Month: August 2021

By RANDA KRISS of NerdWallet Scammers and predatory lenders continue to try to take advantage of small businesses searching for COVID-19 recovery funding — especially with the end of the Paycheck Protection Program. To protect themselves from potential bad actors, business owners should watch out for financing sold exclusively on speed, as well as any

By CARA ANNA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The Africa director for the World Health Organization says rich countries’ decisions to roll out COVID-19 booster shots while so many people across Africa remain unvaccinated “threaten the promise of a brighter tomorrow” for the continent. She adds that “as some richer countries hoard vaccines, they

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Police say a 15-year-old boy has been detained on suspicion of attempted murder after a school employee was seriously wounded in a knife attack in southern Sweden. The incident happened in Eslov, northeast of Malmo, Sweden’s third largest city. The motive for Thursday’s attack is unclear, a police spokeswoman said. A

By SUZAN FRASER and AYA BATRAWY Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President President Tayyip Erdogan has hosted a top security official from the United Arab Emirates and said the Gulf state was looking at investing in Turkey. The trip by UAE national security advisor Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Wednesday appears

By RISKA MUNAWARAH Associated Press BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian police say they have arrested an elephant poacher in Aceh province along with four people who bought ivory from an animal he killed. They say the elephant was found without its head on July 11 at a palm plantation. Police arrested a suspect who

BERLIN (AP) — A 51-year-old man has gone on trial in Germany for a vehicle rampage that killed five people in the western city of Trier last year. The defendant stands charged with five counts of murder and 18 counts of attempted murder for intentionally driving at pedestrians in a busy shopping area. Those killed

LE LUC, France (AP) — A fire that has ravaged forests near the French Riviera for four days is slowing down as winds and hot weather subside. But more than 1,100 firefighters are still struggling to get it under control Thursday. It is the latest of many wildfires scorching the Mediterranean region this summer. The

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s health minister says he has lifted restrictions on blood donations by gay men, saying the longstanding query posed to prospective donors were discriminatory and denigrating. Nitzan Horowitz, who himself is openly gay, wrote in a Facebook post Thursday that the Health Ministry had “removed the denigrating and irrelevant questions” in questionnaires for

By SOPHENG CHEANG and DAVID RISING Associated Press PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — The last living member of Pol Pot’s inner circle denied complicity in the genocide committed under the brutal Khmer Rouge government, telling an international tribunal he was being judged as a proxy for the entire radical communist regime. Speaking slowly and deliberately

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer The nation’s two newest passenger airlines are showing signs of growth — raising money and announcing new destinations. But at the same time, they’re worried about the surge in COVID-19 cases, and hoping that the virus is only a short-term obstacle for their success. On Thursday, Avelo Airlines announced

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Kenyan security guard who wrote compelling dispatches under a pseudonym about the challenges of living as a low-wage worker in Qatar and advocated for their rights has been freed from his monthslong detention. Activists say Malcolm Bidali faced a $6,800 fine and had his mobile phone and social

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police say they have seized 195 million Hong Kong dollars ($25 million) worth of illegal drugs as part of a monthslong investigation, the largest seizure of the year. Police said the drugs, including 148 kilograms (326 pounds) of crystal methamphetamine and 86 kilograms (189 pounds) of heroin, were uncovered

By NINIEK KARMINI Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian police say they have arrested at least 53 suspected militants in recent weeks believed to have links to banned extremist groups, in a nationwide crackdown on a new cell of Jemaah Islamiyah, blamed for a string of past bombings. Police say the arrests were made

By ASIM TANVEER Associated Press MULTAN, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani police say a powerful roadside bomb has exploded among a procession of Shiite Muslims in central Pakistan, killing at least three and wounding over 50 people. Videos circulating on social media showed police and ambulances rushing toward the site of the explosion. Several wounded people

