Month: October 2021

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli government says it is enlisting the military and the Shin Bet internal security agency as it tries to rein in a wave of violence in the country’s Arab sector. The Arab minority, which makes up around 20% of Israel’s population, has been convulsed by violent crime in recent years. Prime

LAMPEDUSA, Sicily (AP) — Survivors of a 2013 capsizing have joined residents of a tiny Italian isle to honor 368 migrants who perished on the anniversary of the offshore tragedy. Participants in the memorial ceremony Sunday tossed flowers into the Mediterranean’s crystalline waters off the island of Lampedusa. Among those who journeyed to the island

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN and JEROME PUGMIRE AP Sports Writers PARIS (AP) — Bernard Tapie, the charismatic president of French soccer club Marseille during its glory era whose reign was marred by a match-fixing scandal, has died. He was 78. Marseille announced Tapie’s death on its Twitter page. Marseille “learned with a great sadness the passing

By DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press Many states and cities across the U.S. are getting off to a slow start in spending money from this year’s coronavirus relief package championed by President Joe Biden and Democrats. The American Rescue Plan signed into law in March included $350 billion for state and local governments. An Associated

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan’s King Abdullah II has received a call from Syrian President Bashar Assad. Sunday’s call is the first between the two leaders after a decade of strain over Syria’s civil war. The Jordanian royal court said the leaders discussed relations between the “brotherly countries” and ways to enhance cooperation between them.

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A proposal on the Minneapolis ballot about the future of policing in the city where George Floyd was killed has its roots in the “defund the police” movement. And it has centrist Democrats worried that it could spell defeat. The fight is a microcosm for what’s been

By VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Police in Poland have confiscated the computer equipment of a journalist working for a leading newspaper that has carried out investigations of the country’s right-wing government. The raid on Saturday comes as critics of the government accuse it of seeking to erode media freedom, with the

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The Chinese military flew 16 warplanes over waters south of Taiwan on Sunday as the United States expressed concern about what it called China’s “provocative military action” near the self-governing island that China claims. China sent 38 warplanes into the area on Friday and 39 aircraft on Saturday. A statement from

BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Angela Merkel says Germans must keep working for democracy, as the country celebrated the 31st anniversary of the reunification of East and West. In what is expected to be one of her last major speeches, the outgoing chancellor said that reunification happened “because there were people in East Germany who risked

ROME (AP) — A small private plane has crashed into a vacant office building in a Milan suburb. A prosecutor said all eight people aboard were killed in Sunday’s crash. Firefighters tweeted that no one other than those aboard were involved in the crash near a subway station in San Donato Milanese. The firefighters said

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has called for “more humane” prison life in the wake of bloodshed in a prison in Ecuador in which 118 people died and dozens more were injured. Francis told the public in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday that he was “very pained” by what happened last week in Guayaquil

By WILSON RING Associated Press Despite having some of the highest vaccination rates in the country, the six New England states are still grappling with effects of the delta surge in cases and the strains on the health care system caused by rapidly increasing COVID-19 case counts and more hospitalizations and deaths. In some areas,

SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — At least five civilians were killed in a bomb blast outside a Kabul mosque Sunday, a Taliban official said. It was the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital since U.S. forces left at the end of August. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but suspicion fell

By TERRY SPENCER Associated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The suspect in the 2018 killing of 17 people at a Florida high school goes on trial this week for allegedly attacking a jail guard. Jury selection begins Monday on charges Nikolas Cruz attacked a Broward County jail guard nine months after the 2018 shootings

By WILL WEISSERT Associated Press BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — Congressional Democrats are going bigger than ever on the environment, with a spending package they’re trying to muscle through. President Joe Biden has traveled the country sounding the alarm, blaming a warming planet for devastation from wildfire-ravaged California to hurricane-battered New York and warning of a

JERUSALEM (AP) — An EgyptAir jet has landed in Tel Aviv, making the first official direct flight by the Egyptian national carrier since the two countries signed an historic 1979 peace treaty. The plane landed at Ben Gurion International airport in Tel Aviv on Sunday. The airline’s affiliate, AirSinai, has for decades operated flights to

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press ABOARD GEO BARENTS (AP) — The U.N. refugee agency says Libya’s coast guard has intercepted a wooden boat carrying more 550 Europe-bound migrants off the country’s shore. Sunday’s interception was the latest amid a surge of attempted crossings from the North African nation to European shores in recent months. The

ROME (AP) — A blaze that possibly was sparked by a gas canister explosion has destroyed part of an historic bridge spanning the Tiber River in Rome. Firefighters said the fire erupted before midnight Saturday near the Ostiense neighborhood and by early Sunday the flames were extinguished. No one was injured. The blaze appeared to

By JOE McDONALD and ZEN SOO AP Business Writers BEIJING (AP) — After flourishing for two decades with little regulation, China’s internet industries face a future of tighter control by the ruling Communist Party and pressure to pay for its tech ambitions, social welfare and propaganda. E-commerce platform Alibaba, games and social media operator Tencent

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A cyclone battering Oman has killed three people, including a child. Cyclone Shaheen made landfall Sunday night just off from Muscat, Oman’s capital, with winds reaching up to 150 kph (93 mph). That’s according to the state-run Oman News Agency. The cyclone quickly lost strength and forecasters downgraded it

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has warned the United Nation’s top body against making any statements criticizing the isolated country’s missile program. During an emergency closed-door meeting at the U.N. Security Council Friday, France circulated a proposed statement that expresses concern over North Korea’s missile launches and calls

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has restricted its COVID Green Pass to allow only those who have received a vaccine booster dose or recently recuperated from coronavirus to enter indoor venues. The new criteria mean that nearly 2 million people will lose their vaccination passport in the coming days. Israel is the first country to make

By FRANCES D’EMILIO Associated Press ROME (AP) — Millions of people are voting in Italy for new mayors including in the nation’s main cities. The balloting on Sunday and Monday is widely seen as a test of possibly shifting political alliances as leaders gear up for national elections. Ballots will be opened after voting ends

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Algeria has refused permission for France to fly military planes in its airspace and announced the recall of its ambassador from Paris in the wake of what it said were “inadmissible” comments attributed to French President Emmanuel Macron. The sharp escalation in tensions also follows a French decision to slash the

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Near-final results from nationwide municipal elections in Georgia show the ruling party well ahead of challengers, but the mayoral contests in the country’s five largest cities likely will need runoffs. The Central Elections Commission said Sunday that the tally from more than 99% of the vote showed the ruling Georgian Dream

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Dubai’s Expo 2020 has acknowledged for the first time that three workers died from the coronavirus over the course of building the world’s fair during the pandemic, as the prestigious event draws scrutiny of labor conditions in the United Arab Emirates. When asked at

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA Associated Press GULU, Uganda (AP) — The remote Ugandan district of Gulu is currently a COVID-19 hot spot in the East African country. There are repeated and sudden power failures that plague the vaccine storage unit. That adds to the logistical challenges facing efforts to ramp up vaccination across the country. Officials

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations says a U.N. convoy in Mali’s northern Kidal region was attacked by improvised explosive devices which killed one peacekeeper from Egypt and seriously injured four others. It says the attack on the convoy from the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali took place near Tessalit. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres