December 8, 2021 4:22 am
NEW YORK (AP) – More than 40 cases of the omicron variant have been reported in the U.S. so far, with most of them people who were vaccinated and nearly all of them suffering only mild illness, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. In an interview with the Associated Press, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, said data is very limited and new cases are coming in daily. The agency is working on a more detailed analysis, she said. But “the disease is mild” in the cases reported so far, she said, with reported symptoms mainly cough, congestion, and fatigue.
December 8, 2021 4:19 am
PARIS (AP) – A suspect in the 2018 killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been arrested in France. A French judicial official said the suspect was being held Tuesday on the basis of a Turkish arrest warrant. He requested not being named in accordance with the French justice system’s customary practices. French radio RTL said the Saudi national, Khalid Aedh al-Otaibi, was arrested at the Roissy airport near Paris as he was trying to board a flight to Riyadh. Al-Otaibi was one of over a dozen Saudi officials sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2018 over Khashoggi’s killing and dismemberment at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
December 8, 2021 4:18 am
Bob Dole will be honored Friday in a private memorial service with President Joe Biden in attendance and a public service at the World War II Memorial in Washington. Those events will come before the casket of the former presidential candidate and decorated soldier travels to Kansas for events in his hometown and the state capital. Dole’s casket will lie in state Thursday at the U.S. Capitol. The Dole Institute of Politics says Biden will join former presidents, congressional leaders, friends and the Dole family for the private service Friday morning at Washington National Cathedral. A public memorial service is set for Saturday morning in Dole’s hometown of Russell, Kansas, and followed by a private afternoon ceremony at the Kansas Statehouse.
December 8, 2021 4:16 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Senate has rejected a bid to stop a U.S. arms sale to Saudi Arabia. Lawmakers from both parties sought to prevent President Joe Biden’s administration from selling more than $650 million worth of weapons to the country. But the procedural motion from Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul was rejected on a 30-67 vote. It was just the latest skirmish in Congress over the sales of weapons to the country. Saudi Arabia is a longtime U.S. ally, but anger has been mounting over civilian casualties in the Saudi-led war in Yemen and over the killing of U.S.-based columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents.
December 8, 2021 4:13 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Congressional leaders have reached a deal to lift the nation’s debt limit. The agreement announced Tuesday will allow Democrats to increase the nation’s borrowing authority without any votes from Republicans, and likely averts another last-minute rush to avoid a federal default. The House passed legislation overwhelmingly along party lines a few hours later, kicking off the process. Congress approved a $480 billion increase in the nation’s debt limit in October. That will be enough for the Treasury to finance the government’s operations through about Dec. 15. The debt increase will cover deficit funding that has already been authorized in past legislation.
December 7, 2021 2:40 pm
(AP) – A federal judge has blocked President Biden’s administration from enforcing a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees of federal contractors. It’s the latest in a string of court victories for Republican-led states and others challenging a series of federal vaccine requirements. In a ruling Tuesday, U.S. District Judge R. Stan Baker, in Augusta, Georgia, issued a stay to bar enforcement of the mandate nationwide. (Photo: AP)
December 7, 2021 2:05 pm
(AP) – Jussie Smollett’s defense attorneys say they have rested their case in the former “Empire” actor’s trial on charges he lied to police about being the victim of a racist, anti-gay attack. Smollett’s lawyer said Tuesday that the defense has finished, wrapping up two days of testimony that included Smollett’s own account of what happened in downtown Chicago the night of the alleged attack in January 2019. (Photo: AP)
December 7, 2021 9:36 am
The much discussed aquatic center in Peters Township has been given a big boost. In fact, Township Manager Paul Lauer calls it a ‘game changer’. 40th Legislative District State Representative Natalie Mihalek says the Township will receive $2-million in a state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program Grant for construction of the more than $10-million project. Lauer calls the grant ‘significant’ and says without this grant the project may not have moved forward. He also admits that the Township is awaiting word on two other grant applications for the project. One of those is to the Washington County Local Share Account fund. Peters Township council, earlier this year, ordered a re-design of the project after initial bids came in well over budget. Lauer says the township is currently preparing to re-bid the re-designed project.
December 7, 2021 4:21 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Face to face for over two hours, President Joe Biden and Russia’s Vladimir Putin squared off in a secure video call Tuesday as the U.S. president put Moscow on notice that an invasion of Ukraine would bring enormous harm to the Russian economy. The highly anticipated call between the two leaders came amid growing worries by the U.S. and Western allies about Russia’s threat to neighboring Ukraine. Putin came into the meeting seeking guarantees from Biden that the NATO military alliance will never expand to include Ukraine, which has long sought membership. The Americans and their NATO allies said in advance that Putin’s request was a non-starter. Biden, said U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, “told President Putin directly that if Russia further invades Ukraine, the United States and our European allies would respond with strong economic measures. He added that Biden said the U.S. would also “provide additional defensive material to the Ukrainians above and beyond that, which we are already providing, and we would fortify our NATO allies on the eastern flank with additional capabilities in response to such an escalation.” Sullivan said that could include additional deployments of U.S. troops to eastern European NATO allies.
December 7, 2021 4:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden is pledging his social agenda legislation will deliver tangible savings on prescription drugs for all Americans. Speaking Monday at the White House, Biden cited the story of a young woman with diabetes hospitalized because she couldn’t afford insulin. His legislation would limit copays for insulin to $35 a month. It would also cap what Medicare recipients pay out-of-pocket for prescription drugs at $2,000 annually, and require drugmakers to pay rebates to Medicare if they raise prices faster than inflation. The bill would empower Medicare to negotiate drug prices, starting gradually. But first it has to pass Congress, and that’s not guaranteed.
