Month: August 2021

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Rescue workers are continuing to search for 34 people missing following severe floods that ravaged parts of Turkey’s Black Sea coast last week, as excavators clear the sludge and wreckage. At least 77 people were killed after torrential rains battered the country’s northwestern Black Sea provinces on Aug. 11, causing floods

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is blaming a failure of Afghan leadership for the swift collapse of the country’s armed forces but says the alliance must also uncover flaws in its military training effort. Stoltenberg says “the Afghan political leadership failed to stand up” and that “this failure

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. factory production in July posted the strongest gain in 4 months, reflecting a surge in production at auto plants that are still confronting major supply chain problems. The Federal Reserve reported Tuesday that manufacturing output increased 1.4% in July following a decline of 0.3% in

By RUSS BYNUM Associated Press CALLAHAN, Fla. (AP) — A surge in coronavirus infections and hospitalizations that’s pounding Florida is scaring some skeptics into rethinking their opposition to the vaccines. In rural western Nassau County, newspaper columnist Roger West had written that he didn’t trust the federal government and adamantly opposed the coronavirus shots. Then

SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — North Macedonia’s foreign minister says the country expelled a Russian diplomat last week, the second this year. He didn’t offer any explanation for the decision or reveal the diplomat’s rank and identity, saying Tuesday that information of that nature is confidential. A Russian Embassy spokeswoman confirmed that a diplomat had

MADRID (AP) — Spanish officials are seeking to justify their policy of sending unaccompanied child migrants back to Morocco. Their explanations come Tuesday as 28 human rights organizations write to the Spanish prime minister urging him to end the returns immediately. Hundreds of unaccompanied minors were among a surge of 10,000 people who tried to

By SHAH ABBAS Associated Press SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Police in Indian-controlled Kashmir have fired tear gas and warning shots to disperse Shiite Muslims who attempted to participate in processions marking the Muslim month of Muharram. Dozens of people were detained. Hundreds of Muslims chanting religious and pro-freedom slogans took to the streets in the

By JOSEPH PISANI AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Americans cut back on their spending last month as a surge in COVID-19 cases kept people away from stores. Retail sales fell a seasonal adjusted 1.1% in July from the month before, the U.S. Commerce Department said Tuesday. It was a much larger drop than

By YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has officially expanded and extended the nation’s coronavirus state of emergency as government advisers recommend legal changes that would allow penalties for violations. The measures, approved by a government task force, add seven prefectures to the six areas already under a state

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s top leader has appointed a new chief for the country’s navy. The report by the official IRNA news agency said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Tuesday appointed Adm. Shahram Irani as the new navy chief.  He is successor of Adm. Hossein Khanzadi, who held the post since 2017.  Iran’s navy, which operates

By MARK PRATT Associated Press Boston’s Old North Church is getting a $75,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities that will help it better integrate its ties to the American Revolution and its links to the slave trade. The church is famous as the place where in 1775 two lanterns in the steeple

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A lawyer says Chinese citizen journalist Zhang Zhan who was sentenced to four years in jail after reporting on the original outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic is in ill health. Peng Yonghe says Zhang’s mother sent a message on social media saying her daughter was hospitalized

By SARA RATHNER of NerdWallet Cryptocurrency is all over the news, and you likely know a few people who invest in crypto. But are you missing out if you haven’t invested in it, too? Not necessarily. According to experts, before dabbling in crypto, it helps to get your financial house in order — that means

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland has told the European Union that it will shut down a chamber at its Supreme Court devoted to disciplining judges, an issue that has been at the center of a dispute between Warsaw and Brussels. The Polish government said Tuesday it sent a letter to the European Commission on Monday,

ROME (AP) — Archaeologists have discovered a remarkably well-preserved skeleton during excavations in the ancient city of Pompeii. The discovery of the tomb also sheds light on the cultural life of the city before it was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in AD 79. White hair and part of an ear, along with bones and

MOSCOW (AP) — A prototype military transport plane has crashed while performing a test flight outside Moscow, killing all three crew members on board, Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation said. The new light military transport plane, Il-112V, crashed in a forested area as it was coming in for a landing at the Kubinka airfield 45 kilometers

BEIJING (AP) — China says it’s willing to hold talks with the U.S. to promote a “soft landing” in Afghanistan, while heavily criticizing Washington and again demanding that the Biden administration halt its attacks on China. A Foreign Ministry statement said that Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in a phone call Monday with U.S. Secretary of

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s national fire chief says a massive wildfire that has consumed a large swath of forest west of Jerusalem has been brought under control. The chief made the announcement on Tuesday after a three-day battle that required over 100 firefighting teams from across the country, more than a dozen firefighting planes and

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Chinese fighter jets, anti-submarine aircraft and combat ships have conducted assault drills near Taiwan. The People’s Liberation Army says the exercise was necessary to safeguard China’s sovereignty and that recent U.S.-Taiwan provocations severely violated it. China has stepped up military exercises around self-ruled Taiwan, which it considers its own territory. Taiwan’s

By ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Hundreds of firefighters backed by more than 30 water-dropping planes are gaining ground against a large forest fire burning for the second day northwest of Athens that has led to the evacuation of a nursing home and several villages. The fire in the Vilia area, which

By DAVID RISING Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — The UN’s nuclear watchdog says Iran continues to produce uranium metal, which can be used in the production of a nuclear bomb, in a move that further complicates the possibility of reviving a landmark 2015 deal with world powers on Iran’s nuclear program. In a report issued

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — German rescue teams have recovered the body of a woman from the water and are still searching for one more person who was swept off a bridge by sudden floods in Bavaria. German authorities said Tuesday that eight other people were rescued uninjured from the floods. Heavy,

By DANIEL COLE and ANGELA CHARLTON Associated Press LA GARDE-FREINET, France (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron says firefighters have been able to “stabilize” a wildfire that is racing through forests near the French Riviera. The fire has forced the evacuation of some 6,000 people from homes, campsites and hotels in the popular vacation destination.

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand’s government has taken drastic action by putting the entire nation into a strict lockdown after finding a single case of coronavirus infection in the community. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern invoked some of the stirring rhetoric she used early in the pandemic by urging

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Sudoku creator Maki Kaji, whose life’s work was spreading the joy of puzzles, has died at age 69 of cancer. Known as the “Godfather of Sudoku,” Kaji created the numbers puzzle to be easy for children and others who didn’t want to think too hard. He

By AHMAD SEIR, RAHIM FAIEZ, KATHY GANNON and JOSEPH KRAUSS Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban have vowed to respect women’s rights, forgive those who fought them and ensure Afghanistan does not become a haven for terrorists. Their longtime spokesman emerged from the shadows as part of a publicity blitz aimed at reassuring

By CONSTANTIN GOUVY Associated Press LE BOURGET, France (AP) — The poorest region in mainland France has managed to dramatically speed up its COVID-19 vaccination campaign. That’s notably thanks to walk-in pop-up centers aimed at reaching people where they live and work. The multicultural, working-class region of Seine-Saint-Denis, north of Paris, initially struggled in getting