Month: October 2021

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Japan is focusing on its neighbors in Asia as it hopes to take a leadership role in the growing push to reduce emissions, having earmarked $10 billion to help the region speed up the move away from fossil fuels. The economy and industry ministry hosted the

LONDON (AP) — Police arrested at least 38 more environmental protesters for causing more traffic misery in London during Monday’s morning rush hour after blocking a string of major routes. The protesters, who are pressuring the British government to insulate all homes within a decade, have for weeks blocked roads in and around the capital.

By EDNA TARIGAN Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia plans to reopen the airport in the resort island of Bali for international flights on Oct. 14, after closing it for more than a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The maritime affairs and investment minister says the airport will open to international flight as

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s National News Agency says the country’s appeals court has rejected lawsuits filed against the lead investigator of the Beirut port explosion. The decision allows him to resume his work. Monday’s ruling came a week after three former Cabinet ministers, who are also defendants in the investigation, accused the judge of bias

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s Finance Ministry says it has resumed “interactions” with the International Monetary Fund about pulling the small nation from its worst economic crisis in modern history. The ministry said Monday that the government will work for a fair solution to all creditors. It did not give details about the negotiations. Lebanon’s economic

By GLORIA CALVI, COLLEEN BARRY and JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press SASSARI, Sardinia (AP) — Catalonia’s former separatist leader Carles Puigdemont walked out of a Sardinian courthouse victoriously Monday after a judge delayed a decision on Spain’s extradition request and said he was free to travel. Puigdemont walked out with his lawyer, shook hands and embraced

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Pope Francis plans to attend a youth jamboree in Lisbon, Portugal, in 2023. Pontiffs traditionally attend World Youth Day, which draws huge crowds of Catholics from around the globe. Organizers announced Monday that the event will take place in the Portuguese capital from Aug. 1-6, 2023. The announcement was made on

MOSCOW (AP) — A prospective Russian hypersonic missile has been successfully test-fired from a nuclear submarine for the first time. The Russian Defense Ministry said Monday that the Severodvinsk submarine performed two launches of the Zircon missile at mock targets in the Barents Sea. It first test-fired Zircon from the surface, and then launched another

By GARY FIELDS and NOREEN NASIR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Twenty years since the Sept. 11 attacks brings a different kind of anniversary for hundreds of Muslim men and their families. In the weeks after the attacks in 2001, more than 1,000 South Asian and Arab men were arrested in sweeps across the New

By CHALIDA EKVITTHAYAVECHNUKUL Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Officials in Thailand say widespread flooding is easing, allowing the capital Bangkok to avoid serious damage. Eight people had died and one woman was missing when floods fed by a storm a week ago inundated hundreds of thousands of households in 32 of the country’s 77 provinces.

By GARY FIELDS and NOREEN NASIR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Twenty years since the Sept. 11 attacks brings a different kind of anniversary for hundreds of Muslim men and their families. In the weeks after the attacks in 2001, more than 1,000 South Asian and Arab men were arrested in sweeps across the New

LONDON (AP) — British military personnel have begun delivering fuel to gas stations after a shortage of truck drivers disrupted supplies for more than a week. The crisis has led to long lines at the pumps as anxious drivers scrambled to fill their tanks. The government said about 200 service personnel were deployed Monday to

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s foreign minister has warned that Myanmar may be excluded from a summit of Southeast Asian leaders this month if it refuses to cooperate with the bloc’s special envoy in resolving the military-ruled country’s deepening crisis. The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes Myanmar, picked Brunei’s Second Foreign

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A 58-year-old Greek man has been arrested after he drove a pickup truck onto a sidewalk in front of the the country’s parliament building and reportedly threatened police. Bomb disposal officers checked the vehicle and one gas canister and a plastic gasoline container were removed, police officials said. They added that

By PAUL WISEMAN and MARCY GORDON AP Business Writers WASHINGTON (AP) — Calls are growing for an end to the financial secrecy and shell companies that have allowed many of the world’s richest and most powerful people to hide their wealth from tax collectors. The outcry came after a report published Sunday revealed the way

By JOSEF FEDERMAN Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Newly leaked documents showing that Jordan’s King Abdullah II quietly amassed luxury real estate properties risk hurting the longtime monarch at home and abroad. In Jordan, he has been careful not to flaunt his wealth and has carefully cultivated an image of a caring father of a

MADRID (AP) — Authorities on the Spanish island of La Palma say they are tightening their surveillance of an erupting volcano after part of the crater collapsed and unleashed a cascade of more liquid and faster-moving lava. One official said Monday that the crater was “like a dam.” Fiery molten rock poured out from a

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Britain’s Brexit minister has threatened to trigger a contentious break clause in the U.K.’s divorce deal with the European Union. Such a move that would send the U.K.’s already chilly relations with its huge neighbor into a deep freeze. David Frost told a gathering of the

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Police say Swedish artist Lars Vilks, who had lived under police protection since his 2007 sketch of the Prophet Muhammad with a dog’s body brought death threats, has died in a traffic accident. He was 75. Carina Persson, police chief for southern Sweden, said Vilks and two plainclothes police bodyguards were killed

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press ABOARD GEO BARENTS (AP) — A United Nations tally obtained by the Associated Press on Monday shows that the number of migrants rounded up in Libya’s unprecedented crackdown has exceeded 5,000 people. That includes 215 children and over 540 women. The U.N. says at least 30 of those detainees were

