AP National News

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. (AP) — Police in central Florida say a toddler fatally shot a woman while she was on a work-related video call. News outlets report the woman was the mother of the young child who found a loaded gun Wednesday and opened fire. Altamonte Springs police say another person on the video call

BEIJING (AP) — Flooding in central China continues to cause havoc in both cities and rural areas. Authorities said Friday that another 21 people had been killed and another four were missing. Floodwaters rose to 3.5 meters (11.4 feet) in Hubei province’s Liulin township following heavy rains that began Wednesday. The latest deaths add to

By GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Officials are investigating one possible heat-related death in Oregon from a Pacific Northwest heat wave. Emergency room visits for heat-related illness also have risen sharply as sweltering temperatures gripped the normally temperate Pacific Northwest for the second time this summer. Hot weather and wildfire smoke will

By EUGENE GARCIA and DAISY NGUYEN Associated Press WESTWOOD, Calif. (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service said Friday it’s operating in crisis mode, fully deploying firefighters and maxing out its support system as wildfires continue to break out across the U.S. West. The agency says it has more than twice the number of firefighters working

By ALAN FRAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Prospects seem increasingly dicey for a bipartisan Senate deal on overhauling policing practices. Deadlocked lawmakers have left the Capitol for August recess. Congress will have to devote much of its time this fall to handling President Joe Biden’s drive for huge pots of social, environment and infrastructure

By ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Even as President Joe Biden becomes more aggressive in pressuring Americans to get vaccinated, he has refrained from using all his powers. He’s held off, for instance, on proposals to require vaccinations for all air travelers or, for that matter, the federal workforce. The result is a

By ROBERT BURNS and ELLEN KNICKMEYER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The last-minute decision to send 3,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan to help partially evacuate the U.S. Embassy is calling into question whether President Joe Biden can meet his deadline for fully withdrawing by the end of the month. The vanguard of a Marine contingent

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — The Tokyo Olympics have ended, but it’s still vacation season in Japan and many people are ignoring government requests to avoid travel and gathering at bars and restaurants even as the coronavirus spikes. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is pinning his hopes on vaccinations to slow the infections.

By LAURAN NEERGAARD and MATTHEW PERRONE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health regulators have authorized an extra dose of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines in people with weakened immune systems to better protect them from the virus. The announcement Thursday by the Food and Drug Administration applies to millions of Americans who take

By The Associated Press .

By REGINA GARCIA CANO and FABIOLA SANCHEZ Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — The government of Venezuela and its opposition have met for the first time in two years to look for a change in the South American nation’s prolonged political standoff. Both sides signed a memorandum of understanding Friday in Mexico City for talks

By MARIA VERZA Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — Walking for hours through the gritty streets in the center of Mexico City, you can hear the daily urban soundtrack. It’s hard to imagine that some of these streets trace the outline of what was, five centuries ago, Tenochtitlan, where a great civilization flourished. The Aztec

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Torrential rain pounding southwestern Japan triggered a mudslide that swallowed four people and was threatening to cause flooding and more landslides in the region. The mudslide in Nagasaki prefecture hit two houses with four residents total. One was presumed dead when found, while another was seriously injured.

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand has long been associated with “The Lord of the Rings” but with the filming of a major new television series suddenly snatched away, the nation has become more like Mordor than the Shire for hundreds of workers. In a major blow to the

By DAVE CAMPBELL AP Sports Writer DYERSVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Tim Anderson hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning into the cornfield to end the Field of Dreams game in cinematic fashion. The Chicago White Sox outslugged the New York Yankees 9-8 in the first Major League Baseball game in Iowa. Aaron Judge and

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung leader Lee Jae-yong walked out of prison a year early in a parole decision demonstrating the conglomerate’s outsized influence in South Korea as well as continuing leniency for bosses who commit corporate corruption. Lee bowed in apology over the anger ignited by his crimes,

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) — A Texas death-row inmate has sued state prison officials to allow his pastor to lay hands on him as he dies from a lethal injection. John Henry Ramirez is scheduled to be put to death in the Texas death chamber on Sept. 8. His attorneys filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday

By ROB GILLIES Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — A source familiar with the plan told The Associated Press Canadian special forces will deploy to Afghanistan where Canadian staff in the Kabul embassy will be evacuated before closing. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

By STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Sports Writer The NCAA infractions committee decided against punishing Baylor for its mishandling of sexual assault allegations against athletes for a simple reason: Its rules don’t allow it. It was a jarring decision, even for members of the committee. The infractions committee says the question was whether athletes were given an