Stories by Associated Press

The papers echo previous research — including studies in Germany, South Africa and the U.K. — indicating available vaccines are less effective against omicron than earlier versions of the coronavirus, but also that boosters significantly improve protection.

Bob Goalby, who won the 1968 Masters without having to go to a playoff when Roberto De Vicenzo infamously signed for the wrong score, has died. He was 92.

One year into Dr. Rochelle Walensky’s tenure as director, her bid to make the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention more agile is being challenged by political pressures, vocal scientists and the changing virus itself.

President Joe Biden took action on a number of his key campaign promises, from rebuilding U.S. alliances globally to distributing vaccines across America and the world. But others remain works in progress or dependent on Congress to address. That’s particularly true of his promises to reform the nation’s immigration system. 

Despite a day of piercing debate and speeches that often carried echoes of an earlier era when the Senate filibuster was deployed by opponents of civil rights legislation, Democrats could not persuade holdout senators Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia to change the Senate procedures on this one bill and allow a simple majority to advance it.

The nation’s oldest civil rights organization’s birthday next month comes as it undergoes a restructuring to reflect a membership and leadership that is trending younger, to people in their mid-30s. As a result, it is adding endeavors like producing TV streaming content for CBS.

Surgeons in Alabama transplanted a pig’s kidneys into a brain-dead man — a step-by-step rehearsal for an operation they hope to try in living patients possibly later this year.

The decision from the companies came Tuesday as the Biden administration intervened to broker tried to broker a settlement between the telecoms and airlines over a rollout of new 5G service.

Despite his late push, Biden has been unable to persuade two holdout Democrats, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, to change Senate rules so the party can overpower a Republican filibuster that is blocking the voting bill. 

The White House announced Wednesday that the masks will come from the government's Strategic National Stockpile, which has more than 750 million of the highly protective masks on hand. 

Voting legislation that’s a top priority for Democrats and civil rights leaders seemed headed for defeat as the Senate opened Tuesday, a devastating setback as two holdout Democratic senators refuse to support rule changes to overcome a Republican filibuster.

Malik Faisal Akram, a 44-year-old British citizen, arrived in the U.S. at Kennedy Airport in New York on a tourist visa about two weeks ago, officials said. He spent time in Dallas-area homeless shelters before the attack Saturday in the suburb of Colleyville.

Kahalah Clay, chief legal counsel for the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, confirmed that Jason Van Dyke — who was convicted in October 2018 in the killing of the 17-year-old — will be released from prison on Feb. 3. She said she did not know where Van Dyke was being held.

The new high-speed 5G service uses a segment of the radio spectrum that is close to that used by altimeters, which are devices that measure the height of aircraft above the ground.

Les Grobstein, a longtime Chicago sports radio reporter and talk show host who recorded Lee Elia’s famous profanity-laced postgame rant about Cubs fans, has died.

Steve Schapiro started out as a freelance photographer in the early 1960s and was on hand for many of the decade's historic moments, whether the 1963 March on Washington or Robert F. Kennedy's presidential run in 1968. The Chicago resident's work appeared in Time, Rolling Stone, Life and other publications.

“It’s time for every elected official in America to make it clear where they stand," President Joe Biden said. “It’s time for every American to stand up. Speak out, be heard. Where do you stand?”

Authorities identified the hostage-taker as a 44-year-old British national, Malik Faisal Akram, who was killed Saturday night after the last hostages ran out of Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, around 9 p.m. 

The indictment last week of the leader of the Oath Keepers and 10 other members or associates was stunning in part because federal prosecutors, after a year of investigating the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021, charged them with seditious conspiracy, a rarely-used Civil War-era statute reserved for only the most serious of political criminals.

Nursing homes reported a near-record of about 32,000 COVID-19 cases among residents in the week ending Jan. 9, an almost sevenfold increase from a month earlier, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

By Friday, the fast-moving storm had already dropped heavy snow across a large swath of the Midwest, where travel conditions deteriorated and scores of schools closed or moved to online instruction. Iowa was hit the hardest.

As more families pivot back to remote learning amid quarantines and school closures, reliable, consistent access to devices and home internet remains elusive for many students who need them to keep up with their schoolwork. 

A Milwaukee man accused of killing six people and injuring dozens more when he drove an SUV through a suburban Christmas parade must stand trial, a court commissioner ordered Friday.

Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, objected to extending the credit out of concern that the money would discourage people from working and that any additional federal spending would fuel inflation that has already climbed to a nearly 40-year high.

It’s not yet clear, but some early data suggests people might become contagious sooner than with earlier variants — possibly within a day after infection.

The court's conservative majority concluded the administration overstepped its authority by seeking to impose the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's vaccine-or-test rule on U.S. businesses with at least 100 employees.