Month: October 2021

By SAMYA KULLAB, MSTYSLAV CHERNOV and FELIPE DANA Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers have their sights on stamping out widespread drug addiction in the country, even if by force. Fighters raided a drug den under a bridge in Kabul on a recent evening, beating addicts. The addicts were then forcibly

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Every week or so, tens of thousands of New Zealanders play a lottery in their desperation to come home. Their prize is one of the coveted beds in quarantine hotels. New Zealand’s government requires everyone — vaccinated or not — to stay 14 days in

By JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — An executive who lied to regulators about two South Carolina nuclear plants that never generated a watt of power has been sentenced to two years in prison. A federal judge accepted the plea deal with former SCANA Corp. CEO Kevin Marsh even though she said it

By JONATHAN MATTISE Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A judge will allow attorneys who filed a lawsuit against a Waffle House in Tennessee after a mass shooting to access some of the files that have been sealed in the criminal case against the gunman. On Thursday, Davidson County Criminal Court Judge Mark Fishburn granted

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong authorities say they have made their largest smuggling bust, seizing goods including endangered species worth an estimated $26.9 million. The government says the smuggling ring operated using speedboats and four trucks were also impounded in the raid. A 34-year-old man was arrested in the operation that began in June.

By PHILIP MARCELO and DAVID PORTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Transit officials and experts say this summer’s storms were the latest reminders that more needs to be done to prepare the East Coast’s vital transit systems in the face of more extreme and unpredictable weather caused by climate change. The head of New

By AUDREY McAVOY Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii is forming a task force to study the issue of missing and murdered Native Hawaiian women and girls. The state House created the panel, which aims to gather data and identify the reasons behind the problem. Few figures currently exist, but those that do suggest Native

By MATTHEW BROWN, BRIAN MELLEY, and STEFANIE DAZIO Associated Press HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Video of the ruptured underwater pipeline that spilled tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil off Southern California shows a thin crack that could indicate a slow leak that was difficult to initially detect. Experts said Thursday that the

By BETH HARRIS AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chris Taylor hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Los Angeles Dodgers over the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 in a scintillating NL wild-card game. The 106-win Dodgers advanced to a best-of-five Division Series against the rival Giants. Game

By JIM GOMEZ and AARON FAVILA Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine vice president and opposition leader Leni Robredo has registered her presidential candidacy for next year’s elections in a move that would bring the pro-democracy advocate to a new faceoff with the son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Robredo joined a growing

By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A new study suggests the number of U.S. children orphaned during the COVID-19 pandemic may be larger than previously estimated. And the toll has been far greater among Black and Hispanic Americans. The study was published Thursday by the medical journal Pediatrics. It found that

By SARA BURNETT Associated Press ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — The money flowing to cities and states from the American Rescue Plan is so substantial and can be used for so many purposes that communities across the U.S. are trying out new, longer-term ways to fix what’s broken in their cities. In Rockford, Illinois, that means

By EMMA H. TOBIN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials say it’s OK to get your COVID-19 vaccine and flu vaccine at the same time. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says past experience shows vaccines work as they should whether they’re given separately or at the same time. Side effects

By MARCY GORDON AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The former Facebook product manager who has accused the social network giant of threatening children’s safety — and the integrity of democracy — is urging Congress to take action to rein in a largely unregulated company. Will real change come this time? When Frances Haugen came

By PAUL J. WEBER and JAMIE STENGLE Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Abortions have resumed in at least six Texas clinics after a federal judge halted the most restrictive abortion law in the U.S. Amy Hagstrom Miller is the president of Whole Woman’s Health, which has four clinics in Texas. She said Thursday that