AP News in Brief at 6:04 p.m. EDT
Ida deals new blow to Louisiana schools struggling to reopen
LULING, La. (AP) - Tara Williams´ three little boys run shirtless, because most of their clothes were swept away, and they stack milk crates beneath a blazing sun because their toys are all gone too. Their apartment is barely more than a door dangling from a frame, the roof obliterated, most everything in it lost.
A Ford Fusion is the family's home now, and as if Hurricane Ida didn´t take enough, it has also put the boys´ education on hold.
"They´re ready to get inside, go to school, get some air conditioning," said 32-year-old Williams, who has twin 5-year-olds and a 7-year-old and is more pessimistic than officials about when they might be back in class. "The way it´s looking like now, it´s going to be next August."
After a year and a half of pandemic disruptions that drove children from schools and pulled down test scores, at least 169,000 Louisiana children are out of class again, their studies derailed by the storm. The hurricane followed a rocky reopening in August that led to more COVID-19 infections and classroom closures, and now it will be weeks before some students go back again.
"How concerned am I? If you pick up a thesaurus, whatever´s the word for `most concerned,´" said Jarod Martin, superintendent of schools in the hard-hit Lafourche Parish, southwest of New Orleans. "We were brimming with optimism and confident that we were going to defeat COVID, confident we were on a better path. And now we´ve got another setback."
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Manchin favors trimming Biden budget plan by more than half
WASHINGTON (AP) - A Democratic senator vital to the fate of President Joe Biden´s $3.5 trillion plan for social and environmental spending said Sunday he won´t support even half that amount or the ambitious timetable envisioned for passing it.
The stand by Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., was described as unacceptable by the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, who is helping craft the measure. But Democrats have no votes to spare if they want to enact Biden´s massive "Build Back Better" agenda, with the Senate split 50-50 and Vice President Kamala Harris the tiebreaker if there is no Republican support.
With congressional committees working toward the target of Wednesday set by party leaders to have the bill drafted, Manchin made clear his view, in a series of television interviews, that there was "no way" Congress would meet the late September goal from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., for passage.
"I cannot support $3.5 trillion," Manchin said, citing in particular his opposition to a proposed increase in the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% and vast new social spending.
"We should be looking at everything, and we´re not. We don´t have the need to rush into this and get it done within one week because there´s some deadline we´re meeting, or someone´s going to fall through the cracks," he said.
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California voters: Less Republican and white than in 2003
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - It's a familiar refrain among California's recall watchers: 2021 is not 2003.
Yes, the state again is in the middle of a recall election that could remove the Democratic governor from office. But today's California electorate looks far different than it did 18 years ago: It's less Republican, more Latino and Asian, and younger - all trends that favor Gov. Gavin Newsom, so long as he can get his voters to turn out.
"Newsom has always had it by the numbers, and he knows that," said Mindy Romero, director of the Center for Inclusive Democracy at the University of Southern California and an expert in voters and the electorate.
Early voting has been going on for weeks and more than 7 million ballots have been cast so far. The final day to vote is Tuesday.
There are two questions on the ballot: Should Newsom be recalled and, if so, who should replace him? If a majority wants him gone, whoever gets the most support among the 46 names on the replacement ballot will become governor. It would almost certainly be a Republican since no Democrat with political standing is running. Conservative talk radio host Larry Elder has been leading in polls.
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Taliban: Women can study in gender-segregated universities
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Women in Afghanistan can continue to study in universities, including at post-graduate levels, but classrooms will be gender-segregated and Islamic dress is compulsory, the Taliban government's new higher education minister said Sunday.
The announcement came as a Taliban official said Qatar's foreign minister arrived in the Afghan capital of Kabul - the highest level visitor since the Taliban announced their interim Cabinet. There was no immediate confirmation of the visit by Qatari officials.
Earlier Sunday, the higher education minister, Abdul Baqi Haqqani, laid out the new policies at a news conference, several days after Afghanistan´s new rulers formed an all-male government. On Saturday, the Taliban had raised their flag over the presidential palace, signaling the start of the work of the new government.
The world has been watching closely to see to what extent the Taliban might act differently from their first time in power, in the late 1990s. During that era, girls and women were denied an education, and were excluded from public life.
The Taliban have suggested they have changed, including in their attitudes toward women. However, women have been banned from sports and the Taliban have used violence in recent days against women protesters demanding equal rights.
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Firefighters advance on blaze that shut California highway
CASTAIC, Calif. (AP) - California highway authorities reopened nearly all lanes of a Southern California freeway Sunday as firefighters made progress on a wildfire that jumped across the road and spread across dry hillsides.
The fire broke out Saturday afternoon near Castaic in northern Los Angeles County. Pushed by 10-15mph (16-24 kph) winds, the blaze chewed through tinder-dry brush and jumped across the busy freeway, spread across more than a half of a square mile.
The California Highway Patrol closed a stretch of the interstate for several hours as air tankers dropped bright-orange retardant on the flames.
