Month: October 2021

BEIJING (AP) — China’s Foreign Ministry has warned against what it calls possible “political manipulation” of a renewed probe by the World Health Organization into the origins of the coronavirus. A spokesperson for the foreign ministry said Thursday Beijing would support the U.N. health agency’s efforts but it would “firmly oppose any forms of political

By JOSEPH PISANI AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — TikTok, an app best known for dancing videos with 1 billion users worldwide, has also become a shopping phenomenon. National chains, hoping to get TikTok’s mostly young users into its stores, are setting up TikTok sections, reminiscent of “As Seen On TV” stores that sold

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has recorded the highest daily numbers of coronavirus infections and deaths since the start of the pandemic, a rapidly surging toll that has severely strained the nation’s health care system. The government’s coronavirus task force reported 31,299 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 986 deaths on Thursday.

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Armenia is accusing neighboring Azerbaijan of systematically promoting ethnic hatred against Armenia citizens as the two nations that fought a six-week war last year face off at a U.N. court. Armenian representative Yeghishe Kirakosyan made the accusation Thursday as a hearing opened at the International

By The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Katie Couric’s book tour, which begins in two weeks, will have some have well known guests. Live Nation announced Thursday that Jennifer Garner, “Saturday Night Live” performers Chloe Fineman and Melissa Villaseñor and Brad and Kimberly Paisley will be among those joining Couric for appearances around the

By JILL COLVIN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The Republican fundraising committee dedicated to flipping the House in next year’s midterm elections says it raised more than $105 million this year through September. The record haul marks a 74% increase over last cycle and includes $25.8 million raised in the third quarter of the

By ANDREA ROSA and NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ROME (AP) — A Rome judge has halted the trial of four high-ranking members of Egypt’s security forces on the day it began. The judge said there was no certainty they had been formally made aware that they were charged in the abduction, torture and killing in

BERLIN (AP) — Austrian news agency APA has reported that former Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has been sworn as a member of parliament after resigning last week amid corruption allegations. Kurz is also keeping his role as party leader and became the head of its parliamentary group. That keeps him at the heart of Austrian politics

By BABA AHMED Associated Press TIMBUKTU, Mali (AP) — Many residents of Timbuktu are worried that when French troops pull out of the city in northern Mali, jihadis will return to impose strict Shariah law including public whippings and amputations. The Islamic extremists ruled Timbuktu in 2012 and banned music and destroyed historic mausoleums, saying

MADRID (AP) — A 4.5-magnitude earthquake has shaken Spain’s La Palma island off northwest Africa in what was the strongest recorded since a local volcano began erupting 26 days ago.  Spain’s National Geographic Institute said the quake was one of around 60 recorded overnight. The Cumbre Vieja volcano continues to spew fiery rivers of lava

By SUSAN FERRISS and JOE YERARDI The Center for Public Integrity Immigrants perform some of America’s lowest-paying, most arduous jobs, and are among those most victimized by employers failing to pay them fairly. Even if they have support to file a lawsuit or a claim — with a state labor agency or the U.S. Department

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s leading economic institutes have slashed their forecast for Europe’s biggest economy. They said Thursday that output is being held back by global supply bottlenecks and lingering restraints on personal contact amid the pandemic. The experts cut their growth forecast for this year to 2.4% from the 3.7% they had forecast earlier

By ZEINA KARAM and SARAH EL DEEB Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — At least six people have been killed and dozens wounded in armed clashes in Beirut. The clashes unfolded Thursday during protests organized by the militant Hezbollah group and its allies against the lead investigator into last year’s massive blast at the city’s port.

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria’s defense ministry says one of its soldiers has been killed and three injured in an overnight Israeli airstrike on a telecommunication tower in the central province of Homs. Syrian air defenses responded to the incoming missiles, which the defense ministry said originated from the Tanf region in southeast Syria. Iran-backed

BEIJING (AP) — China is preparing to send three astronauts to live on its space station for six months — a new milestone for a program that has advanced rapidly in recent years. The launch expected early Saturday will start China’s longest crewed space mission and set a record for the most time spent in

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — United Airlines employees who are suing the airline over its vaccine mandate will get more time to make their case. A federal judge in Texas ordered United not to place unvaccinated employees on unpaid leave if they are seeking a medical or religious exemption from mandatory vaccination against COVID-19. The

By PAAL NORDSETH, JAN M. OLSEN and MARK LEWIS Associated Press KONGSBERG, Norway (AP) — Norwegian authorities say the bow-and-arrow rampage by a man who killed five people in a small town appeared to be a terrorist act. Police identified the attacker as Espen Andersen Braathen, a 37-year-old Danish citizen, who was arrested Wednesday night.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — International Olympic Committee Vice President John Coates says challenging China on its human rights record as Beijing prepares to host the 2022 Winter Games is “not in our remit.” There has been widespread criticism of China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims in the northwest region of Xinjiang as well as its crackdown

