AP National News

By JOCELYN GECKER Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Schools have welcomed students back to classrooms but face a new challenge: a shortage of teachers and staff the likes of which some districts say they have never seen. Public schools have struggled for years with teacher shortages, but the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the problem.

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press A powerful Libyan east-based commander says he has suspended his role as leader of a self-styled Libyan army, delegating his duties to his chief of staff for the next three months. The move comes ahead of general elections scheduled on Dec. 24 and indicates the commander, Khalifa Hifter, may be

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A region in southern Poland has revoked an anti-LGBT resolution under the threat of losing European Union funding. The regional assembly of Swietokrzyskie voted in a special session on Wednesday to revoke the 2019 resolution, which stated “opposition to the attempts to introduce LGBT ideology to local government communities and the

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York prosecutors have charged a Los Angeles man with perjury, saying he falsified emails to support his lawsuit against entertainment industry executives. Rovier Carrington was arrested Tuesday in California and released on $15,000 bail after a court appearance. The perjury charge against the 22-year-old came

By SARA CLINE Associated Press/Report for America A broken power-sharing deal, the lingering possibility of a Republican walkout and a COVID-19 case are adding greater uncertainty to whether Oregon legislators will successfully redraw the state’s political districts ahead of a tight deadline. Stakes are high as Oregon gained a new, sixth U.S. House seat following

By MICHAEL MELIA Associated Press A Connecticut high school that recently resumed full in-person learning for the first time since the pandemic hit has sent students home temporarily for remote learning and is blaming problems with misbehavior. Principal Damon Pearce wrote in a letter Tuesday to students and families that New Britain High School is

By COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press DENVER (AP) — Colorado officials say three assisted living facility workers are being prosecuted in the death of an 86-year-old woman with Alzheimer’s disease who was allegedly left outside in sweltering weather. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced the charges Tuesday in the death of Hazel Place at Cappella Assisted

By KATE BRUMBACK Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — A man who was punched and kicked in the head by Georgia police officers during a traffic stop four years ago has filed suit. The lawsuit alleges the stop was unjustified and that officers used excessive force against him. Gwinnett County Sgt. Michael Bongiovanni and Officer Robert

By SOPHIA TAREEN Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — The Rev. Jesse Jackson is headed home a month after he was hospitalized for a breakthrough COVID-19 infection and following intensive physical therapy for Parkinson’s disease. Jackson spoke briefly with reporters Wednesday before leaving a downtown Chicago facility. He and his wife, Jacqueline, were first hospitalized a

ROME (AP) — Italian authorities say the uncle of an 18-year-old woman who disappeared months ago after refusing an arranged marriage in Pakistan has been detained on the outskirts of Paris. Saman Abbas was last seen in late April at her family’s home near the northern Italian city of Reggio Emilia. A few days later,

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer DALLAS (AP) — The vast majority of United Airlines employees are deciding to get vaccinated against COVID-19 rather than risk losing their job. United said Wednesday that more than 97% of its U.S.-based employees are fully vaccinated. However some employees are objecting. Six are suing the company over the

HOUSTON (AP) — A former Houston police officer has pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges for taking part in the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol building. The Houston Chronicle reports that Tam Pham entered the pleas Monday to two federal misdemeanor charges — entering a restricted building and engaging in disorderly or disruptive conduct

By JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly is pledging to redouble efforts to combat racism around the world as it commemorates a landmark but contentious 2001 anti-racism conference. On Wednesday, the assembly held an anniversary meeting that was fraught with divisions again. Without a roll-call vote, the Assembly adopted

By CURT ANDERSON AP Legal Affairs Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A grand jury has formally charged a Florida man accused of massacring a family under the delusion that they were child sex traffickers. Bryan Riley faces numerous charges, including four counts of first-degree murder. Court documents show the grand jury’s indictment was filed

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A report from the Federal Aviation Administration shows the pilot of a hot air balloon that crashed in New Mexico in June had marijuana and cocaine in his system. Pilot Nicholas Meleski died along with his four passengers after the balloon descended, hit power lines and crashed into a busy intersection.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The corruption trial of former South African President Jacob Zuma has been postponed until Oct. 26. The judge says he needs time to consider a plea from Zuma’s lawyer that the prosecution team be dismissed from the case for being biased. Zuma wasn’t present for the two-day hearing that ended Wednesday after

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told world leaders at the United Nations that humanity has to “grow up” and tackle climate change. In a speech, he said humans must stop trashing the planet like a teenager on a bender. Johnson is due to host a major United Nations climate

By TOM HAYS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Closing arguments have begun in the sex trafficking trial of R&B singer R. Kelly. Prosecutor Elizabeth Geddes told jurors Wednesday afternoon that prosecutors had proved that Kelly for years got associates to help him target, groom and exploit girls, boys, and young women for his own

By CURT ANDERSON Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Search teams were back out at a Florida nature park to look for the boyfriend of Gabby Petito, the young woman who authorities say was killed while on a cross-country trip with him. North Port police spokesperson Joshua Taylor says the search resumed around 8

By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s health minister has partly blamed “incitement” against the government’s pandemic rules on social media for the killing of a gas station clerk by a man who refused to wear a face mask. A 49-year-old German man was arrested Sunday over the the fatal shooting a day