Month: August 2021

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The office of a Wisconsin lawmaker who has been an outspoken critic of vaccine and mask mandates has declined to update his condition, even as a fellow legislator asked for prayers, saying the state senator was hospitalized with COVID-19-induced pneumonia. Wisconsin state Sen. Andre Jacque was hospitalized on Aug. 16 after

By MEHMET GUZEL and ROBERT BADENDIECK Associated Press VAN, Turkey (AP) — Plain concrete gravestones painted with a number and the word “Afghan” mark the final resting places of dozens of unidentified migrants who died trying to enter Turkey through the rugged border with Iran. Hundreds of people escaping poverty or conflict, mostly from Afghanistan,

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) — Attorneys for former reality TV star Josh Duggar have filed motions seeking to dismiss child pornography charges against him. The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that documents filed Friday ask for the charges to be dismissed. The motions also ask for evidence to be suppressed, including all statements Duggar made to investigators,

By BOUAZZA BEN BOUAZZA Associated Press TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisia’s president has prolonged the special powers he granted himself a month ago when he began ruling by decree after firing the prime minister and freezing parliament. President Kais Saied had been expected to step back within 30 days, the time the Tunisian Constitution allows

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The Walt Disney Company and a coalition of unions have agreed that workers at Disney World will have to get COVID-19 vaccinations to keep their jobs. The deal reached Monday requires the union workers to show proof of vaccination by Oct. 22 unless they get a medical or religious exemption. Disney

By JOSEPH KRAUSS and RAHIM FAIEZ Associated Press In a mountain valley north of Kabul, the last remnants of Afghanistan’s shattered security forces have vowed to resist the Taliban in a remote region that has defied conquerors before. But any attempt to reenact that history could end in tragedy or farce. Under the leadership of

By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian opposition activists say an explosion at the base of an al-Qaida-linked group in northern Syria has killed eight fighters and wounded others. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the blast Tuesday at the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham base in northwestern Idlib province, the last major rebel stronghold

By BABACAR DIONE Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Senegalese officials say that Chad’s former dictator Hissene Habre has died at the age of 79 of COVID-19 in Senegal. Habre was convicted of crimes against humanity in 2016 by a special African court set up in Senegal after the former president spent decades in luxurious

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — One of the year’s most anticipated debut novels is now an Oprah Winfrey book club pick. Honorée Fanonne Jeffers’ “The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois” weaves centuries of Black history through a family in the American South and its contemporary narrator, young Ailey Paul

By CHALIDA EKVITTHAYAVECHNUKUL Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand has decriminalized the possession and sale of kratom, a plant that’s native to Southeast Asia whose leaves are used as a mild stimulant and painkiller. Kratom also has a following in the United States for its pain-relieving qualities. Thailand’s justice minister says thousands of legal cases

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s prime minister is insisting that efforts by Middle Eastern migrants to enter the European Union country from neighboring Belarus are part of an organized bid by the Minsk regime to sow political instability in the EU. Poland says it has sent tents, blankets, power generators and other items to help

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Indian government forces have killed two senior rebel commanders and three other militants in two separate counterinsurgency operations in disputed Kashmir. The killings come during an intensified government offensive against anti-India rebels in Kashmir. Rebels have also killed several members of India’s governing party in the region and carried out attacks

BERLIN (AP) — The head of Germany’s national labor agency says the country needs significantly more immigrants to plug gaps in the work force as the population ages. The chairman of the Federal Labor Agency said in Tuesday’s edition of the daily newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung that he expects the number of working-age people in Europe’s

LONDON (AP) — McDonald’s says it has pulled milkshakes from the menu in all 1,250 of its British restaurants because of supply problems stemming from a shortage of truck drivers. The fast-food chain says it is also experiencing shortages of bottled drinks. McDonald’s says that “we are currently experiencing some supply chain issues, impacting the

By AMRITA JAYAKUMAR of NerdWallet Financial literacy hasn’t traditionally been a high priority in schools, but that is changing. The number of states that now require some form of personal finance instruction in schools more than doubled over the past decade. Since the Great Recession, growing student loan debt and advocacy efforts, there’s greater awareness

By YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s president has urged closer ties between the ex-Soviet nation and NATO and the European Union in a speech marking the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence. Ukraine celebrated its independence day on Tuesday with a military parade in the capital Kyiv. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Please disregard US–New York Governor, published on Aug. 24, 2021, at 6:34 a.m. (ET) and datelined in ALBANY, N.Y.. A version of that story, currently slugged US—New York Governor, 1st-Ld Writethru, moved earlier and customers should use that instead.

ROME (AP) — Italian Premier Mario Draghi has paid tribute to the nearly 300 victims of a 2016 earthquake that devastated entire towns in central Italy. Draghi laid a commemorative wreath at the monument to victims on the fifth anniversary of the disaster and vowed to accelerate reconstruction efforts. The 6.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Amatrice

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan women’s national soccer team players are among a group of more than 75 people evacuated on a flight from Kabul. Global soccer players’ union FIFPRO has thanked the Australian government for making the evacuation of players, team officials and family members possible. The union has been working with governments in

By ALAN SUDERMAN Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Nine activists from Bahrain had their iPhones hacked by advanced spyware made by the Israeli company NSO Group, the world’s most infamous hacker-for-hire firm, a cybersecurity watchdog reported on Tuesday. Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto says NSO Group’s Pegasus malware successfully hacked the phones

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong authorities say they plan to amend a film censorship law to forbid screenings of movies deemed contrary to national security. The proposed changes to Hong Kong’s Film Censorship Ordinance would step up censorship of movies in the semi-autonomous city, expanding an ongoing crackdown on political dissent that has led

By JONATHAN LEMIRE, ROBERT BURNS AND RAHIM FAIEZ Associated Press U.S. President Joe Biden says he will stick with his Aug. 31 deadline for finishing a U.S.-led evacuation of Americans, at-risk Afghans and others. He said the longer troops remain at the airport, the greater the risk of attacks by terror groups. The decision opens

BERLIN (AP) — Authorities say seven people at a university in western Germany have received medical treatment after showing symptoms of poisoning, and prosecutors have opened an investigation into suspicions of attempted murder. The employees and students at the Technical University in Darmstadt, south of Frankfurt, experienced medical problems on Monday. olice say that milk

By MARINA VILLENEUVE Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Kathy Hochul has become the first female governor of New York. In her first hours on the job Tuesday, she sought to bring a new sense of urgency to immense problems that went unaddressed during Andrew Cuomo’s distracted final months in office. She said in an

BERLIN (AP) — Official statistics show that Germany’s economy grew by 1.6% between April and June compared with the previous quarter, a slightly better showing than initially reported. The Federal Statistical Office said Tuesday that the gain followed a decline of 2% in the first quarter. In preliminary figures at the end of July, it

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa will extradite Mozambique’s former finance minister Manuel Chang to his home country instead of to the United States where he faces corruption and fraud charges. Chang is expected to stand trial in Mozambique on charges of being involved in a $2.2 billion loan scam while

By WAFAA SHURAFA Associated Press GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas-backed Palestinian activists in the Gaza Strip have launched a new wave of incendiary balloons into Israel. The move Tuesday further raises tensions after a night of Israeli airstrikes on the seaside territory. The enemy sides this week have engaged in their heaviest cross-border