Local health agencies struggle to ramp up virus tracking
ATLANTA — As state after state begins to reopen, local health departments charged with tracking down everyone who has been in close contact with those...
Group buys Alabama abortion clinic to keep it from closing
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Conservative lawmakers in Alabama last year tried to enact the nation's most stringent abortion ban, but the attempt to outlaw the ...
Biden, Dems aim to expand campaign map with fundraising deal
ATLANTA — Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee have expanded their fundraising agreement to include 26 state parties as Democrats look to d...
It’s a work from home Congress as House approves proxy vote
WASHINGTON — It all started with the grandchildren.
Democrats push new $3T coronavirus relief bill through House
WASHINGTON — Democrats powered a massive $3 trillion coronavirus relief bill through the House on Friday, an election-year measure designed to brace a...
Pandemic claims another retailer: 118-year-old J.C. Penney
NEW YORK — The coronavirus pandemic has pushed the storied but troubled department store chain J.C. Penney into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It is the fourt...
Economy in crisis: more virus aid or wait and see?
WASHINGTON — The unparalleled speed of the collapse of the U.S. economy, forcing more than 36 million Americans out of work, has left an all-too-commo...
Trump still confident in virus test despite false negatives
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump expressed no concerns Friday about a rapid coronavirus test that the White House has been relying on to ensure his...
Ivanka Trump tours launch of USDA’s family food box program
LAUREL, Md. — Billions of dollars worth of fruit, vegetables and other farm products that might have gone to waste because of the coronavirus pandemic...
Retailers face reckoning as April’s sales drop sets a record
The outbreak of the coronavirus has dealt a shock to the global economy with unprecedented speed. Following are developments Friday related to nationa...
Biden campaign steps up hires despite money gap with Trump
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden will hire by June at least 600 field staffers dedicated to an “expanded map” of battleground states, despi...
Nebraska court orders disclosure of execution drug records
OMAHA, Neb. — Nebraska prison officials cannot withhold public records that reveal where they purchased their supply of lethal injection drugs, the st...
Age and pandemic: Time lost, plans canceled, dreams deferred
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Elizabeth Hubbard was booked for a cruise that followed the path of Lewis and Clark's expedition in the Pacific Northwest. Joel...
UK-EU deadlocked in Brexit talks as clock ticks down
BRUSSELS — Talks between the European Union and the United Kingdom on their post-Brexit relationship ground to a near-standstill Friday, with each sid...
US retail sales plunged a record 16% in April as virus hit
BALTIMORE — U.S. retail sales tumbled by a record 16.4% from March to April as business shutdowns caused by the coronavirus kept shoppers away, threat...
Tensions rise as Texas governor readies to lift more rules
AUSTIN, Texas — Two weeks into the reopening of Texas, coronavirus cases are climbing. New outbreaks still crop up. And at Guero's Taco Bar in Austin,...
Online graduations still bring stars to the virtual lectern
This year's college graduates won’t get to take their triumphant walk across the stage. They won’t get to toss their caps amid a sea of classmates. In...
Outside US, top scientists steer debate away from politics
ATHENS, Greece — President Donald Trump is never far from a public spat with his government’s top expert on the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the most ...
Iraqi doctor’s fight with virus lays bare a battered system
BAGHDAD — Dr. Marwa al-Khafaji’s homecoming after 20 days in a hospital isolation ward was met by spite. Someone had barricaded her family home’s gate...
Auto workers’ tenuous return a ray of hope in jobs crisis
DETROIT — Defying a wave of layoffs that has sent the U.S. job market into its worst catastrophe on record, at least one major industry is making a co...
Graham to probe Russia investigation; won’t call Obama
WASHINGTON — Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham said Thursday his committee is opening a wide-ranging inquiry into the Russia investig...
Senate votes to renew federal surveillance powers
WASHINGTON — The Senate has passed legislation that would extend a series of expired federal surveillance tools designed to help law enforcement offic...
Trump administration ease rules limiting truck driver hours
The Trump administration eased rules Thursday that limit working hours for truck drivers, and the changes brought immediate protests from labor and sa...
Whistleblower: US still lacks virus plan; Americans at risk
WASHINGTON — Despite White House claims, the U.S. still lacks a comprehensive battle plan against the coronavirus in critical areas including masks, t...
Stopped cold: ‘Frozen’ musical on Broadway not to reopen
NEW YORK — The big budget musical “Frozen” will not reopen when Broadway theaters restart, marking the first time an established show has been felled ...
3 million more US layoffs intensify fears of lasting damage
WASHINGTON — Nearly 3 million laid-off workers applied for U.S. unemployment benefits last week as the viral outbreak forced more companies to slash j...
Cassandra Callender, forced to undergo chemo, dies at 22
HARTFORD, Conn. — Cassandra Callender, who was forced by Connecticut courts as a teenager to undergo chemotherapy for cancer, has died after a five-ye...
Burr steps aside as Senate intelligence chair amid FBI probe
WASHINGTON — Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., temporarily stepped aside as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday after the FBI served a ...
Companies begin to navigate a world that is vastly changed
The outbreak of the coronavirus has dealt a shock to the global economy with unprecedented speed. Following are developments Thursday related to natio...
Marshall struggles to unite GOP establishment in Kansas race
TOPEKA, Kan. — Roger Marshall represents western Kansas in a congressional district rich in GOP votes and donors that has given the state four U.S. se...