NEW YORK (AP) — Nearly two decades after his capture in Pakistan, the self-described mastermind of the Sept. 11 terror attacks is still in a legal limbo. As the 21st anniversary of the terror attacks approaches Sunday, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and four other men accused of 9/11-related crimes continue to sit in a U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — An International Crane Foundation official says it's exciting that a record eight whooping cranes have taken wing in Louisiana after hatching in the wild. The state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries says it's not just a Louisiana record for the world's rarest crane, but one for any flock reintroduced to the wild to help save the endangered bird.

NEW YORK (AP) — Iga Swiatek and Ons Jabeur will face each other in the U.S. Open women's final. Tunisia's Jabeur reached her second consecutive Grand Slam title match by beating Caroline Garcia 6-1, 6-3 at Flushing Meadows on Thursday night. The No. 5-seeded Jabeur was the runner-up at Wimbledon in July. She took full advantage of a shaky performance by first-time major semifinalist Garcia. The No. 1-ranked Swiatek grabbed the last four games to eliminate No. 6 Aryna Sabalenka 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the other semifinal.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is stressing his country will never abandon the nuclear weapons and missiles it needs to counter hostilities from the United States. He accuses the U.S. of pushing a pressure campaign aimed at weakening the North’s defenses and eventually collapsing his government.

ISLAMABAD (AP) — U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to the world for massive help for cash-strapped Pakistan after arriving in the country Friday to see the devastation from months of deadly floods. Months of monsoons and flooding have killed 1,391 people and affected 3.3 million in the Islamic nation. A half-million people there have become homeless. Planeloads of aid from the U.S., the United Arab Emirates and other countries have begun arriving. But there's more to be done, Guterres said.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s state nuclear energy operator says Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, caught in the Ukraine-Russia war, is operating in emergency mode with elevated risk. The six-reactor Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant came under the control of Russian forces early in the war that started in February but is operated by Ukrainian staff.

LONDON (AP) — Bells tolled across Britain on Friday and mourners flocked to palace gates to honor Queen Elizabeth II as the country prepared for a new age under a new king. Around the world, her exceptional reign was commemorated, celebrated and debated. King Charles III, who spent much of his 73 years preparing for the role, planned to meet with the prime minister and address a nation grieving the only British monarch most people alive today had ever known.

ATLANTA (AP) — Authorities say two deputies were killed in an ambush while serving a warrant at a home in a suburb near Atlanta. Cobb County Sheriff Craig Owens said the deputies had returned to their vehicle Thursday night after knocking on the door when another car pulled up. The deputies got out of the vehicle and were talking to a suspect when shots were fired.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. – The death of Queen Elizabeth II, the global icon of calmness and fortitude through decades of political upheaval and social change, has touched hearts around the world, including here in Georgia. In Fayetteville, New Hope Baptist Church Pastor Rhys Stenner called her “arguably the greatest monarch of the last thousand years.”

LONDON (AP) — Buckingham Palace says Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, has died. She was 96. Elizabeth spent more than seven decades on the throne as the U.K. rebuilt from war, lost an empire, transformed its economy and both entered and left the European Union.

LONDON (AP) — Prince Charles has been preparing to be king his entire life. Now his moment has arrived. Following the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Charles is now the oldest person to take the British throne. No date has been set for the coronation of King Charles III.

ATLANTA (AP) — Authorities say two deputies have been killed while serving a warrant in a suburb near Atlanta, and that a suspect remains barricaded in a home. The sheriff’s office in Cobb County outside Atlanta tweeted that the two deputies died Thursday evening “in the line of duty" and that a SWAT team and other law enforcement officers were at the scene.

ATLANTA (AP) — A pastor, political operative and former high-ranking Atlanta city official was sentenced Thursday to 14 years in prison after a jury found her guilty of charges stemming from a long-running federal investigation into corruption at City Hall.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The major freight railroads say in a new report designed to put pressure on unions and Congress that a strike would cost the economy more than $2 billion a day and disrupt deliveries of all kinds of goods and passenger traffic nationwide if it happens after a key deadline passes next Friday without a contract agreement.

NEW MADRID, Mo. (BP) – Heather Polk, a nurse practitioner who used her expertise on medical mission trips, died Wednesday in a two-car collision as she returned home from work. Polk’s …

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. (BP) – Ouachita Baptist University senior Clark Yarbrough, a 21-year-old starting defensive lineman on the school’s football team, died Sunday morning after a sudden collapse. University staff provided immediate emergency assistance, and, following additional measures by emergency responders and other medical professionals, he was pronounced dead at Baptist Health Medical Center in Arkadelphia.

ATLANTA – The University System of Georgia will waive SAT and ACT test requirements at most of the system’s 26 institutions for another year, system Chancellor Sonny Perdue announced Thursday. The university system didn’t include the tests as an admissions requirement for the fall semester this year at all schools except the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech and Georgia College & State University.

LAREDO, Texas (BP) — Se abrirá un nuevo centro ministerial en Laredo, Texas, como parte de una asociación entre Texas Baptists River Ministry (Ministerio del Río de Bautistas de Texas) y Send Relief. El centro servirá a Laredo y el área más amplia del Valle del Río Grande al conectar iglesias con oportunidades de ministerio en la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México.

SUMMERVILLE, Ga. – Residents of flood-ravaged northwest Georgia won’t have to worry about food or water in the aftermath of last weekend’s severe storms. Georgia Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers have set up a mobile kitchen with the capacity to serve 3,000 meals a day and they're distributing truckloads of bottled water.

ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Chris Hatcher has good reason to feel proud of Kirby Smart’s success in bringing a national championship to Georgia. After all, Hatcher gave Smart his first coaching job. Smart will face his former boss when No. 2 Georgia plays Samford, coached by Hatcher, in its first home game since winning last season’s national title. Hatcher was Valdosta State’s coach when he hired Smart to coach defensive backs in 2000.

ATLANTA – Georgia’s new fiscal year is off to a healthy start after the first two months. The state Department of Revenue collected almost $2.31 billion in taxes in August, an increase of $180.4 million – 0r 8.5% – over the same month a year ago.

WARREN, Mich. (AP) — Auto companies are rolling out more affordable electric vehicles that should widen their appeal to a larger group of buyers. That's despite rising battery costs. The latest EV came Thursday from General Motors, a Chevrolet Equinox small SUV. It has a starting price around $30,000 and a range-per-charge of 250 miles, or 400 kilometers.

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — State media says the death toll from a fire at a karaoke parlor in southern Vietnam has risen to 32. The fire that began late Tuesday trapped workers and customers inside the multi-story venue in Binh Duong province. The fire was brought under control quickly but smoldered into the next day.

HEMET, Calif. (AP) — California firefighters are struggling to gain control of major California wildfires that have grown explosively and forced extensive evacuations amid a searing heat wave. The deadly and destructive Fairview Fire in Southern California expanded in two directions on Wednesday, covering more than 30 square miles.

LONDON (AP) — Britain's new Prime Minister Liz Truss announced Thursday that her Conservative government will cap domestic energy prices for homes and businesses to ease a cost-of-living crisis …