Month: November 2021

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME and GERALD IMRAY Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africans are voting in local government elections that will offer an indication if support for the ruling African National Congress has rebounded after waning in recent years. Monday’s municipal elections will decide the composition of councils responsible for providing essential services like water,

By VICTORIA MILKO Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Biotechnology company Novavax says that Indonesia has given the world’s first emergency use authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine, which uses a different technology than current shots. The vaccine doesn’t require the extremely cold storage temperatures that some other vaccines need, which could allow it to play

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will return to its pre-pandemic form this year, with its route restored through Manhattan, high-flying helium balloons once again pulled by handlers and crowds welcomed back to cheer them on. This year’s parade — the 95th annual — will snap

GENEVA (AP) — A move by Swiss police in a resort town to shutter a restaurant because its owners flouted a government requirement to check patrons’ COVID-19 passes is highlighting tensions with a section of the population that views the measure as infringing on civil rights. Swiss media reported Monday that police swept into the

By LIZ WESTON of NerdWallet A will determines who gets your stuff after you die. But a will won’t take care of all of your final wishes. A will can’t do everything — it can’t avoid sending your estate into probate. A will also shouldn’t do everything — it shouldn’t be used as a technique

By JEFFREY SCHAEFFER and PAN PYLAS Associated Press GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — France’s president offered Britain extra time for negotiations to try to reach a compromise on a troubling post-Brexit fishing spat. The offer came hours ahead of a threatened French blockade of British ships and trucks. The British government has said throughout the long-running

By KONSTANTIN TESTORIDES Associated Press SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP) — The leader of North Macedonia’s conservative opposition is calling for an early parliamentary election after scoring a sweeping victory in municipal polls that prompted the center-left prime minister to announce his resignation. Hristijan Mickoski, who heads the main opposition VMRO-DPMNE party, told supporters on Monday

By KERI BLAKINGER, JAMILES LARTEY, BETH SCHWARTZAPFEL and CHRISTIE THOMPSON of The Marshall Project and MICHAEL R. SISAK of The Associated Press The coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the labor market have pushed many prison staffing systems into crisis. Correction officers are retiring and quitting in droves, while states struggle to recruit new employees.

By KERI BLAKINGER, JAMILES LARTEY, BETH SCHWARTZAPFEL and CHRISTIE THOMPSON of The Marshall Project and MICHAEL R. SISAK of The Associated Press The coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the labor market have pushed many prison staffing systems into crisis. Correction officers are retiring and quitting in droves, while states struggle to recruit new employees.

By SOPHENG CHEANG Associated Press PHNON PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia has begun vaccinating 5-year-old children against the coronavirus as its leader announced the start of the country’s reopening, including the phased reentry of foreign tourists. Prime Minister Hun Sen says 5-year-olds are being vaccinated to boost their immunity before they start attending school, which

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s chief prosecutor has ordered the detention of three hotel workers pending an investigation into how around 50 foreign tourists, mostly Russians, got food poisoning in a hotel at a popular Red Sea resort and had to be hospitalized. The workers face accusations of endangering the guests’ lives. They have denied the

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s outgoing health minister is calling on state governments to reactivate some specialized COVID-19 vaccination centers that were closed in the late summer to help administer booster shots as new coronavirus infections increase rapidly. Germany’s standing committee on vaccination currently recommends booster shots for over-70s and a few other groups, but the

By CARLA K. JOHNSON AP Medical Writer The global death toll from COVID-19 has topped 5 million, nearly two years into a crisis that has not only devastated poor countries but also humbled wealthy ones with first-rate health care systems. Together, the United States, the European Union, Britain and Brazil account for one-eighth of the

By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippines forces have killed a key communist rebel commander in one of Asia’s longest-running insurgencies, in what the military described as a daring raid in the remote south, but what guerrilla leaders said was an ambush. Jorge Madlos, who used the nom de guerre Ka Oris,

BY AHMED AL-HAJ Associated Press SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemeni officials say at least 10 civilians were killed after two ballistic missiles fired by Houthi rebels stuck a religious educational facility in the central province of Marib. The missiles hit Dar al-Hadith, a religious school and a mosque, in the residential neighborhood of al-Aumd. At

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — World leaders are turning up the heat and resorting to end-of-the-world rhetoric in an attempt to bring new urgency to sputtering international climate negotiations. The metaphors were dramatic and mixed at the start of the talks known as COP26 on Monday. For British Prime Minister

By ZEN SOO AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Official data show Chinese manufacturing activity contracted for a second straight month in October amid materials shortages and widespread power cuts. The National Bureau of Statistics said the official manufacturing purchasing managers index dipped to 49.2 in October, down from 49.6 in September. The index is

LONDON (AP) — The chief executive of British bank Barclays has stepped down following a report by United Kingdom regulators into his past links with the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Jes Staley has previously said he “deeply regrets” his relationship with Epstein, who killed himself in a New York jail in 2019

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has begun welcoming individual tourists for the first time since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Authorities hope the return of solo travelers will breathe new life into the struggling tourism industry. Before the pandemic, the Christmas season saw hundreds of thousands of people visit Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus,

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Tonga’s government says the isolated South Pacific nation’s main island will go into lockdown for a week after it reported its first case of the coronavirus. The lockdown was announced Monday and will begin just after midnight on Tuesday and apply only to the island

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison denies lying to French President Emmanuel Macron while secretly negotiating a submarine deal with the United States and Britain. The accusation has escalated a rift over Australia’s surprise cancelation of a French deal. Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce suggested France was

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA Associated Press BUSIA, Uganda (AP) — Uganda’s schools have been fully or partially shut for more than 77 weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic. U.N. figures show that’s the longest disruption anywhere in the world. Lessons moved online in many parts of the globe. But most public schools were unable to offer

By CARA ANNA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Ethiopia’s prime minister has called on citizens to redouble their efforts to combat the rival Tigray forces who claim to have seized key cities on a major highway leading to the capital A move on the capital of Addis Ababa is a new phase in the

By SAMYA KULLAB and BRAM JANSSEN Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban-appointed supervisor of a small district hospital outside the Afghan capital has big plans — to the dismay of the doctors who work there. Doctors are demanding overdue salary payments amid critical shortages of medicine, food and fuel. The new Taliban administrator’s