a difficult 2022 midterm election for Democrats. Provisions for paid leave were included in the... Read More

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said he will unveil plans this week on how his administration will work to slow the spread of the new COVID-19 variant, known as omicron, which emerged in South Africa and has been classified by... Read More

WASHINGTON (AP) — Abortion rights are on the line at the Supreme Court in historic arguments over the landmark ruling nearly 50 years ago that declared a nationwide right to end a pregnancy. The justices on Wednesday will weigh whether to uphold a... Read More

ATLANTA — City Council member Andre Dickens prevailed in a runoff election Tuesday and will be Altanta’s next mayor. Dickens came in second to the city council's current president, Felicia Moore, in a primary election in November that included 12... Read More

TOKYO (AP) — The omicron variant kept a jittery world off kilter Wednesday as Japan further tightened travel restrictions, infections linked to the new version of the coronavirus popped up in more places and new evidence made clear the mutant... Read More

WASHINGTON — An advisory panel for the Food and Drug Administration narrowly approved the use of a COVID-19 pill manufactured by Merck. If the agency accepts the recommendation, molnupiravir would be the first drug Americans could be prescribed and take... Read More

OXFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Three students were killed and eight people were wounded in an attack by a student at a Michigan high school Tuesday afternoon. According to Oakland County, Michigan, Undersheriff Mike McCabe, two of the wounded were undergoing... Read More

RALEIGH, N.C. — With a number of lawsuits challenging North Carolina’s new district maps still pending, a superior court judge has ruled in one case that there’s no reason at all to delay the state’s March 8 primary. The lawsuit... Read More

WASHINGTON — Trista Hamsmith told a Senate panel Tuesday the Christmas story no parent wants to endure. Her normally lively daughter, a toddler named Reese, began coughing and exhibited difficulty breathing last year. A doctor diagnosed her with a common... Read More

WESLACO, Texas — Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush announced a lease agreement on Monday between the General Land Office and the Texas Department of Public Safety authorizing border wall construction along a tract of farmland owned by the office... Read More

WASHINGTON — Dr. Oz, the Emmy award-winning television personality and heart surgeon, is joining the race to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey. “Today, America’s heartbeat is in a code red in need of a defibrillator to shock it back... Read More

WASHINGTON — If the debt limit remains unchanged and the Treasury Department follows through on transferring $118 billion to the Highway Trust Fund on Dec. 15, the federal government could run out of cash before the end of the month,... Read More

WASHINGTON — Mark Meadows, the former North Carolina congressman and House Freedom Caucus chair, is now the highest ranking member of the Trump administration acknowledged to be cooperating with the Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2020, siege at the... Read More

WASHINGTON — The second session of the 117th Congress will convene on Jan. 10 and meet for 112 days, including committee work days, in 2022, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced Tuesday. The full 2022 calendar can be found here.... Read More

GENEVA, Switzerland — The World Trade Organization has postponed its first ministerial meeting in four years, citing concerns over the new coronavirus variant. The move will effectively delay a vote on a waiver sought by several developing countries on the... Read More

With less than four weeks to go until Christmas, Kristyn Begari has been rushing to find enough doll styling heads to give to kids in need. But, the purchasing coordinator for the California-based nonprofit Family Giving Tree says it's been... Read More

NEW YORK (AP) — Global shares mostly slipped Tuesday as investors cautiously weighed how much damage the new omicron coronavirus variant may unleash on the global economy. Germany's DAX lost 1.1% to 15,106.35 in afternoon trading. France’s CAC 40 slipped... Read More

WASHINGTON — According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, at the end of 2020 the most people on record — about 82.4 million people — were displaced around the world and 243.8 million people required humanitarian assistance. That... Read More

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and members of the California Congressional delegation will host the lighting of the U.S. Capitol Christmas tree on Wednesday, Dec. 1, at 5 p.m. This year’s tree, nicknamed “Sugar Bear,” is a white fir... Read More

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration’s new proposal to overhaul the nation's oil and gas leasing program drew praise this week from environmentalists in Congress but complaints from oil-producing states. The proposal wouldn’t eliminate oil and gas leases but it would... Read More

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden addressed the nation Monday, calling the new omicron variant of the coronavirus a cause for concern “but not a cause for panic.” Speaking in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, as Dr. Anthony Fauci,... Read More

WASHINGTON — Prosecutors on Sunday accused former Trump advisor Stephen K. Bannon of trying to defend against the criminal charges he faces through the media instead of federal court. They said in a court filing that Bannon wants to share... Read More