AP National News

By JULIET LINDERMAN and CLAIRE GALOFARO Associated Press HOUMA, La. (AP) — As one of the most powerful hurricanes in the nation’s history barreled into Louisiana, a pair of hospitals squarely in its path braced for the worst. Medical facilities facing a Category 4 storm typically either evacuate or discharge as many patients as possible.

By IRENE YAGÜE and JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press MADRID (AP) — Protests in Spain to denounce a rise in hate crimes against LGBTQ people have gone ahead after a high-profile case that had grabbed attention across the country took an unexpected twist. Thousands gathered in Madrid and Barcelona Wednesday, three days after a young man

By ANDREW DeMILLO Associated Press LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — An Arkansas appeals court has reversed a lower court judge’s order that Little Rock must reinstate a police officer who was fired for fatally shooting a Black motorist. The Arkansas Court of Appeals panel reversed Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox’s decision last year regarding

By MARIA CHENG AP Medical Writer The mu variant of the coronavirus was first identified in Colombia in January and has since caused isolated outbreaks in South America, Europe and the United States. The World Health Organization last month listed it as a “variant of interest” because of concerns it may make vaccines and treatments

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York City’s medical examiner’s office is continuing the difficult task of identifying remains recovered from the rubble of the World Trade Center. Just days before the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, officials say they have identified the remains of two more people.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Oklahoma attorney general’s office has asked the state’s Court of Criminal Appeals to push back execution dates for seven death row inmates based on requirements to give a 35-day notice before any execution. Attorney General John O’Connor asked the court in a brief filed Friday to schedule John Marion Grant’s

SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — North Macedonia has marked the 30th anniversary of its independence from Yugoslavia with a military parade in the capital Skopje and ceremonies around the country. The country’s prime minister led Wednesday’s celebrations, attending the parade that also included folk dancers, fire service rescuers, paramedics, and farmers who drove their tractors

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press Dylann Roof has filed the next step in his federal appeal. On Wednesday, Roof’s lawyers filed a petition with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to challenge the court’s confirmation of his conviction and death sentence for the 2015 racist slayings of nine members of a Black South

By LYNN ELBER and MARK KENNEDY Associated Press Feeling lucky, Mr. Mandalorian? How about you, Duke of Hastings? The Emmys tend to field an eclectic group of contenders, and more so now as new outlets have expanded TV’s scope and sophistication. Versions of sci-fi and comic book epics have jumped from the big screen to

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. economic activity “downshifted slightly to a moderate pace” in July and August due to rising concerns about COVID’s delta variant, as well as supply chain problems and labor shortages, the Federal Reserve’s latest survey of the nation’s business conditions revealed. The Fed survey, released Wednesday,

By JILL LAWLESS LONDON (AP) — British writer Susanna Clarke has won the prestigious Women’s Prize for Fiction for her mind-tweaking fantasy novel “Piranesi.” Clarke was awarded the 30,000-pound ($41,000) prize Wednesday for her story about a man living in a labyrinthine, statue-filled house that comprises his whole universe. Novelist Bernardine Evaristo, who chaired the

By JIM VERTUNO AP Sports Writer AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas chapter of the NAACP and a group of students have filed a federal civil rights complaint against the University of Texas for its continued use of school song “The Eyes of Texas.” The complaint filed Sept. 3 with the U.S. Department of Education

LONDON (AP) — A man from northwestern England was spared jail time after he pleaded guilty to posting racist abuse on social media after three Black players on the England soccer team missed penalty shots during the final of the European Championship in July.  The Crown Prosecution Service said Scott McCluskey, 43, of Cheshire posted

BY GLENN GAMBOA AP Business Writer David Paine and Jay Winuk — who successfully lobbied the federal government to officially rename the day September 11 National Day of Service & Remembrance – have packed and distributed thousands of meals across the country, as well as encouraged millions to commemorate the day with volunteerism. To mark

By CHRISTOPH NOELTING and GEIR MOULSON Associated Press RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (AP) — The U.S. and Germany have stepped up pressure on Iran to return soon to talks on its nuclear program. Germany’s foreign minister said Wednesday that a delay of two or three months floated by Tehran is too long. The remaining parties

By SARA CLINE Associated Press/Report for America PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The City Council in Portland, Oregon, has delayed a vote on an expected emergency resolution that would ban the purchase of goods and services from Texas in response to a new law there prohibiting most abortions. The resolution if passed would also bar city

By DARIA LITVINOVA Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s top independent TV channel Dozhd says police in Moscow have detained three journalists who picketed Russia’s Justice Ministry, protesting the authorities’ recent crackdown on independent media. Irina Dolinina, Alesya Marokhovskaya and Polina Uzhvak of the Vazhniye Istorii news outlet came to the ministry Wednesday to protest

By KEVIN McGILL and MELINDA DESLATTE Associated Press HOUMA, La. (AP) — Officials have raised Hurricane Ida’s death toll in Louisiana to 26. The additional 11 deaths all occurred in the city of New Orleans. The state Health Department said Wednesday that the people died between Aug. 30 and Monday, but that the Orleans Parish

By CURT ANDERSON AP Legal Affairs Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A Florida judge has ruled the state cannot enforce its ban on mask mandates in public schools to guard against the coronavirus while an appeals court sorts out whether the ban is ultimately legal. Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper lifted an

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The terror group al-Qaida under Osama bin Laden grew into a generational threat to America that culminated in its Sept. 11, 2001, attack that brought down the World Trade Center in New York. It was born out of the 1980s war against the Soviet