National News

MINNEAPOLIS — Former Vice President Walter F. Mondale, a liberal icon who lost one of the most lopsided presidential elections after bluntly telling voters to expect a tax increase if he won, died Monday. He was 93. The death of the former senator, ambassador and Minnesota attorney general was announced in a statement from his family. No cause was cited...

Today is Tuesday, April 20, the 110th day of 2021. There are 255 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On April 20, 1999, the Columbine High School massacre took place in Colorado as two students shot and killed 12 classmates and one teacher before taking their own lives...

WASHINGTON -- Half of all adults in the U.S. have received at least one COVID-19 shot, the government announced Sunday, marking another milestone in the nation's largest-ever vaccination campaign but leaving more work to do to convince skeptical Americans to roll up their sleeves...

For the third time in seven years, U.S. officials are scrambling to handle a dramatic spike in children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border alone, leading to a massive expansion in emergency facilities to house them as more kids arrive than are being released to close relatives in the United States...

Today is Monday, April 19, the 109th day of 2021. There are 256 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On April 19, 1995, a truck bomb destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people. (Bomber Timothy McVeigh, who prosecutors said had planned the attack as revenge for the Waco siege of two years earlier, was convicted of federal murder charges and executed in 2001.)...

Today in History Today is Sunday, April 18, the 108th day of 2021. There are 257 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On April 18, 1906, a devastating earthquake struck San Francisco, followed by raging fires; estimates of the final death toll range between 3,000 and 6,000...

INDIANAPOLIS -- Police scoured a Fedex facility in Indianapolis and searched the suspected gunman's home Friday looking for a motive for the latest mass shooting to rock the U.S., as family members of the eight victims spent agonizing hours awaiting word on their loved ones...

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. is setting up a $1.7 billion national network to identify and track worrisome coronavirus mutations whose spread could trigger another pandemic wave, the Biden administration announced Friday. White House officials unveiled a strategy that features three components: a major funding boost for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments to ramp up coronavirus gene-mapping; the creation of six "centers of excellence" partnerships with universities to conduct research and develop technologies for gene-based surveillance of pathogens, and building a data system to better share and analyze information on emerging disease threats, so knowledge can be turned into action.. ...

MOSCOW -- Russia on Friday responded to a barrage of new U.S. sanctions by saying it would expel 10 U.S. diplomats and take other retaliatory moves in a tense showdown with Washington. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also said Moscow will add eight U.S. officials to its sanctions list and move to shut down those U.S. nongovernment organizations that remain in Russia to end what he described as their meddling in Russia's politics...

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Iran began enriching uranium Friday to its highest-ever purity that edges Tehran close to weapons-grade levels, attempting to pressure negotiators in Vienna amid talks on restoring its nuclear deal with world powers after an attack on its main enrichment site...

WASHINGTON -- The Biden administration announced Thursday the U.S. is expelling 10 Russian diplomats and imposing sanctions against dozens of companies and other people, holding the Kremlin accountable for interference in last year's presidential election and the hacking of federal agencies...

The United States opened more distance between itself and much of the rest of the world Thursday, nearing the 200 millionth vaccine administered in a monthslong race to protect the population against COVID-19, even as other countries, rich and poor, struggle with stubbornly high infection rates and deaths...

WASHINGTON -- A group of congressional Democrats introduced legislation Thursday to add four seats to the Supreme Court, a long-shot bid designed to counter the court's rightward tilt during the Trump administration and criticized by Republicans as a potential power grab that would reduce the public's trust in the judiciary...

Homeless Americans who have been left off priority lists for coronavirus vaccinations -- or even bumped aside as states shifted eligibility to older age groups -- are finally getting their shots as vaccine supplies increase. While the U.S. government has only incomplete data on infections among homeless people, it's clear crowded, unsanitary conditions at shelters and underlying poor health increase the danger of COVID-19 infections, severe complications and death...

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Capitol Police force needs "cultural change" after the broad failures of the Jan. 6 insurrection, the top watchdog for the department testified Thursday, pointing to inadequate training and outdated weaponry as among several urgent problems facing the force...

Wall Street notched more milestones Thursday, as a broad market rally pushed the S&P 500 to an all-time high and the Dow Jones Industrial Average crossed above the 34,000 mark for the first time. The S&P 500 rose 1.1%, with technology, health care and communication stocks accounting for much of the upward moves. Only energy and financial companies closed lower. Bond yields fell...

Today is Thursday, April 15, the 105th day of 2021. There are 260 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson, baseball's first Black major league player, made his official debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers on opening day at Ebbets Field. (The Dodgers defeated the Boston Braves, 5-3.)...

