AP National News

TUSCUMBIA, Ala. (AP) — Workers have used dynamite to demolish six smokestacks at a decommissioned power plant in Alabama. The implosion took place Wednesday at the old Colbert Fossil Plant, which was operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority for more than six decades beginning in 1955. TVA says the work is part of its move

By COLLEEN LONG and MICHAEL BALSAMO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The House committee investigating the January insurrection at the U.S. Capitol is demanding a trove of records from federal intelligence and law enforcement agencies. The requests show the sweep of the lawmakers’ review of the deadly attack by a mob of Donald Trump supporters.

By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer Pfizer is seeking U.S. approval of a booster dose of its two-shot COVID-19 vaccine. The drugmaker announced Wednesday that it has started the approval process for a third dose of its vaccine for all Americans ages 16 and older. The company said it expects to complete its application with

By ROBERT BURNS, ELLEN KNICKMEYER and MATTHEW LEE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken says as many as 1,500 Americans in Afghanistan may still await evacuation, with six days to go before President Joe Biden’s deadline for completing the airlift from the Kabul airport. Blinken said 4,500 Americans have been flown

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A gunman walked into a Miami Beach restaurant and fatally shot a tourist who was protecting his 1-year-old son. Tamarius Blair Davis Jr. told investigators he shot 21-year-old Dustin Wakefield on Tuesday night because “was high on mushrooms, which made him feel empowered.  He told investigators he walked into La

DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — Death Valley National Park rangers are reminding visitors to limit stressful activities during summer heat after another hiker died along the same trail within days. Authorities say 52-year-old Blake Chaplin of Leawood, Kansas, was found dead Aug. 21 along the Golden Canyon Trail. The temperature on Aug. 21

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico has welcomed a group of 124 Afghan media workers and their families who fled their country after the Taliban takeover. The group arrived aboard a flight in the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday. The Afghans had worked for various media outlets, and had requested humanitarian visas because of the Taliban’s hostility

By DANIEL NIEMANN Associated Press DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP) — A former mayor of a central Afghanistan city is in Germany after having fled her homeland along with thousands of others who feared the Taliban’s takeover put their lives at risk. As a young female mayor appointed in 2018, Zarifa Ghafari was a shining example of

By DAVID EGGERT Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Two conservative hoaxers face a record $5.1 million fine for allegedly making illegal robocalls to wireless phones without the owners’ consent in the 2020 election. The Federal Communications Commission says the proposed fine for Jacob Wohl, Jack Burkman and Burkman’s lobbying firm would be the largest

By ROXANA HEGEMAN Associated Press A federal report finds that in the run up to the 2020 presidential election U.S. states and territories had spent less than a third of the $805 million Congress had provided to shore up security for state and local election systems. A state-by-state snapshot released last month by the U.S.

By PAT EATON-ROBB Associated Press Mystic Aquarium says that a second of the five beluga whales it imported in May from a marine park in Canada is in failing health. The female whale is suffering from several health issues including a low white blood cell count and gastrointestinal issues, the aquarium said in a Facebook

By BEN FOX and JAMIE STENGLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 82,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan since the Taliban seized the capital Kabul on Aug. 14. It’s one of the largest U.S. airlifts in history. While the pace has picked up in recent days, it’s still a chaotic scramble as people

MARGATE, N.J. (AP) — The boardwalk fixture, Lucy the Elephant, is having all of its metal skin replaced because more than 50% of the exterior has degraded beyond repair. The executive director of the Save Lucy Committee, Richard Helfant, said Tuesday that the six-story high statue in Margate will close Sept. 20. Architects determined it

By MARIA CHENG AP Medical Writer LONDON (AP) — The international scientists dispatched to China by the World Health Organization to look for the origins of the coronavirus say the search has “stalled” and warn the window for getting to the bottom of the mystery is closing fast. In a commentary published Wednesday, the experts

By MARINA VILLENEUVE Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s new governor is acknowledging that the state has had nearly 12,000 more deaths from COVID-19 than former Gov. Andrew Cuomo told the public. Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office says almost 55,400 people have died of the coronavirus in New York based on death certificate data

MADRID (AP) — Spanish authorities are expanding a ban on harmful fertilizers around a saltwater lagoon on the country’s Mediterranean coast, where over the past 10 days several tons of dead fish have washed up. The regional government of Murcia, southeast of Madrid, announced Wednesday that the use of inorganic nitrogen fertilizers at farms around

By MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Only 11% of the tens of billions of dollars in federal rent assistance meant to help tenants around the country avoid eviction has been distributed. The latest data from the Treasury Department, which oversees the program, shows that the pace of distribution increased in July over June

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer Delta Air Lines won’t force employees to get vaccinated, but it’s going to make unvaccinated workers pay a $200 monthly charge. Delta said Wednesday that it will also require weekly testing for unvaccinated employees starting next month, although the airline says it’ll pick up the cost of that testing.

By TALI ARBEL AP Technology Writer OnlyFans says it has suspended a plan to ban sexually explicit content following an outcry from its creators and advocates for sex workers. The company says the ban is no longer required because of assurances from its banking partners. OnlyFans had said last week that it would ban explicit

By CURT ANDERSON Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Just over half of Florida’s 2.8 million public school students now face mandates to wear masks in classrooms. More districts are defying Gov. Ron DeSantis amid a courtroom battle over the Republican’s efforts to leave such decisions to parents. The Orange County School Board voted