AP National News

By NOAH BERGER and JOHN ANTCZAK Associated Press SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — Fire crews moved to ramp up the battle Wednesday against two expanding forest fires threatening Sequoia National Park’s giant sequoia trees and infrastructure. The lightning-sparked Colony and Paradise fires covered about 11 square miles Wednesday. A fire spokesperson says the Colony

By AAMER MADHANI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has begun notifying governors and state refugee coordinators about how many Afghan evacuees from the first group of nearly 37,000 arrivals are slated to be resettled in their states. According to State Department data obtained by The Associated Press, California is projected to take

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is ordering the immediate repatriation of the entire U.N. peacekeeping contingent from Gabon serving in the Central African Republic. That follows credible reports of sexual abuse by some of its 450 members and past allegations. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric made the announcement

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Family and survivors of a bus crash that killed four Chinese tourists say the state of Utah didn’t do enough to make sure a remote highway was safe. The lawsuit filed Tuesday says the state failed to post warning signs, had a road design that

By FELICIA FONSECA Associated Press FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Crews searching for a missing man at Grand Canyon National Park made an unexpected discovery this summer. They found the remains of another person who authorities believe was last seen at the park in 2015. The medical examiner’s office is working to confirm the identity. Park

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — .SpaceX’s first private flight has streaked into orbit with two contest winners, a health care worker and their rich sponsor. It was the first time a spacecraft circled Earth with an all-amateur crew and no professional astronauts. SpaceX’s recycled rocket soared Wednesday night from

CAIRO (AP) — An Egyptian official say Libya’s interim prime minister has arrived in Cairo for talks on future ties between the two African neighbors. Premier Abdul Hamid Dbeibah was greeted at the Cairo airport on Wednesday by Egypt’s Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly. The Libyan premier heads his country’s delegation in talks on the so-called

By ALAN FRAM and RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A House committee has dealt an ominous if tentative blow to President Joe Biden’s social and environment package. The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted to derail a money-saving plan to let Medicare negotiate the price it pays for prescription drugs. That vote to

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Republican attorney who worked in former President Donald Trump’s administration and who falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen in Wisconsin appears to have been hired to help with the taxpayer-funded investigation into how the election was run. Andrew Kloster was listed as the author

By SOPHIA TAREEN Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago’s new schools chief will be San Antonio schools Superintendent Pedro Martinez. Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced new leadership for the nation’s third-largest school district on Wednesday. He replaces Chicago Public Schools interim chief Jose Torres. Torres has been leading the roughly 350,000-student district after CEO Janice Jackson

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The 10 nominees on the longlist for the National Book Award for young people’s literature were announced Wednesday. They include retellings of the myths of Paul Bunyan and of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen.” There’s also a look back at the Black Panther Party.

By MARCOS ALEMÁN Associated Press SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — Thousands of people in El Salvador are marching against the government of President Nayib Bukele. The demonstration Wednesday centered on fears Bukele may try for re-election in 2024. Protests also voiced concern about the president’s concentration of power and the controversial decision to make

By KATHY GANNON Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The friction between pragmatists and ideologues in the Taliban leadership has intensified since the group formed a hard-line Cabinet last week that is more in line with their harsh rule in the 1990s than their recent promises of inclusiveness. That’s according to two Afghans familiar with

By NASSER KARIMI and ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has acknowledged it removed several surveillance cameras installed by international nuclear inspectors at a centrifuge assembly site that came under a mysterious attack earlier this year. The chief of the country’s nuclear program on Wednesday sought to portray the removal of cameras

By YVES-LAURENT GOMA Associated Press LIBREVILLE, Gabon (AP) — Gabon’s government says the United Nations is withdrawing 450 Gabonese peacekeepers from its mission in Central African Republic following allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse. Gabon’s defense ministry said Wednesday it has opened an investigation into the allegations. It said if any allegations are proven, perpetrators

By COLLEEN LONG and ANDREW DEMILLO Associated Press Religious objections were once used only sparingly around the country to get exempted from various required vaccines. But they are becoming a much more widely used loophole against the COVID-19 shot. About 2,600 Los Angeles Police Department employees are citing religious objections to try to get out

DUNWOODY, Ga. (AP) — Gas has been temporarily turned off at an apartment complex in Georgia where a building exploded last weekend and partially collapsed, sending four people to a hospital. Atlanta Gas Light said inspectors have identified appliance and fuel line issues within the buildings. Officials said they have been directed by the Dunwoody

By LAURAN NEERGAARD and MATTHEW PERRONE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. government advisers will debate Friday if there’s enough proof that a booster dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective. It’s the first public step toward deciding which Americans may get an extra dose and when. The Food and Drug Administration on

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Attorneys are asking a judge to dismiss a new manslaughter charge against the former suburban Minneapolis police officer who shot and killed Daunte Wright. Former Brooklyn Center Officer Kim Potter says she mistakenly drew her gun instead of her stun gun as Wright was trying to drive away from officers. Prosecutors charged

MARION, Ind. (AP) — A northern Indiana woman convicted last month in the 2019 strangulation death of her 10-year-old stepdaughter has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Amanda Carmack, of Gas City, was sentenced on Wednesday. She was arrested days after the body of Skylea Carmack was found stashed in