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. on Tuesday recommended a "pause" in use of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to investigate reports of rare but potentially dangerous blood clots, setting off a chain reaction worldwide and dealing a setback to the global vaccination campaign...

WASHINGTON -- President Joe Biden will withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11, the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America coordinated from that country, several U.S. officials said Tuesday. The decision defies a May 1 deadline for full withdrawal under a peace agreement the Trump administration reached with the Taliban last year, but leaves no room for additional extensions. ...

MECCA, Saudi Arabia -- Muslims in many parts of the world marked the start of Ramadan on Tuesday, but a spike in coronavirus cases in several countries has once again put curbs on the holy month's signature feasts and lengthy prayers in mosques. Still, there were glimmers Ramadan 2021 could feel less restricted than last year, when Islam's holiest period coincided with the start of the coronavirus pandemic. ...

BRUSSELS -- President Joe Biden urged Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday to "de-escalate tensions" following a Russian military buildup on Ukraine's border in their second tense call of Biden's young presidency. Biden also told Putin the U.S. ...

WASHINGTON -- Women seeking an abortion pill will not be required to visit a doctor's office or clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. health officials said Tuesday in the latest reversal in an ongoing legal battle over the medication. The Food and Drug Administration announced the policy change a day earlier in a letter to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, one of several medical groups that has sued over the restriction put in place under the Trump administration...

NEW YORK -- When Erin Shields belted out "Being Alive" -- the showstopper from the Broadway classic "Company" -- the title had extra levels of meaning. This virtual concert, broadcast from Shields' living room, helped fund the food pantry at Mosaic West Queens Church, which is feeding hungry residents of the Sunnyside neighborhood. It also gave Shields and her husband, David Shenton, an opportunity to resume their artistic lives...

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent -- More people fled their homes on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent on Sunday as La Soufriere volcano rumbled loudly for a third day and the heavy weight of its ashfall damaged some buildings. Residents reported widespread power failures early in the day, though authorities restored electricity to most of the island by late afternoon...

Like others in her family, Mattie Pringle had doubts about taking the coronavirus vaccine. The 57-year-old Black woman from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, feared her high blood pressure and diabetes might heighten her chances of a severe reaction to the shot. The speedy development and approval of the vaccines also fed her skepticism...

LUMBINI, Nepal -- Just next to the Mayadevi temple where Buddha was born more than 2,600 years ago, hundreds of people lined up outside a makeshift hospital on a recent hazy day, hoping their fading eyesight could be restored. A day later, these saffron-robed Buddhist monks, old farmers and housewives were able to see the world again because the nation's renowned eye surgeon Dr. Sanduk Ruit was there with his innovative and inexpensive cataract surgery that has earned him many awards...

Today is Sunday, April 11, the 101st day of 2021. There are 264 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On April 11, 1945, during World War II, American soldiers liberated the Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald in Germany. On this date:...

WASHINGTON -- President Joe Biden released a $1.5 trillion wish list for the federal budget on Friday, asking for an 8.4% increase in agency operating budgets with substantial gains for Democratic priorities like education, health care, housing and environmental protection...

Amazon has secured enough votes to block a union effort at a warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, proving the might of the online shopping giant and cutting off a path that labor activists had hoped would lead to similar efforts throughout the company and beyond...

MINNEAPOLIS -- George Floyd died of a lack of oxygen from the way he was held down by police, a retired forensic pathologist testified Friday at former Officer Derek Chauvin's murder trial. The testimony of Lindsey Thomas, who retired in 2017 from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office in Minneapolis, bolstered the findings of other experts on Thursday who rejected the defense theory that Floyd's illegal drug use and underlying health problems killed him...

BRYAN, Texas -- A man opened fire at a Texas cabinet-making company where he worked, killing one person and wounding five others before shooting and wounding a state trooper prior to his arrest, authorities said. Larry Winston Bollin, 27, of Iola, Texas, was booked into the Brazos County Detention Center in Bryan late Thursday, according to a Bryan Police Department statement. ...

Today is Saturday, April 10, the 100th day of 2021. There are 265 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On April 10, 1947, Brooklyn Dodgers President Branch Rickey purchased the contract of Jackie Robinson from the Montreal Royals. On this date:...

LONDON (AP) -- Prince Philip, the irascible and tough-minded husband of Queen Elizabeth II who spent more than seven decades supporting his wife in a role that both defined and constricted his life, has died, Buckingham Palace said Friday. He was 99...

