AP National

AP Tennis Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The questions wouldn’t stop for Jessica Pegula: Why was she 0-6 in Grand Slam quarterfinals heading into her U.S. Open matchup against No. 1 Iga Swiatek? What could Pegula do to change that? Came up during her on-court interview after winning in the previous round. And again at

Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.S. assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs says the U.S. is mulling a U.N. peacekeeping operation in Haiti as one way to secure funding and staffing for a current mission led by Kenya to quell gang violence in the Caribbean country. Brian Nichols spoke hours after

Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Bahrain’s king has pardoned 457 prisoners to mark his 25th anniversary as the island nation’s ruler, with one activist saying many of those freed appear to be political prisoners. The announcement Wednesday night by the state-run Bahrain News Agency marks another mass release of prisoners in the

Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Civil rights activist Sybil Haydel Morial has died at age 91. She was married to New Orleans’ first Black mayor, “Dutch” Morial. One of their sons, Marc Morial, also served as mayor. But Sybil Morial was a leader in her own right, even as she worked as a teacher

GRAND HAVEN, Mich. (AP) — An ultra swimmer’s attempt to cross Lake Michigan is over after 40 hours. Jim Dreyer was back on shore Wednesday, according to his online tracker. Dreyer, who is nicknamed The Shark, began swimming Monday night in Grand Haven, Michigan. His goal was to get to Milwaukee in Wisconsin, more than

AP Sports Writer OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Girls volleyball has never been so popular. Participation has increased every year since at least 1980 — excluding the 2020-21 pandemic — and has accelerated the last decade. The number of girls high school volleyball players in 2022-23 hit 470,000, second only to outdoor track and field. Girls

Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A prosecutor asked a New Mexico judge to reconsider the decision to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie, according to a court filing made public Wednesday. Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey said there

Associated Press GLOUCESTER, Mass. (AP) — A transgender teenager from Massachusetts is recovering after he was allegedly beaten by other high schoolers at a party. An attorney for Jayden Tkaczyk says the 16-year-old was at a party Friday night in Gloucester when as many as a dozen teenagers attacked him and called him homophobic slurs.

AP Technology Writer How do you know if an artificial intelligence system is so powerful that it poses a security danger and shouldn’t be unleashed without careful oversight? For regulators trying to put guardrails on AI, it’s mostly about the arithmetic. Specifically, an AI model trained on 10 to the 26th floating-point operations must now

ROME (AP) — About 20 migrants are believed to be missing after their boat capsized in the Mediterranean this week, the U.N. refugee agency and the Italian coast guard said Wednesday. Seven Syrians were rescued and taken to the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, Italian rescuers said. The coast guard said local officials had spotted

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. Navy sailor has been detained in Venezuela after traveling there unauthorized on personal business, the Pentagon said Wednesday. The enlisted sailor was detained last week by Venezuelan law enforcement, two defense officials said. The officials referred to the State Department for an update on the sailors’ status but

Associated Press WINDER, Ga. (AP) — A 14-year-old student opened fire at a Georgia high school and killed four people on Wednesday, authorities said, sending students scrambling for shelter in their classrooms — and eventually to the football stadium — as officers swarmed the campus and parents raced to find out if their children were

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration seized Kremlin-run websites and charged two Russian state media employees in its most sweeping effort yet to push back against what it says are Russian attempts to spread disinformation ahead of the November presidential election. The measures, which in addition to indictments also included sanctions and visa

Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — A Michigan prisoner has persuaded a judge to throw out his burglary conviction, overcoming long odds by serving as his own lawyer in an appeal of a case that rested solely on his DNA being found on a soda bottle in a beauty shop. Gregory Tucker, 65, argued that the

DETROIT (AP) — About 1,000 workers at a General Motors joint venture electric vehicle battery plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, will get big pay raises now that they have joined the United Auto Workers union. The UAW says in a statement that GM and LG Energy Solution of Korea agreed to recognize the union after

