Month: November 2021

BAGHDAD (AP) — The final results announced by Iraq’s electoral commission have confirmed Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as the biggest winner in last month’s vote, securing 73 out of Parliament’s 329 seats. A Sunni party headed by Parliament Speaker Mohamed al-Halbousi came in second with 37 seats. The results announced Tuesday also confirmed that pro-Iran

By MARCELO SILVA DE SOUSA Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has officially joined the centrist Liberal Party — a key political deal in his quest for reelection in 2022. After two years without a political party, Bolsonaro’s decision to join one of the parties in the so-called Center group

By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s interior minister has applied freshly adopted regulations and declared area along the nation’s border with Belarus off-limits to everyone except residents and people who live, work or study in designated no-access zones, until March. Earlier Tuesday the lower house of parliament, or Sejm, voted to

By CATHY BUSSEWITZ and MARTHA IRVINE Associated Press ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Next to a North Texas day care center is a site where Total Energies is pumping for natural gas. The French energy giant wants to drill three new wells on the property next to the center, which serves mainly Black and Latino children.

By COREY WILLIAMS Associated Press A suburban Detroit office of U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell has been broken into and ransacked, with memorabilia belonging to her late husband and longtime Congressman John Dingell damaged. Dingell reported the break-in at the office in Dearborn on Monday and said it was being investigated by local and U.S. Capitol

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press ROSEMOUNT, Minn. (AP) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday went to Minnesota to  pitch his completed infrastructure deal an a giant social spending bill that he’s still trying to get passed, but also found himself reassuring the nation he would fight the evolving COVID-19 threat without resorting to “shutdowns and

German investigators have searched offices of accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers and the homes of current and former employees in a probe of alleged tax evasion by tax advisers. Prosecutors said Tuesday that the investigation centers on an alleged scheme used between 2012 and 2017 by the suspects, ages 50 to 67, to inaccurately declare revenue from

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A 14-year-old Philadelphia boy waiting for a bus to take him home from school was shot 18 times and killed Monday afternoon, police said. A Philadelphia police spokesperson said in an emailed incident report that Samir Jefferson was waiting at a bus stop shortly before 3:30 p.m. Monday in a North Philadelphia

By JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York City says the first officially authorized safe havens for people to use heroin and other narcotics have been cleared to open in the city in hopes of curbing deadly overdoses. The city is calling the privately run facilities “overdose prevention centers,” but they’re also

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece says residents over 60 will have to undergo mandatory vaccinations against COVID-19 or face monthly 100-euro ($114) fine beginning next year. The country’s first general inoculation mandate was announced Tuesday in response to a surge in cases and the emergence of the new omicron variant.  Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer confidence fell to a nine-month low in November, held back by rising worries about inflation and lingering concerns about the coronavirus. The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index dropped to a reading of 109.5, down from 111.6 in October. It was

CAIRO (AP) — Security forces have fired tear gas at anti-coup protesters in the Sudanese capital in the latest demonstrations against a military takeover that took place last month. Tens of thousands marched Tuesday in Khartoum and in other cities around the country to demand that the armed forces stay out of government. In a

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — A court in Moscow has convicted a monk who denied the coronavirus’ existence and castigated the Kremlin on accusations of encouraging suicides. The court sentenced  Father Sergiy to 3½ years in prison. He was arrested in December 2020 on charges of inciting suicidal actions through sermons in

By LARRY NEUMEISTER and TOM HAYS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A woman has testified she had repeated sexual contact with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein when she was 14 and that Ghislaine Maxwell was there when it happened. The witness took the stand Tuesday using the pseudonym “Jane.” She is the first of four

By DÁNICA COTO Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The eastern Caribbean island of Barbados has honored Rihanna as a national hero at a historic moment for the nation. The government on Tuesday honored the singer with the title of “the right excellent” as the island bade farewell to Queen Elizabeth II and

BERLIN (AP) — Automakers Mercedes-Benz and Stellantis have announced agreements with U.S. company Factorial Energy to help develop solid state battery technology. Mercedes-Benz, which is part of Daimler AG, said it is joining forces with Factorial to jointly develop batteries with the aim of testing prototype cells as early as next year. It said it

By HALELUYA HADERO AP Business Writer As supply chain bottlenecks create shortages on many items, some charities are struggling to secure holiday gift wishes from kids in need. They’re reporting they can’t find enough items in stock, or are facing shipping delays both in receiving and distributing the gifts. The founder of the organization One

By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — A Kurdish official says a tanker truck distributing water at a sprawling camp housing families of Islamic State group members in northeast Syria rammed into a tent. The official says Tuesday the truck killed three Iraqi women and injured two children from the same family, apparently by

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees says it was unable to pay its 28,000 employees on time this month. He warned Tuesday of potential cuts in vital services to millions of people amid a global pandemic. UNRWA runs schools, clinics and food distribution programs for registered Palestinian refugees

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian authorities say they have seized over 500 kilograms (1,000 pounds) of amphetamine pills known by the brand name Captagon hidden in pasta packages in a van bound for Saudi Arabia. The statement Tuesday on the official state news agency SANA said an investigation was underway to determine who was behind

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union will unveil a multibillion-euro plan aimed at bolstering the 27-nation bloc’s worldwide infrastructure and influence. The program to be revealed Wednesday is expected to mobilize up to 300 billion euros in public and private funds by 2027. Although the European Commission doesn’t present the project as an attempt to