AP National News

By BRUCE SCHREINER Associated Press FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky governor’s efforts to aggressively combat COVID-19 have suffered a landmark legal defeat. The state’s high court on Saturday cleared the way for laws reining in his emergency powers to take effect. The state Supreme Court ordered a lower court to dissolve an injunction blocking

By WAFAA SHURAFA Associated Press GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinian health officials say Israeli gunfire has wounded 24 Palestinians, including a 13-year-old boy who was shot in the head, during a protest along Gaza’s border with Israel. In Israel, meanwhile, officials say a policeman has been critically wounded by Palestinian gunfire. The violence

By ALEXANDER VERSHININ Associated Press ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan (AP) — Turkmenistan has lauded its first Olympic medal winner at a lavish ceremony where the weightlifter was showered with gifts. The 21-year-old Polina Guryeva lifted a total 217 kilograms in the 59-kilogram category to win silver at the Tokyo Games. It was the first Olympic medal for

CZESTOCHOWA, Poland (AP) — A heavy police presence has guarded two marches for LGBT rights in Poland. One was held Saturday at the foot of Catholic Poland’s most revered monastery in Czestochowa, in the south, and the other was held in Gdansk, on the Baltic coast. The presence of the police, some of whom were

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian police have detained several journalists who protested authorities’ decision to label a top independent TV channel as a “foreign agent.” The journalists held individual pickets Saturday outside the main headquarters of the country’s top domestic security agency, the FSB, on Moscow’s Lubyanka Square. They held placards such as “Journalism is not

By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER, TERRY TANG and OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Across the country, more anti-vaccine and anti-mask demonstrations are taking scary and violent turns. People have been stabbed, punched or harassed at their homes for being in favor of vaccine and mask mandates. Often the assailants are parents. Educators, medical

PARIS (AP) — Thousands of protesters are marching in cities and towns across France against a COVID-19 health pass that is now required to enter restaurants and cafes, cultural and sports venues and long-distance travel. For a sixth straight Saturday, opponents denounced what they see as a restriction of their freedom. Many have criticized the

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s Christian community has hoisted black flags at churches and homes to express anger over the government’s investigation into the 2019 Easter Sunday bomb attacks. Last week, twenty-five people were charged in connection with the attacks, which killed 269 people. But the country’s Catholic Church says these could be

AMARILLO, Texas (AP) — Police say a man was fatally shot by Amarillo, Texas, police after opening fire on officers who approached him while looking for a different man on felony drug charges. Police Chief Martin Birkenfeld said Saturday that 34-year-old George Michael Mireles died at a hospital where he was taken following Friday’s shooting

By ALICIA LEÓN and JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press MADRID (AP) — The European Union’s top officials have warned the Taliban that current conversations being held to secure the departures of as many Afghan evacuees as possible do not mean the 27-nation bloc is prepared to recognize the new regime. European Commission President Ursula von der

By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — At nearly every community meeting on firefighting efforts in the U.S. West, residents want to know why crews don’t simply put out the flames to save their homes and the valuable forests surrounding them. Wildfires managers say it’s not that simple, and the reasons are many,

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden won’t spend the weekend at his home in Delaware after all. The White House says Biden no longer will travel to Wilmington as planned. No immediate explanation has been given. The announcement from the White House came as Biden was scheduled to meet with his national security team “to

By GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO Associated Press TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — A blast of trumpet flourishes and guitarrón bass breaks the solemn hush of Mass on a torrid August desert morning. Decked out in gold-embroidered suits, nine musicians pick, strum and trumpet the entrance hymn under tall stained-glass windows. After more than a year of silence due

By KIM CHANDLER Associated Press MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Health officials in Alabama say they are seeing a spike in cases among young adults and children as the highly contagious delta variant sweeps through unvaccinated populations.  Christina Tidmore urged people to consider getting vaccinated after losing her husband to COVID-19. Her 36-year-old spouse was young

By JULIE PACE and HANNAH FINGERHUT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s job approval rating has ticked down and Americans are taking a notably less positive view of his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. That’s according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The survey shows Biden’s

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press AMSTERDAM (AP) — People are protesting in the streets of Dutch cities to call for an end to the government’s ban on large music festivals. Thousands of people attended one of the “Unmute Us” marches in Amsterdam, walking and dancing behind a convoy of trucks carrying DJs and sound systems

By GILLIAN FLACCUS, JANIE HAR and SARA CLINE Associated Press ALSEA, Ore. (AP) — Across the U.S., some public officials and other community leaders are trying to help people come up with ways to get exempted from having to wear masks or get vaccinated against COVID-19. They’re offering exemption letters and other strategies for skirting

By JO KEARNEY and PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The last week has been a frantic mix of fear and frustration for people in west London with family members trying to get out of Afghanistan. Many are seeking information from an organization established to support Afghan and Central Asian refugees the same year

By BILL BARROW Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — After the success that Democrats in Georgia had in 2020, the Deep South battleground is working with other Southern states to help expand Democrats’ national footprint. It’s the latest example of the ripple effect that voting rights activist Stacey Abrams has had on Democrats as she decides

By MALLIKA SEN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A weakening Henri is now a tropical depression and is churning eastward over New England and back toward the Atlantic Ocean. Its center came ashore in Rhode Island on Sunday. People there and in other parts of the Northeast are mopping up even as rain potential