AP News in Brief at 9:04 p.m. EDT
SpaceX launches 4 amateurs on private Earth-circling trip
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - SpaceX's first private flight blasted off Wednesday night with two contest winners, a health care worker and their rich sponsor, the most ambitious leap yet in space tourism.
It was the first time a rocket streaked toward orbit with an all-amateur crew - no professional astronauts.
The Dragon capsule's two men and two women are looking to spend three days circling the world from an unusually high orbit - 100 miles (160 kilometers) higher than the International Space Station - before splashing down off the Florida coast this weekend.
Leading the flight is Jared Isaacman, 38, who made his fortune with a payment-processing company he started in his teens.
It's SpaceX founder Elon Musk's first entry in the competition for space tourism dollars. Isaacman is the third billionaire to launch this summer, following the brief space-skimming flights by Virgin Galactic's Richard Branson and Blue Origin's Jeff Bezos in July.
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Biles: FBI turned 'blind eye' to reports of gymnasts' abuse
WASHINGTON (AP) - Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles told Congress in forceful testimony Wednesday that federal law enforcement and gymnastics officials turned a 'œblind eye'ť to USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar's sexual abuse of her and hundreds of other women.
Biles told the Senate Judiciary Committee that 'œenough is enough'ť as she and three other U.S. gymnasts spoke in stark emotional terms about the lasting toll Nassar's crimes have taken on their lives. In response, FBI Director Christopher Wray said he was 'œdeeply and profoundly sorry'ť for delays in Nassar's prosecution and the pain it caused.
The four-time Olympic gold medalist and five-time world champion - widely considered to be the greatest gymnast of all time - said she 'œcan imagine no place that I would be less comfortable right now than sitting here in front of you." She declared herself a survivor of sexual abuse.
'œI blame Larry Nassar and I also blame an entire system that enabled and perpetrated his abuse,'ť Biles said through tears. In addition to failures of the FBI, she said USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee 'œknew that I was abused by their official team doctor long before I was ever made aware of their knowledge.'ť
Biles said a message needs to be sent: "If you allow a predator to harm children, the consequences will be swift and severe. Enough is enough.'ť
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Democrats could reform 'weaponized' California recall system
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Hours after California Gov. Gavin Newsom beat back a recall election that could have removed him, his fellow Democrats in the state Legislature said Wednesday they will push for changes to make it more difficult to challenge a sitting governor.
Those reforms could include increasing the number of signatures needed to force a recall election, raising the standard to require wrongdoing on the part of the officeholder and changing the process that could permit someone with a small percentage of votes to replace the state's top elected official.
'œI think the recall process has been weaponized,'ť Newsom said a day after his decisive victory. He added that the recall rules affect not just governors but school boards, city councils, county supervisors and district attorneys, notably in Los Angeles and San Francisco, where liberal prosecutors are being challenged.
The governor noted that California has one of the nation's lowest thresholds for the number of signatures needed to trigger a recall election. Proponents had to collect nearly 1.5 million signatures out of California's 22 million registered voters in their bid to oust him, or 12% of the electorate who voted him into office in 2018.
Newsom declined to say what reforms he favors, saying he is too close to the process as a recall target who could someday face another attempt to remove him.
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Afghan killed by drone praised by co-workers in US aid group
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - The Afghan man who was killed in a U.S. drone strike last month was an enthusiastic and beloved longtime employee at an American humanitarian organization, his colleagues say, painting a stark contrast to the Pentagon's claims that he was an Islamic State group militant about to carry out an attack on American troops.
Signs have been mounting that the U.S. military may have targeted the wrong man in the Aug. 29 strike in Kabul, with devastating consequences, killing seven children and two other adults from his family. The Pentagon says it is further investigating the strike, but it has no way to do so on the ground in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover, severely limiting its ability to gather evidence.
Accounts from the family, documents from colleagues seen by The Associated Press, and the scene at the family home - where Zemerai Ahmadi's car was struck by a Hellfire missile just as he pulled into the driveway - all seem to sharply contradict the accounts by the U.S. military. Instead, they paint the picture of a family that had worked for Americans and were trying to gain visas to the United States, fearing for their lives under the Taliban.
At the home, the mangled, incinerated Toyota Corolla remains in the driveway. But there are no signs of large secondary blasts the Pentagon said were caused by explosives hidden in the car trunk. In the tightly cramped, walled compound, the house is undamaged except for broken glass, even a badly built wooden balcony remains in place. A brick wall immediately adjacent to the car stands intact. Trees and foliage close to the car are not burned or torn.
The family wants the United States to hear their side of the story and see the facts on the ground.
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Biden announces Indo-Pacific alliance with UK, Australia
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that the United States is forming a new Indo-Pacific security alliance with Britain and Australia that will allow for greater sharing of defense capabilities - including helping equip Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. It's a move that could deepen a growing chasm in U.S.-China relations.
Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison appeared together virtually to detail the new alliance, which will be called AUKUS (pronounced AWK-us). The three announced they would quickly turn their attention to developing nuclear-powered submarines for Australia.
"We all recognize the imperative of ensuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific over the long term," said Biden, who said the new alliance reflects a broader trend of key European partners playing a role in the Indo-Pacific. 'œWe need to be able to address both the current strategic environment in the region and how it may evolve.'ť
The new security alliance is likely to be seen as a provocative move by China, which has repeatedly lashed out at Biden as he's sought to refocus U.S. foreign policy on the Pacific in the early going of his presidency.
