AP National News

Country singer Tom T. Hall dies; wrote ‘Harper Valley PTA’

By KRISTIN M. HALL - AP Entertainment Writer

by Rayos Syndication User

Singer-songwriter Tom T. Hall, who composed “Harper Valley P.T.A.” and sang about life’s simple joys as country music’s consummate blue collar bard, has died. He was 85. His son, Dean Hall, confirmed the musician’s death Friday at his home in Franklin, Tennessee.  Hall was known as “The Storyteller” for his unadorned yet incisive lyrics. He composed hundreds of songs and had several No. 1 hits as a singer. Born in Kentucky, Hall wrote his first song by age 9. Throughout the ’70s, Hall became one of Nashville’s biggest singer-songwriters. His hits included “I Love,” “Country Is,” “I Care,” “I Like Beer,” and “Faster Horses (The Cowboy and The Poet.)” 

The Latest: SF requires full vaccination for indoor activity

By The Associated Press

by Rayos Syndication User

SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco has become the first major city in the nation to require proof of full vaccination against the coronavirus for people to dine inside restaurants, work out in gyms or attend indoor concerts. Restaurants and bars posted signs and added extra staff Friday to begin verifying people’s proof of vaccination before allowing them in. The new…

The Latest: Official Taliban websites abruptly go offline

By The Associated Press

by Rayos Syndication User

Taliban websites that delivered the victorious insurgents’ official messages to Afghans and the world at large in five languages have abruptly gone offline. It is not immediately clear why the sites in the Pashto, Urdu, Arabic, English and Dari languages went offline Friday. They had been shielded by Cloudflare, a San Francisco-based content delivery network and denial-of-service protection provider. Cloudflare has not respond to emails and phone calls seeking comment on the development. The SITE Intelligence Group which tracks online extremism says that also on Friday, the popular encrypted messaging service WhatsApp removed a number of Taliban groups. That follows the Tuesday banning of Taliban accounts by Facebook, the  parent of WhatsApp. 

FACT FOCUS: COVID-19 shots not forced on kids in Australia

By ALI SWENSON and TERRENCE FRASER - Associated Press

by Rayos Syndication User

As Australian health officials encourage eligible high school students to get vaccinated for COVID-19 before upcoming in-person exams, social media users are spreading false claims that their efforts involve forcibly injecting children. The posts have amassed millions of views this week and penetrated every major social media platform. Among them are a video of a police incident misrepresented as the…

AP Week in Pictures: North America

By The Associated Press

by Rayos Syndication User

AUG. 12- 19, 2021 This photo gallery highlights some of the most compelling images made or published in the past week by The Associated Press from the North American region. The selection was curated by AP photo editor Courtney Dittmar in Tokyo. Follow AP visual journalism: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apnews AP Images on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AP_Images AP Images blog: http://apimagesblog.com Categories: AP National…

The Latest: Japan imposes ’emergency’ measures against virus

By The Associated Press

by Rayos Syndication User

TOKYO — Much of Japan kicked in its government “state of emergency” to curb COVID-19 infections Friday, as well as a less stringent “quasi-emergency,” although worries remained about their effectiveness. Those requiring hospitalization grew to more than 168,000 people, and complaints have surfaced about hospitals turning patients away. The emergency, which lasts through Sept. 12, requests restaurants and bars to…

How AI-powered tech landed man in jail with scant evidence

By GARANCE BURKE, MARTHA MENDOZA, JULIET LINDERMAN and MICHAEL TARM - Associated Press

by Rayos Syndication User

Michael Williams, a 65-year-old grandfather from Chicago, sat behind bars for nearly a year accused of murder. But the key evidence against Williams didn’t come from an eyewitness or an informant; instead prosecutors focused on a loud bang picked up by a network of surveillance microphones. Prosecutors said technology powered by a secret algorithm that analyzed noises detected by the sensors indicated Williams shot and killed a man. Last month, a judge dismissed the case against him at the request of prosecutors, who said they had insufficient evidence. Williams’ experience highlights the real-world impacts of society’s growing reliance on algorithms to help make consequential decisions about many aspects of public life.

The Latest: US says Kabul evacuees don’t need COVID tests

By The Associated Press

by Rayos Syndication User

WASHINGTON — Amid the chaos and confusion at the airport, the United States said it had taken at least one step to ease requirements for those seeking to leave: COVID-19 tests. Although Afghanistan had been a hotspot for the coronavirus pandemic, the State Department said Thursday that evacuees are not required to get a negative COVID-19 result to travel. “A…

AP Week in Pictures: Middle East

The Associated Press

by Rayos Syndication User

This photo gallery highlights some of the most compelling images made or published by Associated Press photographers in the Middle East, Afghanistan & Pakistan Region between Aug. 12-18, 2021. This week’s selection includes scenes from across the region, where the Taliban’s swift advance on Afghanistan followed the American retreat from the country two decades after their invasion. Wildfires outside of…

The Latest: Australia also records new COVID-19 highs

By The Associated Press

by Rayos Syndication User

CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s two most populous states on Thursday recorded new benchmark highs in COVID-19 infections. New South Wales reported a record 681 cases in the latest 24-hour period, mostly in Sydney. The previous record for the most populous state was 633 cases set on Wednesday. Neighboring Victoria reported 57 new cases in its capital Melbourne. It was the…