AP National News

By KATHY GANNON Associated Press PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — The Taliban win in Afghanistan is giving a boost to militants in neighboring Pakistan. The Pakistani Taliban, known as the TTP, have become emboldened in tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan. They hope to regain control in these areas that they lost in an offensive

MOUNT AIRY, N.C. (AP) — Betty Lynn, who was best known as Barney Fife’s sweetheart Thelma Lou on “The Andy Griffith Show,” has died at the age of 95. The Andy Griffith Museum said in a statement that she died Saturday after a brief illness. Lynn appeared on the show from 1961 until 1966. Later,

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s Queensland state plans to open to vaccinated travelers, ending the status it has enjoyed throughout the pandemic of being virtually free of COVID-19. Tight border controls helped make Queensland and Western Australia among the most successful states in keeping out COVID-19. They’ve been reluctant to

By RUSS BYNUM Associated Press BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — Hundreds of people have been ordered to report for jury duty in Georgia for what could be a long, laborious effort to find jurors for the trial of three white men charged with fatally shooting Ahmaud Arbery. Graphic video of the slaying of the 25-year-old Black

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Jill Biden says her relationship with a “prayer partner” from South Carolina helped lead her back to God. The first lady says she couldn’t bring herself to pray for years after son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015. She says she felt “betrayed” and

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A day at the beach turned into a proposal for Kourtney Kardashian, who is now engaged to Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker. Kardashian posted two photos on Instagram of the proposal with the caption “forever.” A representative for the reality star and businesswoman confirmed Sunday that the couple are engaged. The images

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer Asian shares are mostly lower after China reported its economy grew at a meager 4.9% annual pace in July-September. Benchmarks declined in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo but rose in Sydney. On Friday, Wall Street added to its recent gains, with the benchmark S&P 500 posting its best week

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo is on a mission to save American jobs — one computer chip at a time. As President Joe Biden’s de facto tech minister, Raimondo is tasked with ensuring the United States will be the world leader in computer chips. The Democratic president’s political

By JONATHAN LEMIRE and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is entering a crucial two weeks for his ambitious agenda. Biden is racing to conclude contentious congressional negotiations ahead of both domestic deadlines and a chance to showcase his administration’s accomplishments on the world stage. Biden and his fellow Democrats are

By DÁNICA COTO and EVENS SANON Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — U.S. officials are working with Haitian authorities to try to secure the release of 12 adults and five children with a U.S.-based missionary group who were abducted by a gang notorious for killings, kidnappings and extortion. Police say the group was snatched by

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Almost overnight, Japan has become a stunning, and somewhat mysterious, coronavirus success story. Daily new COVID-19 cases have plummeted after a mid-August peak that nearly reached 6,000 in Tokyo, with caseloads in the densely populated capital now below 100, an 11-month low. Possible factors include, after a

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — China’s economic growth sank in the last quarter as a slowdown in construction and curbs on energy use weighed on its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Government data show the world’s second-largest economy grew by 4.9% over a year earlier in July-September, down from the previous

GRAMBLING, La. (AP) — Officials say one person was fatally shot and seven others were wounded at Grambling State University in the second deadly shooting at the Louisiana school within four days. The university says the shooting happened around 1 a.m. Sunday on the campus quad. The person who died wasn’t enrolled at the school.

ROSEMONT, Penn. (AP) — Megan Rice, a nun and Catholic peace activist who spent two years in federal prison while in her 80s after breaking into a government security complex to protest nuclear weapons, has died. She was 91. Rice died of congestive heart failure Oct. 10 at Holy Child Center in Rosemont, Pennsylvania. Her

By SUMAN NAISHADHAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday will visit Lake Mead in Nevada to highlight the problems caused by Western drought. Harris will meet federal and state officials at the largest manmade reservoir in the U.S. in an effort to promote Biden administration infrastructure and climate change proposals

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Jill Biden has returned to the South Carolina Baptist church where she says she began to repair her relationship with God after her son Beau Biden’s death from brain cancer six years ago. The first lady made a surprise appearance Sunday at the 50th anniversary

HAVEN DALEY ORANGE, Calif. (AP) — Bill Clinton has returned to his home in New York to continue recovering from an infection that left him in treatment for six days at a Southern California hospital. The 75-year-old former president left University of California Irvine Medical Center on Sunday morning and arrived at his home in

By DAVID GINSBURG Associated Press BALTIMORE (AP) — Frazzled and frustrated by a Baltimore Ravens defense that chased him all over the field, Justin Herbert could only shrug his shoulders after an uncharacteristic poor performance. Walking into the interview room wearing a nondescript sweatshirt and with a head full of wet hair, Herbert did his

By JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Independent conservative Peter Marki-Zay has won a primary contest to become the joint canddate of a six-party opposition coalition that will challenge right-wing populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Hungary’s elections next spring. Marki-Zay called his victory Sunday “a revolution of the ordinary people,” and encouraged

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — Officials say fire crews made significant progress overnight against a wildfire burning for nearly a week in Southern California coastal mountains. More than 1,600 firefighters battling the blaze in the Santa Ynez Mountains west of Santa Barbara on land and by air were able to stop its forward growth. Federal