Associated Press Firefighters battling a Sierra wildfire that has burned more than five square miles north of Lake Tahoe are making significant progress slowing its growth. Still, hundreds of residents of a mountain community near the Nevada line whose homes are threatened by the blaze remain under evacuation orders. Official containment is still estimated at

AP Science Writer The world creates 57 million tons of plastic pollution every year and spreads it from the deepest oceans to the highest mountaintop to the inside of people’s bodies, according to a new study that also said more than two-thirds of it comes from the Global South. It’s enough pollution each year —

THOMASTON, Maine (AP) — A Rembrandt discovered in a Maine attic has sold for $1.4 million. The 17th century “Portrait of a Girl” by the Dutch artist had a note on the back of the frame saying it was loaned to the Philadelphia Museum of Art for an exhibition in 1970. Kaja Veilleux, appraiser, auctioneer

Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — The lower house of Mexico’s Congress has approved contentious legislation that would launch the most sweeping judicial overhaul of the century by requiring all judges to stand for election.  In a marathon session in which legislators were forced to meet in a gymnasium because protesters blocked the Congress building,

Associated Press Care to do lunges while you brush your teeth? Fitness experts say that’s an example of habit stacking, a concept that can lead to better fitness. The term was coined by author S.J. Scott in his 2014 book of the same name. The premise is intuitive. Attach a behavior you want to pick

AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s employers posted fewer job openings in July than they had the previous month, a sign that hiring could cool in the coming months. There were 7.7 million open jobs in July, down from 7.9 million in June. The pace of hiring picked up, though, from June to July.

Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii’s congressional representatives say the nation’s disaster relief fund needs to be replenished so the U.S. government can continue to help survivors of Maui’s deadly wildfires and other disasters around the country. Hawaii Democrat U.S. Rep. Ed Case called on Congress to appropriate $20.9 billion to the fund. Case told

LONDON (AP) — Brian May, the lead guitarist of British rock band Queen, revealed Wednesday that he had a “minor stroke” last week, which caused him to temporarily lose control over his arm. May, 77, said in a video on his website that he was doing “OK” but that he was “grounded” and advised not

NEW YORK (AP) — Members of the Nordstrom family are teaming up with a Mexican retail group and are offering to take the department store retailer private at $23 per share cash, months after first expressing interest in a buyout. The Mexican retail group, called El Puerto de Liverpool, operates more than 300 stores in

Associated Press PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — A lawyer representing the family of a man from Kosovo who was arrested in Turkey for allegedly transferring money to Mossad operatives there insists he’s innocent and has offered the family’s cooperation in the investigation. The suspect, identified as Liridon Rexhepi, was formally arrested on Tuesday and reportedly confessed

Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Anna Sorokin, the con artist who was convicted of swindling banks, hotels and friends in 2019 after falsely building a reputation as a wealthy German heiress named Anna Delvey, has found her newest venture: “Dancing With the Stars.” Described as the “notorious ankle bracelet fashionista” in a press release,

Associated Press KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Families of those killed in what officials called an attempted jailbreak in Congo’s biggest prison are demanding answers as activists denounce what they say are inhumane conditions in the nation’s overcrowded penitentiaries. The tragedy at the Makala Central Prison in the capital of Kinshasa early on Monday left 129

Associated Press For more than a week, hundreds of Israeli forces have carried out the deadliest operation in the occupied West Bank since the war in Gaza began. Their focus has been the Jenin refugee camp — a bastion of Palestinian militancy that has grown more fervent since the Hamas attack on Israel that launched

NEW YORK (AP) — Latin music superstar Daddy Yankee, the Grammy winning “King of Reggaeton,” hopes his memoir will inspire others to believe in themselves. HarperCollins Publishers announced Wednesday that it will release Daddy Yankee’s “ReaDY! The Power To Change Your Story” in English and Spanish in April 2025. The 48-year-old rapper, whose many hits

Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A court in Greenland has again extended the time in custody for a prominent anti-whaling activist as Denmark considers an extradition request from Japan. The court ruled Wednesday that Canadian-American Paul Watson must remain in detention until Oct. 2 while Denmark’s justice ministry considers the request. Watson is the

Associated Press Ohio Sen. JD Vance’s 2019 conversion to Catholicism helped shape his political worldview, he has written. It has also put him in close touch with a Catholic intellectual movement, viewed by some critics as having reactionary or authoritarian leanings, that has been little known to the American public. That’s changing with Vance’s rise

Associated Press PAJU, South Korea (AP) — North Korea is flying more trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea in the latest round of Cold War-style psychological warfare between the rivals. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff says it detected more balloons launched from North Korea on Thursday morning following launches the previous evening. The joint chiefs

Associated Press DILI, East Timor (AP) — The president of East Timor sees Pope Francis’ upcoming visit as a prime opportunity to promote Asia’s youngest country on the world stage, not a time to confront the legacy of abuse by influential members of the clergy in the deeply Catholic nation. During an interview Wednesday with

Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The top U.S. envoy to Taiwan has declared support for the island as “rock-solid, principled, and bipartisan.” Raymond F. Greene says Washington will continue to follow through on its commitments to ensure the island can defend itself against threats from China. His remarks Wednesday come at a time of

Associated Press PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s Defense Ministry says China is giving its navy two warships of the type it has had docked for months at a strategically important base being expanded with Beijing’s funding. The base has raised concerns of China establishing a permanent naval presence on the Gulf of Thailand. The

Associated Press MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — Residents in northeastern Nigeria say at least 100 villagers were killed when suspected Boko Haram Islamic extremists opened fire on a market, on worshippers and in people’s homes. The killings in Yobe state’s Tarmuwa council area are the latest episode of violence in the 15-year-long war on the extremists.

AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — “Very demure, very mindful” has become the latest vocabulary defining the internet’s summer. And TikTok creator Jools Lebron is now working to trademark uses of her now-viral words. Lebron filed to trademark “very demure very mindful” for various entertainment and advertising services last week with the U.S. Patent

Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A dismissed town mayor who fled the Philippines after being accused of helping establish an illegal online gaming and scam center catering to clients in China has been arrested near Indonesia’s capital. Authorities said they arrested Alice Guo at a house in Jakarta’s satellite city of Tangerang just before

Associated Press WIMEREUX, France (AP) — The deaths of a dozen migrants on the English Channel hasn’t stopped more boats from attempting to cross from France to the U.K. Associated Press journalists watched a crowded boat make its way through the sea on Wednesday as French patrol boats monitored and crew threw life vests. Officials

Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi is making his first official visit to Turkey after the two countries ended years of tensions. El-Sissi and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are set to discuss bilateral relations, the war in Gaza and Middle East tensions on Wednesday. They’re expected to oversee the

Associated Press MODRYCHI, Ukraine (AP) — A devoted father has stayed by the side of his bedridden son for two years. Vitalii Shumei is a Ukrainian soldier who suffered a severe brain injury. His father finds joy in every small victory of his 36-year-old son: a smile, a new word, an unexpected movement. These milestones

PHOENIX (AP) — Phoenix police say two officers have been shot and wounded by a person suspected of breaking into a car. Interim police Chief Michael Sullivan said at a news conference hours after the Tuesday evening shooting near downtown Phoenix that one of the officers is in critical condition. He said the other was

Associated Press IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Shaimaa Saadoun is haunted by her memory of being forced into an abusive marriage to a 39-year-old man just after she turned 13. Her impoverished family near the southern Iraqi city of Basra hoped that the dowry of gold and money would help improve their circumstances. Her husband presented

