By Mary Clare JalonickAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday rejected two Republicans tapped by House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy to sit on a committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, a decision the Republican denounced as “an egregious abuse of power.” McCarthy said the GOP won’t participate in the investigation […]
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US Life Expectancy in 2020 Saw Biggest Drop Since WWII
By Mike StobbeAssociated Press NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. life expectancy fell by a year and a half in 2020, the largest one-year decline since World War II, public health officials said Wednesday. The decrease for both Black Americans and Hispanic Americans was even worse: three years. The drop spelled out by the Centers for […]
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Numbers Explain How and Why West Bakes, Burns and Dries Out
By Seth BorensteinAssociated Press The American West is baking, burning and drying in intertwined extreme weather. Four sets of numbers explain how bad it is now, while several others explain why it got this bad. The West is going through “the trifecta of an epically dry year followed by incredible heat the last two months […]
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Heat Wave Impossible Without Climate Change
By Seth BorensteinAssociated Press The deadly heat wave that roasted the Pacific Northwest and western Canada was virtually impossible without human-caused climate change that added a few extra degrees to the record-smashing temperatures, a new quick scientific analysis found. An international team of 27 scientists calculated that climate change increased chances of the extreme heat […]
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House to Probe Capitol Riot — Over Republican Opposition
By Mary Clare Jalonick and Kevin FrekingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Sharply split along party lines, the House launched a new investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection on Wednesday, approving a special committee to probe the violent attack as police officers who were injured fighting Donald Trump’s supporters watched from the gallery above. The […]
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Bill Cosby Freed From Prison, His Sex Conviction Overturned
By Maryclaire DaleAssociated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Pennsylvania’s highest court threw out Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction and released him from prison Wednesday in a stunning reversal of fortune for the comedian once known as “America’s Dad,” ruling that the prosecutor who brought the case was bound by his predecessor’s agreement not to charge Cosby. […]
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US Gives More Asylum-Seekers Waiting in Mexico Another Shot
By Maria Verza and Elliot SpagatAssociated Press SAN DIEGO (AP) — Asylum-seekers whose claims were dismissed or denied under a Trump administration policy that forced them to wait in Mexico for court hearings will be allowed to return for another chance at humanitarian protection, the U.S. Homeland Security Department said Tuesday in a move that […]
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US Ends Strict Trump-era Asylum Rules for Violence Victims
By Amy TaxinAssociated Press The U.S. government on Wednesday ended two Trump administration policies that made it harder for immigrants fleeing violence to qualify for asylum, especially Central Americans. Attorney General Merrick Garland issued new instructions to immigration judges to stop following the Trump-era rules that made it tough for immigrants who faced domestic or […]
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Rift on Communion Policy as US Catholic Bishops Open Meeting
By David CraryAssociated Press Divisions flared quickly on Wednesday as U.S. Catholic bishops opened a national meeting highlighted by a sensitive agenda item — whether to take initial steps toward a possible rebuke of politicians, including President Joe Biden, who receive Communion while supporting abortion rights. Some said the issue was so important and contentious […]
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US COVID-19 Deaths Hit 600,000, Equal to Yearly Cancer Toll
By Janie Har and Michael KunzelmanAssociated Press The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 topped 600,000 on Tuesday, even as the vaccination drive has drastically brought down daily cases and fatalities and allowed the country to emerge from the gloom and look forward to summer. The number of lives lost, as recorded by Johns Hopkins University, […]