North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has given new urgency to Vice President Kamala Harris’ tour of southeast Asia, where she will attempt to reassure allies of American resolve following the chaotic end of a two-decade war.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Millions of students in Florida, Texas and Arizona are now required to wear masks in class as school boards in mostly Democratic areas have defied their Republican governors and made face coverings mandatory.

The three states are all hot spots in the nation’s recent COVID-19 surge, and defiant boards in Miami, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix and other urban areas argue that requiring masks protects students, teachers and staff from contracting and spreading the virus as many pediatric hospitals fill.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is struggling to pick up the pace of American and Afghan evacuations at Kabul airport, constrained by obstacles ranging from armed Taliban checkpoints to paperwork problems. With an Aug. 31 deadline looming, tens of thousands remained to be airlifted from the chaotic country.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Three Albuquerque police officers were shot and another was injured while responding to a robbery Thursday, leaving law enforcement officials and elected leaders frustrated as New Mexico’s largest city continues to grapple with a record-setting year of deadly violence.

PLACERVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Dry and windy weather dogged firefighters’ efforts to contain destructive fires that are devouring the bone-dry forests of drought-stricken Northern California on Thursday.

An estimated 11,000 firefighters were on the lines of more than a dozen large wildfires that have destroyed hundreds of homes and other buildings, forced thousands of people to flee communities and filled skies with smoke.

TULUM, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Grace struck Mexico’s Caribbean coast just south of the ancient Mayan temples of Tulum on Thursday, tearing the roofs off some homes, knocking out power to thousands and keeping tourists off white sand beaches as it crossed the Yucatan Peninsula.

The push across land weakened the storm, but by evening it was centered back over water — the Gulf of Mexico — and the U.S. National Hurricane Center said it was again regaining strength as it headed for a collision with the Mexican mainland late Friday or early Saturday.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Authorities combing areas of North Carolina flooded by the remnants of Tropical Storm Fred said Thursday that two people have been found dead and about 20 were unaccounted for.

Meanwhile, Fred — now a post-tropical cyclone — was pushing through New York and New England with drenching rains, and Tropical Storm Henri was sending dangerous waves onto East Coast beaches. Forecasters said Henri will likely strengthen into a hurricane as it approaches the northeastern U.S. early next week.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A standoff in Texas over new voting restrictions that gridlocked the state Capitol for 38 consecutive days ended Thursday when some Democrats who fled to Washington, D.C., dropped their holdout, paving the way for Republicans to resume pushing an elections overhaul.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A North Carolina man who claimed to have a bomb in a pickup truck near the U.S. Capitol surrendered to law enforcement after an hourslong standoff Thursday that prompted a massive police response and the evacuations of government buildings in the area.

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 19 (APP): The United Nations’ draft plan to preserve and protect nature must be amended to put human rights at its centre to ensure the future of life on the planet, David Boyd, UN special rapporteur on human rights and environment, said Thursday.

“Leaving human rights on the periphery is simply not an option, because rights-based conservation is the most effective, efficient, and equitable path forward to safeguarding the planet,” he said in a statement.

“I urge Member States to put human rights at the heart of the new Global Biodiversity Framework.”