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military says that troops have shot and killed a Palestinian who was throwing firebombs at cars on a main highway in the occupied West Bank. The incident occurred late Thursday near Beit Jala, a Palestinian town south of Jerusalem. The military says soldiers opened fire at two suspects spotted throwing

By KRISTA LARSON and MARIA CHENG Associated Press SARE GIBEL, Gambia (AP) — Health officials are confronting vaccine reluctance among African women, especially those of childbearing age. Many worry pregnancies will be threatened, and in Africa, the success of a woman’s marriage often depends on how many children she bears. Other women fear the vaccine

By LEONARDO CORREA and YESICA FISCH By The Associated Press SERREKUNDA, Gambia (AP) — Oyster harvesting in Gambia is considered women’s work. It’s a grueling task. They paddle rickety boats, then get into crocodile-infested water up to their necks to lay nets. Many of the women are the sole family breadwinners, and that burden has

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Five biracial women born in Congo when the country was under Belgian rule who were taken away from their Black mothers are suing the Belgian state for crimes against humanity. They hope Belgium will finally recognize its responsibility in the suffering endured by the thousands of mixed-race

By KRISTA LARSON and MARIA CHENG Associated Press SARE GIBEL, Gambia (AP) — Health officials are confronting vaccine reluctance among African women, especially those of childbearing age. Many worry pregnancies will be threatened, and in Africa, the success of a woman’s marriage often depends on how many children she bears. Other women fear the vaccine

By BERNAT ARMANGUE and LEE KEATH Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Ask almost anyone in the Afghan capital what they want now that the Taliban are in power, and the answer is the same: They want to leave. The United States and its allies evacuated tens of thousands of Afghans in the weeks after

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Disaster response officials in the Philippines say that a tropical storm has left at least 19 people dead. Authorities say they are still  investigating a further 11 deaths that may have been caused by the tropical storm Kompasu, which triggered landslides and flash floods as it barreled over the northern tip

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer Asian shares are higher after technology companies powered the biggest rally on Wall Street since March. All major regional indexes advanced, with Tokyo gaining 1.4%. On Thursday, the S&P 500 jumped 1.7% as a wave of buying gained momentum from a day earlier, when the market broke a three-day

MOLINE, Ill. (AP) — More than 10,000 Deere & Co. workers have walked out strike after the United Auto Workers union said negotiators couldn’t deliver a new agreement that would meet the “demands and needs” of workers. The vast majority of the union rejected a contract offer earlier this week that would have delivered 5%

By LISA MASCARO AP Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is warning that that Democrats “must put aside our differences” as the party struggles to coalesce around President Joe Biden’s now-scaled back package of social services and climate change strategies. Schumer’s letter Thursday to colleagues comes as progressive leaders in Congress

By MARY CLARE JALONICK, ERIC TUCKER and LISA MASCARO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection has set a vote to recommend criminal contempt charges against former White House aide Steve Bannon after he defied the panel’s subpoena. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., says the panel will vote Tuesday

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has dissolved the lower house of parliament for Japan’s first elections of the pandemic. At stake Oct. 31 will be how Japan faces a potential coronavirus resurgence and revives its battered economy, and whether Kishida’s government can emerge from the shadow of nearly

By BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — New York real estate heir Robert Durst has been sentenced to life in prison without a chance of parole for the murder of his best friend more that two decades ago.  He was convicted in Los Angeles Superior Court last month of first-degree murder for shooting

By MARK STEVENSON Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — Jacobo grew up in the western Mexico state of Jalisco, home to the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel. He had an abusive childhood: his mother held his hands over an open flame after he allegedly shoved a classmate. Now 17, Jacobo claims he didn’t do it.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — A key Southern California highway closed for days because of a wildfire was reopened Thursday evening but authorities warned that flames still posed a threat to remote properties in a coastal mountain range. The Alisal Fire is 11% contained Thursday after charring more than 26 square miles in the Santa

By FIRDIA LISNAWATI Associated Press DENPASAR, Indonesia (AP) — The Indonesian resort island of Bali has reopened for international travelers to visit its shops and white-sand beaches after more than a year. They must be vaccinated, test negative, hail from certain countries, quarantine for five days and heed restrictions in public. No international flights were

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (AP) — Officials say at least 46 people were killed and another 41 injured after a fire broke out in a run-down mixed commercial and residential building in the Taiwanese port city of Kaohsiung. Neighborhood residents say the 13-story building housed many poor, elderly and disabled people and

SYDNEY (AP) — One of New Zealand’s best-known businessmen Ron Brierley has been sentenced in a Sydney court to 14 months in prison for possessing child sex abuse images. The 84-year-old former high-profile corporate raider had pleaded guilty to the charges in April, but was released on bail until his sentencing. Brierley was arrested at