NEW YORK (AP) — Historic numbers of background checks to purchase or possess a firearm were done in June, a trend in a year marked by uncertainty over the coronavirus pandemic, a subsequent economic recession, protests over racial injustice and calls to reduce police funding. FBI numbers released Wednesday show that 3.9 million background checks were conducted last month, the …
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats on Tuesday unveiled a plan to address climate change that would set a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, while pushing renewable energy such as wind and solar power and addressing environmental injustice that harms low-income and minority communities. The election-year plan backed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other leaders is less …
MEXICO CITY (AP) — A powerful earthquake centered near the southern Mexico resort of Huatulco on Tuesday killed at least five people, swayed buildings in Mexico City and sent thousands fleeing into the streets. Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said one person was killed in a building collapse in Huatulco, Oaxaca. Otherwise he said reports were of minor damage …
Only about half of Americans say they would get a COVID-19 vaccine if the scientists working furiously to create one succeed, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That may be low considering the effort going into the global race for a vaccine against the coronavirus that has sparked a pandemic since first …
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump’s declaration that religious services should be “essential” comes at a precarious point in the national balancing act that pits the call of worship against the risk of coronavirus. Even before Trump’s comments Friday, which came alongside the release of guidance for reopening faith organizations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Christian …
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Trump administration has started giving energy companies temporary breaks on royalties and rent they pay to extract oil and gas from leases on public lands because of the coronavirus pandemic. The move drew quick criticism as a handout to industry that will mean less money for state governments. A Democratic lawmaker called for an investigation …
The historic drop in oil prices on Monday got President Trump’s attention. On Tuesday, Trump tweeted the following: “We will never let the great U.S. Oil & Gas Industry down. I have instructed the Secretary of Energy and Secretary of the Treasury to formulate a plan which will make funds available so that these very important companies and jobs will …
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Bernie Sanders, who saw his once strong lead in the Democratic primary evaporate as the party’s establishment lined swiftly up behind rival Joe Biden, ended his presidential bid on Wednesday, an acknowledgment that the former vice president is too far ahead for him to have any reasonable hope of catching up. The Vermont senator’s announcement makes …
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump focused attention on possible treatments for the new coronavirus on Thursday, citing potential use of a drug long used to treat malaria and some other approaches still in testing. At a White House news conference, Trump and Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn cited the malaria drug chloroquine, along with remdesivir, an …
WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress worked urgently Thursday to fashion a $1 trillion measure to prop up households and the U.S. economy amid the coronavirus outbreak, starting with a White House proposal to send Americans first-round aid checks — potentially $3,000 for a family of four. The fast-track effort in an all but shuttered Capitol came as the first two lawmakers …
