AP National News

By REBECCA SANTANA and KEVIN McGILL Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Tropical Depression Nicholas hovered over Louisiana on Wednesday, raining on a region struggling to recover from Hurricane Ida and deluging coastal Mississippi, Alabama and northwest Florida. Flash flood warnings were in effect Wednesday evening in parts of south Alabama and northwest Florida. And

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — For Tennessee Williams, Rome was a longtime love affair, “the capitol of my heart” with its skies of “stainless blue” and cathedral domes “bathed in golden light.” At times, he worried about how Romans felt in return. Honored worldwide as a playwright, Williams also wrote

By PAUL J. WEBER Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — One Texas woman traveled nearly 1,000 miles to Colorado for an abortion. Others are driving four hours to New Mexico. And in Houston, clinics that typically perform more than 100 abortions in a week are down to a few a day. Two weeks after the

By JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — State police say a prominent South Carolina lawyer tried to arrange his own death this month so his son would get $10 million in life insurance. But authorities say the planned fatal shot only grazed Alex Murdaugh’s head on Sept. 4. The State Law Enforcement Division

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press California Gov. Gavin Newsom ably fended off a recall attempt from Republicans on Tuesday, changing the stakes of the contest from a referendum on his own performance and into a partisan fight over Trumpism and the coronavirus. Five takeaways from Newsom’s victory: COVID PRECAUTIONS CAN HELP DEMOCRATS Republicans intended the

By MARCY GORDON AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats began the serious work of trying to implement President Joe Biden’s expansive spending plan, but getting there will require remarkable legislative nimbleness, since Biden has said the revenue to pay for it must come only from Americans who earn more than $400,000 a year.

By JONATHAN LEMIRE and ROBERT BURNS Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The top U.S. military officer on Wednesday defended the phone calls he made to his Chinese counterpart in the turbulent final months of Donald Trump’s presidency, saying the conversations were intended to convey “reassurance” to the Chinese military and were in line with his

By JILL COLVIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — As tens of thousands of Afghan refugees fleeing the Taliban arrive in the U.S., a handful of former Trump administration officials are working to turn Republicans against them. The former officials are writing position papers, appearing on conservative television outlets and meeting privately with GOP lawmakers —

By EDNA TARIGAN Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A small cargo plane crashed in steep mountainous forest of Indonesia’s easternmost Papua province Wednesday, officials confirmed after an aerial search located the lost Rimbun Air plane. Officials say a search and rescue team, police and military are trekking to the crash site to determine the

By HYUNG-JIN KIM and KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Wednesday criticized South Korea’s president and threatened a “complete destruction” of bilateral relations after both countries tested ballistic missiles hours apart. The launches of missiles underscored a return of tensions between

By MARK THIESSEN Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Overwhelmed by a surge in COVID-19 patients, Alaska’s largest hospital on Tuesday implemented crisis standards of care, prioritizing resources and treatments to those patients who have the potential to benefit the most. “While we are doing our utmost, we are no longer able to provide the

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A U.N. official says 4 million Afghans are facing “a food emergency” and the majority live in rural areas where $36 million is urgently needed for the coming months to ensure the planting of winter wheat, feed for livestock, and cash assistance for vulnerable families,

By JOHNSON LAI, HUIZHONG WU and MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press JIADONG, Taiwan (AP) — The F-16 screeched across the sky Wednesday before landing on a highway cut through pineapple fields in southwestern Taiwan to refuel quickly and take off again. The Taiwanese military exercise envisioned a Chinese attack taking out the island’s main airfields, necessitating

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Mexican government says it has successfully completed a three-month push to provide coronavirus vaccines to all adult residents of communities along its border with the United States. Mexico said that when it began the effort in June, it hoped the mass vaccinations would aid in lifting pandemic restrictions on non-essential

By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A case seen as an early test of New York’s law criminalizing police chokeholds has ended without an indictment. A Queens grand jury on Tuesday declined charges for David Afanador, a former New York City police officer who was seen on cellphone video last year

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The foreign ministers of South Korea and China are meeting for talks expected to focus on North Korea and other regional security issues. Wednesday’s meeting in Seoul came two days after North Korea claimed to have tested a newly developed cruise missile. South Korean Foreign

MIAMI (AP) — Prosecutors say a former University of Miami professor, his wife and his sister are facing federal charges related to purchasing genetic sequencing equipment from U.S. manufacturers and illegally shipping it to Iran. Court records show that Mohammad Faghihi, his wife Farzeneh Modarresi and his sister Faezeh Faghihi made their initial appearances Tuesday

MIAMI (AP) — A South Florida man claiming to be a film financier was sentenced Tuesday to 13 years in prison for running a scheme to steal over $60 million from investors and producers seeking financing for movies and Broadway shows. Benjamin Forrest McConley, 39, was sentenced in Miami federal court, according to court records.

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — An Alaska lawmaker is apologizing after saying Nazi experimentation on prisoners “produced results.” State Rep. Sara Hannan, a Juneau Democrat, made the comment Saturday when House minority Republicans were attempting a vote on whether an ethics code devised after Nazi experimentation on people in World War II remains valid. Hannan apologized

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is releasing nearly $200 million in military aid to Egypt but will hold back millions more over human rights concerns, the State Department said Tuesday in an announcement quickly criticized by rights groups and some lawmakers. The department said Secretary of State Antony