AP National News

By KATE BRUMBACK Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — A judge has dismissed a lawsuit that alleged fraud in Georgia’s most populous county during the 2020 election. A longtime critic of Georgia’s election systems and a group of voters sought a review of some 147,000 absentee ballots to determine whether there are illegitimate ballots among them.

By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — Families of COVID-19 patients are asking hospitals to rethink visitor policies a year and a half into the pandemic that has killed 700,000 people in the U.S. The relatives say they’re being denied the right to be with loved ones at a crucial time. Doctors also

By LARRY NEUMEISTER and TOM HAYS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A prosecutor opened the trial of an associate of Rudy Giuliani by blaming him for using foreign money to infiltrate U.S. elections. The prosecutor, Aline Flodr, made the allegation in her opening statement at the Manhattan federal trial of Lev Parnas. He has

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. (AP) — Police in central Florida have arrested the 22-year-old father of a toddler who fatally shot his mother while she was on a Zoom call for work. Police say the 2-year-old found a loaded handgun in his “Paw Patrol” backpack. Veondre Avery was arrested Tuesday and charged with negligent manslaughter and

By STEVE PEOPLES AP National Politics Writer RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic candidate for Virginia governor, is calling on leaders in Washington from both parties — including President Joe Biden — to “get their act together.” In a Tuesday interview with The Associated Press, he also pushed Senate Democrats to scrap the

By MARCIA DUNN and RICK TABER Associated Press VAN HORN, Texas (AP) — Hollywood’s Captain Kirk, 90-year-old William Shatner, has blasted into space and safely returned to Earth in a convergence of science fiction and science reality. He set out Wednesday morning for the final frontier aboard a ship built by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin

By ANDREW DALTON AND LINDSEY BAHR Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — The union representing film and television crews says its 60,000 members will begin a nationwide strike on Monday if it does not reach a deal that satisfies demands for fair and safe working conditions. A strike would bring a halt to filming on

HELSINKI (AP) — Norway’s prime minister-designate has presented his proposal for a two-party, center-left minority government that is pledging to pursue “a fair climate policy that cuts emissions and creates jobs.” Jonas Gahr Stoere, the leader of Norway’s center-left Labor Party, unveiled his plans Wednesday for a new Cabinet that is to take office this

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Hundreds of Bulgarian coal miners and energy workers are protesting to demand government guarantees for their jobs amid bids by the European Union to close mines and reduce carbon emissions. Buses carried protesters from across Bulgaria for the rally Wednesday in downtown Sofia. Demonstrators chanted “We want jobs!” as they marched

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press ROME (AP) — The U.N. refugee agency says a Sudanese migrant was beaten, shot and killed in Libya after escaping from a government-run detention center in the North African country. The 25-year-old was detained and held in the Mabani detention center in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. He was one of

By AYA BATRAWY Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Qatar’s foreign minister says isolating Afghanistan and its new Taliban rulers “will never be an answer.” He said at a forum in Qatar on Wednesday that engaging with the Taliban and “urging them to take the right steps” could empower the more moderate voices

By RONALD BLUM Associated Press Nathalie Stutzmann, the French-born contralto turned conductor, will succeed Robert Spano as music director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra starting with the 2022-23 season and become the second woman to lead a major American orchestra. The 56-year-old agreed to a four-year contract, and she plans to spend 10 weeks annually

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — A wildfire raging through Southern California coastal mountains is a threat to ranches and rural homes and is keeping a major highway shut down. The Alisal Fire is covering more than 24 square miles in the Santa Ynez Mountains west of Santa Barbara. The number of firefighters has nearly doubled

By TODD RICHMOND Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — An attorney has filed another lawsuit against a former Wisconsin police officer who fatally shot three people, saying his department taught him to view Black people as dangerous. The federal lawsuit filed Wednesday by Kimberley Motley alleges that former Wauwatosa Police Officer Joseph Mensah violated Jay

MIAMI (AP) — Police in Miami have arrested a woman who allegedly left her little girl with a stranger at a Miami hospital. An arrest report says the 33-year-old woman told authorities she did it to keep her from sleeping on the streets. Now Carolina Vizcarra faces a child abandonment charge. Police say she asked

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s leaders are paying tribute to its troops who served over nearly 20 years in Afghanistan. The country’s president said Wednesday the German answer to the Taliban’s disappointing end must not be “resignation and retreat” from global affairs. Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and other top officials joined a final roll

By RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The great Brexit brawl is heading into its next standoff as European Union concessions to improve trade in Northern Ireland are likely to be deemed insufficient by the United Kingdom. The EU’s top Brexit official has proposed major changes in the customs system for Northern Ireland. It

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Hundreds of Bulgarian coal miners and energy workers have staged a protest to demand government guarantees for their jobs amid bids by the European Union to close mines and reduce carbon emissions. Buses carried protesters from across Bulgaria for the rally Wednesday in downtown Sofia. Demonstrators chanted “We want jobs” as

The Associated Press Stocks are inching higher in early trading on Wall Street led by strength in several Big Tech companies. The S&P 500 was up 0.3% in the early going Wednesday. The benchmark index is coming off a three-day losing streak. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was up 0.6% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was

BALTIMORE (AP) — A Texas man will have to appear in Baltimore to answer a charge of threatening a Maryland doctor who has been a prominent advocate for COVID-19 vaccines. Federal prosecutors say Scott Eli Harris of Aubrey, Texas, is charged with making a threat across state lines. The 51-year-old Harris was expected in federal