Month: October 2021

By BABA AHMED Associated Press BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Mali’s army has said that gunmen ambushed army troops in the West African country’s central region, killing at least nine soldiers and wounding 11 others. The statement said that three army vehicles were destroyed after hitting explosive devices in the Mopti region between Koro and Bandiagara

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s daily coronavirus infections have soared to their highest level so far this year as authorities have struggled to control a surge in new cases amid a slow pace in vaccinations and few restrictions in place. The daily coronavirus death toll topped 900 for a second straight

MADRID (AP) — The airport on the Spanish island of La Palma has shut down again due to ashfall from a volcano that has been erupting for almost three weeks. Scientists say the scenario is “still tense.” The eruption has settled down in recent days, though the volcano in the Canary Islands continues to spew

By KEN MORITSUGU Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — In a relationship as fraught as America’s and China’s, just an agreement that talks were productive was a sign of progress. Nine months into Joe Biden’s presidency, the two sides finally appear to be trying to ease tensions that date from the Trump administration — though U.S.

DUBAI. United Arab Emirates (AP) — The death toll from Cyclone Shaheen that crashed through Oman has risen to 14 after the sultanate found the body of someone missing since the storm. Omani state television made the announcement Thursday, raising the total number of dead in the country to 12. In Iran, authorities have found

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Prosecutors at a European Union-backed Kosovo war crimes court say that two leaders of a war veterans’ association deliberately tried to undermine investigations by intimidating witnesses and publicizing leaked confidential documents. The comments came as the men went on trial in The Hague on Thursday.

MADRID (AP) — Moroccan police have thwarted an attempt by several hundred migrants to force their way into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on the northern African coast. The large group of men gathered on the Moroccan side of the border after nightfall Wednesday and threw stones at police who moved to intercept them. Moroccan

By ELENA BECATOROS and DEREK GATOPOULOS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s lawmakers have ratified a landmark defense deal with France that includes a mutual assistance clause in case of an armed attack against either — a pact that has irked fellow NATO member Turkey. The five-year agreement was announced in Paris last week

By BEN FINLEY Associated Press WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) — The brick foundation of one the oldest Black churches in the United States has been unearthed by archeologists at Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. The living history museum announced its confirmation of the church’s remnants on Thursday as it continues to reckon with its past storytelling about

By ZEKE MILLER and AAMER MADHANI Associated Press ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Il. (AP) — President Joe Biden is championing COVID-19 vaccination requirements and is determined that the roughly 67 million unvaccinated American adults must get the shot even as he acknowledges that mandates weren’t his “first instinct.” He had ruled out such mandates before taking

BERLIN (AP) — Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is denying wrongdoing and making clear he doesn’t plan to step down despite being under investigation in a bribery probe. However, the partner party in Kurz’s coalition government said Thursday that the allegations left a “disastrous” impression and raised questions about the chancellor’s “ability to act.” Anti-corruption prosecutors

NEW DELHI (AP) — The 7-Eleven empire is coming to India. India’s Reliance Retail Ventures says it has set a franchise agreement with 7-Eleven, Inc., to launch convenience stores in the second most populous nation. Reliance said Thursday that the stores will first be launched in the financial hub of Mumbai. The announcement came just

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Police say assailants have fatally shot two schoolteachers in Indian-controlled Kashmir in a sudden rise in targeted killings of civilians in the disputed region. Authorities blamed militants fighting against Indian rule for the attack in the outskirts of Srinagar, the region’s main city. Police say militants fired at a female teacher

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets have risen as investors wait for U.S. jobs data that might influence a Federal Reserve decision on when to roll back stimulus. That comes after lawmakers in Washington averted a possible government debt default. London and Frankfurt opened higher. Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong

By AYA BATRAWY Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A court in Saudi Arabia has upheld a 20-year prison term imposed on a Saudi aid worker who had criticized the government on Twitter. The decision drew a rare public rebuke from the U.S. in another sign of tensions between the Biden administration and

By BOUBACAR DIALLO Associated Press CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — The military leader of Guinea has announced that senior international civil servant Mohamed Beavogui will serve as prime minister in a government that is transitioning the West African nation to civilian rule after last month’s coup. Col. Mamady Doumbouya, who was sworn in as interim president

By DAVID KEYTON, JILL LAWLESS and CARA ANNA Associated Press STOCKHOLM (AP) — Tanzanian writer Abdulrazak Gurnah has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. The Swedish Academy said the award was in recognition of his “uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism.” Born in Zanzibar in 1948 and based in England, Gurnah

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has described social media as a “coward’s palace” and warns that digital platforms such as Facebook should be held liable for defamatory comments posted anonymously. Anonymous commentators who use social media to vilify and bully have become the latest battleground between

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court has ruled that the military unlawfully discriminated against the country’s first known transgender soldier by discharging her for undergoing gender reassignment surgery, in a landmark verdict that came seven months after she was found dead at her home. Activist groups welcomed