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s government says it has granted a quarantine exemption to an individual to perform “designated professional work” following reports that Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman did not have to spend time in quarantine when she arrived in the city to film a TV series. It did not identify Kidman by name.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s highest court has rejected the appeals of three people who were convicted in one of the country’s most high-profile murder trials involving a far-right group. The decision announced Thursday by the Federal Court of Justice confirms the life sentence given three years ago to Beate Zschaepe, the only known survivor of

By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of the Lebanese Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group says that an Iranian fuel tanker will sail toward Lebanon “within hours,” and is warning Israel and the United States not to intercept it. The delivery, organized by Hezbollah, would be an apparent violation of U.S. sanctions imposed

By SRDJAN NEDELJKOVIC and ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press THEA, Greece (AP) — Hundreds of Greek and Polish firefighters, backed by more than two dozen helicopters and planes, are battling a major wildfire ravaging a pine forest for a fourth day northwest of the Greek capital. The fire near the village of Vilia, about 60 kilometers

BEIJING (AP) — A top Chinese official says “all-round efforts” are needed to ensure Tibetans speak Chinese and share the “cultural symbols and images of the Chinese nation.” Politburo member Wang Yang, who oversees policy toward China’s ethnic minorities, spoke in Tibet on the 70th anniversary of the Chinese invasion of the vast Himalayan region.

By AHMAD SEIR, TAMEEM AKHGAR, KATHY GANNON and JOSEPH KRAUSS Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban violently dispersed scattered protests for a second day as they moved to consolidate their rule less than a week after seizing power. Experts, meanwhile, warned that Afghanistan’s already weakened economy could crumble further without the massive international

By ANNABELLE LIANG Associated Press SINGAPORE (AP) — Asian stock markets are mostly lower as worries surrounding the spread of the delta variant again take center stage Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 lost 0.7% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong slipped 1.5% on Friday. Benchmarks in Seoul and Shanghai fell, while Sydney’s inched higher. Traders

By COSTAS KANTOURIS Associated Press ALISTRATI, Greece (AP) — Persephone is not your ordinary robot. Billed as the world’s first robot used as a tour guide inside a cave, Persephone has been welcoming visitors to the Alistrati cave in northern Greece since mid-July. The multilingual robot covers the first 150 meters (500 feet) of the

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — When the Taliban swept over Afghanistan, Russia was ready for the rapid developments after working methodically for years to lay the groundwork for relations with the group that it still officially considers a terrorist organization. The Soviet Union fought a 10-year war in Afghanistan that ended when

By ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — On Aug. 19, 1991, a group of top Communist Party hard-liners declared they had removed Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev from power and declared a state of emergency in the country. The coup raised global fears of a rollback of Gorbachev’s liberal reforms but collapsed in only three

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh is disputing a Human Rights Watch investigation into disappearances of government critics and others as built on questionable, uncorroborated allegations that security forces were involved. The rights group earlier identified 86 people as still missing after allegedly being targeted by security forces. The group is urging the United Nations to

By JAY REEVES Associated Press GULF SHORES, Ala. (AP) — The U.S. Gulf Coast is glowing like a bad sunburn on maps that show COVID-19 trouble spots in red. Alabama’s coastal counties lead the state in new cases, and some events have been canceled in Florida and Louisiana because of the latest surge. Health officials

HONG KONG (AP) — Two Hong Kongers have reportedly pleaded guilty to conspiring to collude with foreign forces as well as Next Digital founder Jimmy Lai to endanger national security Separately, local media are reporting that seven pro-democracy activists pleaded guilty to organizing and inciting others to take part in an unauthorized assembly held in

By BILL BARROW Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Jimmy Carter is sometimes called a better former president than he was president. The backhanded compliment has always rankled Carter allies and, they say, the former president himself. Yet now, 40 years removed from the White House, the most famous resident of Plains, Georgia, is riding a

By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press GREELEY, Colo. (AP) — The northern Colorado city of Greeley is in one of the fastest-growing regions in the United States. But that growth may not be sustainable as the city encounters a problem common in the drought-ravaged West: There may not be enough water to meet future needs. City

