Month: October 2021

By RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Angela Merkel is still Germany’s Chancellor and might be still when the European Union leaders meet again, yet they have given her a farewell party at Friday’s EU summit. Attending her 107th summit, she was feted by friend and foe alike in an informal ceremony behind closed

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Nepalese authorities are searching for dozens of people missing in this week’s heavy rains, floods and landslides, as survivors complain they are yet to receive any government help. Police say the death toll has crossed 100 in the country’s eastern and western parts. At least 40 others have been injured by

By PETER SMITH and MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press PITTSBURGH (AP) — A landmark synagogue building in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood remains dormant three years after it was the scene of a rampage that left 11 people dead in what was America’s deadliest anti-Semitic attack. The solemn anniversary is being observed by survivors, family members of

GENEVA (AP) — Nearly four dozen countries in Europe and central Asia have agreed to improve protections for environmental defenders who voice concerns on issues like the construction of dams, harmful agricultural policies, fallout from oil projects and illegal logging in forests, a U.N. body aimed to foster European integration said Friday. The United Nations

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s Justice Ministry has blocked the army from appealing a landmark court ruling that said it unlawfully discharged the country’s first known transgender soldier before she was found dead earlier this year. The ministry, which oversees lawsuits filed by government branches, says its decision

BERLIN (AP) — Environmental campaigners have staged protests on several continents to press their demands for more government action to curb global warming ahead of the upcoming U.N. climate summit in Glasgow. Protesters rallied in Uganda, Bangladesh, India and Germany to call for measures that prevent dangerous levels of warming and take account of the

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The Turkish lira has slid to a record low against the U.S. dollar, a day after the Central Bank sharply cut interest rates. It was another hit after a global financial watchdog placed Turkey on a list of countries to monitor for money laundering and terrorism financing. The lira dropped to

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — The first female president of Japan’s powerful labor union federation says she will work to correct the gender gap in wages and working conditions to help empower women. Tomoko Yoshino, who was elected this month as head of the 7 million-member Japanese Trade Union Confederation, says progress

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Coronavirus infections and deaths in Russia have climbed to another pandemic record, putting a growing strain on the country’s health care system. The government coronavirus task force on Friday reported 37,141 new infections and 1,064 deaths in the past 24 hours. That brought Russia’s death toll to

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Prosecutors in the United Arab Emirates say they have imprisoned a television journalist over apparently leaked pre-match comments made before the Emirates’ tie with Iraq during a World Cup qualifier earlier this month. Authorities did not identify the journalist they imprisoned from the state-run Abu Dhabi Sports Channel, nor

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand is accelerating plans to reopen the country to foreign tourists, slashing mandatory quarantines beginning Nov. 1 for fully vaccinated visitors arriving by air from 46 countries and territories. The Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration also announced a loosening of local restrictions, including cancellation of a curfew in some areas. Prime Minister

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Some 2,000 Polish coal miners staged a noisy protest in Luxembourg against a decision by the European Union’s top court to shut down a major coal mine in Poland and to fine the country for flouting the ruling. Clad in yellow vests emblazoned with “HANDS OFF TUROW,”  the protesters on Friday

By MORGAN LEE, SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN and CEDAR ATTANASIO Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Court records show that an assistant director unwittingly handed Alec Baldwin a loaded weapon and told him it was safe to use in the moments before the actor fatally shot a cinematographer. The assistant director referred to the gun

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders are discussing the sensitive topic of migration to the bloc and how to stop the influx of refugees arriving via neighboring Belarus. EU members Poland and Lithuania have been struggling to cope with an unusually high number of migrants arriving at their borders with

STOCKHOLM (AP) — An award-winning 19-year-old Swedish rapper has been shot to death in southern Stockholm in an incident that media reports suggest could be gang-related. Police spokesman Ola Osterling told the Swedish news agency on Friday that rapper Einar was struck by several bullets in the Hammarby suburb south of central Stockholm and died

By CARA ANNA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Ethiopian military airstrikes have forced a United Nations humanitarian flight to abandon its landing in the capital of the country’s Tigray region. A government spokesman confirms that authorities had been aware of the inbound flight. The U.N. says further flights are suspended. The development appears to

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The Iranian capital Tehran has held its main public Friday prayer service for the first time in 20 months, after it was halted amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizers said beforehand that all health protocols would be followed to protect the expected hundreds of worshippers during the ceremony at Tehran University. Iran’s

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Worried that the flu and COVID-19 could together trigger a winter-time double-whammy of new infections and deaths, France is forging ahead with a nationwide vaccination and booster-shot program against both diseases. France’s annual flu vaccination campaign kicked off Friday, four days earlier than initially planned. Its launch

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II is back at Windsor Castle and in good spirits after revelations that she spent the night in a London hospital earlier this week. The palace said on Friday that the 95-year-old British monarch went to the private King Edward VII’s Hospital in London

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed hope that new Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett would continue in the footsteps of his predecessor in maintaining close and “trusting” relations with his country. Welcoming Bennett at the start of their first meeting in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi,

BERLIN (AP) — Police say a train driver in Germany has died after being hit by a falling branch during a storm that swept across a swath of central Europe. The 50-year-old man had stopped his train near Templin, north of Berlin, on Thursday to help a colleague clear away branches that had fallen onto

BEIJING (AP) — China is saying there is “no room” for compromise or concessions over the issue of Taiwan, following a comment by U.S. President Joe Biden that the U.S. is committed to defending the island if it is attacked. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson reasserted China’s longstanding claim that the island is its territory. China

