Nearly 43,000 people died on US roads last year, agency says
DETROIT (AP) — Nearly 43,000 people were killed on U.S. roads last year, the highest number in 16 years as Americans returned to the highways after the pandemic forced many to stay at home. The 10.5% jump over 2020 numbers was the largest percentage increase since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began its fatality […]13 hours ago
FDA clears COVID booster shot for healthy kids ages 5 to 11
U.S. regulators on Tuesday authorized a COVID-19 booster shot for healthy 5- to 11-year-olds, hoping an extra vaccine dose will enhance their protection as infections once again creep upward. Everyone 12 and older already was supposed to get one booster dose for the best protection against the newest coronavirus variants — and some people, including […]13 hours ago
Montpelier Foundation elects 11 descendants of slaves
ORANGE, Va. (AP) — The board that manages former President James Madison’s Montpelier estate in Virginia elected 11 new members representing descendants of people once enslaved there. Monday’s vote came two months after the board had retracted a commitment to share power with a group representing African Americans who trace their roots to the historic […]14 hours ago
Abortion resistance braces for demands of a post-Roe future
The day’s first caller begged for help to cross state lines and end her pregnancy. “Please,” the woman from Texas said in her voicemail. “Anything would be greatly appreciated.” Three states away, in southern Illinois, Alison Dreith heard the plea and grinded a toothpick between her teeth. She’d started chewing them last year as a […]14 hours ago
Indonesia lifts outdoor mask mandate as COVID-19 wanes
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia is lifting its outdoor mask mandate because its COVID-19 outbreak is increasing under control, President Joko Widodo said Tuesday. However, a mask mandate remains in place for indoor activities and public transportation, he said. Widodo also said all fully vaccinated travelers will no longer be required to undergo COVID-19 tests […]15 hours ago
Spanish govt proposes wider abortion rights, menstrual leave
MADRID (AP) — The Spanish government approved a draft bill Tuesday that widens abortion rights for teenagers and may make Spain the first country in Europe entitling workers to paid menstrual leave. The measures are part of a package of proposals that will be sent to the Spanish parliament for debate. The package includes an […]16 hours ago
Pope’s recipe to heal his painful knee? A shot of tequila
ROME (AP) — Doctors have prescribed a wheelchair, cane and physical therapy to help heal Pope Francis’ bad knee. He has other ideas. According to a viral video of the pope at the end of a recent audience, Francis quipped that what he really needs for the pain is a shot of tequila. Francis was […]16 hours ago
Biden offering additional 8 free COVID-19 tests to public
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government website for people to request free COVID-19 at-home tests from the U.S. government is now accepting a third round of orders. The White House announced Tuesday that U.S. households can request an additional eight free at-home tests to be shipped by the U.S. Postal Service. The announcement comes as coronavirus […]16 hours ago
Millennial Money: Learn your parents’ financial plans ASAP
My mom died at age 61, when I was 31. Seeing her headstone in a field of others smacked me with a brutal, if obvious fact: Everyone, including everyone’s parents, will die. I promise I’m not trying to depress you. I want to prepare you, as this loss can happen sooner than you’d expect. And […]17 hours ago
Japan to allow limited foreign package tours as experiment
TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s government announced Tuesday it will begin allowing small package tours from four countries later this month before gradually opening up to foreign tourism for the first time since it imposed tight border restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic. Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito said the tours will be allowed from Australia, Singapore, […]17 hours ago
Vatican minister visits Ukraine as pope toes delicate line
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican’s foreign minister, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, is heading to Kyiv this week as the Holy See seeks to balance its concern for Ukrainians amid Russia’s war with its efforts to keep open a channel of dialogue with Moscow. Gallagher is due to arrive Wednesday and meet Friday with Ukrainian Foreign […]20 hours ago
Students protest, discontent grows over China’s COVID policy
BEIJING (AP) — Administrators at an elite Beijing university have backed down from plans to further tighten pandemic restrictions on students as part of China’s “zero-COVID” strategy after a weekend protest at the school, according to students Tuesday. Graduate students at Peking University staged the rare, but peaceful protest Sunday over the school’s decision to […]20 hours ago
