Month: August 2021

By SOPHIA EPPOLITO Associated Press/Report for America SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah reptile center employee is recovering after an alligator yanked her into its enclosure during a presentation, and a visitor leapt in after her and helped free her from its jaws. Video taken by a guest shows an unidentified handler at Scales

By JIM MORRIS Associated Press VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Lawyers for a senior executive for Chinese communications giant Huawei Technologies have argued at an extradition hearing in Canada that there is no evidence she made any misrepresentations that resulted in a bank suffering a loss. Meng Wanzhou was arrested at the Vancouver airport in

By JAMES ANDERSON Associated Press The summer surge of the highly infectious delta variant of the coronavirus made for a disruptive start of the school year in many parts of the country Monday. Parents, school boards and politicians clashed over whether students and teachers should be required to wear masks. Confusion reigned in several Texas

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — It’s video footage that could become some of the defining images of the fall of Kabul: Afghans desperate to escape the Taliban takeover clung to the side of a departing U.S. military jet as it rolled down the tarmac Monday. Some some of them apparently fell to their death as the

By KATHLEEN RONAYNE Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom is sharpening his message as he hits the campaign trail in the recall’s final month. The Democratic governor is now training his fire on conservative rival Larry Elder. Newsom says the election is a matter of life and death and a new

HOUSTON (AP) — The attorney for a 2-year-old girl struck by a foul ball during a 2019 Houston Astros game at Minute Maid Park says the Astros have settled the family’s claim for damages. Attorney Richard Mithoff said Monday that the terms of the settlement are confidential. An Astros spokesman said the team would have

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A rapidly growing wildfire in northeastern Minnesota has expanded to at least 1,500 acres and prompted some evacuations. The fire was spotted around 3 p.m. Sunday near Greenwood Lake, about 15 miles southwest of Isabella, in the Superior National Forest. Officials say the the cause has not

By JAMES MacPHERSON Associated Press BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Bakken Energy and Mitsubishi Power Americas say they are acquiring a synthetic natural gas plant in western North Dakota and plan to redevelop it to produce renewable energy.  The deal to purchase the Great Plains Synfuels Plant from Dakota Gasification Co. is expected to be finalized

By EUGENE GARCIA Associated Press QUINCY, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters are keeping an eye on a lone, emaciated bear cub that may have lost its mother to the country’s largest wildfire burning in Northern California. The pointy-eared cub has been seen rambling solo along a mountain road burned by the Dixie Fire near Taylorsville. A

T-Mobile says it is investigating a leak of its data after someone took to an online forum offering to sell the personal information of cellphone users. The company said Monday that it has confirmed there was unauthorized access to “some T-Mobile data” but was still determining the scope of the breach and who was affected.

By YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Belarusian activist who stabbed himself in the neck two months ago to protest political repression has been sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison. A court on Monday found 41-year-old Stsiapan Latypau guilty of violating public order, resisting police and fraud. In June, Latypau used

By HALELUYA HADERO AP Business Writer Edgar Villanueva is on a mission to change philanthropy. The 44-year-old racial justice activist argues institutionalized philanthropy in America perpetuates practices that marginalize minority communities. Villanueva says he came to that conclusion after his many years of working in philanthropies from Washington state to North Carolina. Through his book,

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (AP) — Authorities say the suspect in the fatal shooting of a sheriff’s deputy in southwestern Michigan had been involved in a car chase with another law enforcement agency earlier that day. Michigan State Police on Monday identified the man who was later shot and killed by deputies as 35-year-old Kyle Goidosik of

By ROBERT BURNS AP National Security Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Built and trained at a two-decade cost of $83 billion, Afghan security forces collapsed so quickly and completely — in some cases without a shot fired — that the ultimate beneficiary of the American investment turns out to be the Taliban. They have grabbed not

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council is calling for an immediate end to violence in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover of the country and inclusive talks to form a new government that includes women. The council on Monday issued its first statement since the ouster of the

By BETH HARRIS Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Selma Blair says she’s in remission from multiple sclerosis as a result of undergoing stem cell transplantation. The 49-year-old actor was diagnosed with the disease in 2018. Blair is best known for such movies as “Cruel Intentions,” “Legally Blonde” and “Hellboy.” She told a Television Critics

By BRENDON DERR, RYLEE KIRK, ANNE MICKEY, ALLISON VAUGHN, MCKENNA LEAVENS and LEILANI FITZPATRICK Howard Center for Investigative Journalism .

NEW YORK (AP) — The publisher of such bestsellers as the “What to Expect” books for parents and the “Brain Quest” educational series has agreed to be acquired by Hachette Book Group. Workman Publishing has been an independent company for decades. It also includes the literary imprint Algonquin and the nature publisher Timber Press. Hachette

By BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — New York real estate heir Robert Durst has testified that he lied for years about sending police a note directing them to the dead body of his best friend because he feared it implicated him in the killing. Durst told jurors Monday in Los Angeles County

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN and JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press New York (AP) — Vaccine mandates are expanding in New York. The state ordered hospital and nursing home workers Monday to get COVID-19 inoculations. And New York City is poised to start requiring them Tuesday for anyone in restaurant dining rooms, gyms, museums and many other

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian officials say the bodies of all eight victims of a tourism helicopter crash in Russia’s far-east region of Kamchatka have been found. The Mi-8 helicopter with 16 people on board crashed into Kurile Lake on the Kamchatka Peninsula on Thursday. Eight people managed to escape the sinking aircraft and were rescued

By KEVIN McGILL Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Planned Parenthood is asking a federal appeals court to reconsider the question of whether the state of Louisiana must grant a long-sought license for an abortion clinic in New Orleans. Planned Parenthood has been seeking the license through the administrations of Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal and