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BEIJING (AP) — Chinese state media say an earthquake destroyed homes, killed at least three people and injured dozens in the southwestern province of Sichuan. The magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck Luxian county early Thursday morning and was about 6 miles deep. State broadcaster CCTV says 88 people were injured and at least 35 houses collapsed.

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The four people on SpaceX’s first private flight are fairly ordinary, down-to-Earth types brought together by chance. Two are contest winners. One is a childhood cancer survivor who works as a physician assistant. The sponsor of the trip struck it rich with the payment-processing

By DÁNICA COTO and EVENS SANON Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s government is starting to crumble as Prime Minister Ariel Henry faces increased scrutiny from authorities investigating the president’s slaying. And Henry fired the justice minister late Wednesday, just hours after another top official resigned and accused Henry of obstructing justice in a

By ROB GILLIES Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — The leader of the Canadian province of Alberta is apologizing for his handling of the pandemic and now says he’s now reluctantly introducing a vaccine passport and imposing a mandatory work from home order two months after lifting nearly all restrictions. Alberta is declaring a public health

By ALEXANDRA JAFFE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is offering to connect Nicki Minaj with one of the Biden administration’s doctors to address her questions about the COVID-19 vaccine. The offer comes after the Trinidadian-born rapper’s erroneous tweet alleging the vaccine causes impotence went viral. The White House says they’ve offered such

HAVANA, Cuba (AP) — Cuba has released the draft of a new family code that would allow same-sex couples to marry and adopt as well as give children greater participation in decisions that affect them. The draft must still be approved by Cuba’s parliament then go to a grassroots plebiscite. It comes almost three years

MIAMI (AP) — A federal judge has declined to block a ban imposed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to prevent mandating masks for Florida school students amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak. Judge K. Michael Moore in Miami denied a request by parents of disabled children for a preliminary injunction against an executive order that DeSantis

By MARK THIESSEN Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska has reported its highest number of new COVID-19 cases, a day after the state’s largest hospital announced it had entered crisis protocol and started rationing care. There were 1,068 new cases of COVID-19, with case counts 13% higher than last week. State officials say 201

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A California county has paid $11 million to a man who spent two decades in prison after being wrongly convicted of murdering his girlfriend in 1998. The Riverside Press-Enterprise reported Tuesday that the payment settles a federal lawsuit filed by Horace Roberts accusing Riverside County and its sheriff’s department of manufacturing

By BABA AHMED and KRISTA LARSON Associated Press BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — France’s president says the head of the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara has been killed. Emmanuel Macron tweeted that the death of Adnan Abu Walid al-Sahrawi was a major success for French forces in the Sahel. The French military has been fighting

By MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — A divided federal appeals court has upheld the dismissal of an ACLU lawsuit challenging a portion of the National Security Agency’s warrantless surveillance of Americans’ international email and phone communications. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that the lawsuit must be dismissed

By KIM TONG-HYUNG and HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said it successfully launched ballistic missiles from a train for the first time and was continuing to bolster its defenses, after the two Koreas test-fired missiles hours apart in dueling displays of military might. Wednesday’s launches underscored a return of