AP National News

NEW YORK (AP) — The latest adventure for “Game of Thrones” actor Gwendoline Christie is the audiobook for one of publishing’s most imaginative storytellers, Brian Selznick. Selznick’s “Kaleidoscope,” the latest work from the author of “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” comes out Sept. 21 in hardcover, e-book and audio, which will feature Christie’s narration and

By LEANNE ITALIE AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Joan MacDonald’s health was in shambles at age 71. She was overweight and on numerous medications with high cholesterol, rising blood pressure and kidney trouble. Her daughter, a fitness coach, warned that she’d wind up an invalid if she didn’t turn things around. She did,

By JOHN SEEWER and GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press Among the families who lost children and other loved ones in the nation’s opioid crisis, many had held out hope of someday facing OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and its owners in a courtroom. That prospect all but vanished Wednesday after a bankruptcy judge conditionally approved a settlement

By SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — An inquiry investigating child sexual abuse in a wide range of religious organizations and settings in England on Thursday found “shocking failures” in how many religions handled abuse allegations, with victim-blaming and abuse of power by religious leaders often contributing to under-reporting. The Independent Inquiry into Child

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish authorities are investigating the recent deaths of two men after alleged mistreatment by police in two separate cases in southwestern Poland. Four officers have been suspended after a 25-year-old Ukrainian man died in July at a center that takes in people judged to be drunk in public to allow them

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — Parts of the popular Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness will reopen Saturday as firefighters make progress fighting wildfires in northeastern Minnesota. The Superior National Forest is lifting the full closure of the Boundary Waters and the Crooked Lake area near the fires in Canada. The closure had dealt a blow to

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus will begin administering booster shots against COVID-19 to people over 65, those with weakened immune systems irrespective of age and health care professionals. Cyprus’ health minister said booster shots will be given to those who are eligible once a six-month period elapses from the time they completed their vaccination. Earlier

By JOHN RABY Associated Press CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A program offering $20,000 in cash and incentives for remote workers to move to West Virginia has drawn dozens of newcomers and is now taking applications for a second host city. Thousands of people inquired about the opportunity, and 53 new residents from as far away

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A growing number of companies big and small are now dropping requirements that made it harder to hire, from minimum education levels to amount of experience. Drug store chain CVS announced earlier in August it would no longer require a minimum high school degree to

BY DENISE LAVOIE and SARAH RANKIN Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday that the state can remove an iconic statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a prominent spot in the state’s capital city, saying “values change and public policy changes too” in a democracy. The 7-0 decision

By MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats have promoted Republican Rep. Liz Cheney to vice chairwoman of a committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, placing her in a leadership spot on the panel as some members of the GOP caucus are threatening to oust her for participating. Cheney, a fierce

Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Traffic at Florida’s busiest airport this holiday weekend is forecast to exceed pre-pandemic crowds. Officials at Orlando International Airport said Wednesday that this Labor Day weekend they are expecting more than 303,000 departures, a 7% increase above Labor Day weekend in 2019. If it pans out, that forecast will

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writers WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of jobless Americans who have depended on federal unemployment aid as a financial lifeline are about to lose those benefits just as the delta variant of the coronavirus poses a renewed threat to the economy and the job market. Two programs —

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The future of steel production at a sprawling plant west of Amsterdam was called into question Thursday after an investigation found elevated levels of lead and other deposits in dust falling in nearby residential areas. The investigation by the government’s Public Health and Environment Institute, known by its acronym RIVM,

MADRID (AP) — A humanitarian aid group that monitors the plight of migrants taking perilous seaborne routes to Spain said that 21 women and one girl have died and several dozen more people were lost at sea while trying to reach the Canary Islands. Helena Maleno, founder of nongovernmental organization Walking Borders, tweeted Thursday that

By KATHLEEN FOODY Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Rowers, kayakers and other users of the Chicago River are getting a real-time look at one measure of water quality in the system that weaves through downtown and several neighborhoods. Chicago nonprofit Current in 2019 installed three sensors in the river’s three main branches to continuously estimate

By JOE McDONALD Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — China’s government banned effeminate men on TV and told broadcasters Thursday to promote “revolutionary culture,” broadening a campaign to tighten control over business and society and enforce official morality. President Xi Jinping has called for a “national rejuvenation,” with tighter Communist Party control of business, education, culture

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer Jane Campion has not made a feature since 2009, but after a few years working in television she found herself drawn back to the romance of the two-hour story. Campion’s grand return to the form is the period piece “The Power of the Dog,” a sweeping but intimate family