WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Lieberman was back on Capitol Hill on Tuesday testifying in support of the Democratic push for Washington, D.C., statehood. Then he met privately with Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of the many Republicans who fiercely oppose such a move.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Standing in the State Dining Room on May 4, President Joe Biden laid out a lofty goal to vaccinate 70% of American adults by Independence Day, saying the U.S. would need to overcome “doubters” and laziness to do it. “This is your choice,” he told Amercians. "It’s life and death.”

What should I know about the delta variant?

CALEXICO, Calif. (AP) — The chief of the U.S. Border Patrol was forced out of his job Wednesday, after less than two years in a position that lies in the crosshairs of polarizing political debate.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has extended the nationwide ban on evictions for a month to help tenants who are unable to make rent payments during the coronavirus pandemic.

SURFSIDE, Fla. (AP) — Barry Cohen and his wife were sound asleep in their beachside condominium outside Miami when he heard what he thought was a crack of thunder early Thursday. They got up, opened the door leading to their hallway and faced a pile of rubble and billowing smoke.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits dropped last week, a sign that layoffs declined and the job market is improving.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Emperor Naruhito is “extremely worried” that the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics could accelerate the spread of the coronavirus, the head of the Imperial Palace said Thursday with the games opening in one month.

President Joe Biden is nominating Cindy McCain to be the U.S. representative to the United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, one of 17 nominations announced Wednesday that included major diplomatic and arts assignments.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has railed against it. Republicans in the U.S. Senate introduced a resolution condemning any requirement for teachers to be trained in it. And several Republican-controlled states have invoked it in legislation restricting how race can be ta…

BERLIN (AP) — Officials say a vaccination center was flooded and five people were injured by hail the size of tennis balls during heavy storms in southwestern Germany overnight.

Stocks were moderately higher in early trading Thursday, helped by some modestly positive economic data as well as a continued belief that the U.S. economy is recovering from the pandemic and inflation, while higher than usual, will not be a long-term problem.

SURFSIDE, Fla. (AP) — A soccer game may have saved Patricia Avilez's life.

SURFSIDE, Fla. (AP) — A wing of a 12-story beachfront condo building collapsed with a roar in a town outside Miami early Thursday, killing at least one person while trapping residents in rubble and twisted metal. Rescuers pulled dozens of survivors from the tower during the morning and conti…

The Biden administration is stepping up preparation for relocating tens of thousands of Afghan interpreters and others who worked with U.S. forces during the war to other countries as their applications for U.S. entry are processed, a senior administration official said Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy grew at a solid 6.4% rate in the first three months of this year, setting the stage for what economists are forecasting could be the strongest year for the economy in possibly seven decades.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods rose for the 12th time in the last 13 months in May, pulled up by surgin demand for civilian aircraft.

Kieran Moïse’s afro was a splendid 19 inches, a huge part of his personality. But after six years of growth, the 17-year-old Alabamian knew that he and his hair would soon be parted: He was bound for the U.S. Air Force Academy.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Eli Lilly said Thursday that it is nearly ready to take another shot at getting regulatory approval for a possible Alzheimer's drug.

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia’s military on Thursday confirmed it was responsible for a deadly airstrike on a busy marketplace in the country’s Tigray region that locals say killed dozens of civilians, but the military insisted that only combatants were targeted.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Countries bordering Russia expressed deep concern Thursday about a Franco-German plan to resume official meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, likening the move to an attempt to talk a bear out of trying to steal honey.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — During a particularly violent week in Connecticut’s capital city, Andrew Woods was among a small number of anti-violence workers who rushed in to help victims’ families, offering condolences and referrals to services while trying to discourage retaliation.

MADRID (AP) — Authorities in Spain say a judge has ordered an autopsy for John McAfee, the gun-loving antivirus pioneer, cryptocurrency promoter and occasional politician who died in a prison cell pending extradition to the United States for allegedly evading millions in unpaid taxes.

