
President Joe Biden's pick for health secretary is taking heat from Republicans for his actions in support of abortion rights. They want to define him — and the new administration — as out of the mainstream.
by RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR and THOMAS BEAUMONT / Associated Press 38 minutes agoThirteen people killed in one of the deadliest crashes involving migrants sneaking into the U.S. had entered California through a hole cut into the border fence with Mexico in what was believed to be a larger smuggling operation, officials said Wednesday.
by ELLIOT SPAGAT / Associated Press 1 hour agoAn east Alabama community marked the two-year anniversary of a tornado that killed 23 people and injured scores more with ceremonies and other remembrances on Wednesday.
by Associated Press 2 hours agoHouse Democrats are poised to pass a sweeping elections and ethics bill, offering it up as a powerful counterweight to voting rights restrictions advancing in Republican-controlled statehouses across the country.
by BRIAN SLODYSKO and LISA MASCARO / Associated Press 2 hours agoCapitol Police say they have uncovered intelligence of a "possible plot" by a militia group to breach the U.S. Capitol on Thursday, nearly two months after a mob of supporters of then-President Donald Trump stormed the iconic building to try to stop Congress from certifying now-President Joe Biden's victory.
by MICHAEL BALSAMO / Associated Press 2 hours agoTwo people have been arrested on the Mississippi coast following a weekend killing in Alabama, Mobile police said.
by Associated Press 3 hours agoWalt Maddox has won a fifth term as mayor of Tuscaloosa, outdistancing his closest challenger by roughly double the votes in a three-person contest.
by Associated Press 4 hours agoDespite closing for more than a month because of COVID-19, Great Smoky Mountains National Park experienced its second busiest year on record last year.
by Associated Press 5 hours agoMore than one-third of U.S. nonprofits are in jeopardy of closing within two years because of the financial harm inflicted by the viral pandemic, according to a study released Wednesday by the philanthropy research group Candid and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy.
by GLENN GAMBOA / AP Business WriterPresident Joe Biden and Democrats agreed Wednesday to tighten the upper income limits at which people could qualify for stimulus checks, a Democratic official said, a major concession to moderates as party leaders prepared to move their $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill through the Senate.
by ALAN FRAM / Associated PressNearly a year after they were almost stabbed to death inside a Midland, Texas, Sam's Club, Bawi Cung and his two sons all have visible scars.
by TERRY TANG / Associated PressPresident Joe Biden said Tuesday that the U.S. expects to take delivery of enough coronavirus vaccines for all adults by the end of May, two months earlier than anticipated, as his administration announced that drugmaker Merck & Co. will help produce rival Johnson & Johnson's newly approved shot.
by ZEKE MILLER, LINDA A. JOHNSON and JONATHAN LEMIRE / Associated PressThe Tennessee State Museum will showcase 100 artifacts online and in person to commemorate Tennessee's 225 years of statehood.
by Associated PressDolly Parton has written hundreds of songs over her decades-long career and it turns out her tune "Jolene" is the just right one for getting her COVID-19 vaccine.
by KRISTIN M. HALL / Associated PressMore than 200,000 people signed up for coverage in the first two weeks after President Joe Biden re-opened HealthCare.gov as part of his coronavirus response, the government said Wednesday.
by RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR / Associated PressNew York lawmakers reached an agreement Tuesday to rescinding and limit Gov. Andrew Cuomo's sweeping emergency pandemic powers.
by Denis Slattery New York Daily News / Tribune News ServiceA former U.S. Army soldier who was court martialed after he left his post in Afghanistan and was captured by the Taliban is asking a federal judge to overturn his military conviction, saying his trial was unduly influenced when former President Donald Trump repeatedly made disparaging comments about him and called for his execution.
by REBECCA BOONE / Associated PressStocks are drifting lower in afternoon trading on Wall Street Tuesday, giving back some of their big gains from a day earlier.
by STAN CHOE and DAMIAN J. TROISE / AP Business WritersNew York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has avoided public appearances for days as some members of his own party call for him to resign over sexual harassment allegations.
by MARINA VILLENEUVE / Associated PressA U.S. contractor died Wednesday when at least 10 rockets slammed into an air base housing U.S. and other coalition troops in western Iraq, the Pentagon said.
by Associated PressTexas is lifting its mask mandate, Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday, making it the largest state to end an order intended to prevent the spread of the coronavirus that has killed more than 42,000 Texans.
by PAUL J. WEBER / Associated PressIsrael's attorney general has warned Benjamin Netanyahu that he cannot single-handedly share the country's surplus vaccines with far-flung allies in Africa, Europe and Latin America, and that such an important decision cannot be made by the prime minister alone.
by ILAN BEN ZION / Associated PressThe Caribbean is hunting for visitors and vaccines to jump-start the stalled economy in one of the world's most tourism-dependent regions.
by DÁNICA COTO / Associated Press