AP National News

By JIM HEINTZ Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has begun three days of voting for a new parliament that is unlikely to change the country’s political complexion. There’s no expectation that United Russia, the party devoted to President Vladimir Putin, will lose its dominance in the State Duma. The main question is whether it

By JOSEF FEDERMAN Associated Press ATLIT, Israel (AP) — Israel’s just-retired navy chief says the military has stepped up its activities in the Red Sea “exponentially” in the face of growing Iranian threats to Israeli shipping. Vice Adm. Eli Sharvit spoke in an interview with The Associated Press days after completing his five-year term. He

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A month after the fall of Kabul, the question of how the world will help Afghanistan’s impoverished people without propping up their Taliban rulers grows more urgent by the day. Donor countries have pledged $1.2 billion in humanitarian aid through the United Nations. But

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer Asian shares are mixed after a hodge-podge of economic data led Wall Street to close mostly lower.  Benchmarks rose in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul but fell in Shanghai and Sydney. The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average each lost about 0.2% Thursday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq

By JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A prominent South Carolina lawyer has surrendered to face insurance fraud and other charges in what’s described as a failed plot to arrange his own death. Alex Murdaugh was issued a $20,000 bond and released Thursday on his own recognizance to return to drug rehab after

By PATRICK WHITTLE and ROBERT F. BUKATY Associated Press ROCKLAND, Maine (AP) — More than 90 years after starting, Maine’s oldest lobster harvester is still doing it at age 101. Virginia Oliver is the oldest lobster fisher in the state and possibly the oldest one in the world, Oliver still faithfully tends to her 200

By SARAH RANKIN and STEVE HELBER Associated Press GRUNDY, Va. (AP) — Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin clashed over abortion and vaccination policies in Virginia’s first gubernatorial debate of the general election season. Each sought to cast the other as extreme on major issues Thursday. The race is being closely watched as a

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom handily survived this week’s recall election that could have removed him from office. But his Democratic allies in the Legislature already are seeking changes that could make it harder to mount such a challenge in the future. Those reforms could include raising

By HAU DINH Associated Press VUNG TAU, Vietnam (AP) — The AP’s Hau Dinh set off from Hanoi for the seaside resort of Vung Tau in southern Vietnam for a long weekend in mid-July. The trip came just as the delta variant of the coronavirus began sweeping through Vietnam in the pandemic’s worst wave yet,

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD AP Political Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — California’s long-suffering Republicans endured another embarrassing loss when Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom easily defeated an attempt to drive him from office. Returns from Tuesday’s recall election continued a troubling trend for the GOP. Republicans haven’t won a statewide election in California since 2006. In

Japan’s exports rose 26% in August from a year earlier, below analysts’ forecasts, as supply chain disruptions hit manufacturers. Preliminary trade data released Thursday showed the world’s third largest economy logged a trade deficit of 635 billion yen ($5.8 billion), as imports surged nearly 45%, driven largely by imports of oil, gas and coal. Exports

By SUMMER BALLENTINE Associated Press COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A U.S. Senate candidate in Missouri, Republican state Attorney General Eric Schmitt, is flexing the power of his office by filing a slew of lawsuits, including against Democratic cities and schools to stop mask mandates. For state attorneys general hoping to gain greater influence and advance

By LINDSEY TANNER AP Medical Writer Experts say there’s no scientific evidence showing that masks cause harm to kids’ health despite claims to the contrary on social media and elsewhere. The unfounded claims are circulating just as virus outbreaks are hitting many reopened U.S. schools, particularly those without mask mandates. Among the unfounded claims is

By AAMER MADHANI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has begun notifying governors and state refugee coordinators about how many Afghan evacuees from the first group of nearly 37,000 arrivals are slated to be resettled in their states. State Department data obtained by The Associated Press shows that California is projected to take

By LISA MASCARO AP Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s “build back better” agenda is poised to be the most far-reaching federal investment since FDR’s New Deal or LBJ’s Great Society. The prodigious effort to tax the rich and shift money into projects and programs would touch the lives of nearly every American.

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s prime minister says it has canceled a contract with France for conventional submarines and instead will build nuclear-powered submarines using U.S. technology because of changing strategic conditions in the Asia-Pacific region. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says U.S. nuclear submarine technology wasn’t available to Australia in

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Lisa Byington is making history as the Milwaukee Bucks’ new play-by-play television broadcaster. The Bucks announced the hiring Wednesday and said Byington is the first woman to work as a full-time television play-by-play announcer for any major men’s professional sports team. Byington replaces Jim Paschke. Paschke retired after 35 seasons as the

By AMY FORLITI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder in George Floyd’s death has pleaded not guilty to violating a teenager’s civil rights in a separate case that involved a restraint similar to the one used on Floyd. Derek Chauvin was convicted this year on state charges of

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese state media say an earthquake destroyed homes, killed at least three people and injured dozens in the southwestern province of Sichuan. The magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck Luxian county early Thursday morning and was about 6 miles deep. State broadcaster CCTV says 88 people were injured and at least 35 houses collapsed.

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The four people on SpaceX’s first private flight are fairly ordinary, down-to-Earth types brought together by chance. Two are contest winners. One is a childhood cancer survivor who works as a physician assistant. The sponsor of the trip struck it rich with the payment-processing