The acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency is pushing back on criticisms of the federal response to the central Texas floods that killed at least 136 people.

Representatives of Balkan nations and Americans of both political parties agree on NATO's value in maintaining peace around the world.

A Federal Aviation Administration official says the main communication lines went down in Denver earlier this week but radar remained online.

Congress will consider rolling back an Obama-era rule that requires airlines to show the total cost of a ticket when advertising fares.

Federal safety officials aren't ready to give back authority for approving new planes to Boeing when it comes to the large 787 jet, which Boeing calls the Dreamliner.

Lawmakers are asking Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration for records detailing production problems with two of the company's most popular airliners.

(AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)BEIJING — Authorities in China’s northeastern port city of Dalian are testing millions of residents after seven new coronavirus cases were reported there in the last 24 hours. It has a deal to secure up to 100 million doses of the potential vaccine produced by AstraZeneca. Koca said the first shipment of three million doses of CoronaVac would be shipped to Turkey on Sunday and arrive Monday. He said Turkey could get 4.5 million doses until the end of March and would have the option buy up to 30 million doses. Indonesia has reported nearly 700,000 COVID-19 cases, the largest caseload in Southeast Asia and second in Asia only to India’s 10.1 million confirmed cases.

A demonstrator wears a face shield with a red handprint, mimicking blood, to protest Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's handling of the deadly coronavirus pandemic in Brasilia, Brazil, Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020. ___NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Dozens of Tennessee hospitals have stopped taking transfer patients because they are overwhelmed during one of the nation’s worst recent outbreaks of COVID-19 cases. ___DENVER — Colorado has started vaccinating correctional workers as the state sees a surge of coronavirus cases in its prisons. ___BOSTON — Help is on the way for Massachusetts small businesses struggling during the coronavirus pandemic, with Gov. COVID-19 cases have been declining in New Mexico, but the economic fallout from the pandemic continues.

A firefighter sprays foam on a burning, derailed train car Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020, in Custer, Wash. Officials say seven train cars carrying crude oil derailed and five caught fire north of Seattle and close to the Canadian border. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Seven train cars carrying crude oil derailed Tuesday and five caught fire, sending a large black plume of smoke into the sky north of Seattle close to the Canadian border, authorities said. The seven cars derailed at about 11:46 a.m. Tuesday, BNSF Railway spokesperson Courtney Wallace said at the news conference. Krogh said crude oil is volatile and there are often track maintenance concerns. "Clearly there may be more work to do.”Custer, a small town of several hundred people, is about 100 miles (161 kilometers) north of Seattle.