Month: December 2021

By MICHAEL BALSAMO and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A person in California has become the first in the U.S. to have an identified case of the omicron variant of COVID-19. Dr. Anthony Fauci said the person was a traveler who returned from South Africa on Nov. 22 and tested positive on Nov.

By CHRISTINA LARSON AP Science Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Prehistoric footprints that have puzzled scientists since the 1970s are getting a second look. Were they left by an extinct species of bear or ape, or by early human ancestors? When famed paleontologist Mary Leakey first uncovered the footprints in Tanzania 40 years ago, the evidence

By SAM MEDNICK Associated Press OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — The U.N. human rights chief says if insecurity in Burkina Faso keeps up,  the West African country could spiral into a humanitarian and human rights “catastrophe.” The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, spoke to The Associated Press during her first visit to

By SCOTT BAUER and TODD RICHMOND Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Republican-hired attorney investigating the 2020 election has told Wisconsin lawmakers during a sometimes testy hearing he has filed a lawsuit to force officials in Green Bay and Madison to submit to a deposition. Also on Wednesday, Wisconsin’s embattled elections commission debated whether

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization is hailing steps by its member states to launch work toward an international agreement to help prevent, prepare for and respond to future pandemics in the wake of COVID-19. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the consensus decision during a

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — An 11-year-old girl who survived a Michigan plane crash that killed her father and three other people has been released from a rehabilitation hospital. Laney Perdue of Gaylord was one of five people in a plane that crashed on Beaver Island off Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula on Nov. 13. The

DALLAS (AP) — Marcus Lamb, CEO and founder of the conservative Christian Daystar Television Network who was outspoken against COVID-19 vaccines, has died at age 64 after contracting the virus. Daystar confirmed his death Tuesday. Lamb’s relatives have spoken over the past month about his battle with the virus. His wife, Joni, said he had

By PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The warming of the planet is taking a deadly toll on seabirds, which are in decline because of heatwaves, extreme weather, failure to reproduce and inadequate fish to eat. They include birds such as albatrosses off the Hawaiian islands and puffins off the Maine coast. The

By BRADY McCOMBS Associated Press DRAPER, Utah (AP) — The mother of a 10-year-old Utah girl who died by suicide is speaking out about the bullying and racial harassment that her daughter endured. Izzy Tichenor was autistic and the only Black student in her class in the town of Draper, near Salt Lake City. She

By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The head of Visa says he believes the pandemic caused a permanent shift of how consumers choose to pay for goods and services away from cash and into payments. In an interview with The Associated Press, CEO Al Kelly said the coronavirus outbreak helped accelerate

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska is asking a judge to toss out statements he made to federal authorities who were investigating illegal campaign contributions. The nine-term Republican alleges that a prosecutor made assurances that Fortenberry wasn’t their target. A motion filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in central California alleges

By CURT ANDERSON AP Legal Affairs Writer A Miami judge says a summer trial is likely for lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in damages from the collapse of a Florida beachfront condominium that killed 98 people. Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman said at a hearing Wednesday the time frame for a trial to begin would be

The four teenagers killed by a fellow student at Oxford High School in Michigan are being remembered for their commitment to athletics, art and family. Madisyn Baldwin’s grandmother told WDIV-TV that the 17-year-old was a talented artist who loved to draw, read and write. The school’s football team said 16-year-old Tate Myre was a talented

By LORNE COOK and DAVID KEYTON Associated Press RIGA, Latvia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is warning that President Vladimir Putin could quickly order an invasion of Ukraine if he has a pretext for doing so. But Blinken says NATO allies stand ready to inflict heavy sanctions on Russia’s economy if such

BERLIN (AP) — A court has ruled that German authorities are justified in banning three pornographic websites based in Cyprus from operating in Germany due to rules intended to protect minors. The Duesseldorf administrative court said Wednesday it had rejected complaints by the sites’ two unnamed operators, who argued that child-protection regulations in Germany didn’t

By DANICA KIRKA and JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A U.K. parliamentary committee has criticized government plans to deter migrants from trying to reach Britain in small boats. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has proposed legislation that would give authorities patrolling the English Channel the power to turn away boats carrying migrants. The

LONDON (AP) — A man has been arrested after breaching security at Britain’s Parliament. Photos showed a man being held on the ground Wednesday inside a gated yard at Parliament while officers stood over him with guns pointed. He was later taken away in a police van. The Metropolitan Police force said the man was

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer A top independent science panel says the U.S. needs to generate less plastic so less of the material ends up as waste in oceans and other waterways. The National Academy of Sciences in a new report Wednesday says the problem of plastic waste is harming wildlife with the U.S.

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Officials say a man who had long been considered a person of interest in the killing of a 21-year-old South Florida woman has been arrested after 38 years. Delray Beach police say Ralph Williams is charged with the death of Carla Lowe, whose body was found Nov. 13, 1983. Williams

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer Scientists in Chile have found the fossils of a strange new dinosaur species. This dog-sized dino had a tail weapon unlike the kind seen on any other animal. It slashed instead of clubbed or stabbed. Revealed in a study Wednesday, the dinosaur at first fooled researchers: They thought it