News

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — The world held its breath 30 years ago when a group of top Communist officials ousted Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and flooded Moscow with tanks. But instead of bringing a rollback of liberal reforms and a return to Cold War confrontations, the August 1991 coup collapsed in

By AGNIESZKA PIKULICKA-WILCZEWSKA Associated Press TERMEZ, Uzbekistan (AP) — As the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, thousands of Afghans looked for ways to escape what they see as a return of a ruthless fundamentalist rule. A 30-year-old man who operated a cross-border oil company still had a business visa that allowed him to enter neighboring

By The Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The head of the U.N. food agency in Afghanistan says a humanitarian crisis is unfolding with 14 million people facing severe hunger following the Taliban takeover of the country. Mary Ellen McGroarty, the World Food Program’s country director, said the conflict, severe drought and the COVID-19 pandemic

HONG KONG (AP) — Police say four members of a Hong Kong university student union have been arrested for allegedly advocating terrorism by paying tribute to a person who stabbed a police officer and then killed himself. Local media say those arrested Wednesday include the president and council chairman of the University of Hong Kong’s

BEIJING (AP) — China’s ruling Communist Party has expelled a leading internet censor and accused him of a range of crimes and rule breaking from corruption to failing to properly guide public opinion. Peng Bo had been deputy head of a body set up after the party launched a sweeping crackdown against the Falun Gong

By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON Associated Press BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A South Florida suburb holds deep ties to the town in southwestern Haiti that was hard hit by Saturday’s 7.2 magnitude earthquake. Many residents of Boynton Beach have been worried about their loved ones. Some are already mourning cousins and uncles who died while

By KATE BRUMBACK Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s State Election Board has taken a step toward a possible eventual takeover of elections in the state’s most populous county. Fulton County is a Democratic bastion that includes most of the city of Atlanta. It has long been the target of Republican lawmakers’ ire and their

By TOM HAYS and JIM MUSTIAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A prosecutor has introduced a jury to the sex abuse claims against R&B star R. Kelly, saying the criminal trial was “about a predator” who used his fame to manipulate children and women. Defense attorney Nicole Blank Becker countered Wednesday during opening statements

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A prominent Cambodian labor union leader has been sentenced to two years in prison for inciting social unrest with sensitive comments about the country’s border. Rong Chhun was arrested last year after he spoke to U.S. government-supported Radio Free Asia about farmers in eastern Cambodia who complained their land was

By BRIAN MELLEY and TERENCE CHEA Associated Press POLLOCK PINES, Calif. (AP) — California’s top fire official says blazes raging across Northern California are wiping out forests that are central to plans to reduce carbon emissions and are testing projects designed to protect communities. Cal Fire Chief Thom Porter said Wednesday fires are exceedingly resistant

BY ALAN FRAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Top Democrats are planning House votes next week on a budget resolution that would clear a path for future passage of the party’s ambitious plans for social and environment programs. And that suggests a showdown ahead with rebellious party moderates. Nine centrist Democrats have said they’ll vote

By ROBERT BURNS, ELLEN KNICKMEYER and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden says he’s committed to keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan until every American is evacuated, even if that means maintaining a military presence there beyond his Aug. 31 deadline for withdrawal. He’s also pushing back against criticism that the U.S.

By BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Robert Durst said he deeply regretted telling his life story to filmmakers in hopes of restoring his reputation. The New York real estate heir may wish he hadn’t decided to appeal directly to jurors at his murder trial if a Los Angeles prosecutor keeps exposing a

By EILEEN NG Associated Press KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s king says the new prime minister he picks must swiftly test his leadership in Parliament as the deadline for lawmakers to submit the names of their preferred candidates passed. Based on the lawmakers’ choices, Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah said he will pick a

By MATT SEDENSKY AP National Writer Just a week before Afghanistan’s collapse, things looked staggeringly different, but even for a country scarred by generations of war, the weeklong string of victories by the Taliban stood out as a remarkable turn of events. A stunning rout, in just days, seemed to declare two decades of American