AP National News

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A lawmaker in Poland says that a second Belarussian athlete, an equestrian who was excluded from the national Olympic team after criticizing state authorities, has been given a humanitarian visa and refuge in Poland. Opposition lawmaker Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska said Sunday that Belarus dressage rider Olga Safronova, who was barred from going

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel has expressed full support for Armin Laschet, the center-right Union bloc’s candidate hoping to succeed her as chancellor in this month’s German election.Merkel and Laschet on Sunday toured the the town of Hagen in North Rhine-Westphalia state, that had been badly damaged by the floods. Laschet is the

By BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Wildfires burning in the U.S. this summer have upended plans for countless outdoor adventures. Campers, hikers, rafters and other outdoor enthusiasts have had to scrap or change trips or endure thick smoke. One retired attorney and teacher from the Philadelphia area has twice canceled plans because

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that “people are not bargaining chips” and adds that the U.S. stands with Canada in calling for the release of two Canadians detained in China for 1,000 days. In a statement issued Sunday, Blinken says that “the practice of arbitrarily detaining individuals to exercise

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel says “it will take a long time” until the regions damaged by devastating floods in July will be fully rebuilt. Merkel toured the flood-hit town of Hagen and the Sauerland region of North Rhine-Westphalia state on Sunday. The chancellor visited a bridge in Hagen that was destroyed but

By CARLOS VALDEZ Associated Press LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — The body of an American man who died while climbing one of Bolivia’s highest peaks has arrived in the country’s capital after a two-day recovery effort. Rescue workers say 24-year-old Daniel Granberg of Colorado died atop the Illimani mountain. Rescuer Sergio Condori Vallejos says the

By KATHY GANNON Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Officials say at least four planes chartered to evacuate several hundred people seeking to escape the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan have been unable to leave the country for days. Conflicting accounts emerged Sunday about why the flights weren’t able to take off as pressure ramps up

LONDON (AP) — Singer Sarah Harding of the British pop group Girls Aloud has died at 39 after a battle with breast cancer. Her mother announced the death Sunday. The singer said last August that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and it had spread to other parts of her body. Her mother Marie

By KEVIN McGILL Associated Press NEW ORLEANS. (AP) — When Ida knocked out power and dumped buckets of rain in their streets, hurricane-hardened residents of New Orleans did what they always do: They banded together to help each other out. Restaurants and amateur chefs dished out free food, residents with generators charged their neighbors’ cellphones

By DEMETRIS NELLAS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s Communist Party says composer and politician Mikis Theodorakis will be buried on Sept. 9 in Crete next to his parents and brother. A family dispute had developed over Theodorakis’s burial place following his death Thursday and an Athens court had suspended funeral arrangements Friday after

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey says it has “neutralized” nearly 18,500 people whom it calls “terrorists” over the past six years. Defense MInistry spokesperson Maj. Pinar Kara told journalists in Ankara on Sunday that included 1,865 people this year. The ministry uses the term “neutralized” to describe killed, wounded or captured combatants. The vast majority of

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The parent company of a defunct pro-democracy paper in Hong Kong, Apple Daily, is liquidating its assets and the board is stepping down. Next Digital, a publicly traded company, said in an announcement that all members of its board would resign, and that they hoped to

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis says he’ll be traveling to the “heart of Europe” when he makes a pilgrimage to Hungary and Slovakia later this month. Francis reminded pilgrims, tourists and Romans in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday that he’ll be traveling to Hungary on Sept. 12 and then going on to Slovakia. He will

By MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press WATFORD CITY, N.D. (AP) — The fastest-growing county in the U.S. is in the oil fields of North Dakota. That’s according to new figures from the Census Bureau. The first newcomers to arrive in McKenzie County were oil workers drawn by the drilling boom. Soon they brought families who needed

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — A shortage of computer chips that sent auto prices soaring had appeared, finally, to be easing back in the spring. Some relief for consumers seemed to be in sight. That hope has now dimmed. A surge in COVID-19 cases from the delta variant in several

By KRISHAN FRANCIS Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The mother of an Islamic State-inspired extremist who stabbed shoppers in a New Zealand supermarket said her son was radicalized by neighbors from Syria and Iraq. She said they had “brainwashed” her son while helping him recover from an injury. She spoke Saturday in an

ROME (AP) — Police at Rome airport say they prevented a Naples tobacco shop owner suspected of running off with a customer’s winning game card ticket from boarding a flight abroad on Sunday. Italian news reports cited police as saying the man didn’t have the filched card worth 500,000 euros ($580,000). But the LaPresse news

By ASHRAF KHALIL and LISA MASCARO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Labor Day 2021 represents a perilous crossroads for millions of Americans. Two primary anchors of the government’s COVID protection package are ending or have recently ended. The $300 weekly jobless benefit boost will stop Monday, affecting an estimated 8.9 million people. A federal eviction

By ROBERT BURNS AP National Security Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken are heading to the Persian Gulf to begin managing a transition to post-Afghan war relationships with traditional allies in the Middle East and beyond who were partners in the failed war against the Taliban and

By BOUBACAR DIALLO and KRISTA LARSON Associated Press CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Mutinous soldiers in the West African nation of Guinea have detained President Alpha Conde in an apparent coup d’etat. A video of the president in military custody was released after hours of heavy gunfire broke out Sunday near the presidential palace in the