Month: October 2021

By BABA AHMED Associated Press BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Mali’s transitional government has ordered an envoy of the 15-nation West African regional bloc to leave the country within 72 hours because of actions “incompatible with his status.”  The Economic Community of West African States, known as ECOWAS, is pressing Mali’s transitional leader Col. Assimi Goita,

By LAURAN NEERGAARD AP Medical Writer Moderna says its low-dose COVID-19 vaccine is safe and appears to work in 6- to 11-year-olds. It is the second U.S. vaccine aimed at eventually being offered to children. Already the Food and Drug Administration is considering kid-sized doses of the Pfizer vaccine for elementary school-aged children — and

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia has extended tight coronavirus restrictions to more parts of the country as the latest surge of infections intensifies. The number of counties affected by the measures doubled in just one week, from five to 10. They are mostly located in northern Slovakia, on or near the borders with Poland and

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Nine EU countries, including heavyweight Germany, have joined forces to say they will not support an overhaul of the electricity market ahead of an emergency meeting of the bloc’s energy ministers Tuesday in Luxembourg. The energy crisis impacting consumers’ bills and businesses has been widely acknowledged by

LONDON (AP) — The British government is looking to give millions of low-pay workers an inflation-busting pay increase next year. The government said Monday that it will legislate to raise the National Living Wage to 9.50 pounds ($13) an hour from the current rate of 8.91 pounds ($12.25). Britain’s Treasury said the 6.6% increase will

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch government is seeking advice from a panel of experts on whether it needs to reintroduce COVID-19 restrictions amid sharply rising infection rates. The Netherlands has one of the fastest-rising infection rates in Europe. The 7-day rolling average of daily new cases rose over the past two weeks from

By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Officials say a target for rich countries to provide poor nations with $100 billion in aid each year to tackle global warming will be missed, dealing a blow to the upcoming U.N. climate talks in Glasgow. Officials from Britain, Canada and Germany had hoped to break a

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — People in Estonia no longer can use negative test results to obtain the coronavirus certificates needed to attend sporting events, movie showings, indoor public meetings and other events. As of Monday, only proof of vaccination or having recovered from COVID-19 are accepted as the basis for obtaining a certificate. Authorities said

By ALAN SUDERMAN Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Microsoft says the same Russia-backed hackers responsible for the 2020 SolarWinds breach continue to attack the global supply chain and have been targeting cloud service resellers and others. Microsoft said the group, which it calls Nobelium, has employed a new strategy to piggyback on the direct

By JON GAMBRELL and JIM GOMEZ Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Apple threatened to pull Facebook and Instagram from its app store two years ago over concerns about the platform being used as a tool to trade and sell maids in the Mideast. Facebook acknowledged in internal documents obtained by The Associated

By GLENN GAMBOA AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The first 100 winners of an initiative to nurture talented teens worldwide have been named. It’s part of a $1 billion program funded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and his wife. The winners announced Monday will receive lifetime support for their education and the

By VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW (AP) — A European Union official has said that there is “no place for rhetoric referring to war” among EU partners. He was reacting to Poland’s prime minister saying that Brussels withholding cash from Poland over the rule of law would be akin to starting World War III. Polish

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — A political storm is brewing in Portugal, where the minority Socialist government is finding it hard to win support for its state budget from other left-of-center parties. The Portuguese Communist Party announced Monday it won’t vote in favor of the government’s spending plan. The Left Bloc is another party that historically

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA Associated Press KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Police are investigating a bus explosion that killed one person in central Uganda. The explosion on the bus took place as the vehicle was traveling from Kampala, the capital, to the western part of Uganda on Monday. Police said they dispatched bomb experts to the scene.

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Minnesota’s Congressional delegation on Monday is introducing a resolution to posthumously award the Congressional Gold Medal to pop superstar Prince, citing his “indelible mark on Minnesota and American culture,” The Associated Press has learned. The medal is one of the nation’s highest civilian honors and

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — A closely watched survey of German business optimism has sagged for the fourth month in a row. The lower reading Monday for the Ifo Institute’s index is underlining concern about the impact on Europe’s largest economy from sharply higher energy prices and troubles getting raw materials and parts. The head of

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch climate experts are warning that the low-lying Netherlands could face higher sea level rises than previously forecast as well as dangerous weather events caused by climate change. The Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute issued the stark warning on Monday in a new update based on

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s state news agency says a judge has charged 68 people in this month’s deadly clashes in Beirut that left seven people dead and dozens wounded. The clash in south Beirut on Oct. 14 was the worst fighting in the capital in years. It broke out during a Hezbollah-organized protest against the

By AGNIESZKA PIKULICKA-WILCZEWSKA Associated Press TASHKENT, Uzbekistan (AP) — Preliminary results from Uzbekistan’s presidential election show the incumbent leader winning a second five-year term in the tightly controlled Central Asian nation. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev received 80.1% of Sunday’s vote, according to the country’s Central Election Commission. Mirziyoyev took office in 2016 following the death of

LONDON (AP) — Environmental protesters pressuring the British government to insulate all homes within a decade have resumed a road-blocking campaign in London ahead of the United Nations’ annual climate conference. As commuters headed to work on Monday, demonstrators from the Insulate Britain campaign obstructed major roads into the capital’s financial centers. Some demonstrators glued

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan has expressed concern after China and Russia held a joint naval exercise in which 10 of their warships passed through international waterways between its northern and southern islands. The warships did not violate Japanese waters. Japan considers China’s increasingly assertive maritime activities as a regional security

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Officials in Poland say that two soldiers were lightly hurt when a group of some 60 migrants tried to force their way across the border from Belarus. The Border Guards said the troops were treated at a hospital for facial injuries following the events Sunday. European Union members Poland and the

By ISABEL DEBRE and FARES AKRAM Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Across the Middle East, journalists, activists and others have long accused Facebook of censoring their speech. In India and Myanmar, political groups use the social network to incite violence. All of it frequently slips through Facebook’s efforts to police its social

By ILAN BEN ZION Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s plans to advance the construction of thousands of new settlement homes in the occupied West Bank have angered the Palestinians and drawn criticism from a left-wing member of the country’s fragile coalition government. Israel on Sunday announced construction tenders for 1,355 housing units in the

By MICHAEL MELIA Associated Press GUILFORD, Conn. (AP) — In school board races around the country, activists are running against critical race theory. That’s a way of analyzing American history that is not in and of itself a fixture in K-12 schools. But it has become a rallying cry for activist candidates all over the

PRAGUE (AP) — Taiwanese government ministers are visiting the Czech capital accompanied by dozens of business and research representatives to boost trade and investment, a move that has angered China. Minister of National Development Kung Ming-hsin is leading a delegation of 66 officials representing business and research groups and organizations, including biotechnology, green energy, information

MADRID (AP) — Officials say a volcano erupting for the past five weeks on the Spanish island of La Palma is more active than ever. New lava flows have emerged following a partial collapse of the crater and threaten to engulf previously unaffected areas. A powerful new river of molten rock gushed out of the

By LIZ WESTON of NerdWallet Paying bills late can be an early symptom of dementia — and it can happen years before diagnosis. If you have a family member who’s beginning to make financial stumbles after a lifetime of managing just fine, there are ways to help while preserving their dignity and autonomy. Similarly, if

By JON GAMBRELL and JIM GOMEZ Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Two years ago, Apple threatened to pull Facebook and Instagram from its app store over concerns about the platform being used as a tool to trade and sell maids in the Mideast. Facebook acknowledged in internal documents obtained by The Associated