Disaster planning and response
Olympic volunteer Atsushi Muramatsu shows business-card size flyers to express gratitude for support from overseas, during an interview with The Associated Press in Rifu, Japan, Thursday, July 29, 2021. He made the flyers to hand out to foreign media covering the 2020 Summer Olympics at Miyagi Stadium, where he is serving as a volunteer. (AP Photo/Chisato Tanaka)
Olympic volunteers strive to share stories of 3/11 disaster

By Chisato Tanaka Aug. 01, 2021 11:31 PM EDT

Editorial Roundup: Texas

By The Associated Press Jun. 28, 2021 10:00 AM EDT
Dallas Morning News. June 25, 2021. Editorial: ERCOT shouldn’t be exempt from laws of open government The Electric...

In this Wednesday, June 23, 2021, photo, lawmakers meet in the Oregon House of Representatives during the legislative session at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem, Ore. (Abigail Dollins/Statesman-Journal via AP)
Oregon Legislature adjourns 2021 session marked by COVID

By Sara Cline Jun. 26, 2021 09:17 PM EDT

Carl Goodwin, manager of Seattle Sausage, takes a water break while selling bottles of water to baseball fans leaving the Mariners game on a warm Wednesday afternoon, June 23, 2021, in the SoDo neighborhood of Seattle. Forecasts say extreme heat will roast the Puget Sound region from Saturday through Monday. (Amanda Snyder/The Seattle Times via AP)
Portland records hottest day ever amid Northwest scorcher

By Sara Cline And Rebecca Boone Jun. 25, 2021 06:35 PM EDT

FILE - This July 23, 2020, file photo shows the view of the Space Needle, in Seattle. Record-high heat is forecast in the Pacific Northwest this weekend, raising concerns about wildfires and the health of people in a region where many don't have air conditioning. The National Weather Service has issued an Excessive Heat Watch and predicted “dangerously hot” conditions Friday, June 25, 2021, through at least Tuesday. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
Pacific Northwest braces for record-breaking heat wave

By Nicholas K. Geranios Jun. 24, 2021 03:04 PM EDT

FILE — In this Jan. 8, 2019 file photo Gov. Gavin Newsom discusses emergency preparedness during a visit to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection CalFire Colfax Station in Colfax, Calif. On his first full day as governor, Newsom announced executive actions to improve the state's response to wildfires and other emergencies. Newsom has vastly overstated wildfire prevention work done under his administration according to an investigation by Capital Public Radio, published Wednesday, June, 23, 2021. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File )
Report: California governor overstated fire prevention work

Jun. 23, 2021 07:48 PM EDT

FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2021, file photo, health care workers prepare the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for farm workers at Tudor Ranch in Mecca, Calif. California Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to spend the state's extraordinary budget surplus on correcting the most widespread financial impacts of the pandemic, pledging to give $600 payments to most taxpaying adults while committing to pay off all of their outstanding rent and utility bills. But left out of the governor's $267.8 billion budget proposal last month: Money to rebuild local public health departments, whose staffing shortages and fragmented funding were exposed by the coronavirus, impeding a more coordinated response to the crisis. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
California debates public health spending as virus recedes

By Adam Beam Jun. 11, 2021 12:54 AM EDT

House votes to end governor's pandemic disaster declaration

By Mark Scolforo Jun. 08, 2021 07:25 PM EDT
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania's House of Representatives voted on party lines Tuesday to put an end to the governor's pandemic disaster emergency...