By WILLIAM J. KOLE Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — A woman convicted of witchcraft in 1693 and sentenced to death at the height of the Salem Witch Trials may finally be exonerated in Massachusetts. Lawmakers are considering a bill inspired by a curious eighth-grade civics class that called attention to the need to formally clear

By VICTORIA MILKO AP Science Writer JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Independent ethnic organizations that have been providing health care in Myanmar after the collapse of the country’s central health system are now facing serious challenges of their own. Among them: A fierce new wave of COVID-19 cases, a crackdown by the military government, and shrinking

By ROBERT BURNS, MATTHEW LEE, and LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. officials are struggling to speed the pace of evacuations of Americans and Afghans at the Kabul airport. In a hopeful sign, the State Department says it expects a major increase in the number to be airlifted soon. But obstacles remain,

By ROBERT BURNS, ELLEN KNICKMEYER and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Biden says that even with the Taliban in power in Afghanistan, he sees a greater threat from al-Qaida and its affiliated organizations from other countries. Biden is arguing that it was no longer “rational” to continue to focus U.S. military power

By NOMAAN MERCHANT and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The warnings were clear: The Afghan government would likely fall once U.S. troops pulled out. But intelligence agencies and ultimately President Joe Biden missed how quickly it would happen, losing weeks for evacuation and spurring the biggest foreign policy crisis of the young administration.

By MARK STEVENSON and EVENS SANON Associated Press LES CAYES, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s entrenched poverty, insecurity and lack of basic infrastructure are posing huge challenges to helping the victims of a powerful weekend earthquake. Aid began flowing more quickly Thursday into the southwestern peninsula where the weekend quake struck, killing more than 2,100 people.

By GARANCE BURKE, MARTHA MENDOZA, JULIET LINDERMAN and MICHAEL TARM Associated Press Michael Williams, a 65-year-old grandfather from Chicago, sat behind bars for nearly a year accused of murder. But the key evidence against Williams didn’t come from an eyewitness or an informant; a major factor was a loud bang picked up by a network

By MATTHEW LEE and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and his national security team say the Trump administration tied their hands when it came to the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The argument that President Donald Trump’s February 2020 deal with the Taliban set the stage for the weekend chaos that

By FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ Associated Press TULUM, Mexico (AP) — Hurricane Grace has struck Mexico’s Caribbean coast just south of the ancient Mayan temples of Tulum, tearing the roofs off some homes, knocking out power to thousands and keeping tourists off white sand beaches as it crossed the Yucatan Peninsula. The push across land weakened the

By GARANCE BURKE, MARTHA MENDOZA, JULIET LINDERMAN and MICHAEL TARM Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Michael Williams, a 65-year-old grandfather from Chicago, sat behind bars for nearly a year accused of murder. But the key evidence against Williams didn’t come from an eyewitness or an informant; prosecutors focused on a loud bang picked up by

By KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic-led congressional committees are vowing to press President Joe Biden’s administration on what went wrong as the Taliban swept to power in Afghanistan. The anger from members of both parties is palpable and will test an administration seeking to notch signature domestic policy achievements on infrastructure, health

By MARIA CHENG AP Medical Writer LONDON (AP) — Several groups are working to get COVID-19 vaccines to poor countries, but the efforts are falling short of what’s needed to curb outbreaks globally. Among the efforts is COVAX, which is led by public health agencies including the World Health Organization. It’s relying on donated shots

By GARANCE BURKE, MARTHA MENDOZA, JULIET LINDERMAN and MICHAEL TARM Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Michael Williams’ wife pleaded with him to remember their fishing trips with the grandchildren, how he used to braid her hair, anything to jar him back to his world outside the concrete walls of Cook County Jail. His three daily

By ETHAN SWOPE and JOHN ANTCZAK Associated Press PLACERVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Dry and windy weather is dogging firefighters’ efforts to contain destructive fires that are devouring the bone-dry forests of drought-stricken Northern California. An estimated 11,000 firefighters are on the lines of more than a dozen large wildfires Thursday. The blazes have destroyed hundreds