Senate dodges US debt disaster, voting to extend borrowing

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate dodged a U.S. debt disaster Thursday night, voting to extend the government’s borrowing authority into December and temporarily avert an unprecedented federal default that experts warned would devastate the economy and harm millions of Americans.

The party-line Democratic vote of 50-48 in support of the bill to raise the government’s debt ceiling by nearly a half-trillion dollars brought instant relief in Washington and far beyond. However, it provides only a reprieve. Assuming the House goes along, which it will, Republican and Democratic lawmakers will still have to tackle their deep differences on the issue once more before yearend.

That debate will take place as lawmakers also work to fund the federal government for the new fiscal year and as they keep up their bitter battling over President Joe Biden’s top domestic priorities — a bipartisan infrastructure plan with nearly $550 billion in new spending as well as a much more expansive, $3.5 trillion effort focused on health, safety net programs and the environment.

Easing the crisis at hand — a disastrous default looming in just weeks — the Republican Senate leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, offered his support for allowing a short-term extension of the government’s borrowing authority after leading solid GOP opposition to a longer extension. He acted as Biden and business leaders ramped up their concerns that a default would disrupt government payments to millions of Americans and throw the nation into recession.

The GOP concession to give up its blockade for now was not popular with some members of McConnell’s Republican caucus, who complained that the nation’s debt levels are unsustainable.

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What to expect as US weighs COVID shots for younger kids

The Food and Drug Administration is considering whether to allow COVID-19 vaccinations in children ages 5 to 11 — using kid-sized doses.

Until now, only people 12 and older could be vaccinated in the U.S., with shots made by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech. That’s been a huge frustration for many pediatricians and parents, especially as the extra-contagious delta variant has raged through poorly vaccinated communities — and the schools in them.

On Thursday, the companies formally applied for emergency use of a lower dose for 5- to 11-year-olds. Here’s what to expect:

Q: Why do younger kids need a vaccine?

A: The virus generally causes more serious disease in older adults than in children. But it can sometimes be severe in youngsters, too. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, COVID-19 has killed at least 520 children in the U.S.

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Texas judge says abortions can resume, but future uncertain

WASHINGTON (AP) — Abortions in Texas can resume under a federal judge’s ruling late Wednesday, but for how long? A conservative federal appeals court, and ultimately the Supreme Court, might take a more skeptical look at the Biden administration’s lawsuit over Texas’ six-week abortion ban.

The state law prohibiting abortions once cardiac activity is detected, usually around six weeks, had been in effect for more than a month. U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman temporarily blocked it, in a 113-page ruling that found the law violates a woman’s right to an abortion.

But the legal fight over the law at this point isn’t focused on abortion rights, but rather on who has the ability to mount a legal challenge to it and what a court can do.

Both the Supreme Court and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals previously rejected pleas from abortion providers to keep the law from taking effect until courts could definitively rule on its constitutionality. It’s not clear how they will rule in the new case or when they might be expected to weigh in.

Texas already has said it will appeal to the 5th Circuit and the loser there almost certainly will ask the high court to intervene. The justices are separately hearing a major challenge to abortion rights in a case from Mississippi that could dramatically curtail a woman’s right to an abortion in roughly half the states. But that case, being argued in December, won’t be decided until next spring.

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How much oil leaked in California spill? No firm tally

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Nearly a week since oil first appeared in the waters off Southern California, how much oil leaked from a ruptured underwater pipeline is still unknown—though experts say the amount should be easy to calculate.

While there isn’t a firm tally, plenty of numbers have been floated.

The company that owns and operates three offshore platforms and the pipeline has said publicly that no more than 126,000 gallons (477,000 liters) leaked. But Houston-based Amplify Energy also told federal investigators the total amount may only be 29,400 gallons (111,300 liters).

On Thursday, U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Rebecca Ore said five federal and state agencies assessed pipeline data and determined that at least about 25,000 gallons (95,000 liters) of crude spilled. No more than 132,000 gallons (500,000 liters) spilled, she said, adding that’s a maximum scenario and has not been confirmed.

David Pettit, a senior attorney at Natural Resources Defense Council who worked on the response to the massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, said the amount of oil spilled into the ocean should be easily and quickly known to Amplify.

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Elon Musk says Tesla will move HQ from California to Texas

Tesla will relocate its headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Austin, Texas, though the electric car maker will keep expanding its manufacturing capacity in the Golden State, CEO Elon Musk said Thursday.

Musk, who last year said he was moving to Texas from California, gave no timeline for the move when he addressed shareholders at Tesla’s annual meeting.

In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, Musk clashed with San Francisco Bay Area health authorities trying to enforce shelter-in-place orders. At the time, he threatened to relocate Tesla’s operations to Texas or Nevada.

On Thursday, however, Musk cited the cost of housing in the Bay Area that has made it tough for many people to become homeowners, translating into long commutes.

“We’re taking it as far as possible, but there’s a limit how big you can scale it in the Bay Area,” he said Thursday. “Just to be clear, though, we will be continuing to expand our activities in California. This is not a matter of leaving California.”

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Phoenix, other cities keep growing as climate danger rises

PHOENIX (AP) — The mustard-colored apartments built as public housing more than half a century ago are among the hottest spots in Phoenix, with only a few scrawny trees and metal clothesline poles offering shade in dusty courtyards.

