AP National News

By WILSON RING and ROY NKOSI Associated Press DEDZA, Malawi (AP) — The Peace Corps is beginning the process of returning its volunteers to countries across the globe, but how quickly that happens will depend on the pandemic. The U.S. government program is marking its 60th anniversary this year. But in March 2020, more than

By LAURAN NEERGAARD AP Medical Writer The U.S. is planning booster doses of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, but if you got the one-dose Johnson & Johnson shot instead, stay tuned. Health authorities say a booster probably will be needed for that vaccine as well — but they don’t have enough data yet to

By ALEXANDRA JAFFE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan is giving new urgency to Vice President Kamala Harris’ tour of Southeast Asia. There, she will attempt to reassure allies of American resolve following the chaotic end of a two-decade war. The trip will provide a forum for Harris to assert herself

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER, ROBERT BURNS, JAMES LAPORTA and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is pledging firmly to bring all Americans home from Afghanistan — and all Afghans who aided the war effort, too. He made that commitment Friday as other officials confirmed that U..S. military helicopters had flown into Taliban-held

By JULHAS ALAM Associated Press DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh is suffering through its deadliest surge of the pandemic, but you wouldn’t know it looking at its factories, markets and malls. The South Asian nation has done away with most virus restrictions, allowing businesses to reopen to enthusiastic crowds following weeks of strict measures put

By BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — California’s wildfires have already made plenty of news this summer, and the worst may be yet to come. Some of the state’s most devastating fires have started in the fall when powerful, dry winds blow out of the desert. More land has burned this year than

By FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ Associated Press TULUM, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Grace has rapidly strengthened into a major Category 3 storm as it bears down on a second landfall in Mexico. This time it’s taking aim at the Gulf coast after crashing through the country’s main tourist strip. The storm had lost punch as it zipped

By MARK STEVENSON and EVENS SANON Associated Press LES CAYES, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s unusually close relationship between the living and the dead has helped hide, in part, the huge toll of Saturday’s earthquake: people in Haiti want to be close to their deceased relatives, to the point of sometimes burying themselves in their front

By ETHAN SWOPE and JOHN ANTCZAK Associated Press PLACERVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Millions of acres of national forest in Northern California are being closed because of dangerous fire conditions that already have sent a score of blazes raging through the area and destroyed hundreds of homes. The U.S. Forest Service announced Thursday that beginning on

By MARK STEVENSON and EVENS SANON Associated Press LES CAYES, Haiti (AP) — As if Haiti’s 7.2 magnitude earthquake, a tropical storm and the coronavirus pandemic weren’t enough, the temblor has also damaged the only medical oxygen plant in southern Haiti. The building that housed the oxygen concentrator machines that the region depended on partially

By DAISY NGUYEN and ERIC RISBERG Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco became the first major city in the nation to require proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 on Friday for people dining inside restaurants, working out in gyms or attending indoor concerts. Restaurants and bars posted signs and added extra staff to

By KEVIN McGILL Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal appellate court has refused to delay implementation of a judge’s order reinstating a Trump administration policy forcing thousands to wait in Mexico while seeking asylum in the U.S. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued the ruling late Thursday. President Joe Biden suspended

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A radio journalist has been shot to death in the Mexican Gulf coast state of Veracruz.   The press freedom organization Article 19 says Jacinto Romero Flores had been threatened. He was gunned down Thursday morning in the community of Potrerillo. Police say they are carrying out an operation in the

SYDNEY (AP) — A lockdown in Australia’s largest city was extended through September and tougher measures to curb the coronavirus’s delta variant were imposed Friday, including a curfew and a mask mandate outdoors. New South Wales state, which includes Sydney, reported 642 locally acquired infections, the fourth consecutive day exceeding 600. Sydney has been locked

By MARK THIESSEN Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Wildlife Troopers have completed their investigation into whether a U.S. Senate candidate and former state official illegally obtained a fishing license for a sportfishing event two years ago. Troopers turned the investigation over to a special prosecutorial branch of the Department of Law. Kelly Tshibaka

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A judge has ruled that the former school resource officer accused of hiding during a Florida mass school shooting will have to convince a jury that he wasn’t criminally negligent. The Sun Sentinel reports that Broward Circuit Judge Martin Fein declined to dismiss the child negligence charges against former Broward

By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The Seattle Storm are headed to the White House to celebrate their 2020 WNBA championship. The team was formally invited by President Joe Biden to visit on Monday afternoon. The Storm play at the Washington Mystics on Sunday. The Storm, who have won four titles,

By HILARY FOX AP Entertainment Writer LONDON (AP) — Sandra Oh has been dancing with death on “Killing Eve” since 2018, so she could do with a laugh. That’s one of the reasons the Canadian-American actor took on the role of Ji-Yoon Kim in the Netflix comedy drama series, “The Chair.” Oh plays the new

By KATHLEEN RONAYNE and MICHAEL R. BLOOD Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — The leading Republican candidate is California’s recall election that could remove Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is denying that he brandished a gun during a heated domestic argument with his former fiancee. Talk radio host Larry Elder says “I have never brandished a

By YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese actor Sonny Chiba, who wowed the world with his martial arts skills in more than 100 films, including “Kill Bill,” has died. He was 82. His office says he died in a hospital while being treated for COVID-19. Chiba rose to stardom in Japan in the