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 …

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 …

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 …

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) — 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 …

There’s plenty of toilet paper in the US – so why are people hoarding it? Jay L. Zagorsky Boston University (The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) The other day I went into Costco to buy some toilet paper. It came as a small shock when I couldn’t find a single …

SEATTLE (AP) — Amid all the fears, quarantines and stockpiling of food, it has been easy to ignore the fact that more than 60,000 people have recovered from the coronavirus spreading around the globe. The disease can cause varying degrees of illness and is especially troublesome for older adults and people with existing health problems, who are at risk of …

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A blaze inside a Louisiana refinery that turned the night sky a shade of orange and sent a large plume of smoke into the air over Baton Rouge has been extinguished, ExxonMobil officials say. The fire erupted at the facility in Baton Rouge around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, Baton Rouge Fire Department spokesman Curt Monte told …

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A blaze inside a Louisiana refinery that turned the night sky a shade of orange and sent a large plume of smoke into the air over Baton Rouge has been extinguished, ExxonMobil officials say. The fire erupted at the facility in Baton Rouge around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, Baton Rouge Fire Department spokesman Curt Monte told …