AP National News

BERLIN (AP) — Austrian media report that a town in the west of the country is planning to remove a memorial to three soldiers who were members of the Waffen SS during World War II. Public broadcaster ORF reported Friday that the mayor of Imst, Stefan Weirather, confirmed that the municipal workers will dismantle the

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s prime minister says he is working urgently with the United States to evacuate the last Afghans who helped Australian troops and diplomats as Taliban insurgents make rapid territorial gains across Afghanistan. Australia shut its Kabul embassy in May and withdrew the last of its troops

By BARRY HATTON Associated Press A Spanish judicial official says two Guatemalan men detained in Madrid will be processed for extradition to the United States for alleged drug trafficking offenses. The men, Johann Gehlert Coronado and Dieter Gehlert Coronado, are to be extradited to the U.S. pending final approval from Spain’s government, confirmed the official,

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Stocks managed to eke out tiny gains after another day of wobbly trading, leaving the S&P 500 higher for the second week in a row. The benchmark index added 0.2% Friday, its fourth straight gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq edged up

BEIJING (AP) — China’s ruling Communist Party says the police chief and vice mayor of a northeastern industrial city is under investigation for suspected graft. The party’s watchdog against corruption said Yang Jianjun was suspected of “serious violations of discipline and the law” but gave no details. The city of Shenyang has a population of

By ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ Associated Press HAVANA (AP) — Forecasters say tropical depression Fred is slowly strengthening and could regain tropical storm status on Saturday. The U.S. National Hurricane Center says the system is dumping heavy rain along the north coast of Cuba on a forecast track toward Florida. Maximum sustained winds are around 35 mph.

By SAMY MAGDY The Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Yemenis in the country’s north are dying because of a lack of hospital beds, many at home. But it’s not just a struggling health care system that’s to blame. An information blackout has characterized the coronavirus response of Yemen’s Houthi authorities since the beginning of the

By SUZAN FRASER Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The death toll from floods and mudslides in northern Turkey has risen to at least 38 as emergency crews search demolished buildings, swamped homes, and submerged basements for more victims and survivors. An opposition politician said Friday that more than 300 people have been reported unaccounted

By TAMEEM AKHGAR, RAHIM FAIEZ and JOSEPH KRAUSS Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban have completed their sweep of Afghanistan’s south. They took four more provincial capitals Friday in a lightning offensive that brought them closer to Kabul, just weeks before the U.S. is set to officially end its two-decade war. In just

By CALEB JONES and VICTORIA MILKO Associated Press WAIMEA, Hawaii (AP) — Huge wildfires highlight the dangers of climate change-related heat and drought for many communities throughout the U.S. West and other hotspots around the world. But relatively small fires on typically wet, tropical islands in the Pacific are also on the rise. These fires

By MICHAEL HILL Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York’s two-year “look-back window” closes this week. It allows people who claim they were abused long ago to sue churches, hospitals, camps, scout groups and schools. The tidal wave of more than 7,600 lawsuits could deliver a financial blow to Catholic dioceses and other organizations.

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press No racial or ethnic group dominates for people under age 18 in the newly released 2020 census figures. In the overall U.S. population, white people declined in numbers for the first time on record. And Hispanic and Asian populations boomed last decade. These were some of the findings from Thursday’s

By KEN RITTER Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — A coronavirus pandemic mask mandate in Nevada has drawn a federal lawsuit from attorneys seeking class-action status for claims that the constitutional rights of thousands of parents and children at Las Vegas-area schools are being violated. The complaint filed Thursday against Gov. Steve Sisolak, state Attorney

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian government says it remains seriously concerned about the welfare of a Chinese-born Australian journalist a year after she was first detained in China. Foreign Minister Marise Payne used the first anniversary of Cheng Lei’s detention on Aug. 13 to tell China that Australia expects

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. (AP) — Police in central Florida say a toddler fatally shot a woman while she was on a work-related video call. News outlets report the woman was the mother of the young child who found a loaded gun Wednesday and opened fire. Altamonte Springs police say another person on the video call

BEIJING (AP) — Flooding in central China continues to cause havoc in both cities and rural areas. Authorities said Friday that another 21 people had been killed and another four were missing. Floodwaters rose to 3.5 meters (11.4 feet) in Hubei province’s Liulin township following heavy rains that began Wednesday. The latest deaths add to

By GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Officials are investigating one possible heat-related death in Oregon from a Pacific Northwest heat wave. Emergency room visits for heat-related illness also have risen sharply as sweltering temperatures gripped the normally temperate Pacific Northwest for the second time this summer. Hot weather and wildfire smoke will

By EUGENE GARCIA and DAISY NGUYEN Associated Press WESTWOOD, Calif. (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service said Friday it’s operating in crisis mode, fully deploying firefighters and maxing out its support system as wildfires continue to break out across the U.S. West. The agency says it has more than twice the number of firefighters working

By ALAN FRAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Prospects seem increasingly dicey for a bipartisan Senate deal on overhauling policing practices. Deadlocked lawmakers have left the Capitol for August recess. Congress will have to devote much of its time this fall to handling President Joe Biden’s drive for huge pots of social, environment and infrastructure

By ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Even as President Joe Biden becomes more aggressive in pressuring Americans to get vaccinated, he has refrained from using all his powers. He’s held off, for instance, on proposals to require vaccinations for all air travelers or, for that matter, the federal workforce. The result is a