Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is campaigning to reclaim the office, urging voters to punish incumbent President Jair Bolsonaro for his COVID-19 response.

Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Mortgage applications dipped to their lowest point in more than 20 years as the volume of petitions dropped another seasonally adjusted 2.3% over the previous week, according to the the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Aug. 17 (UPI) -- A Texas man was forced to wrangle an alligator after it ended up blocking his daughter's path ahead of her first day of school.

Aug. 17 (UPI) -- The Syrian government on Wednesday rejected U.S. accusations that it is detaining an American journalist who's been missing for a decade, or any other American citizens.

Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane, who was sentenced to 2 1/2 years for violating George Floyd's civil rights, will serve his time at a low-security federal prison camp in Colorado.

Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Texas plans to execute Kosoul Chanthakoummane on Wednesday for the 2006 murder of a real estate agent in a Collin County model home.

Aug. 17 (UPI) -- A British man who was arrested on the grounds of Windsor Castle with a loaded crossbow last Christmas told police that he was there to kill Queen Elizabeth II, prosecutors said at a hearing Wednesday.

Aug. 17 (UPI) -- A fire under the railway arches at London's Union Street near the London Bridge forced the line to be shut down and passengers evacuated Wednesday morning.

Aug. 17 (UPI) -- The Commerce Department said in an update Wednesday that one factor that influences inflation, retail sales, was unchanged July -- another indication that inflation may be cooling.

Aug. 17 (UPI) -- After efforts to delay the proceeding, former Donald Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani is scheduled to appear in a Georgia court Wednesday to face a special grand jury over efforts in the state to overturn the 2020 election.