Associated Press EL PLATEADO, Colombia (AP) — In the rugged Micay Canyon of southwestern Colombia, rebel groups have beefed up their presence over the past two years despite efforts by Colombian President Gustavo Petro to negotiate peace deals with these irregular armies under a strategy known as total peace. The canyon is currently a bastion

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The inquiry into Britain’s worst residential fire since World War II is releasing its final report on failings that led to deaths of 72 people at a high-rise apartment building in west London more than seven years ago. The inquiry began soon after the fire at Grenfell Tower, which broke

AP Business Writers U.S. stock indexes lost more ground Wednesday, with declines in the technology, energy and other sectors adding to Wall Street’s losses a day after the market’s worst skid in a month. The S&P 500 fell 0.2% following Tuesday’s 2.1% drop. The Nasdaq composite shed 0.3%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, however, managed

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A damning report on a deadly London high-rise fire concluded Wednesday that decades of failures by government, regulators and industry turned Grenfell Tower into a “death trap” where 72 people lost their lives. The years-long public inquiry into the 2017 blaze found that there was no “single cause” of the

Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Pope Francis urged Indonesia to live up to its promise of “harmony in diversity” and fight religious intolerance on Wednesday, as he set a rigorous pace for an 11-day, four-nation trip through tropical Southeast Asia and Oceania that will test his stamina and health. Despite the grueling itinerary, an

Associated Press KAJIADO, Kenya (AP) — The blood, milk and meat of cattle have long been staple foods for Maasai pastoralists in Kenya, perhaps the country’s most recognizable community. But climate change is forcing the Maasai to contemplate a very different dish: fish. A recent yearslong drought in Kenya killed millions of livestock. While Maasai

Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — A global human rights watchdog on Wednesday implicated Venezuelan security forces and pro-government armed groups in killings that occurred during the protests that followed the country’s disputed July presidential election. Human Rights Watch, in a report detailing repressive measures the government unleashed after the vote, asserted that credible evidence

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris has used a New Hampshire campaign stop to propose an expansion of tax incentives for small businesses. She presented a pro-entrepreneur plan that may soften her previous calls for wealthy Americans and large corporations to pay higher taxes. Harris wants to expand from $5,000 to $50,000

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump is betting that Americans crave trillions of dollars in tax cuts — and that growth will be so fantastic that it’s not worth worrying about budget deficits. In short, he’s hoping that most economic analyses of his ideas are dead wrong. Vice President Kamala Harris believes that big

AP Film Writer VENICE, Italy (AP) — Five years after “Joker” won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival, director Todd Phillips can’t help but be a little nervous about returning with its sequel. “Joker: Folie à Deux” is one of the most anticipated films of the 81st edition of the festival. Its world premiere Wednesday drew

AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — In one of her first public appearances on behalf of her newly published memoir, “Lovely One,” Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson didn’t make a lot of news, but she did make a little history: She can add her name to James Brown, Stevie Wonder and Smokey Robinson

WASHINGTON (AP) — Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, says he is “gutted” after the killings of American Hersh Goldberg-Polin and five other Israeli hostages taken by Hamas. Emhoff is the first Jewish person married to a nationally elected U.S. leader. Speaking Tuesday at a vigil for the hostages at his synagogue

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Two French rugby players are heading back to France nearly two months after their arrest in the South American nation on charges of aggravated sexual assault. The French national team players, Hugo Auradou and Oscar Jegou, arrived at the Buenos Aires International Airport on Tuesday ahead of their midnight flight

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — Attorneys representing both living and deceased patients of an Oregon hospital filed a $303 million lawsuit against the facility on Tuesday after a nurse was accused of replacing prescribed fentanyl with nonsterile tap water in intravenous drips. The wrongful death and medical malpractice complaint accuses Asante Rogue Regional Medical Center in

Associated Press Another offshore wind project in New Jersey is encountering turbulence. Leading Light Wind is asking the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to give it a pause through late December on its plan to build an offshore wind farm off the coast. The company says it is having difficulty securing a manufacturer for