News

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Three imprisoned Iranian dissidents will be honored next month at Pen America’s annual gala. The literary and human rights organization announced Thursday that writer-filmmaker Baktash Abtin, novelist-journalist Keyvan Bajan and author-critic Reza Khandan Mahabadi are this year’s recipients of the 2021 PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write

By SAM METZ AP / Report for America CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Former U.S. Sen. Dean Heller will announce a bid for governor of Nevada on Monday, joining a crowded field of Republican hopefuls vying for a chance to unseat Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak in 2022. A party official and person close to the

By ROB GILLIES Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — Barack Obama is endorsing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the Canadian election. It is a rare endorsement of a candidate in a Canadian election by a former American president but the second time Obama has done it. Obama also urged Canadians to re-elect the Liberal leader

By THOMAS PEIPERT Associated Press LAFAYETTE, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado company is hoping to usher in a new and more environmentally friendly era of mortuary science that includes the natural organic reduction of human remains. On Sept. 7, Colorado became the second state after Washington to allow human body composting, and Oregon will allow

By LINDSEY TANNER AP Medical Writer Research suggests vision problems increased among Chinese schoolchildren during pandemic restrictions and online learning. Eye specialists think the same may have happened to many U.S. kids. A report published Thursday echoes results from two earlier Chinese studies. Researchers in China compared data from eye exams given a year apart

LONDON (AP) — A judge has ruled that the will of the late Prince Philip should remain secret to protect the “dignity” of his widow Queen Elizabeth II, who is Britain’s head of state. Philip died in April at the age of 99 after more than seven decades of marriage to the queen. Wills are

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is finishing a major shakeup of his government. He is shuffling his team of middle-ranking and junior ministers on Thursday after making big changes at the top. Johnson appointed multiple women to ministerial jobs, a day after appointing Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch rail network has briefly ground to a halt due to a communications breakdown between drivers and traffic managers. The glitch left many commuters stranded Thursday evening as they tried to get home from work. It was not immediately clear how many people were affected. The national railway company

By NOREEN GILLESPIE Associated Press MAPLEWOOD, N.J. (AP) — What happens when the first day of school isn’t the first day of school? Then it becomes the “anti-first day of school.” That’s what one Associated Press editor decided after her three kids were exposed to COVID and had to quarantine as their friends were going

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — TV actor Allison Mack has surrendered to a California prison to serve three years for her role in the cultlike group NXIVM. A federal prison website showed Thursday that she had entered a low-security facility in Dublin, California. She was sentenced this year to three years behind bars on

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Supreme Court has cleared the way for Minneapolis to vote on the future of policing in the city where George Floyd was killed. The state’s highest court overturned a lower court ruling that rejected ballot language approved by the City Council. The lower court said

By SAM METZ Associated Press/Report for America CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — With a wildfire no longer threatening Lake Tahoe, residents, tourists and scientists drawn to its clean alpine air, clear blue waters and fragrant pine trees now wonder about the long-term effects that remain. Scientists say it’s too soon to draw conclusions, but they’re