Queen Elizabeth II’s coffin makes journey through Scotland
LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II’s flag-draped coffin is passing through the rugged Scottish countryside on a final journey from her beloved summer estate Balmoral Castle to London. The coffin of the late monarch is on a six-hour road journey to Edinburgh on Sunday. Mourners in Scotland are lining roads and some tossing flowers to honor the monarch who died Thursday at Balmoral after 70 years on the throne. Also Sunday, King Charles III will be formally proclaimed king in the other nations of the United Kingdom — Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — after a similar ceremony in Britain a day earlier.
‘I cannot mourn’: Former colonies conflicted over the queen
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II inherited millions of subjects around the world Upon taking the throne in 1952. Many of them were unwilling. Today, in the British Empire’s former colonies, her death brings complicated feelings, including anger. Beyond official condolences praising the queen’s longevity and service, there is some bitterness about the past in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and elsewhere. Talk has turned to the legacies of colonialism, from slavery to corporal punishment in African schools to looted artifacts held in British institutions. For many, the queen came to represent all of that during her seven decades on the throne.
US marks 21st anniversary of 9/11 terror attacks
NEW YORK (AP) — The 9/11 anniversary commemoration at ground zero has begun with a tolling bell and a moment of silence, 21 years after the start of the deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil. Victims’ relatives and dignitaries are gathering Sunday at all three places where hijacked jets crashed on Sept. 11, 2001 — the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field. Vice President Kamala Harris is attending the ceremony in New York. President Joe Biden will be at the Pentagon, while first lady Jill Biden will be in Shanksville. The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people, spurred a U.S. “war on terror” and affect American politics and public life to this day.
Biden honors Sept. 11 victims as shadow of Afghan war looms
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has marked the 21st anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, laying a wreath at the Pentagon. Sunday’s somber commemoration came a little more than a year after the Democratic president ended the war in Afghanistan launched by the U.S. and its allies in response to the terror attacks. Biden upheld a campaign pledge to bring home U.S. troops from the country’s longest conflict. But the war ended in chaotic fashion last August as the U.S.-backed Afghan government collapsed. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says Biden will recognize the impact the Sept. 11 attacks had on the U.S. and the world and honor the nearly 3,000 people killed that day.
Ukraine pushes major counteroffensive as war marks 200 days
As the war in Ukraine marks 200 days, the country has reclaimed broad swaths of the south and east in a long-anticipated counteroffensive, dealing a heavy blow to Russia. The counterattack began in the final days of August and initially focused on the southern region of Kherson, which was swept by Russian forces in the early days of the invasion. Just as Moscow refocused attention and troops there, Ukraine launched another, highly effective offensive in the northeastern region of Kharkiv. Facing quick Ukrainian gains that raised the prospect of a large group of Russian forces being surrounded, Moscow ordered a pullback from Kharkiv in a dramatic change of the state of play.
Last reactor at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant stopped
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s atomic power operator says the last reactor at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has been shut down after the plant was reconnected to the electricity grid. The six-reactor Zaporizhzhia plant was disconnected from the grid last week after all its power lines were disconnected as a result of fighting in the area, and was operating in “island mode” for several days, generating electricity for crucial cooling systems from its only remaining reactor in operation. Energoatom said that one of the power lines was restored late Saturday, allowing plant operators to shut down the last reactor.
Fighting bogus claims a growing priority in election offices
Local election officials preparing for the rapidly approaching midterm elections have one more headache: trying to combat misinformation that can confuse, anger and disenfranchise voters. Some states and counties are devoting more money or staff to a problem that’s grown more concerning since the 2020 presidential election and the false claims it was marred by widespread fraud. Some officials complain the big social media platforms aren’t doing enough to help them tackle the bogus information. Many election offices are taking matters into their own hands, starting public outreach campaigns to provide accurate information about how elections are run. That means traveling town halls in Arizona, “Mythbuster Mondays” in North Carolina and animated videos in Ohio.
Testimony: School shooter’s home ruled by chaos
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Testimony at the trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz shows that chaos reigned in the home he shared with his widowed mother and brother. Cruz and his brother Zachary fought so often and violently that their mother Lynda called law enforcement two dozen times. Nikolas Cruz broke TVs and punched holes in walls after losing video games. Zachary picked on his brother, who was the neighborhood outcast. Nikolas Cruz has pleaded guilty to murdering 17 students and staff members in 2018 at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The trial is only to determine if the 23-year-old is sentenced to death or life without parole. It resumes Monday after a week off.
3 dead after 7.6 quake hits remote part of Papua New Guinea
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — At least three people are dead after a powerful earthquake hit a remote part of Papua New Guinea. Some buildings and roads were also damaged in the Sunday morning jolt that was felt across the Pacific island country. The deaths were from a landslide in the gold-mining town of Wau. There was also damage to some health centers, homes, rural roads and highways. Authorities say the sparse, scattered population and lack of large buildings near the epicenter may have helped prevent a larger disaster from the magnitude 7.6 earthquake. One resident from the town closest to the epicenter described his ordeal to the Associated Press.
Steven Spielberg debuts his movie memoir ‘The Fabelmans’
TORONTO (AP) — Steven Spielberg premiered his much-anticipated “The Fabelmans” to thunderous applause at the Toronto International Film Festival, debuting his most autobiographical film and one the 75-year-old filmmaker said he’s been building toward his whole life. “The Fabelmans” draws extensively from the director’s own childhood and early formation as a filmmaker. His parents are played by Michelle Williams and Paul Dano in the film, and from his early formation as a filmmaker. Spielberg said the film has been welling up in him for years, but that doesn’t make it any kind of finale. Said the director: “It is not because I decided to retire and this is my swan song.”