BRUSSELS (AP) — Several European Union leaders insisted Thursday that discrimination must not be tolerated in the 27-nation bloc, setting the scene for a heated summit over new legislation in Hungary that would ban showing content about LGBT issues to children.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A major Chinese producer of material used to make solar panels will be barred from the U.S. market as part of a broader effort to halt commerce tied to China's repressive campaign against Uyghurs and other minorities, the Biden administration said Thursday.

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Three entities have already expressed interest in acquiring two statues of Confederate generals from downtown Charlottesville parks, including one that was the focus of a violent white nationalist rally in 2017, according to city officials.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia is prepared to target intruding warships if they fail to heed warnings, a senior Russian diplomat said Thursday in a tough statement in the wake of a Black Sea incident in which a British destroyer sailed near Crimea in an area that Russia claims as its territorial waters.

A company whose northern Illinois chemical plant was heavily damaged in a fire last week defended its use of firefighting foam containing toxic chemicals Wednesday, saying crews had taken steps to contain the material.

LAUDERHILL, Fla. (AP) — Police are looking into reports that the mother of two young girls found dead in a South Florida canal was offering to baptize people in the canal a day earlier.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A pedestrian bridge collapsed over a highway in the nation's capital on Wednesday, sending five people to the hospital. Traffic was expected to be snarled for hours.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — When temperatures are sweltering in Arizona's desert areas, people head to the forests to camp, hike, fish and just cool off.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A Maryland judge carefully focused on asking potential jurors Wednesday whether they believed they could be fair and impartial in weighing the plea of guilty but not criminally responsible by a man who killed five people at the Capital Gazette newspaper nearly three years ago.

HONG KONG (AP) — Across Hong Kong, people lined up early Thursday to buy the last print edition of the last remaining pro-democracy newspaper.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris will make her first visit on Friday to the U.S.-Mexico border since taking office, following criticism from members of both parties for failing to go earlier despite her role leading the Biden administration’s response to a steep increase in migration.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The filibuster is here to stay, for now.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio, the state that launched the national movement to offer millions of dollars in incentives to boost vaccination rates, planned to conclude its program Wednesday — still unable to crack the 50% vaccination threshold.

NEW YORK (AP) — President Joe Biden's sister, confidante and longtime political strategist, Valerie Biden Owens, has a book deal.

NEW YORK (AP) — Small businesses that endured shutdowns and lower revenue during the COVID-19 outbreak now must contend with another crisis: spiking prices for goods and services that squeeze profits and force many owners to pass the increases along to customers.

Fifteen Republican governors sent a letter Tuesday to the U.S. Department of Commerce urging that the U.S. Census Bureau release redistricting data as soon as possible, saying further delays would hurt efforts to redraw congressional and legislative districts.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — American authorities seized a range of Iran’s state-linked news website domains they accused of spreading disinformation, the U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday, a move that appeared to be a far-reaching crackdown on Iranian media amid heightened tensions…

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 mov…

For 42.9 million student loan borrowers , it’s been 18 months without a payment. That ends in October — ready or not.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sales of new homes fell for a second month in May, dropping by a larger-than-expected 5.9%.

DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines said Wednesday that longtime CEO Gary Kelly will step down in February and be succeeded by another veteran at the nation's fourth-largest airline.

NEW YORK (AP) — R&B singer R. Kelly has been jailed in New York City in anticipation of his sex-trafficking trial later this summer.

NEW YORK (AP) — The Toronto International Film Festival is planning an extensive in-person festival in September, a year after turning to virtual red carpets and outdoor screenings because of the pandemic.

MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian military said one of its warships in the Black Sea fired warning shots and a warplane dropped bombs Wednesday to force a British destroyer away from an area near Crimea that Moscow claims as its territorial waters, but Britain denied that account and insisted its sh…

Stocks are edging mostly higher in early trading on Wall Street Wednesday, keeping the S&P 500 hovering just below the record high it set just over a week ago. The benchmark index was up 0.1% in the early going. The tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.3%. The modest gains came a day after Federal …