Before the announcement, a senior administration official sought to play down the idea that the alliance was meant to serve as a deterrent against China in the region. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the announcement, said the alliance's creation was not aimed at any one country, and is about a larger effort to sustain engagement and deterrence in the Indo-Pacific by the three nations.
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As COVID-19 vaccine mandates rise, religious exemptions grow
An estimated 2,600 Los Angeles Police Department employees are citing religious objections to try to get out of the required COVID-19 vaccination. In Washington state, thousands of state workers are seeking similar exemptions.
And in Arkansas, a hospital has been swamped with so many such requests from employees that it is apparently calling their bluff.
Religious objections, once used sparingly around the country to get exempted from various required vaccines, are becoming a much more widely used loophole against the COVID-19 shot.
And it is only likely to grow following President Joe Biden's sweeping new vaccine mandates covering more than 100 million Americans, including executive branch employees and workers at businesses with more than 100 people on the payroll.
The administration acknowledges that a small minority of Americans will use - and some may seek to exploit - religious exemptions. But it said it believes even marginal improvements in vaccination rates will save lives.
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Ex-House Speaker settles child sexual abuse payments suit
YORKVILLE, Ill. (AP) - Former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert and a man who accused him of child sexual abuse reached a tentative out-of-court settlement Wednesday over Hastert's refusal to pay the man $1.8 million - the outstanding balance in hush money that the Illinois Republican agreed to pay the man in 2010.
Lawyers would not release details of the settlement, arrived at just days before a civil trial in the case that was set to start. It would have focused on a novel legal issue about whether Hastert's verbal agreement to pay $3.5 million to buy the silence of a man he abused as a teenager amounted to a legally binding contract.
The man has been referred to only as James Doe in court papers since the breach of contract lawsuit was filed in 2016 in Illinois court in Yorkville, Hastert's hometown just west of Chicago.
The hush-money deal would eventually lead to a federal criminal case against Hastert five years later and to public disgrace for the a GOP stalwart who, for eight years as House speaker, was second in the line of succession to the presidency. In the federal case, prosecutors said Hastert sexually abused at least four male students between the ages of 14 and 17 throughout his years at Yorkville High School. Hastert was in his 20s and 30s.
Federal prosecutors said during criminal proceedings that the hush-money deal was voluntarily entered into and that the victim never sought to blackmail Hastert that he'd go public about the abuse. The abuse happened when the victim was a high school wrestler and the now 79-year-old Hastert was his coach.
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World leaders face new rule at UN meeting: vaccination
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - World leaders will have to be vaccinated against the coronavirus to speak at the U.N. General Assembly's big meeting next week, the assembly leader and New York City officials have said, prompting swift objections from at least one nation.
With the diplomatic world's premier event being held in person for the first time during the pandemic, city International Affairs commissioner Penny Abeywardena told the assembly in a letter last week that officials consider the hall a 'œconvention center'ť and therefore subject to the city's vaccination requirement.
'œWe are proud to join in the ongoing efforts to keep all U.N.G.A. attendees and our fellow New Yorkers safe during the pandemic,'ť she and Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement Wednesday, adding that the city would offer free, walk-in vaccinations - Johnson & Johnson's single shot - and testing outside the U.N. during the meeting.
G.A. President Abdulla Shahid embraced the vaccination requirement in a letter Tuesday, calling it 'œan important step in our return to a fully-functional General Assembly."
But Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia blasted the vaccine demand as a 'œclearly discriminatory'ť infringement on nations' rights at the U.N.
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States learning how many Afghan evacuees coming their way
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Biden administration on Wednesday began notifying governors and state refugee coordinators across the country about how many Afghan evacuees from among the first group of nearly 37,000 arrivals are slated to be resettled in their states.
California is projected to take more arrivals than any other - more than 5,200 people, according to State Department data for the Afghan Placement and Assistance program obtained by The Associated Press.
Alabama and Mississippi are each slated to welcome 10, according to U.S. officials. Hawaii, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming and the District of Columbia are not expected to resettle anyone from the first group of evacuees who fled during the final days of the chaotic U.S. withdrawal last month.
The administration has requested funding from Congress to help resettle 65,000 Afghans in the United States by the end of this month and 95,000 by September 2022. President Joe Biden tapped the former governor of his home state of Delaware, Jack Markell, to temporarily serve as his point person on resettling Afghan evacuees in the United States.
States with a historically large number of Afghans who resettled in the U.S. over the last 20 years - including California, Maryland, Texas and Virginia - are again welcoming a disproportionate number of evacuees, according to the data. Many gravitate to northern Virginia, the Maryland suburbs of D.C. and northern California - some of the most expensive housing markets in the country.
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After humble beginnings, Oregon's Dutch Bros launches IPO
SALEM, Ore. (AP) - After humble beginnings as a pushcart operation in an Oregon town and growing into a company with hundreds of drive-thru coffee shops, Dutch Bros Coffee launched an initial public offering Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.
The offering drew an enthusiastic response from investors, who sent shares of the company up by more than 50% within hours.
Dutch Bros Coffee Executive Chairman Travis Boersma rang the ceremonial first trade bell on the floor of the NYSE on Wednesday. The company had an initial public offering price of $23. By the close of the day's trading, the share price had jumped to about $37.
The IPO was the biggest in state history and made the coffee company the state's fifth-most-valuable company, with a stock market value approaching that of Portland-based Columbia Sportswear, according to The Oregonian/OregonLive.
The Pacific Northwest is known for its love of coffee. Starbucks started in 1971 in Seattle's historic Pike Place Market. Unlike that chain, which is now ubiquitous in the United States and beyond, Dutch Bros is 100% drive-thru.