AP National News

DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — Parts of the popular Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness will reopen Saturday as firefighters make progress fighting wildfires in northeastern Minnesota. The Superior National Forest is lifting the full closure of the Boundary Waters and the Crooked Lake area near the fires in Canada. The closure had dealt a blow to

By SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — An inquiry investigating child sexual abuse in a wide range of religious organizations and settings in England has found “shocking failures” in how many religions handled abuse allegations. The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse looked into child protection in 38 religious organizations in England and Wales,

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE and JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is pledging robust federal help for the Northeastern and Gulf states battered by Hurricane Ida and for Western states beset by wildfires. Biden says in a White House speech that the catastrophes serve as deadly reminders that the “climate crisis” has

By JOHN RABY Associated Press CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A program offering cash incentives for out-of-state workers to move to West Virginia has welcomed its first round of new residents, and more people can now apply. The public-private program says 53 newcomers are getting settled in to the northern college town of Morgantown. The window

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A growing number of companies big and small are now dropping requirements that made it harder to hire, from minimum education levels to amount of experience. Drug store chain CVS announced earlier in August it would no longer require a minimum high school degree to

BY DENISE LAVOIE and SARAH RANKIN Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Supreme Court of Virginia has ruled unanimously that the iconic statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee can be removed from its place of honor in Richmond. Virginia promised in 1890 to forever maintain the statue. Historians testified that it was erected

Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Traffic at Florida’s busiest airport this holiday weekend is forecast to exceed pre-pandemic crowds. Officials at Orlando International Airport said Wednesday that this Labor Day weekend they are expecting more than 303,000 departures, a 7% increase above Labor Day weekend in 2019. If it pans out, that forecast will

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER and PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writers WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of jobless Americans who have depended on federal unemployment aid as a financial lifeline are about to lose those benefits just as the delta variant of the coronavirus poses a renewed threat to the economy and the job market. Two programs —

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The future of steel production at a sprawling plant west of Amsterdam is being called into question after an investigation found elevated levels of lead and other deposits in dust falling in nearby residential areas. The investigation published Thursday by the government Public Health and Environment Institute says exposure to

By MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats have promoted Republican Rep. Liz Cheney to vice chairwoman of a committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. The Democrats placed the Wyoming congresswoman in a leadership spot on the panel Thursday as some Republicans were threatening to oust her from the GOP conference

MADRID (AP) — A humanitarian aid group that monitors the plight of migrants taking perilous seaborne routes to Spain fears that 21 women and one girl have died and several dozen more people were lost at sea while trying to reach the Canary Islands. Walking Borders founder Helena Maleno says that 22 bodies have been

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA Associated Press KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Vaccine doses produced by a plant in South Africa will no longer be exported to Europe after the intervention of South Africa’s government, the African Union’s COVID-19 vaccine envoy said Thursday. Strive Masiyiwa told reporters that South African drug manufacturer Aspen, which has a contract with

By JOE McDONALD Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — China’s government has banned effeminate men on TV and told broadcasters to promote “revolutionary culture,” broadening a campaign to tighten control over business and society and enforce official morality. The measure adds to official limits this week on children’s access to online games and a campaign to

By KATHLEEN FOODY Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Rowers, kayakers and other users of the Chicago River are getting a real-time look at one measure of water quality in the system that weaves through downtown and some neighborhoods. Chicago nonprofit Current in 2019 installed three sensors in the river’s three main branches to continuously estimate

By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer After over a decade away from film, New Zealand’s Jane Campion returns to the form with “The Power of the Dog,” a sweeping but intimate family drama set in the isolated hills of 1925 Montana and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons. It premieres Thursday at the

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s state TV is reporting that the country’s Interior Ministry has approved a new hard-line mayor for the capital, Tehran, after a city council election. Alireza Zakani, 55 heads a parliamentary research center, and he was one of the seven approved 2021 presidential candidates. He withdrew from the race to support

By ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Hundreds of Greek health care workers accompanied by ambulances with sirens blaring have marched through central Athens to protest regulations mandating coronavirus vaccines for anyone working in their sector. The regulation went into effect Wednesday. Any health care worker who is not vaccinated against COVID-19 or

BERLIN (AP) — German prosecutors say they have filed charges against six suspects in the spectacular theft of 18th-century jewels from a Dresden museum in 2019. The men are all German nationals in their 20s and are accused of organized robbery and arson. They are alleged to have broken into the eastern city’s Green Vault

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control is urging countries to ramp up their primary coronavirus vaccine programs and playing down the need for booster shots among the general public. The EU’s infectious diseases agency says approved vaccines are “currently highly effective” in limiting the impact

By BEV O’SHEA of NerdWallet Medical bills can throw a wrench in anyone’s budget. If you’re also trying to maintain a good credit score, the challenge is especially tough. Credit bureaus have some special provisions for medical debt, though, that can help you avoid, or at least delay, damage if you’re struggling to pay. Take