AP National News

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken has endured a second day of harsh bipartisan criticism of the Biden administration’s Afghanistan withdrawal. As he testified on Tuesday, a new intelligence estimate warned that al-Qaida could begin to threaten the U.S. from Afghanistan within one or two years. Democrats

By LLAZAR SEMINI Associated Press TIRANA, Albania (AP) — In her last trip in the western Balkans as a German chancellor, Angela Merkel visited Albania to urge the leaders of six western Balkan nations gathered there to strengthen their regional cooperation in their strive for European Union membership. The western Balkan states are at different

By VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Warsaw’s Jewish community has buried an unidentified Holocaust victim whose remains were discovered in a building that was within the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. Poland’s chief rabbi said “we are here as the family for a person we don’t know.” The bones were wrapped

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Massive government relief passed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic moved millions of Americans out of poverty last year, even as the official poverty rate increased slightly. That’s according to Census Bureau reports released Tuesday. The official poverty measure showed an increase of 1 percentage point in

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A judge has suspended Minnesota’s new stricter standards on when police can use deadly force, halting a change in state law that followed the death of George Floyd while in custody of Minneapolis police. The new standards, passed by the Legislature in 2020, raised the bar on officers to justify

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Poet Patricia Smith has won the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize for lifetime achievement, a $100,000 honor handed out by the Chicago-based Poetry Foundation. Previous winners include W.S. Merwin, Kay Ryan and the current poet laureate, Joy Harjo. Smith is known for such collections as “Blood Dazzler” and “Incendiary Art,”

LOGANSPORT, Ind. (AP) — A 22-year-old U.S. Marine from Indiana has been remembered as a hero during a funeral in his hometown. Corporal Humberto Sanchez was among 13 U.S. service members killed in August in a suicide bombing at Afghanistan’s Kabul airport during the U.S.-led evacuation. Former Vice President Mike Pence was among the mourners

By KATHY GANNON Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s new foreign minister says the Taliban governing the country remain committed to not allowing militants to use their territory to launch attacks. But he refused to say when or if the country’s new rulers would create a more inclusive government. Amir Khan Mutaqi repeated several

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press A task force of outside experts has found no evidence of political interference in the 2020 census numbers used for divvying up congressional seats among the U.S. states. The American Statistical Association task force also said Tuesday that it had encountered no irregularities indicating the figures are unfit for use

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — UK. Health Secretary Sajid Javid says that the government canceled an agreement with French vaccine maker Valneva partly because it was clear the company’s COVID-19 shot wouldn’t be approved by British regulators. Javid’s comments came a day after Valneva said the government had terminated an agreement to

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s president has told his German counterpart in a telephone call that Turkey does not have the capacity to deal with a possible new refugee wave from Afghanistan. According to a statement from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office, the Turkish leader also told German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier Tuesday that Germany and

By SYLVIE CORBET The Associated Press PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron has announced measures to make the police more transparent about wrongdoings. They include the publication of internal investigation reports and the creation of a parliamentary monitoring body. Macron’s speech Tuesday in a police school in northern France comes after a monthslong national

By The Associated Press Jeff Bridges says his cancer is in remission and his COVID-19 case is “in the rear view mirror.” The actor posted an update on his website on Monday sharing his good news. He says his tumor shrank from 12 inches down to the size of a marble. But he says he

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer The first standing ovation Dionne Warwick ever received was as a 6-year-old, when her reverend grandfather brought her up to the pulpit of the St. Luke’s AME Church in Newark, New Jersey, where she sang “Jesus Loves Me” for a rapt congregation. Warwick’s most recent standing ovation, though, was

By MOHAMED WAGDY Associated Press SAQQARA, Egypt (AP) — Egypt is showcasing an ancient tomb structure belonging to the cemetery complex of King Djoser, a pharaoh who lived more than 4,500 years ago, following extensive restorations of the site. The structure is largely underground and includes a labyrinth of corridors decorated with carvings and tiles.

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer prices rose a lower-than-expected 0.3% last month, the smallest monthly increase n seven months and a hopeful sign that inflation pressures may be cooling. The Labor Department reported Tuesday that the August gain was down from a 0.5% increase in July and a 0.9%

MADRID (AP) — The leader of Catalonia in northeastern Spain has announced that it’s excluding a separatist party in his ruling regional coalition from talks with the central government aimed at solving the tensions over the growing pro-independence sentiment. Catalan President Pere Aragonès also said Tuesday that he will urge Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sànchez

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s Socialist-led coalition government is slashing energy taxes and imposing a temporary windfall tax on the gains of energy companies in an attempt to drive down household electricity bills, which have surged to record highs and triggered an outcry. Environment Minister Teresa Ribera said Tuesday the government’s urgent measures are in response

PRAGUE (AP) — Czech President Milos Zeman has been hospitalized while predecessor Vaclav Klaus is undergoing tests at the same hospital. The presidential office didn’t immediately comment on Zeman’s hospitalization Tuesday. It was confirmed by Prague’s military hospital. Further details weren’t immediately given. An adviser to Zeman told Czech public radio that he was there

PARIS (AP) — Bordeaux, the French city that was a transit station in the slave trade, feared racism was behind the disfiguring of an African slave statue found partially covered in what looked like white paint. But instead, the city said Tuesday the statue was disfigured with plaster by an art student who had no