ALEX SANZ

Global News Manager

Sanz is a veteran journalist and global news manager at The Associated Press.

FILE - Children in the town of Terekeka, South Sudan, draw water, Oct. 4, 2017, from a stagnant pond that was once infected with Guinea worm when the town was endemic. The Carter Center said Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, that only 13 human cases of Guinea worm disease were reported worldwide in 2022. (AP Photo/Mariah Quesada, File)

Guinea worm eradication effort enters ‘most difficult’ phase

The Carter Center said Tuesday that only 13 human cases of Guinea worm disease were reported worldwide last year.

Jane Fonda speaks in Atlanta during an interview via Zoom with The Associated Press on Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022, about the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power & Potential. The organization she founded in 1995 to prevent teenage pregnancies is celebrating its 27th anniversary in 2022. (AP Photo)

Jane Fonda: Nonprofit’s work ‘far more important’ after Roe

Jane Fonda says the work of the Georgia-based nonprofit organization she founded to prevent teenage pregnancies has become “far more important” in the months since the U.S.

Katya Echazarreta will become the first Mexican-born woman and one of the youngest women in space when she and five others blast off from West Texas atop a New Shepard rocket for a 10-minute tourist flight launched by Blue Origin planned for launch on Saturday, June 4, 2022. The flight comes amid efforts to increase diversity in space travel, which long has been dominated by white men. (Katya Echazarreta via AP)

Mexican-born engineer pushing for more diversity in space

A 26-year-old electrical and hardware engineer will become the first Mexican-born woman in space when she joins a diverse international crew for a 10-minute flight launched by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin.

This Dec. 6, 2021 photo provided by NASA shows the International Space Station orbited 264 miles above the Tyrrhenian Sea with the Soyuz MS-19 crew ship docked to the Rassvet module and the Prichal module, still attached to the Progress delivery craft, docked to the Nauka multipurpose module. The former head of the National Space Council tells The Associated Press, Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, that tensions in eastern Ukraine – and heightened Western fears of a Russian invasion – should not have a significant impact on the International Space Station or U.S.-Russia cooperation in space. (NASA via AP)

NASA head: We have cooperation with our Russian colleagues

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson on Friday played down recent comments by the head of Russia’s space agency that the United States would have to use broomsticks to fly to space after Russia said it would stop supplying rocket engines to U.S. companies.

This Dec. 6, 2021 photo provided by NASA shows the International Space Station orbited 264 miles above the Tyrrhenian Sea with the Soyuz MS-19 crew ship docked to the Rassvet module and the Prichal module, still attached to the Progress delivery craft, docked to the Nauka multipurpose module. The former head of the National Space Council tells The Associated Press, Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, that tensions in eastern Ukraine – and heightened Western fears of a Russian invasion – should not have a significant impact on the International Space Station or U.S.-Russia cooperation in space. (NASA via AP)

Ex-official: Space station ‘largely isolated’ from tensions

The former head of the National Space Council tells The Associated Press that tensions over eastern Ukraine should not have a significant impact on the International Space Station or U.S.

FILE - In this March 9, 2007, file photo, a Guinea worm is extracted by a health worker from a child's foot at a containment center in Savelugu, Ghana. The number of people infected with Guinea worm dropped to just over a dozen worldwide in 2021 as health workers try to eradicate the disease. (AP Photo/Olivier Asselin, File)

Carter’s dream, almost reached: Guinea worm cases drop to 14

The number of people infected with Guinea worm dropped to just over a dozen worldwide last year as health workers try to eradicate the disease.

This still image provided by SpaceX shows a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., Space Force Station on Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021. SpaceX expanded its constellation of low Earth orbit satellites with the launch of 53 Starlink satellites from Florida.(SpaceX via AP)

SpaceX launches 53 Starlink satellites into orbit

SpaceX launched 53 Starlink satellites into orbit from Florida on Saturday. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 7:19 a.m.

In this photo provided to The Associated Press, members of the Afghanistan national girls soccer team are seen on Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021, in Lisbon, Portugal. Late Sunday night, almost three weeks after the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, the girls and their families landed in Lisbon after an international coalition came to their rescue. (AP Photo)

Afghanistan girls soccer team given asylum in Portugal

For weeks, the Afghanistan national girls soccer team had been waiting for word they could leave. On Sunday, the message finally came.

Afghan officer rescued from Kabul starts new life in U.S.

An Afghan national police officer who narrowly escaped being captured by the Taliban has started a new life in the United States.

