AP National News

By ROBERT BURNS, ELLEN KNICKMEYER and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden says even with the Taliban in power in Afghanistan, he sees a greater threat from outposts of al-Qaida and its affiliated groups in other countries, and that it was no longer “rational” to continue to focus U.S. military power

By NOMAAN MERCHANT and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The warnings were clear: The Afghan government would likely fall once U.S. troops pulled out. But intelligence agencies and ultimately President Joe Biden missed how quickly it would happen, losing weeks that could have been used for evacuations and spurring a foreign policy crisis.

By MARK STEVENSON and EVENS SANON Associated Press LES CAYES, Haiti (AP) — Relief for the victims of a powerful earthquake and tropical storm began flowing more quickly into Haiti on Thursday, but the Caribbean nation’s entrenched poverty, insecurity and lack of basic infrastructure were still presenting huge challenges to getting food and urgent medical

By GARANCE BURKE, MARTHA MENDOZA, JULIET LINDERMAN and MICHAEL TARM Associated Press Michael Williams, a 65-year-old grandfather from Chicago, sat behind bars for nearly a year accused of murder. But the key evidence against Williams didn’t come from an eyewitness or an informant; a major factor was a loud bang picked up by a network

By FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ Associated Press TULUM, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Grace struck Mexico’s Caribbean coast just south of the ancient Mayan temples of Tulum on Thursday, tearing the roofs off some homes, knocking out power to thousands and keeping tourists off white sand beaches as it crossed the Yucatan Peninsula. The push across land weakened

By GARANCE BURKE, MARTHA MENDOZA, JULIET LINDERMAN and MICHAEL TARM Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Michael Williams, a 65-year-old grandfather from Chicago, sat behind bars for nearly a year accused of murder. But the key evidence against Williams didn’t come from an eyewitness or an informant; prosecutors focused on a loud bang picked up by

By KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic-led congressional committees are vowing to press President Joe Biden’s administration on what went wrong as the Taliban swept to power in Afghanistan and the United States left scores of Americans and thousands who helped them over the years in grave danger. The anger from members of

By MARIA CHENG AP Medical Writer LONDON (AP) — What is being done to distribute COVID-19 vaccines globally? Several groups are working to get shots to poor countries, but they’re falling far short of what’s needed to curb outbreaks around the world. Among the efforts is COVAX, which relies on donations from rich countries and

By GARANCE BURKE, MARTHA MENDOZA, JULIET LINDERMAN and MICHAEL TARM Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Michael Williams’ wife pleaded with him to remember their fishing trips with the grandchildren, how he used to braid her hair, anything to jar him back to his world outside the concrete walls of Cook County Jail. His three daily

By ETHAN SWOPE and JOHN ANTCZAK Associated Press PLACERVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Dry and windy weather dogged firefighters’ efforts to contain destructive fires that are devouring the bone-dry forests of drought-stricken Northern California on Thursday. An estimated 11,000 firefighters were on the lines of more than a dozen large wildfires that have destroyed hundreds of

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Nearly three years later, former Nissan executive Greg Kelly is still wondering why the questions that led to his arrest and trial in Japan weren’t simply taken up in the automaker’s corporate boardroom. Kelly, an American lawyer who worked for three decades for Nissan Motor Co.,

By AUDREY McAVOY Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — A Hawaii judge has rejected murder and attempted murder charges against three Honolulu police officers in the fatal shooting of a teenager, preventing the case from going to trial. District Court Judge William Domingo says there’s no probable cause that the officers committed the crimes they were

By EILEEN NG Associated Press KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s longest-governing political party appeared set to reclaim the premiership it lost in a shock 2018 election defeat, with its lawmakers summoned to the palace Thursday to verify their candidate has enough support to take office. The choice of former Deputy Prime Minister Ismail Sabri

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States is urging more than 150 countries planning to send their leader or a government minister to New York to speak at the U.N. General Assembly next month to consider giving a video address instead to prevent the annual high-level week from becoming

By MARK THIESSEN and BECKY BOHRER Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A federal judge on Wednesday threw out Trump administration approvals for a large planned oil project on Alaska’s North Slope, saying the federal review was flawed and didn’t include mitigation measures for polar bears. U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason in Anchorage vacated

By KATHLEEN RONAYNE Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Republican recall candidate Kevin Faulconer now shares a target with Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom: Talk radio host Larry Elder. The 69-year-old has emerged as frontrunner in the effort to replace Newsom if voters recall him Sept. 14. Newsom has highlighted his conservative views as out of

FRANKFORT, Ind. (AP) — Authorities say two women are dead after a gunman opened fire at a central Indiana automotive plant. The Clinton County Sheriff’s Office says the shooting happened around 4:15 p.m. Wednesday in the parking lot of the NHK Seating of America plant near Frankfort. Authorities say both women and the alleged shooter

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday nominated Oregon resident and tribal citizen Charles F. “Chuck” Sams III to head the National Park Service. If confirmed by the Senate, Sams would be the first Native American to hold the position. He is Cayuse and Walla Walla and a citizen of the Confederated Tribes

By SARA CLINE Associated Press/Report for America PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Just 41 intensive care unit beds were available in Oregon as COVID-19 cases continue to climb and hospitals near capacity in a state that was once viewed as a pandemic success story. Oregon earlier had among the lowest cases per capita. Now, it’s shattering