Month: October 2021

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A powerful Philadelphia labor leader has gone on trial two years after a lengthy indictment put him at the center of a sweeping corruption case. The charges against Johnny Dougherty are being split into at least two trials. In the case starting Monday, the boss known as “Doc” is accused of keeping

By TERRY SPENCER Associated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The trial of the suspect in the 2018 Florida high school massacre for fighting a jail guard has been delayed because his lead lawyer on the case is hospitalized. Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer ruled Monday that jury selection in Nikolas Cruz’s trial on jail battery

NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — Michael Renzi has died after a career in which he served as musical director of “Sesame Street” and worked with the likes of Peggy Lee, Mel Tormé, Lena Horne and some of the other biggest names in jazz and pop. A funeral home says Renzi died Wednesday at age 80 at

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A 6-year-old is the lively, thoughtful heroine of “Alma’s Way,” a new animated PBS Kids series set in the New York City’s melting pot Bronx borough and featuring a Puerto Rican and biracial extended family. The Fred Rogers Productions series has some starry creators. It

By JUAN ZAMORANO Associated Press AGUA FRIA, Panama (AP) — In an isolated cemetery in Panama’s Darien province, migrants who die on the most treacherous segment of their journey toward the United States are buried. With them goes a plasticized card containing what little information is available in case one day someone comes looking. Workers

AMSTERDAM (AP) — The European Union’s drug regulator has given its backing to booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for people 18 and older. The European Medicines Agency said the booster doses “may be considered at least 6 months after the second dose for people aged 18 years and older.” The agency also said

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) — The estate of Henrietta Lacks sued a biotechnology company on Monday, saying it’s been selling her cervical cells without her knowledge or consent. The cells were taken by doctors at Johns Hopkins from the terminally ill Black woman in 1951, and grown in the lab

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has affirmed a lower court ruling that said District of Columbia residents are not entitled to voting representation in the House of Representatives. Residents had asked the high court to hear the issue. The court’s four-sentence order cited a case from 2000 in which the justices said the same

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Twenty years ago, North Macedonia had narrowly averted a civil war and NATO was collecting rebel weapons in the poor Balkan country. Two decades on, the country has made strides and is a member of NATO. But its future in the European Union is still in doubt.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court says it will not get involved in a lawsuit over a disputed Pentagon cloud computing contract, a decision that follows the contract’s cancellation earlier this year. The case was one of hundreds the high court said it would not hear Monday. The Pentagon in July announced it was canceling

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s influential Catholic Church has appealed for humanitarian assistance for migrants from Iraq, Syria and elsewhere who have been seeking to reach Europe by crossing from Belarus into Poland. The president of the Polish Bishops’ Conference called on Monday for permission to launch humanitarian corridors in order to control the relocation

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — After 40 drawings without a big Powerball winner, a single ticket sold in California matched all six numbers and was the lucky winner of the nearly $700 million jackpot prize. The winning numbers drawn Monday night were 12, 22, 54, 66 and 69. The Powerball was 15. The Powerball jackpot

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — With an expansion and relaunch Monday, the Scripps Networks service Newsy is betting that consumers have an interest in more news and less political talk. Newsy has been primarily seen online and through streaming services but is debuting a free, over-the-air television service with the

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Captain Kirk is rocketing into space: “Star Trek” actor William Shatner plans to blast off from West Texas next week. Jeff Bezos’ space travel company, Blue Origin, announced Monday that Shatner will join the Oct. 12 flight with three others. It will be the

NEW DELHI (AP) — An Indian court has denied bail to Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan’s son, ordering him to remain in the custody of the narcotics agency. The Bombay High Court on Monday ordered Aryan Khan held by the Narcotics Control Bureau until Thursday. Khan and seven others were arrested on Sunday when agents

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China has sent 56 fighter planes toward Taiwan in the largest show of force on record, continuing the three days of sustained military harassment against the self-ruled island. The first sortie included 34 fighter jets and 12 bombers, and later four more fighters flew towards the

ROME (AP) — Heavy rain has battered a northwest region of Italy bordering France and caused flooding and mudslides.  No casualties were reported. The hardest hit city in Liguria on Monday was Savona on the coast. Towns in the region’s hilly interior also suffered flooding and landslides as some streams overflowed banks. A bridge collapsed

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press MANCHESTER, England (AP) — British Treasury chief Rishi Sunak is promoising to deliver an economy based on “good work, better skills and higher wages.” He is shrugging off the U.K.’s economic turmoil as the growing pains of a thriving, self-reliant post-Brexit economy. Sunak touted the U.K.’s low unemployment rate of

By TALI ARBEL AP Technology Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Carlos Watson, the CEO of Ozy Media, says it was “premature” to shut down and that he wants to keep operating, despite a scandal-ridden week that exposed Ozy as a media company without much of an audience. The company emailed a statement Monday saying it

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Doctors in Nigeria’s government hospitals have suspended a two-month strike for payment of salaries owed to many and improved working conditions. Dr. Dare Ishaya, president of the National Association of Resident Doctors, said the resident doctors will resume work Wednesday after they “achieved some positive results”

By DAVID RISING Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Malaysia’s main opposition leader is calling for information found in the Pandora Papers data leak to be discussed in Parliament, after learning the country’s former finance minister and several current officials might have been involved with offshore firms set up in tax havens. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A coalition of more than 20 environmental and climate activist groups has launched a campaign calling for a ban on fossil fuel advertising and sponsorship across the European Union, similar to bans on tobacco advertising. More than 80 Greenpeace activists blocked the entrance to Shell’s

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s conservative government has revised its growth estimate upward for the second time in less than a month following signs of a faster than expected recovery. Growth is due to reach 6.1% in 2021 and 4.5% next year. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told a Cabinet meeting that would bring output

By LIZ WESTON of NerdWallet Gratitude can increase feelings of joy, hope and connectedness, leading to better physic al and mental health. Focusing on the things we have — rather than the ones we wish we had — may also help reduce things like economic impatience and resentment. When it comes to handling money, research

NEW YORK (AP) — Seth Meyers has dreams beyond hosting his own talk show — like writing a story about a bear. Penguin Random House announced that Meyers’ picture story “I’m Not Scared, You’re Scared!” will be published March 15. The publisher says Meyers’ book is an adventure about a frightened bear and a calmer

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER, HANNAH FINGERHUT and NATHAN ELLGREN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Most people in the U.S. want to see Afghans who worked with Americans in the Afghanistan war offered refuge in the United States. That’s according to a new poll confirming support across political divides for former military translators and others struggling to

By JAMEY KEATEN and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — Investigators commissioned by the United Nations’ top human rights body said Monday they had evidence of possible crimes against humanity and war crimes in Libya. Many of the alleged crimes, they say, were committed against civilians and migrants detained in the country while trying

By MARK GILLISPIE Associated Press CLEVELAND (AP) — Jurors have heard opening statements in a federal court trial to determine whether retail pharmacy chains created a public nuisance in how they dispensed addictive painkillers in two Ohio counties. Lake and Trumbull counties outside Cleveland say the cost of abating the ongoing crisis is $1 billion