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq has signed a contract with a United Arab Emirates-based renewable energy developer to build five solar power plants in the oil-rich country with a chronic energy problem.  The signing took place in Baghdad Wednesday between Iraqi officials and the chief executive officer of Masdar, in the presence of Iraqi Prime Minister

BERLIN (AP) — A 100-year-old man has gone on trial in Germany, accused of being an accessory to murder for serving as a Nazi SS guard at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin during World War II. The trial of the defendant, who is charged with 3,518 counts of accessory to murder, is being held

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s foreign ministry says that Germany and Denmark have brought home 11 women and 37 children from a camp in northeastern Syria where suspected Islamic State members have been held. Germany repatriated 23 children and their eight mothers from the Roj camp on Wednesday evening, while Denmark brought home 14 children and

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Every week or so, tens of thousands of New Zealanders play a lottery in their desperation to come home. Their prize is one of the coveted beds in quarantine hotels. New Zealand’s government requires everyone — vaccinated or not — to stay 14 days in

By JOVANA GEC Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian human rights lawyer Nikola Kovacevic is this year’s winner of a prestigious U.N. Refugee Agency award in Europe. The 32-year-old human rights activist says the struggle for the rights of refugees and asylum-seekers has become even more important in the face of mounting anti-migrant sentiment

By SAMYA KULLAB, MSTYSLAV CHERNOV and FELIPE DANA Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers have their sights on stamping out widespread drug addiction in the country, even if by force. Fighters raided a drug den under a bridge in Kabul on a recent evening, beating addicts. The addicts were then forcibly

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Twelve people have died in northern India after the bus they were on swerved off the road and hit a truck. Police say the bus driver veered off track to avoid hitting stray cattle on the road. The accident southwest of Lucknow city left 32 of the total 60 passengers onboard

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The criminal case against a man accused of killing four people at a Tennessee Waffle House in 2018 is returning to court. A hearing is planned Thursday in Nashville in the case against Travis Reinking, who faces four murder counts among other charges. He pleaded not guilty in February 2019. Authorities

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong authorities say they have made their largest smuggling bust, seizing goods including endangered species worth an estimated $26.9 million. The government says the smuggling ring operated using speedboats and four trucks were also impounded in the raid. A 34-year-old man was arrested in the operation that began in June.

By PHILIP MARCELO and DAVID PORTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Transit officials and experts say this summer’s storms were the latest reminders that more needs to be done to prepare the East Coast’s vital transit systems in the face of more extreme and unpredictable weather caused by climate change. The head of New

By AUDREY McAVOY Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii is forming a task force to study the issue of missing and murdered Native Hawaiian women and girls. The state House created the panel, which aims to gather data and identify the reasons behind the problem. Few figures currently exist, but those that do suggest Native

By BETH HARRIS AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chris Taylor hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Los Angeles Dodgers over the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 in a scintillating NL wild-card game. The 106-win Dodgers advanced to a best-of-five Division Series against the rival Giants. Game

By JIM GOMEZ and AARON FAVILA Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine vice president and opposition leader Leni Robredo has registered her presidential candidacy for next year’s elections in a move that would bring the pro-democracy advocate to a new faceoff with the son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Robredo joined a growing

By SARA BURNETT Associated Press ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — The money flowing to cities and states from the American Rescue Plan is so substantial and can be used for so many purposes that communities across the U.S. are trying out new, longer-term ways to fix what’s broken in their cities. In Rockford, Illinois, that means

By KEVIN FREKING, ALAN FRAM and ALEXANDRA JAFFE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has dodged a U.S. debt disaster by approving legislation to lift the federal limit on new borrowing by nearly a half-trillion dollars. The bill, likely to be approved by the House as well, should temporarily avert an unprecedented U.S. default

By MARCY GORDON AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The former Facebook product manager who has accused the social network giant of threatening children’s safety — and the integrity of democracy — is urging Congress to take action to rein in a largely unregulated company. Will real change come this time? When Frances Haugen came

By PAUL J. WEBER and JAMIE STENGLE Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Abortions have resumed in at least six Texas clinics after a federal judge halted the most restrictive abortion law in the U.S. Amy Hagstrom Miller is the president of Whole Woman’s Health, which has four clinics in Texas. She said Thursday that

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Parts of Alabama remain under a flash flood watch after a day of high water across the state, with as much as 6 inches of rain covering roads and trapping people. One death has been blamed on the slow-moving low-pressure system: The Marshall County coroner’s office says a child died in

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A group of French senators visiting Taiwan as part of a regular parliamentary exchange met with President Tsai Ing-wen during a trip that comes in a particularly tense moment between China and the self-ruled island. Tsai gave Sen. Alain Richard an official distinction recognizing his contributions