NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials say fully vaccinated Americans don’t need to wear masks outdoors anymore unless they are in a big crowd of strangers. And unvaccinated people can drop face coverings in some cases, too. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the updated guidance Tuesday. Previously the CDC had been…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is preparing to sign an executive order to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour for federal contractors. Administration officials say the order will provide a pay bump to hundreds of thousands of those workers. They say that workers will become more productive as a result, so the…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House says the U.S. will begin sharing its entire stock of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines with the world once it clears federal safety reviews. As many as 60 million doses are expected to be available for export in the coming months. The move greatly expands on the Biden administration’s action last…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal to expand gun rights in the United States in a New York case over the right to carry a firearm in public for self-defense. The case will be argued in the fall and marks the court’s first foray into gun rights since Justice…
(AP) — Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland,” won best picture Sunday at the 93rd Academy Awards, where the China-born Zhao also became just the second woman — and the first woman of color — to win best director. “Nomadland” also earned Frances McDormand an Oscar for her lead performance in the wistful portrait of itinerant lives on…
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Body camera and dashcam footage released in the days following the police shooting of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant depict a scene filled with chaos. The police footage of Tuesday’s shooting in Columbus shows the split-second decision police make in moments of high-pressure calls involving a weapon. The footage helps paint a picture…
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Republican Caitlyn Jenner says she will run for governor of California. Jenner says in statement posted Friday on Twitter that she has filed initial paperwork to run. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing a likely recall election this year. Election officials are still reviewing petition signatures required to qualify the recall…
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX has launched its third crew in under a year for NASA, this time using a recycled rocket and capsule. A Falcon rocket carrying four astronauts blasted into orbit early Friday morning from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. The Dragon capsule should reach the International Space Station on Saturday. It’s the…
WASHINGTON (AP) — A decades-long movement to reshape the American political map took has taken a further step. The House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill to make the nation’s capital the 51st state. That’s the easy part, though. Now the proposal faces a far tougher fight in the Senate, where simple Democratic control…
WASHINGTON (AP) — China and Russia have joined the United States in pledging climate cooperation at a global summit convened by President Joe Biden. The U.S. opened Thursday’s summit, which is being held virtually by livestream because of the pandemic, with an ambitious pledge to cut by at least one-half the climate-wrecking coal and petroleum…