The two-story stucco structures in Edison-Eastlake, a historically Black neighborhood that has become majority Latino, are among the last still standing halfway through a six-year redevelopment project that aims to better protect residents from extreme heat amid a megadrought in the West.

Phoenix was always scorching, but climate change has made the nation’s fifth-largest city even hotter, with temperatures in early September still climbing to 111 degrees (43.8 Celsius). Conditions weren’t much better in Las Vegas, some 300 miles (483 kilometers) to the north, where the thermometer hit 106 degrees (41.3 Celsius).

But in one of the more remarkable findings from the 2020 census, the searing weather has not deterred Americans from settling in such places. The desert cities are in two of the five fastest-growing counties in the U.S., and new population data shows that people keep flocking to communities where climate change makes life more uncomfortable and more precarious.

“In the Southwest, we are now in the process of re-imagining our environment,” said Nancy Brune, executive director of Nevada’s nonprofit Guinn Center, a think tank that has studied how extreme heat affects communities. “We have to consciously ensure that we and our buildings can withstand the heat.”

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Premier League club Newcastle bought by Saudi sovereign fund

LONDON (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund completed a buyout of Premier League club Newcastle on Thursday, giving hope to fans dreaming of a first title in almost a century but concerning human rights activists that the kingdom had gained a foothold in the world’s richest soccer league.

Supporters descended on the club’s St. James’ Park stadium, some chanting “we are Saudis, we do what we want” and others singing “we’ve got our club back” amid the promise of long-desired investment.

The 300-million-pound ($409 million) takeover had been pursued since 2017 but stalled and then collapsed last year over concerns about how much control the Saudi state would have in the running of Newcastle amid scrutiny over piracy of sports broadcasts and human rights violations in the kingdom.

It led to a protracted legal fight that only ended this week when the Public Investment Fund offered assurances to the Premier League that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and in turn the state, would not have any say in the team.

PIF has bought 80% of the club — which is in the relegation zone after seven matches — with the wealthy British-based Reuben brothers and financier Amanda Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners owning the rest.

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US health experts urge flu shots to avoid ‘twindemic’

The U.S. is gearing up in case of a bad flu season on top of the continuing COVID-19 crisis, with a plea Thursday for Americans to get vaccinated against both.

“I get it: We are all tired of talking about vaccines,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But “it is doubly important this year” to get your flu shot, added Walensky, who got her own vaccination earlier this week just as she has every year since she was a medical student in 1995. “We are preparing for the return of the flu.”

Flu cases dropped to historically low levels globally over the pandemic, as restrictions designed to slow the spread of the coronavirus helped block other respiratory viruses. But with schools and businesses reopened, international travel resuming and far less masking, there’s no way to predict how bad a flu season the U.S. might expect this winter.

But officials are worried because a different respiratory virus, named RSV, that usually attacks young children in the winter instead roared back last summer as soon as people started dropping their masks.

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Congo’s famous mountain gorilla dies at 14 in Virunga Park

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Ndakasi, a mountain gorilla who famously posed for a selfie with a ranger at Congo’s Virunga National Park, has died at 14 after a long illness, the park said.

“It is with heartfelt sadness that Virunga announces the death of beloved orphaned mountain gorilla, Ndakasi, who had been under the care of the park’s Senkwekwe Center for more than a decade,” a statement from the park said this week.

“Ndakasi took her final breath in the loving arms of her caretaker and lifelong friend, Andre Bauma,” said the statement, adding that she died on Sept. 26 following a prolonged illness in which her condition rapidly deteriorated.

Ndakasi was just two months old when rangers found her clinging to the lifeless body of her mother who had been gunned down by armed militia in 2007. Bauma comforted her that first night by holding her to his bare chest and he continued caring for her since then. She was transferred to the Senkwekwe Center after its creation in 2009 and lived with other orphaned mountain gorillas viewed as too vulnerable to return to the wild.

The mountain gorilla’s life was featured in shows and the documentary film “Virunga,” and she gained internet fame in 2019 for a photo that featured her standing relaxed on two feet, with her belly out next to another gorilla, Ndeze, and with another ranger in the foreground taking the selfie.

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Ghost towns: Nursing home staffing falls amid pandemic

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — When Natalie Walters arrived at her father’s nursing home, the parking lot was nearly empty and, inside, the elevator made no stops. On the 13th floor, the lights were off and the TVs silent. The last time she was allowed inside, nine months earlier, aides passed in the hall and a nurse waved from the records room.

Now, it felt like a ghost town.

One of the few staffers on duty broke the news: Walters was too late and her father was already dead of COVID-19. In the nursing home’s newfound emptiness, the scream she unleashed echoed in the void.

“It was so still and quiet,” says Walters, whose description of desolation at the home aligns with records showing its staffing level has fallen over the course of the pandemic. “How alone must he have been.”

Even before COVID-19 bared the truth of a profit-driven industry with too few caring for society’s most vulnerable, thin staffing was a hallmark of nursing homes around the country. Now, staffing is even thinner, with about one-third of U.S. nursing homes reporting lower levels of nurses and aides than before the pandemic began ravaging their facilities, an Associated Press analysis of federal data finds.