Man killed in California church shooting called a hero
LAGUNA WOODS, Calif. (AP) — A gunman motivated by hatred against Taiwan chained shut the doors of a California church and hid firebombs before shooting at a gathering of mostly elderly Taiwanese parishioners, killing a man who tackled him, authorities said. David Chou, 68, of Las Vegas — a U.S. citizen whom authorities say grew […]22 hours ago
N. Korea’s Kim faces ‘huge dilemma’ on aid as virus surges
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — During more than a decade as North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un has made “self-reliance” his governing lynchpin, shunning international help and striving instead for domestic strategies to fix his battered economy. But as an illness suspected to be COVID-19 sickens hundreds of thousands of his people, Kim stands at […]22 hours ago
Taiwan’s president condemns California church shooting
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s president has condemned the shooting at a Taiwanese church in California by a man reportedly driven by hatred of the island, while a lawmaker from her ruling party questioned whether Chinese propaganda was a motivating factor behind the violence. President Tsai Ing-wen’s office issued a statement Tuesday saying she condemned […]22 hours ago
New US hospitals face fiscal crisis over COVID relief money
THOMASVILLE, Ala. (AP) — A whole town celebrated in 2020 when, early in the coronavirus pandemic, Thomasville Regional Medical Center opened, offering state-of-the-art medicine that was previously unavailable in a poor, isolated part of Alabama. The timing for the ribbon-cutting seemed perfect: New treatment options would be available in an underserved area just as a […]23 hours ago
White House moves to loosen remittance, flight rules on Cuba
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration says it will expand flights to Cuba, take steps to loosen restrictions on U.S. travelers to the island, and lift Trump-era restrictions on remittances that immigrants can send to people on the island. The State Department said in a statement Monday that it will remove the current $1,000-per-quarter limit […]24 hours ago
Today in History: May 17, Brown v. Board of Education ruling
Today in History Today is Tuesday, May 17, the 137th day of 2022. There are 228 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On May 17, 1954, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court handed down its Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision which held that racially segregated public schools were inherently unequal, […]24 hours ago
North Korea reports another fever surge amid COVID-19 crisis
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea on Tuesday reported another large jump in illnesses believed to be COVID-19 and encouraged good health habits, as a mass outbreak spreads through its unvaccinated population and military officers were deployed to distribute medicine. State media said the anti-virus headquarters reported another 269,510 people were found with fevers […]1 day ago
Violent death in America stalks ordinary walks of daily life
WASHINGTON (AP) — In far-flung cities, deadly violence ripped apart the most typical of American spring weekends, driven by rage or madness, the bloodiest by suspected racist hate. The crime scenes represented a cross-section of ordinariness — a grocery store in upstate New York, a California church, a Texas flea market, the streets near a […]1 day ago
Yiyun Li wins PEN/Malamud Award for short stories
NEW YORK (AP) — Author Yiyun Li has received one of the top honors for short story writers, the PEN/Malamud Award for “exceptional achievement.” Li, 49, has published the collections “Gold Boy” and “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers,” along with five novels and two nonfiction books. She has received numerous other awards, and teaches […]1 day ago
Step-by-step: Disney rhino gets fitted with fitness tracker
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Someone new is joining the ranks of fitness enthusiasts who monitor the number of steps they take each day with Fitbits and other fitness tracking devices. Only Helen isn’t human: She’s a 30-year-old white rhino at Walt Disney World. Helen went out onto the savanna at the Kilimanjaro Safaris attraction at […]1 day ago
Wyoming senator booed for sex identity remarks at graduation
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis apologized Monday after getting booed and heckled for remarks she made on sexual identity during a University of Wyoming graduation speech. A first-term Republican from deep-red Wyoming, Lummis said in Saturday’s speech in Laramie that human rights are derived from God but that government seeks to redefine […]1 day ago
