(AP Photo/Steve Helber)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Jan. 6 committee has dropped its subpoena against former President Donald Trump as it wraps up work and prepares to dissolve next week. The committee’s Democratic chairman wrote in a letter to Trump lawyer David Warrington on Wednesday that he is formally withdrawing the subpoena. Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson said the committee “has concluded its hearings, released its final report and will very soon reach its end” and will not be able to pursue the information in the subpoena. The committee had voted to subpoena Trump during its final televised hearing before the midterm elections in October, demanding testimony and documents.

FILE – Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf attends a dedication ceremony for the rebuilt Fern Hollow Bridge in Pittsburgh on Dec. 21, 2022. In January 2023, Wolf will wrap up eight years in office, having steered Pennsylvania through unpredictable times when the Democrat made life-and-death decisions in the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic and managed the battleground state’s presidential election amid unprecedented Republican efforts to overturn it. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Gov. Tom Wolf will wrap up eight years in office next month, having steered Pennsylvania through unpredictable times when the Democrat made life-and-death decisions in the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic and managed the battleground state’s presidential election amid unprecedented Republican efforts to overturn it. The 74-year-old Wolf leaves office with solid polling numbers and his endorsed successor, Attorney General Josh Shapiro, succeeding him. Unemployment was at an all-time low in November, the treasury is stuffed with cash and Wolf points to a lasting legacy of dedicating billions more dollars to public schools. He says his progressive vision produced results for Pennsylvanians, making lives better in an efficient, fair and honest way.

A fan displays a sign in support of Pelé at a Brazilian fan party before the the World Cup round of 16 soccer match between Brazil and South Korea, in Doha, Dec. 5, 2022. The 82-year-old Pelé remained in a hospital in San Paulo recovering from a respiratory infection that was aggravated by COVID-19, but the news coming from Brazil early Monday was good. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

SAO PAULO (AP) — One of Pelé’s daughters says she and her family are enduring moments of sadness and despair as the 82-year-old Brazilian soccer great’s hospitalization nears one month. The three-time World Cup winner’s cancer has advanced and doctors at Albert Einstein hospital recently said he’s under “elevated care” related to “kidney and cardiac dysfunctions.” Pelé was admitted to the Sao Paulo facility on Nov. 29. The hospital hasn’t published any updates in the past week. Kely Nascimento says on social media “These moments are hard to explain. Sometimes it is a lot of sadness and despair, in other moments we laugh and speak about fun memories.”

In this image taken from video released by the Tampa Police Department, police officer Gregory Damon drags a woman across the floor at Orient Road Jail in Tampa, Fla., on Nov. 17, 2022. Damon, who was videotaped dragging a handcuffed woman on the floor has been fired, authorities said. An internal investigation determined that former officer violated department policies during the Nov. 17 incident, the Tampa Police Department announced Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022 in a news release. (Tampa Police Department via AP)

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The police department in Tampa, Florida, has fired an officer who was videotaped dragging a handcuffed woman from a patrol car to a jail entrance. Authorities said Tuesday that an internal investigation determined former officer Gregory Damon had violated department policies during the Nov. 17 incident. A body camera video shows the woman refusing to leave Damon’s vehicle while parked at the Orient Road Jail and telling the officer, “I want you to drag me.” Damon then removes the woman from the vehicle and drags her by the arm across a concrete floor, stopping once to tell her to get up. The woman refuses.

FILE – David DePape is shown in Berkeley, Calif., on Dec. 13, 2013. DePape, who allegedly broke into U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home and beat her 82-year-old husband in October 2022 pleaded not guilty Wednesday, Dec. 28, to six charges, including attempted murder, prosecutors said. (Michael Short/San Francisco Chronicle via AP, File)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The man who allegedly broke into U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home and beat her 82-year-old husband in October has pleaded not guilty to six charges, including attempted murder. Suspect David DePape entered the plea in state court Wednesday. Authorities say he had planned to kidnap the speaker — who was out of town — when he broke into the couple’s San Francisco home on Oct. 28. Instead he severely beat her husband, Paul Pelosi, with a hammer in an attack that was witnessed by two police officers and shocked the political world. The public defender’s office declined to comment.

