Washington — Nearly 150 students and staff from the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) were evacuated before the U.S. completed its withdrawal at the end of August. But that was short of the AUAF administration’s goal to get 1,200 out of the country, and now the university is working to move …

He would return to the same subjects again and again: forests and trees, fruit and faces, bathers in and out of water. For the renowned French artist Paul Cézanne, it was all about the effort: “I can’t seem to express the intensity which beats in upon my senses,” he said. …

In their first conversation in seven months, President Biden spoke by phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping late Thursday night from the Treaty Room inside the White House residence. The roughly 90-minute call was initiated by Mr. Biden and motivated by what is essentially his exasperation that lower-level Chinese officials …

With California’s recall election less than two weeks away, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom is keeping his focus on battling COVID-19 and defending the state’s vaccine and mask mandates — drawing a stark contrast with the Republicans looking to replace him on September 14. Newsom touts California’s high vaccination rate: nearly 80% of …

In her latest documentary film “Bring Your Own Brigade,” Oscar-nominated director Lucy Walker investigates the causes of recent wildfires across California and the U.S. and also sets out to help the audience understand what these raging fires feel like from the perspective of the firefighters. Shooting in 2018, as the …

Denver — The FBI said Wednesday its agents are joining a criminal investigation into an alleged security breach of a rural Colorado county’s voting equipment. The agents are working with Mesa County prosecutors to determine if there was a criminal violation, FBI spokeswoman Courtney Bernal said in a statement. The …

Republican Congressman Ralph Norman, who is suing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over a fine he received for violating the House’s original mask mandate, has tested positive for COVID-19. The representative from South Carolina tweeted Thursday he’s experiencing only “mild” symptoms, crediting his fully vaccinated status.  Norman, along with fellow Republicans …

Washington — Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former head of the Food and Drug Administration, said COVID-19 vaccines still provide strong protection against serious disease and death, even as new research shows vaccinated individuals can spread the worrying Delta variant. Gottlieb noted that the COVID-19 vaccines were primarily intended to significantly reduce …

Britney Spears’ legal team on Monday filed a petition to remove her father, Jamie Spears, as the conservator of her estate, marking another step in the legal battle over control of her life and finances. In the filings, which ask the court to appoint a neutral professional as the new …

Washington — The Justice Department on Thursday is launching five gun trafficking strike forces to tackle gun violence and curb the supply of firearms being illegally trafficked into key regions nationwide, the latest in a series of steps taken by the Biden administration to confront a surge in violent crime. …