Two firefighters were taken to the hospital to treat burn injuries, said Andrew Mitchell, a spokesman for the Angeles National Forest.
The fire remained uncontained due to the mountainous terrain, but firefighters made progress overnight with the help of water-dropping aircraft and an aggressive ground attack, Mitchell said.
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Al-Qaida chief appears in video marking 9/11 anniversary
BEIRUT (AP) - Al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri appeared in a video marking the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, attacks, months after rumors spread that he was dead.
The SITE Intelligence Group that monitors jihadist websites said the video was released Saturday. In it, al-Zawahri said that "Jerusalem Will Never be Judaized," and praised al-Qaida attacks including one that targeted Russian troops in Syria in January.
SITE said al-Zawahri also noted the U.S. military's withdrawal from Afghanistan after 20 years of war. It added that his comments do not necessarily indicate a recent recording, as the withdrawal agreement with the Taliban was signed in February 2020.
Al-Zawahri made no mention of the Taliban´s takeover of Afghanistan and the capital Kabul last month, SITE added. But he did mention a Jan. 1, attack that targeted Russian troops on the edge of the northern Syrian city of Raqqa.
Rumors have spread since late 2020 that al-Zawahri had died from illness. Since then, no video or proof of life surfaced, until Saturday.
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Explosion collapses part of apartment building near Atlanta
DUNWOODY, Ga. (AP) - An explosion rocked an apartment building in suburban Atlanta on Sunday, rendering the three-story complex unstable and leaving at least one person injured, authorities said.
Dunwoody Deputy Fire Chief Melvin Carter said the cause of the explosion was unknown but that Atlanta Gas had received a call from a resident of a strong odor shortly before the mid-afternoon blast. One person with minor injuries was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Carter said 90% of the building had been searched and that officials were in the process of shoring up the rest of the complex so that rescuers could continue searching for anyone who might be trapped inside. He said there were reports of two people being unaccounted for.
Photos from the scene show part of a building collapsed into heaps.
The Dunwoody Police Department wrote on social media that they received a report of an explosion at Arrive Apartments shortly before 1:30 p.m. Photos from the scene show part of a building collapsed into heaps.
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Forecasters: Tropical Storm Nicholas forms in Gulf of Mexico
MIAMI (AP) - Tropical Storm Nicholas strengthened as it headed for the Gulf Coast on Sunday, threatening heavy rain and floods in coastal areas of Texas, Mexico and Louisiana.
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami said tropical storm warnings were issued for coastal Texas and the northeast coast of Mexico. Nicholas is expected to produce total rainfall of 5 to 10 inches (13 to 25 centimeters), with isolated maximum amounts of 15 inches, across portions of coastal Texas into southwest Louisiana on Sunday through midweek.
The storm was expected to bring the heaviest rainfall west of where Hurricane Ida slammed into Louisiana two weeks ago. Although forecasters did not expect Louisiana to suffer from strong winds again, meteorologist Bob Henson at Yale Climate Connections predicted rainfall could still plague places where the hurricane toppled homes, paralyzed electrical and water infrastructure and left at least 26 people dead.
"There could be several inches of rain across southeast Louisiana, where Ida struck," Henson said in an email.
Across Louisiana, 140,198 customers - or about 6.3% of the state - remained without power on Sunday morning, according to the Louisiana Public Service Commission.
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Judge cancels Rod Stewart's trial, sets plea deal hearing
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - A Florida judge has canceled the trial for rock icon Rod Stewart and his adult son and scheduled a hearing next month to discuss a plea deal to resolve charges stemming from a New Year's Eve altercation with a hotel security guard nearly two years ago.
Court records show the hearing with Judge August Bonavita is set for Oct. 22 regarding a plea agreement to close the case without them needing to appear in court. The trial had been scheduled to begin Tuesday but was canceled on Thursday.
If convicted, the Stewarts were facing a year in jail, or probation and a $1,000 fine. The terms of the agreement are not clear yet, and attorney Guy Fronstin did not respond to an email and phone call seeking comment.
The Stewarts´ battery charges have taken long to resolve because of the pandemic and settlement negotiations.
The London-born singer of 70s hits such as "Da Ya Think I´m Sexy?" and "Maggie May" is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2016.
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Tailgating, face-painted fans back in force at NFL stadiums
Tailgating, face-painted fans returned in full force at stadiums around the country as the NFL opened its doors to capacity for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic.
Some wore masks, some didn´t. Some are vaccinated, some aren´t.
Restrictions varied in different cities with the Seattle Seahawks, Las Vegas Raiders and New Orleans Saints the only teams requiring fans to provide proof of vaccination to enter.
The defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers welcomed 65,566 fans Thursday night to kick off the season and 15 teams were set to host more than one million fans in Week 1.
Fans are back as COVID-19 surges because of the delta variant. President Joe Biden has a proposal to require that companies with more than 100 employees vaccinate their workforce and he will also mandate shots for executive branch workers and federal contractors with no testing opt-out.
