National News

TOKYO (AP) — Two South African soccer players have become the first athletes inside the Olympic Village to test positive for COVID-19. The Tokyo Games open on Friday. Organizers confirmed the positive tests but only listed the two as non-Japanese. The South African Football Association later confirmed there were three COVID-19 cases in its delegation…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is pressuring lawmakers to reach agreement by next week on a pair of massive domestic spending measures. The New York Democrat says he is scheduling a procedural vote for Wednesday to begin debate on a still-evolving bipartisan infrastructure bill. Senators from both parties have struggled to reach…

The coronavirus has taken a heavy toll among Roman Catholic priests and nuns around the world, killing hundreds of them in a handful of the hardest-hit countries alone. They include an Italian parish priest who brought the cinema to his small town in the 1950s; a beloved New York pastor who ministered to teens and…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. government is starting to deposit child tax credit money into the accounts of more than 35 million families. President Joe Biden has expanded the credit for one year as part of coronavirus relief. The result is that most families will now qualify for monthly payments of as much as $300…

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats have taken a major step toward meeting President Joe Biden's proposals for massive spending on government programs for climate change, health care, family services and more. Lawmakers reached an agreement Tuesday night to pour $3.5 trillion over the next decade into Biden's proposals. Included is money to expand Medicare coverage…