The Associated Press

The Rundown

Friction among Taliban pragmatists and hard-liners intensifies

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Friction between pragmatists and ideologues in the Taliban leadership has intensified since the group formed a hard-line Cabinet last week that is more in line with their harsh rule in the 1990s than their recent promises of…Read More

UN chief urges ‘rapid’ emission cuts to curb climate change

GENEVA (AP) — The head of the United Nations called Thursday for “immediate, rapid and large-scale” cuts in greenhouse gas emissions to curb global warming and avert climate disaster. Ahead of the annual U.N. General Assembly meeting next week, Anton…Read More

California GOP licks wounds after another lopsided loss

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The results of Tuesday’s recall election in which California Gov. Gavin Newsom defeated an attempt to remove him from office look all too familiar to the state’s enfeebled Republicans — they were embarrassed again by Democrats, who…Read More

Draft of Cuba’s new family code opens door for gay marriage

HAVANA, Cuba (AP) — The draft of a new family code for Cuba released Wednesday proposes allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt as well as giving children greater participation in decisions that affect them. …Read More

At 101, she’s still hauling lobsters with no plans to stop

ROCKLAND, Maine (AP) — When Virginia Oliver started trapping lobster off Maine’s rocky coast, World War II was more than a decade in the future, the electronic traffic signal was a recent invention and few women were harvesting lobsters. …Read More

OTHER TOP STORIES

France says head of Islamic State in Sahara has been killed

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — France’s president announced the death of Islamic State in the Greater Sahara’s leader late Wednesday, calling Abu al-Walid al-Sahrawi’s killing “a majo…Read More

Parliamentary election unlikely to change Russia’s politics

MOSCOW (AP) — After a few weeks of desultory campaigning but months of relentless official moves to shut down significant opposition , Russia is holding three days of votin…Read More

Senate hopeful flexes power of AG’s office through lawsuits

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s Republican attorney general, Eric Schmitt, sued China over the coronavirus. He signed on to a failed lawsuit seeking to overturn the results…Read More

Sri Lanka conservationists fight elephant smuggling in court

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Environmentalists in Sri Lanka are challenging a court order issued earlier this month that would allow the return of 14 illegally captured wild e…Read More