JULHAS ALAM Associated Press DHAKA,Bangladesh (AP) — Two groups of Rohingya refugees have clashed in a camp in southern Bangladesh, leaving at least six refugees dead and 10 others injured, police say. The violence broke out in Cox’s Bazar district when one side opened fire, killing four people at the scene. Two others died in

By ASHOK SHARMA Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — A fire official in Mumbai says at least one person died after jumping from the 19th floor to escape a fire that engulfed a 61-story luxury apartment building in western India. Another 15 people have been rescued and the fire brought under control later Friday. TV

By NASSER KARIMI Associated Press TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranians are flocking to Tehran’s contemporary art museum to marvel at American pop artist Andy Warhol’s iconic work. That’s even as Iranian hard-liners, now back at the helm of the country, regularly rail against the poisoning of Islamic society by Western culture. At the exhibit this

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS Associated Press NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Enjei Grace and fellow Cameroonian Daniel Ejube have been stuck for nearly five months in limbo, in the United Nations-patrolled buffer zone separating Cyprus’ breakaway north from the internationally recognized south. They don’t want to go back to the north, and the south won’t let them

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian emergency officials say 16 people have been killed by an explosion and fire at a gunpowder factory. The Emergency Situations Ministry said the explosion hit the factory in the Ryazan region, about 270 kilometers (about 167 miles) southeast of Moscow. One person was hospitalized with serious injuries, according to local officials.

MUMBAI, India (AP) — Movie theaters in India’s entertainment capital Mumbai have reopened after more than 18 months of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic. Theaters opened to half capacity Friday, following the guidelines released last month, but struggled to lure the public back and mostly re-released earlier hits. Mumbai has been one of the

By ADRIENNE SURPRENANT Associated Press MALUALKON, South Sudan (AP) — This is the third straight year of extreme flooding in South Sudan. It further imperils livelihoods in the world’s youngest country. A five-year civil war, hunger and corruption have all challenged the nation. Now climate change, which the United Nations has blamed on the flooding,

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ROME (AP) — Amnesty International is calling for an independent parliamentary inquiry into COVID-19 deaths in Italian nursing homes and reports of retaliation against nursing home staff who spoke out about unsafe conditions there. Amnesty based its findings on interviews with 34 health care workers, as well as union leaders

By JANIE McCAULEY AP Sports Writer OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Longtime U.S. rowing coach Mike Teti, who has been criticized by some of his former athletes as being emotionally abusive and using physical intimidation, has resigned but immediately accepted a position funded by a large donor leading a new high-performance training club that still has

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan has adopted a new energy policy that promotes nuclear and renewables as sources of clean energy to achieve the country’s pledge of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. The new basic energy plan adopted by the Cabinet in time for the climate summit in November calls for

By YAROSLAV GUNIN Associated Press NIZHNY NOVGOROD, Russia (AP) — In Russia’s fifth-largest city, Nizhny Novgorod, seriously ill coronavirus patients at an infectious disease hospital lie in crowded wards with little space between beds. Dr. Natalia Soloshenko, who is battered by the onslaught of infections, says her intensive care unit is full of patients, all

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. special envoy for Myanmar is warning that February’s military takeover has led to armed conflict and if power isn’t returned to the people in a democratic way the country will go in the direction of a failed state. Christine Schraner Burgener told U.N.

By LAURAN NEERGAARD and MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writers Millions more Americans are now eligible for COVID-19 boosters, and they can get a different vaccine than their first shots. A number of factors, including the vaccine you started with and when your last dose was, help determine when you qualify, according to recommendations issued Thursday

By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Stocks ended up with a mixed finish on Wall Street Friday after another choppy day of trading, but major indexes still marked their third weekly gains in a row. The S&P 500 slipped 0.1% as sizable drops in several big tech companies outweighed gains in

By MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Efforts to make school buses greener are gaining momentum thanks to billions of dollars in spending in the federal infrastructure plan. A collection of parents, students, environmentalists and lawmakers argues school districts should transform their fleets from diesel to electric vehicles. They say the shift would offer

By THALIA BEATY Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Two months after the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, one of the country’s once-prominent female leaders is visiting the United Nations, not as a representative of her government but as a woman in exile. Fawzia Koofi was a deputy speaker of parliament and previously a nominee

BEIJING (AP) — Police in China’s capital Beijing say famed international pianist Li Yundi is a suspect in a prostitution case. A message on the force’s microblog said a suspect had been placed in administrative detention and an investigation opened on Thursday involving a woman identified by her surname Chen and a man named as

By SARAH RANKIN Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Skeptical Virginia Republicans have come around to Glenn Youngkin, the party’s candidate for governor. They didn’t know much about the rich, private equity executive when he threw himself into the race this year, but they’re pleased he came calling. Republicans from all factions of the party

By DENISE LAVOIE Associated Press GLENNS, Va. (AP) — A Black activist and educator is making her presence known as a third-party candidate in the Virginia governor’s race. Princess Blanding’s activism came to the forefront in 2018 after her brother was fatally shot by a Richmond police officer during a mental health crisis. She led

By STEVE PEOPLES AP National Political Writer NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — Terry McAuliffe won Virginia’s 2013 governor’s race by embracing his own brand of personal politics that rely on decades-old friendships, backslapping charisma and tell-it-like-it-is authenticity. But in the closing days of the 2021 election, it’s unclear whether the tactics that made McAuliffe one