FDA approves updated COVID-19 vaccines as summer wave continues

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — FDA approves updated COVID-19 vaccines as summer wave continues.

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  • Republicans shift to plan B to prevent shutdown

    House Republicans have shifted gears as they race to avoid a government shutdown, eyeing a three-month stopgap spending bill — in lieu of a six-month extension — while dropping their demand for tougher voting rules as part of the package. Top appropriators have already launched bipartisan talks in both chambers, and senior lawmakers said they…

  • Families of Americans detained in China share their pain and urge US to get them home

    The families of four Americans detained in China said Wednesday that their loved ones are suffering both physically and mentally, urging the U.S. government to take action to bring them home. Appearing before the Congressional-Executive Commission of China, the families of Kai Li, Mark Swidan, Dawn Michelle Hunt and Nelson Wells Jr. — all of whom have been detained in China for at least eight years — cast a spotlight on the longstanding issue that has gained new attention with the release this week of American pastor David Lin, who was behind bars for almost 20 years. More Americans are detained in China than in any other foreign country, according to the commission created by Congress to monitor human rights in the communist country.

  • Justice Department seeks $100 million from two companies that owned ship that destroyed Baltimore bridge

    The Justice Department filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking more than $100 million from the two corporations that owned and operated the container ship that destroyed Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in March.

  • GOP lawmakers from Nebraska urge state to flip to winner-take-all electoral system

    Republican members of Congress from Nebraska in a Wednesday letter called on their state to apportion all of its five electoral votes to the popular vote winner of the presidential election in the state. Nebraska, unlike most states, splits its five votes. Two of the votes go to the winner of the popular vote in…

  • How A Controversial Gun Rights Decision Could Nuke Campaign Finance Law

    Five GOP-appointed judges are asking the Supreme Court to apply a test created in a gun case to campaign finance law in a recent case brought by JD Vance.

  • Ex-Bush WH Official Says Trump Springfield Visit Could Arrive At 'Absolute Worst Time'

    Pete Seat, a spokesperson under George W. Bush's administration, warned Trump and Vance to "stay away" from a community rocked by their racist lie.

  • Keir Starmer's top aide Sue Gray paid more than the PM

    A row breaks out within government after the prime minister's chief of staff is given a pay rise.

  • Multi-faceted approach required to address fraudulent claims of state awards, academic degrees in Malaysia

    The use of fake state titles and academic awards, including awards from unaccredited institutions, has reflected a broader issue of status-consciousness and social prestige over the last two decades in Malaysia.

  • China the top challenge in US history: senior diplomat

    China presents the top challenge to the United States in all of its history, surpassing the Cold War, a top US official said Wednesday, as he urged Europe to get tougher on Beijing."Frankly, the Cold War pales in comparison to the multifaceted challenges that China presents," he said.

  • Former GOP lawmaker reacts to Trump calling for government shutdown

    The House failed to pass a spending bill – flirting with a possible government shutdown if no deal is made by the end of the month.

  • Canada further tightens rules on temporary workers, students

    TORONTO (Reuters) -Canada is further reducing the number of study permits it will grant to foreign students and tightening eligibility for work permits in a bid to cut down on the number of temporary residents in the country, the government said on Wednesday. The announcement comes as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government, trailing in the public opinion polls and coming off a major by-election loss this week, seeks to reduce the number of temporary residents - including international students and foreign workers - in the country. Canada approved 509,390 in 2023, according to immigration department data, and 175,920 in the first seven months of 2024.

  • Exotic briefs and tangled spaghetti: Von der Leyen’s portfolio paradoxes

    Exotic hybrid portfolios, overlapping policies, and candidates with a problematic past could all plague plans for the new European Commission outlined by Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday.

  • Blinken subpoenaed to appear next week before House committee over Afghanistan

    "If Secretary Blinken fails to appear, the chairman will proceed instead with a full committee markup of a report recommending the U.S. House of Representatives find Secretary Blinken in contempt of Congress for violating a duly issued subpoena," according to a statement from the committee. The committee had previously wanted Blinken to appear on Sept. 19. The State Department said earlier this month that Blinken was not available to testify on the dates proposed by the committee, but has proposed "reasonable alternatives."

  • Ohio sheriff condemned for saying people with Harris yard signs should have their addresses recorded

    An Ohio sheriff is under fire for a social media post in which he said people with Kamala Harris yard signs should have their addresses recorded so that immigrants can be sent to live with them if the Democrat wins the presidency. Portage County Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski, a Republican in the thick of his own reelection campaign, posted a screenshot of a Fox News segment that criticized Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris over their immigration record and the impact on small communities like Springfield, Ohio, where an influx of Haitian migrants has caused a political furor in the presidential campaign.

  • DOJ sues owner, operator of vessel that destroyed Baltimore bridge

    The Department of Justice (DOJ) is pursuing a civil negligence case against the owner and operator of the Dali, the ship that rammed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge in March, causing millions in damages and temporarily shutting down one of the country’s busiest ports. The DOJ’s complaint argues the crash, which killed six workers…

  • US lawmakers target Beijing in first-ever 'China Week'

    In the House of Representatives’ first-ever “China Week” last week, members passed 28 bills targeting China to address national security concerns and reduce U.S. dependence on Chinese technology. The measures, including the revival of the Trump-era “China Initiative” to combat espionage, limitations on foreign farmland purchases, increased congressional oversight of scientific agreements and potential closure of Hong Kong’s trade offices in the U.S., were passed just weeks before pivotal midterm elections, with Republicans positioning themselves as tougher on China than Democrats. How the floor voted: While several bills passed with bipartisan support, others divided the House.

  • State asks judge to pause ruling that struck down North Dakota's abortion ban

    The state of North Dakota is asking a judge to pause his ruling from last week that struck down the state's abortion ban until the state Supreme Court rules on a planned appeal. State District Judge Bruce Romanick ruled last week that North Dakota's abortion ban “is unconstitutionally void for vagueness,” and that pregnant women in the state have a fundamental right to abortion before viability under the state constitution. In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which established a constitutional right to an abortion.

  • State Department accuses House GOP of calling Blinken to testify about Afghanistan when he's away

    The State Department lashed out Thursday at House Republicans over a subpoena for testimony about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, accusing them of repeatedly calling for hearings on days they knew Secretary of State Antony Blinken was unavailable to appear. Rep. Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he was trying to accommodate Blinken, who faces the threat of being held in contempt of Congress if he doesn't appear. The Texas Republican had first set a hearing for Thursday, while Blinken was in Egypt and France.

  • Fmr GA GOP Lt Gov Geoff Duncan: Heartbeat bill failed to account for all scenarios

    Geoff Duncan – who was the president of the Georgia Senate when its heartbeat bill passed – says he recognizes now the bill couldn’t capture all the nuances and situations that could be impacted. Duncan says he agrees with Kamala Harris: “You don’t have to step on your faith to say the government shouldn’t have a say in your life.”

  • GOP lawmakers air their frustration as Speaker Johnson’s funding bill fails

    CNN’s Manu Raju spoke to GOP lawmakers, who aired their frustrations about House Speaker Mike Johnson’s failed attempt to pass a funding bill.