FILE – Passengers wearing masks walk through the Capital airport terminal in Beijing on Dec. 13, 2022. On Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022, the U.S. announced new COVID-19 testing requirements for all travelers from China, joining other nations imposing restrictions because of a surge of infections. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

The U.S. will soon require COVID-19 testing for travelers from China. The U.S. joins a few other nations imposing travel restrictions because of a surge of infections in China. The increase in cases follows the rollback of China’s strict anti-virus control. Beginning Jan. 5, travelers to the U.S. from China will have to take a COVID-19 test no more than two days before they travel and provide negative results before they board their flights. The U.S. action announced Wednesday is a return to requirements for some international travelers. The Biden administration lifted the last of such mandates in June.

FILE – Election worker Ramona Ortiz places a sign outside a polling station at Fire Station 3 on E. Rio Grande Ave in El Paso, Texas, just before polls open on Nov. 8, 2022. Next year is shaping up to be another busy for state legislatures seeking to change voting laws. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

An explosion of new election-related legislation followed former President Donald Trump’s lies about losing the 2020 presidential election due to fraud. Next year is shaping up to be another busy one for state legislatures seeking to change voting laws. Democrats are readying bills that would make it easier to vote in Michigan and Minnesota, two states where they won control of the statehouses in November. In Texas, nearly 100 bills related to voting have been pre-filed already. Some seek to increase access to the ballot box while others are aimed at further restricting it. Ohio is another Republican-controlled state where lawmakers continue to push for restrictions.

FILE- George Highhouse, of Scranton, brings his Christmas tree and a wreath to Lackawanna County Recycling in Dunmore, Pa., on Jan. 2, 2019. Discarded Christmas trees can be picked up curbside for recycling through regular trash-collection services or or dropped off at locations in various cities. The trees are often shredded for use as compost or mulch that is offered back to residents and non-profit groups free of charge for gardening and landscaping. (Jake Danna Stevens/The Times-Tribune via AP, File)

Taking down the Christmas tree is only one task after the holiday season. For families with real trees, figuring out what to do with them can be as easy as placing them curbside for recycling. Some cities collect and shred discarded Christmas trees, then offer them back free of charge as mulch for gardening and landscaping. The trees also can be stashed somewhere in the backyard as a shelter for birds. In many states, trees are used for fish habitat, rebuilding wetlands or shoring up eroded coastal areas. The last place to send them is to the landfill, where growing piles release the greenhouse gas methane as they decompose.

A hiring sign is displayed at a restaurant in Rolling Meadows, Ill., Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people seeking unemployment benefits rose modestly last week, the latest sign that the labor market remains strong despite the Federal Reserve’s efforts to cool the economy and hiring. Applications for unemployment aid for the week ending Dec. 24 climbed 9,000 to 225,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Unemployment benefit applications are a proxy for layoffs, and are being closely monitored by economists as the Fed has rapidly raised interest rates in an effort to cool job growth and inflation. Should the Fed’s rate hikes cause a recession, as many economists fear, a jump in layoffs and unemployment claims would be an early sign.

Tourists look out onto the city skyline from Christmas Tree Point on top of Twin Peaks in San Francisco, Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022. (Jessica Christian/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Almost 1,000 towns, hamlets and villages in the U.S. lost their status as urban areas as the U.S. Census Bureau released a new list of places considered urban based on revised criteria. The new standards raise the population threshold from 2,500 to 5,000 people and add housing units to the definition. Around 3.5 million residents who live in the small cities, towns and villages that lost their urban designation were bumped Thursday into the rural category. The change matters because rural and urban areas often qualify for different types of federal funding for transportation, housing, health care and education.