In this photo provided to The Associated Press, members of the Afghanistan national girls youth soccer team and their families are seen in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sun., Aug. 29, 2021. International efforts to rescue them and soccer federation staff suffered a crushing setback last week after a suicide bomb detonated at the Kabul airport and the CIA blew up its last remaining outpost to keep sensitive information and equipment from falling into the hands of the Taliban. (AP Photo)

Effort underway to rescue girls soccer team from Afghanistan

An international effort is underway to evacuate members of Afghanistan’s girls national soccer team and their families over fears of reprisal by the Taliban.

Afghan officer who fought with US forces rescued from Kabul

The U.S. military and its allies have rescued a high-profile Afghan national police officer who was being hunted by the Taliban because of his years working with the American military.

US friends try to rescue brother in arms in Afghanistan

American friends of a high-profile national police officer in Afghanistan are trying to help him and his family escape almost certain death at the hands of the Taliban.

FILE-In this Jan 10, 2018 file photo, Bernice King poses for a photograph at the King Center, in Atlanta. The daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. says Americans angered by the mob attack on the U.S. Capitol should take care to ensure their responses don't feed the divisive message of extremists. (AP Photo/Robert Ray, File)

Bernice King: Don’t ‘fuel the fires’ ignited by Capitol mob

ATLANTA (AP) — The daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. says Americans angered by the mob attack on the U.S.

Gala opens countdown to 50th anniversary of 1st moon landing

Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin was noticeably absent from a gala kicking of a yearlong celebration of the 50-year anniversary of the first moon landing.

Climate deal pull-out may speed up damage to Trump property

President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement could accelerate damage to his family’s seaside properties.

Al Gore hosts climate and health conference in Atlanta

Former Vice President Al Gore says too little attention has been paid to the health consequences of climate change.

Colossal Civil War painting gets a new home in Atlanta

An enormous panoramic painting depicting the Civil War’s Battle of Atlanta has been relocated to a modern exhibit hall after workers loaded it onto a flatbed truck for the 9-mile trip to its new home.

Carter: Renewable energy can help Trump create jobs

Former President Jimmy Carter says millions of jobs could be created in the United States if President Donald Trump embraces renewable energy sources such as geothermal, solar and wind power.

Tradition, not politics, puts Tennessee band in Trump parade

The University of Tennessee marching band will perform Friday in its 15th presidential inaugural parade since 1953, in a tradition its band director says transcends politics.

Michelle Obama makes light of Trump’s microphone problem

Michelle Obama had some fun at Donald Trump’s expense during a campaign event for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Praising Clinton, Mrs.

Attorney General says Mateen investigation moving forward

The investigation continues into what motivated and enabled Omar Mateen to carry out the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

Funerals, fear and uncertainty loom as Orlando grieves

People marched down Orlando streets with rainbow flags and others lined up to wait hours for a “One Pulse” tattoo on Saturday as supporters tried to boost the somber city’s spirits as more victims of last weekend’s nightclub shooting were buried.

NASA astronauts prepare for flight on commercial spacecraft

Five years after the last NASA astronauts flew from Cape Canaveral, Florida, to the International Space Station, a new group is preparing for a trip, this time on a private spacecraft.

Fonda marks anniversary of teen pregnancy prevention group

ATLANTA (AP) — Jane Fonda said she plans to continue her effort to prevent teenage pregnancies through the Georgia-based nonprofit organization she founded in 1995, when the state had one of the highest teenage birth rates in the country.

9 fatally shot at historic black church in South Carolina

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (AP) — A white man opened fire during a prayer meeting inside a historic black church in downtown Charleston on Wednesday night, killing nine people in an assault that authorities described as a hate crime.

Suspicion surrounded Florida businessman who faked his death

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Jose Lantigua’s family appeared to be living the American Dream. The Cuban immigrant claimed he had a heroic military career and earned numerous degrees before running a successful furniture business.

Alabama civil rights march still vivid for US Rep John Lewis

ATLANTA (AP) — Forty-nine years after John Lewis and fellow marchers tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, the memories of “Bloody Sunday” are still vivid in his mind.

Selma civil rights march still vivid for US Rep John Lewis

ATLANTA (AP) — Forty-nine years after John Lewis and fellow marchers tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, the memories of “Bloody Sunday” are still vivid in his mind.

Disease attacking bats is on the move

MAMMOTH CAVE, Ky. (AP) — A sign posted at Mammoth Cave National Park in south-central Kentucky lets visitors know if they tour the largest known cave system in the world, they will have to walk on bio-security mats immediately afterward.

1 month after spill, W. Virginians wary of water

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — More than a month after chemicals seeped into West Virginia’s biggest water supply, Jeanette Maddox would rather bundle up, drive to a shopping center parking lot and fill jugs of water from the spigot of a tanker truck than trust the tap in her kitchen.