FILE - In this March 30, 2021, file photo, minors lie inside a pod at the Donna Department of Homeland Security holding facility, in Donna, Texas. A move by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to shutter dozens of shelters housing about 4,000 migrant children is threatening to disrupt a national program offering care for minors who cross the U.S.-Mexico border. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday, June 2 2021, that it didn't intend to close any facilities but that it was "assessing" the Republican governor's late Tuesday disaster declaration. (AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills, Pool, File)
Texas push to close shelters for migrant kids alarms groups

By Adriana Gomez Licon And Acacia Coronado Jun. 02, 2021 05:31 PM EDT

In this photo provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, a half-submerged LCT Jacqueline star ship is seen after its crew abandoned ship as Tropical Storm Choi-wan hits Albuera, Leyte province, central Philippines on Wednesday June 2, 2021. The tropical storm has left several people dead and displaced hundreds of villagers in the southern and central Philippines, where it set off flooding and landslides, officials said Wednesday. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)
Storm leaves 3 dead, displaces thousands in Philippines

Jun. 02, 2021 10:49 AM EDT

A statue of Jesus Christ stands in front of the remains of a house in Cameron Parish, La. on Monday, May 24, 2021. Scores of people in coastal Louisiana are still living in campers on dirt mounds or next to cement slabs where their houses once stood. Unresolved insurance claims and a shortage of supply and labor are stymying building efforts. And weather forecasters are warning of more possible devastation to come. (AP Photo/Rebecca Santana)
Louisiana coast still hurting from storms, bracing for more

By Rebecca Santana May. 30, 2021 11:04 AM EDT

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly tours a vaccination clinic at Topeka High School Monday, May 17, 2021, in Topeka, Kan. (Evert Nelson/The Topeka Capital-Journal via AP)
Kansas GOP leaders preparing to end COVID state of emergency

By John Hanna May. 28, 2021 12:15 PM EDT

UN warns Tigray faces famine risk if aid isn't scaled up

By Edith M. Lederer May. 26, 2021 07:30 PM EDT
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. humanitarian chief warned the Security Council that the humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region is worsening...

Protestors wait for Dominic Cummings, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's most powerful and trusted aide up until last year, to arrive to attend a select committee hearing at Portcullis House in London, Wednesday, May 26, 2021. In recent days, Cummings has directed a torrent of criticism at Johnson's Conservative government in an ever-lengthening string of Twitter posts. On Wednesday, he plans to make the claims in person, testifying on live television to lawmakers investigating Britain's handling of COVID-19. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
Ex-Johnson aide lambasts UK government over COVID failures

By Jill Lawless May. 26, 2021 05:30 AM EDT

FILE - In this Dec. 18, 2020 file photo, Francesco Zambon, lead author of a withdrawn WHO report into Italy's coronavirus response speaks with The Associated Press in Rome. Zambon said he was pressured by a then-assistant director general, Dr. Ranieri Guerra, to falsify data about Italy’s preparedness going into the pandemic in a report he and other researchers were writing to help other countries prepare as COVID-19 swept across the globe last year. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis)
WHO asked to review spiked Italy report, whistleblower case

By Nicole Winfield May. 26, 2021 05:29 AM EDT

Louisiana Senate crafts plan for spending $1.5B federal aid

By Melinda Deslatte May. 25, 2021 06:24 PM EDT
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana would spend more than $1.5 billion in federal coronavirus aid on roadwork, water system improvements, tourism marketing,...

Merkel, Macron back efforts to improve WHO as meeting opens

By Jamey Keaten May. 24, 2021 06:04 AM EDT
GENEVA (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday were among leaders rallying around efforts to strengthen the World...

Maryland budget official outlines billions in pandemic aid

By Brian Witte May. 20, 2021 05:46 PM EDT
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Maryland is expecting to receive about $3.7 billion in federal pandemic relief “within the next week or so,” a state budget official said...

Lawmakers now hold fate of regulations waived amid pandemic

By Marc Levy May. 20, 2021 03:51 PM EDT
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — With voters shifting major new responsibilities to them, Pennsylvania's state lawmakers are now tasked with deciding whether hundreds of...

Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon is congratulated as he passes the team box after scoring his second goal of night, during the third period of Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series against the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday, May 19, 2021, in Denver. Colorado won 6-3. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
MacKinnon records hat trick, Avs beat Blues 6-3 in Game 2

By Pat Graham May. 20, 2021 01:47 AM EDT