News

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s new surgeon general has signed new protocols allowing parents to decide whether their children should quarantine or stay in school if they are asymptomatic after being exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19. The guidelines signed by Dr. Joseph Ladapo on Wednesday eliminate previous

THREE RIVERS, Calif. (AP) — Growing armies of firefighters are battling wildfires in the heart of California’s sequoia country. A big increase in personnel put more than 1,400 firefighters on the lines of the KNP Complex fire in Sequoia National Park on Wednesday. The fire remains a threat to the park’s famed Giant Forest. But

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Most playwrights who dip their toes into musical theater for the first time go small. Not Katori Hall. Her first assignment was to capture the life of musical giant Tina Turner. She says she wasn’t scared. That fearlessness has led to Hall’s first Tony nominations,

By TED ANTHONY AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly is unfolding this week under a thundercloud of deep pessimism. Coherence is spotty. Misinformation and disinformation. are scurrying around unchecked. The secretary-general is saying that the world has to wake up. But world leaders are, to hear them tell it, unsettled

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A bipartisan group of lawmakers is renewing a push to expand a U.S. compensation program for people who were exposed to radiation following uranium mining and nuclear testing carried out during the Cold War. Advocates have been trying for years to bring awareness to the

By MARÍA VERZA Associated Press CIUDAD ACUÑA, Mexico (AP) — An informal camp of migrants is slowly growing along the banks of the Rio Grande. Haitian migrants who account for the majority in Ciudad Acuña now feel increasingly trapped between U.S. efforts to process thousands camped across the river in Texas and Mexico’s increased operations

By COLLEEN BARRY AP Fashion Writer MILAN (AP) — Italy’s fashion capital is again alive with the sound of shoppers swarming boutiques and editors filling socially distanced fashion week venues, a sign of a light at the end of the pandemic tunnel.  Milan Fashion Week opened Wednesday with 42 live runway shows, led by Fendi

NEW YORK (AP) — Owen Wilson, Kim Kardashian West, Rami Malek and Jason Sudeikis will take turns hosting the first four weeks of ‘Saturday Night Live’ this season. Wilson will be host on Oct. 2, when the show opens its 47th season, and Kacey Musgraves will be the musical guest. It’s also the first time

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Britney Spears said in a court filing that she agrees with her father that the conservatorship that has controlled her life and money for 13 years should be terminated. The filing Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court says she “fully consents” to “expeditiously” ending the

By AYA BATRAWY and ABDULLAH AL-SHIHRI Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s monarch expressed hope that the kingdom’s direct talks with Iran will lead to confidence building as the two bitter regional rivals take small steps toward dialogue following several years of heightened tensions. King Salman made the remarks Wednesday in

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — Prosecutors in Virginia have dropped all charges against a man charged with hiring a hitman to kill his ex-wife after the accused hitman refused to cooperate with the investigation into the 2004 double slayings that also left the woman’s 7-year-old son dead. Christopher Schmidt had been held in jail on