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By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH, CATHY BUSSEWITZ and COLLEEN LONG Associated Press COVID-19 deaths and cases in the U.S. have climbed to levels not seen seen since last winter, wiping out months of progress and potentially bolstering President Joe Biden’s argument for sweeping new vaccination requirements. The U.S. is averaging over 1,800 COVID-19 deaths and 170,000 new

SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — Sequoia National Park has been shut down and its namesake gigantic trees could be in danger as forest fires burn in steep terrain across California’s Sierra Nevada. The combined size of two fires has grown to more than nine square miles since they were ignited by lightning last week.

By ADRIAN SAINZ Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A defense attorney for a Tennessee state senator charged with stealing $600,000 in federal grant money from a health care school she operated says she did not use government funds to pay for personal expenses. Katrina Robinson’s lawyer said during opening statements of her trial Tuesday

By MARIO LOBÃO Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A project to give children in poor neighborhoods a shot at going to the movies has resumed in Rio de Janeiro now that the pace of new cases and deaths from COVID-19 has ebbed. Some 200 children in the Vila Cruzeiro favela lined up to

By EVENS SANON and DÁNICA COTO Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s chief prosecutor has asked a judge to charge Prime Minister Ariel Henry in the slaying of the president and asked other officials to bar him from leaving the country. The order filed Tuesday by Port-au-Prince prosecutor Bed-Ford Claude comes on the same

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — After a public fallout over release strategy with Warner Bros., Christopher Nolan’s next film, about J. Robert Oppenheimer and the development of the atom bomb, will be released by Universal Pictures. Representatives for the studio confirmed Tuesday that Universal will finance and distribute Nolan’s not-yet-titled

GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization and its partners hope to provide Africa with about 30% of the COVID-19 vaccines the continent needs by February. That will badly miss the 60% vaccination coverage goal that African leaders had once hoped for this year. At a press briefing on Tuesday, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

By NOMAAN MERCHANT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The general who leads U.S. efforts to thwart foreign-based cyberattacks says he’s mounting a new “surge” to fight incursions that have at times debilitated government agencies and companies responsible for critical infrastructure. In an interview, Gen. Paul Nakasone broadly describes “an intense focus” by government specialists to

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Novels that explore historical injustices, the nature of consciousness and the dizzying impact of the internet are among six finalists for the prestigious Booker Prize for fiction. Three books by American authors are on the shortlist announced Tuesday for the 50,000 pound ($69,000) prize. Those are Patricia

By BRIAN SLODYSKO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats are paring back their signature elections bill in hopes of kickstarting their stalled push to pass it. They unveiled a new bill Tuesday aimed at counteracting state laws that could make it more difficult to cast a ballot. But the new compromise legislation is likely

By JACQUES BILLEAUD Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — A judge has declared a mistrial at the trial of the founders of the lucrative classified site Backpage.com on charges of facilitating prostitution and laundering money. U.S. District Judge Susan Brnovich said Tuesday prosecutors had too many references to child sex trafficking in a case where no

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A flight safety organization is warning that a Turkish drone base in ethnically divided Cyprus could increase safety risks for thousands of commercial flights that cross the airspace around the eastern Mediterranean island. FSF-Med, which is affiliated with the International Flight Safety Foundation, said Tuesday the planned upgrade for the Turkish

By MICHAEL BALSAMO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department is curtailing federal agents’ use of “no-knock” warrants — which allow law enforcement agents to enter a home without announcing their presence — and would also prohibit its agents from using chokeholds in most circumstances. The new policy was announced on Tuesday and follows

ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — A woman who struggled with a robber inside an Illinois Subway shop says the owner suspended her from work after surveillance video of the fight became public. Araceli Sotelo told The Rockford Register Star that she was working alone in the Rockford sandwich shop Sept. 5 when a man came in