Stories by Associated Press

In normal times, vice presidential debates don’t matter much. But in an election year as wild as 2020, everything is magnified. Here are key early takeaways from the only vice presidential debate ahead of the Nov. 3 Election Day.

“At this point, there’s no diagnostic test that tells you whether a person that’s infected remains infectious,” said Dr. Benjamin Pinsky, who leads Stanford University’s virology labs. 

Many doctors and nurses find themselves in a world where the politics of the crisis are complicating treatment efforts, with some people even resisting getting tested.

President Donald Trump vowed Thursday to skip next week's debate with Democratic nominee Joe Biden after organizers said it would be held virtually because of the president's COVID-19 diagnosis.

The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell slightly last week to a still-high 840,000, evidence that job cuts remain elevated seven months into the pandemic recession.

Jacob Blake, the 29-year-old Black man left paralyzed after he was shot in the back by a Kenosha police officer in August, was discharged from a Milwaukee hospital and is now undergoing treatment at an Illinois rehabilitation clinic.

Vice President Mike Pence and his Democratic challenger, California Sen. Kamala Harris, are set to face off in a debate that will offer starkly different visions for a country confronting escalating crises.

Chicago’s Second City comedy theater — where performers including Bill Murray, Steve Carell and Jordan Peele honed their skills — has been put up for sale.

The Trump administration is pressing for $1,200 stimulus checks and a new wave of aid for airlines and other businesses hard hit by the pandemic.

What’s the difference between absentee voting and mail voting? There really isn’t any difference. 

Why is it that one candidate can win the popular vote but another wins the electoral vote and thus the presidency? Because that’s how the framers of the Constitution set it up.

President Donald Trump abandoned COVID-19 relief talks on Tuesday. The unexpected turn could be a blow to Trump’s reelection prospects and comes as his administration and campaign are in turmoil.

The Supreme Court, already poised to take a significant turn to the right, opened its new term Monday with a jolt from two conservative justices who raised new criticism of the court’s embrace of same-sex marriage.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned Tuesday that a tentative recovery from the pandemic recession could falter unless the federal government supplies additional economic support.

Writers, sociologists, scientists, a documentary filmmaker, a legal scholar and an environmental health advocate are among the luminaries named this year. The Chicago-based foundation has awarded the grants every year since 1981.

President Donald Trump staged a dramatic return to the White House Monday night after leaving the military hospital where he has been receiving an unprecedented level of care for COVID-19.

President Donald Trump said Monday he’s leaving the military hospital where he has been treated for COVID-19 and will continue his recovery at the White House. He said he’s feeling good and the nation should not be afraid of the virus.

Local leaders say formally acknowledging the role racism plays not just in health care but in housing, the environment, policing and food access is a bold step. But what the declarations do to address systemic inequalities vary widely.

Infected and contagious, President Donald Trump briefly ventured out in a motorcade on Sunday to salute cheering supporters, a move that disregarded precautions meant to contain the deadly virus that has forced his hospitalization.

Two Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have tested positive for the coronavirus, raising questions about the timing of Supreme Court confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett.

President Donald Trump went through a “very concerning” period Friday and faces a “critical” next two days in his fight against COVID-19 at a military hospital, his chief of staff said Saturday.

The goal of contact tracing is to alert people who may have been exposed to someone with the coronavirus, and prevent them from spreading it to others. But the process isn’t easy. 

No one knows how, when or from whom President Donald Trump became infected. Nor is it established who, if anyone, has contracted the disease from him. But to retrace some of his steps over the last week is to see risk at multiple turns.

A proposal by House Democrats to give the airline industry $28.8 billion to avert thousands of furloughs failed to advance on Friday, marking a fresh setback for airlines struggling with a massive downturn in travel during the pandemic.

President Donald Trump will spend a “few days” at a military hospital after contracting COVID-19, the White House said Friday. Trump “remains fatigued,” his doctor said.

The grand jury in Breonna Taylor’s case brought no criminal charges against the officers for her killing, angering many in Louisville and around the country and setting off renewed protests.