By BISWAJEET BANERJEE Associated Press LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Indian authorities have suspended internet services and barred political leaders from entering a northern town after nine people were killed in a deadly escalation of protests against agriculture laws. Officials and farm leaders say four farmers died when a car owned by India’s junior home minister

By JOHN HANNA and JIM SALTER Associated Press Former conservative Republican U.S. Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri has died. Akin’s son Perry says in a statement that his father died late Sunday at age 74 from cancer. Akin’s comment in 2012 that women’s bodies have a way of avoiding pregnancies in cases of “legitimate rape”

By DAVID KEYTON and MARIA CHENG Associated Press STOCKHOLM (AP) — Two scientists have won the Nobel Prize in medicine for their discoveries into how the human body perceives temperature and touch. The revelations could lead to new ways of treating pain or even heart disease. Americans David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian separately identified receptors

By KATHY GANNON Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghans lining up recently to make complaints at a Taliban-run police station found something new. The police did not demand bribes. That’s a stark contrast to the ousted, U.S.-led government, under which corruption was rampant at every level. The Taliban are promising a return of some

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has begun a second five-year term running a country in the grip of a nearly year-long war against Tigray forces he describes as “hateful” toward the nation. A handful of visiting African leaders is urging him to hold things together. Abiy told the inauguration crowd

By ALEKSANDAR FURTULA and FRANK JORDANS Associated Press WERLTE, Germany (AP) — German officials have unveiled what they say is the world’s first commercial plant for making synthetic kerosene as part of an effort to reduce the climate impact of flying. The facility near Germany’s northwestern border with the Netherlands will use water and electricity

By LARRY LAGE and JOHN WAWROW AP Hockey Writers ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Owen Power passed on a chance to make millions this season with the Buffalo Sabres as the No. 1 overall pick in the NHL draft. Power chose to stay in school and returned for his sophomore season at Michigan. He is

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer Shares have fallen in Asia after a broad slide on Wall Street led by technology companies. Tokyo’s Nikkei dropped 3%, while oil prices edged higher. China-U.S. tensions regained attention after U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said she plans frank conversations with officials in Beijing about an interim trade deal

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Dubai has gambled billions to make the gleaming, built-from-scratch Expo village a triumphant tourist attraction and symbol of the United Arab Emirates itself. It’s a feast for the eyes designed to be devoid of politics and built on the promise of globalization. But even

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — Defense lawyers are questioning the very legitimacy of the Vatican tribunal where 10 people are on trial on finance-related charges. In motions ahead of the resumption of the trial Tuesday, they are arguing their clients can’t get a fair trial in an absolute monarchy where the

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis and dozens of religious leaders are making a joint appeal to governments to commit to ambitious targets at the upcoming U.N. climate conference. Francis is hosting a daylong conference Monday at the Vatican that climaxed with the signing and handover of the joint appeal to

By JOEAL CALUPITAN and AARON FAVILA Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The popular mayor of the Philippine capital has registered his candidacy for the presidency in next year’s elections. Isko Moreno promised to ease coronavirus outbreaks, fix the country’s battered economy and heal deep political divisions. He’s one of several aspirants in what is

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Authorities say a nurse shot and killed a co-worker at a Philadelphia hospital before fleeing and being shot himself in a later exchange of gunfire with police. Philadelphia’s police commissioner said the 55-year-old gunman was wearing scrubs when he shot and killed a 43-year-old certified nursing assistant early Monday at Thomas Jefferson

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The death toll from Cyclone Shaheen has risen to 13. Authorities in Oman said Monday they found the body of a man who disappeared when floodwaters swept him away from his vehicle. That comes a day after a child similarly drowned and two foreigners

By KAREN MATTHEWS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A COVID-19 vaccine requirement for teachers and other staff members has taken effect in New York City’s million-plus-student public school system. The city had planned to bring in substitutes on Monday, with Mayor Bill de Blasio warning that unvaccinated school employees would be placed on unpaid

By STEFANIE DAZIO and CHRISTOPHER WEBER Associated Press HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Officials investigating one of California’s largest oil spills are looking into whether a ship’s anchor may have struck a pipeline on the ocean floor, causing a major leak of crude. The head of the company that operates the pipeline said Monday that

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Taliban forces have raided an Islamic State affiliate’s hideout in the Afghan capital and killed several insurgents, hours after a bombing outside a mosque. Suspicion for that deadly attack quickly fell on the Islamic State group, which has ramped up attacks against its Taliban enemy. The Taliban statement did not say

By LISA MASCARO AP Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi likes to say the Democrats’ diversity is its strength and unity is its power. But the party’s diversity of opinions is pulling apart President Joe Biden’s expansive federal government overhaul. And it’s going to take full-scale party unity to get it over

By The Associated Press Abortion, guns and religion top the Supreme Court’s new term. A case from Mississippi presents a direct challenge to the court’s major decisions over the last half-century that guarantee a woman’s right to an abortion nationwide. A case from New York could expand gun rights in the United States and involves

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer Asian markets are mixed, with Hong Kong’s benchmark down more than 2% after troubled property developer China Evergrande’s shares were suspended from trading. The company’s filing did not say why, but a Chinese financial news service said another developer planned to acquire Evergrande’s property management unit. Wall Street rebounded