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden put on a modest White House ceremony Thursday to announce a half-dozen executive actions to combat what he called an "epidemic and an international embarrassment" of gun violence in America. But he said much more is needed. And for Biden, who proposed the most ambitious gun-control agenda of any modern presidential candidate, his limited moves underscored his limited power to act alone on guns with difficult politics impeding legislative action on Capitol Hill...

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government picked up nearly 19,000 children traveling alone across the Mexican border in March, authorities said Thursday, the largest monthly number ever recorded and a major test for President Joe Biden as he reverses many of his predecessor's hardline immigration tactics...

Ambulances filled with breathless patients lined up in Brazil as nations around the world set new records Thursday for COVID-19 deaths and new coronavirus infections. The disease surged even in some countries that have kept the virus in check. In the United States, Detroit leaders began making a plan to knock on every door to persuade people to get vaccine shots...

WASHINGTON -- Without coming right out and saying it, President Joe Biden seems ready to let lapse a May 1 deadline for completing a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Orderly withdrawals take time, and Biden is running out of it. Biden has inched so close to the deadline his indecision amounts almost to a decision to put off, at least for several months, a pullout of the remaining 2,500 troops and continue supporting the Afghan military at the risk of a Taliban backlash. ...

DETROIT -- The global shortage of semiconductors has forced General Motors and Ford to further cut production at their North American factories as chip supplies seem to be growing tighter. The shutdowns likely will crimp dealer inventory of vehicles made at the plants...

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- Authorities in Northern Ireland sought to restore calm Thursday after Protestant and Catholic youths in Belfast hurled bricks, fireworks and gasoline bombs at police and each other. It was the worst mayhem in a week of street violence in the region, where Britain's exit from the European Union has unsettled an uneasy political balance...

Today is Friday, April 9, the 99th day of 2021. There are 266 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On April 9, 1939, Marian Anderson performed a concert at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., after the Black singer was denied the use of Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution...

FREDERICK, Md. -- A Navy medic shot and wounded two U.S. sailors at a military facility Tuesday, then fled to a nearby Army base where security forces shot and killed him, police and Navy officials said. Authorities said they had not determined what drove 38-year-old Fantahun Girma Woldesenbet to open fire at the facility, located in an office park in Frederick...

Nearly half of new coronavirus infections nationwide are in just five states -- a situation that is putting pressure on the federal government to consider changing how it distributes vaccines by sending more doses to hot spots. New York, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey together reported 44% of the nation's new COVID-19 infections, or nearly 197,500 new cases, in the latest available seven-day period, according to state health agency data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. ...

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Monday urged the adoption of a minimum global corporate income tax, an effort to at least partially offset any disadvantages that might arise from the Biden administration's proposed increase in the U.S. corporate tax rate...

Today is Tuesday, April 6, the 96th day of 2021. There are 269 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On April 6, 1909, American explorers Robert E. Peary and Matthew A. Henson and four Inuits became the first men to reach the North Pole...

VATICAN CITY -- Christianity's most joyous feast day was celebrated worldwide with the faithful spaced apart in pews and singing choruses of "Hallelujah" through face coverings on a second Easter Sunday marked by pandemic precautions. From vast Roman Catholic cathedrals to Protestant churches, worshippers followed regulations on the coronavirus. In some European countries, citizens lined up on Easter for their turn to receive a COVID-19 vaccine...

The officer who Cassandra Quinto-Collins says kneeled on her son's neck for more than 4 minutes assured her it was standard protocol for sedating a person experiencing a mental breakdown. "I was there watching it the whole time," Quinto-Collins told The Associated Press. "I just trusted that they knew what they were doing."...

With a massive infusion of federal aid coming their way, schools across the U.S. are weighing how to use the windfall to ease the harm of the pandemic -- and to tackle problems that existed long before the coronavirus. The assistance that was approved last month totals $123 billion -- a staggering sum offering some districts several times the amount of federal education funding they receive in a single year. ...

WASHINGTON -- Lawmakers are trying to balance openness with safety after Friday's attack within steps of the Capitol, a challenge for Congress, nearly three months after a mob stormed the seat of American democracy, to "make it as secure as it needs to be but as free as we could possibly make it," as one senator said Sunday...

JERUSALEM -- Jordanian authorities said Sunday they foiled a "malicious plot" by a former crown prince to destabilize the kingdom with foreign support, contradicting the senior royal's claims he was being punished for speaking out against corruption and incompetence...

WUHAN, China -- Scribbled instructions for incoming patients plastered on the window of a silent hospital reception counter. A lone worker in a hazmat suit, steadily spraying disinfectant in an empty hospital hallway. Such scenes from the height of the coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan -- moments of fear and desperation as well as unity and resilience -- are etched in the mind of artist Yang Qian...