At 5, Joshlyn Johnson was going to school, being a big sister to her 3-year-old brother Larry and living happily, relatives said, in Dayton, Ohio, with their mother and the couple they called Papa and Nana.

James Phillips and his wife, Evelyn Phillips-Simon, had themselves raised the children’s mother, their niece Dachelle Johnson, from the ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The two groups of senators who were battling over how to word a section of the infrastructure bill that would impose new tax rules for cryptocurrencies say they are nearing a compromise, but the deal may come too late to get added to the Senate’s infrastructure bill.

An agreement would resolve a days-long dispute that pitted ...Read more

ALBANY, New York — Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s top aide Melissa DeRosa stepped down Sunday as the governor faces potential criminal charges and calls for his own resignation over sexual harassment allegations.

The defection of DeRosa, who served in the most powerful unelected position in state government, is a major blow to Cuomo as he prepares to ...Read more

Australians’ approval of Prime Minister Scott Morrison has fallen to the lowest level since the pandemic began, with voters wearying of virus-induced lockdowns amid his government’s tardy vaccine rollout.

Support for Morrison’s handling of the crisis has fallen from 85% in April last year — when his conservative government imposed ...Read more

Teachers should be required to get COVID-19 vaccines, the head of the American Federation of Teachers said Sunday.

The union currently favors vaccinations on a voluntary basis, but its president Randi Weingarten said her views have changed as COVID-19 case numbers have spiked nationwide. She’ll urge the group to revisit its stance when she ...Read more

Norwegian Cruise Lines Holdings can require proof of vaccines for all passengers and crews, a federal judge ruled Sunday night.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams said in her ruling that Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises can require documentation of vaccines before they leave Florida ports. The cruise line�...Read more

Comedian Kathy Griffin has promised to offer a behind-the-scenes look at her recovery from surgery to remove part of a lung and the cancer infesting it, and on Saturday she started delivering.

The 60-year-old spoke on camera for the first time since her surgery via an Instagram post.

“My voice is like, really hoarse, and I don’t want to ...Read more

MIAMI — Florida's hospitalizations for COVID-19 continue an unabated rise, according to numbers released Sunday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The 13,793 novel coronavirus patients in 251 hospitals in Sunday’s HHS update represented a relatively small spike from the 13,747 reported Saturday. Similarly small was the ...Read more

The COVID-19 delta variant is driving up infections among children across the country, many of whom are too young to be vaccinated against the disease, just as they prepare to head back to classrooms this month.

After declining from April through June, cases among U.S. children rose sharply in late July, according to the American Academy of ...Read more

CHICAGO — At least 45 people were shot in less than 20 hours in Chicago, seven of them fatally, including a Chicago police officer who was killed by gunfire as she and her partner were making a traffic stop in the West Englewood neighborhood. The slain officer’s partner was also wounded and remained hospitalized Sunday from his injuries.

...Read more

A top U.S. health official decried the politicization of COVID-19 vaccines on Sunday, repeating a now-familiar refrain among many leaders.

“Isn’t that a shame?” Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, told ABC’s “This Week.” “How did we get here? Why is it that a mandate about a vaccine or wearing a mask ...Read more

A group of parents in Florida asked a judge to block an executive order by Gov. Ron DeSantis that bans school districts from imposing mask requirements when classes resume in the fall.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in state court in Florida, comes amid a fierce national debate about whether children in schools should wear masks as the delta variant...Read more

DETROIT — Attempts to skirt Canada's requirements from Americans crossing the border by car when it opens Monday could result in hefty fines or jail time, the country's government said.

Failure to comply with Canada' current border-entry requirements and restrictions can result in up to six months in prison and $750,000 in fines, according to...Read more

ATLANTA — A North Georgia postal worker was shot to death on Saturday while he was delivering mail on his morning route, officials said.

The suspected gunman in the incident opened fire on a group of deputies investigating the death, leading to an officer-involved shooting, the Banks County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Deputies ...Read more

AUSTIN, Texas — Available hospital space for COVID-19 patients in the Austin area continued to be a source of anxiety over the weekend, leading officials to redouble their efforts to persuade residents to get vaccinated as a means of slowing new cases driven by the delta variant.

An automated phone message distributed by the city encouraged ...Read more

BALTIMORE — One man was killed and two other men and a 15-year-old boy were injured in separate shootings this weekend in Baltimore, police said.

Baltimore police said that around 8:40 a.m. Sunday, officers were called to the 3500 block of Springdale Avenue for a report of an unresponsive person.

When officers arrived in Northwest Baltimore�...Read more