Month: November 2021

By DARIA LITVINOVA Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russian officials are rejecting accusations that they endangered astronauts aboard the International Space Station by conducting a weapons test that created more than 1,500 pieces of space junk. U.S. officials on Monday accused Russia of destroying an old satellite with a missile in what they called a

BEIJING (AP) — No breakthroughs were delivered during talks between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden, but the cordial atmosphere in which they were is the latest indication that relations between the sides may be turning the corner. What benefits accrue depend on whether the two countries can find areas of cooperation

By RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is increasing pressure on member nation Poland. The 27-nation bloc’s top court ruled Tuesday that the country’s right-wing government has undermined judicial independence. Ruling on the Polish justice minister’s powers to endorse judges for high criminal courts and to end their terms without proper

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Analysts say the Bank of England is one step closer to raising interest rates next month after official figures showed that the end of the British government’s salary support program for workers during the coronavirus pandemic has not yet led to the feared increase in unemployment. The

GENEVA (AP) — The human rights office of the United Nations is citing reports that authorities in Ethiopia have detained at least 1,000 people under a state of emergency the government declared this month after a brutal yearlong war with rival Tigray forces. A spokesperson for the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Emergency service officials in Nigeria say that a gas explosion in Lagos has killed at least five people, including a child. The gas explosion occurred on Tuesday morning in a crowded area of Lagos. Ibrahim Farinloye of the National Emergency Management Agency said that rescue operations

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Health workers in Belgium who don’t want to get vaccinated against COVID-19 will face losing their jobs. Belgium’s federal government has finalized a draft bill to make vaccination of health care workers mandatory. That comes amid a surge of new coronavirus cases and deaths. Hospitals in Belgium

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine has reported record daily COVID-19 deaths as authorities struggle to boost the country’s vaccination rate. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has promised to pay 1,000 hryvnias ($38) to each Ukrainian who gets vaccinated. Zelenskyy announced the incentive in a video posted on Facebook. He said, “With this money, it will be

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Gunmen have killed at least 15 people in Nigeria’s northwest, the latest incident in a spiral of violence in Africa’s most populous country. Sokoto Governor Aminu Tambuwal said in a statement that the gunmen stormed rural villages and raided houses from Sunday night into Monday morning,

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Swedish Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson has asked for more time to form a coalition government that could make her the country’s first female prime minister. That’s because discussions with one of the two support parties that she needs — the Left Party — have reached an impasse. She was given until

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s network regulator says it’s suspended its procedure to certify the operator of a new pipeline that would bring Russian gas to the country under the Baltic Sea. Construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline was completed earlier this year, but it’s not yet operating. Both Ukraine and the United States have

By ZEN SOO Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong customs say officers seized about 2,000 pounds each of live lobster and sea cucumbers believed to be bound for mainland China, months after Beijing restricted imports of lobsters from Australia as tensions escalated between the two countries. Hong Kong Customs seized 890 kilograms of

By ROB HARRIS AP Sports Writer LONDON (AP) — Former cricketer Azeem Rafiq has told a British parliamentary hearing that he was humiliated by the racist abuse and bullying he suffered at England’s most successful cricket club. Rafiq was in tears at times giving testimony. Rafiq says Yorkshire teammates used an offensive term referencing his

By VANESSA GERA and DARIA LITVINOVA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish forces at the border with Belarus used a water cannon against stone-throwing migrants, as Warsaw accused Belarusian authorities of giving smoke grenades and other weapons to those trying to cross the frontier. The events marked an escalation in a crisis on the

By RISKA MUNAWARAH Associated Press BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) — Conservation officials say a baby elephant in Indonesia’s Sumatra island has died after losing half her trunk to a trap set by poachers who prey on the endangered species. The head of Aceh province’s conservation agency told reporters Tuesday that the baby elephant died despite

By KEN MORITSUGU and AAMER MADHANI Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — China has welcomed a virtual meeting between President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden as raising hopes for better relations, while the U.S. was more muted on the talks. The video conference, which took place Tuesday morning in Beijing and Monday evening in

By TED SHAFFREY and BOBBY CAINA CALVAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — American journalist Danny Fenster, who spent nearly six months in jail in military-ruled Myanmar, has arrived in the United States. Fenster was sentenced last week to 11 years of hard labor. He was handed over Monday to former U.S. diplomat Bill Richardson,

By DEREK GATOPOULOS and THANASSIS STAVRAKIS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Associations representing restaurants and catering businesses in Greece are holding strikes and protests across the country while demanding renewed financial relief from the government due to the effects of the surging coronavirus pandemic. Normally busy restaurants, coffee shops and traditional tavernas in Athens

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Three German parties say that they hope to clinch a deal next week to form a new government. That would keep center-left leader Olaf Scholz on track to become Germany’s new leader in early December. Scholz’s Social Democrats narrowly won the country’s national election in late September.

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British police have released four men arrested under terrorism laws by detectives investigating a homemade bomb explosion in a Liverpool taxi. Police have named the suspected bomber, who died, as 32-year-old Emad Al Swealmeen, who came to Britain as an asylum-seeker several years ago and had converted

GRANDE-SYNTHE, France (AP) — French police have evacuated migrants from a makeshift camp near Dunkirk, in northern France, where at least 1,500 people had gathered in hopes of making it across the English Channel to Britain. The Prefecture of the region said more than 400 people had agreed to go to shelters. It said in

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — A powerful commander in Libya has announced his candidacy in the country’s presidential elections next month. Khalifa Hifter submitted his candidacy papers in the eastern city of Benghazi on Tuesday and released a video about the decision. He commands the self-styled Libyan Arab Armed Forces that has

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Authorities say a passenger train has crashed into a college van at an unmanned railway crossing in eastern Pakistan, killing three students and injuring seven others. Tuesday’s accident happened in the district of Sheikhupura in the Punjab province. According to Rana Shakeel, a district administration official, the dead and injured have

By ISABEL DEBRE and JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The president of long-haul carrier Emirates says that an initial public offering of stock in the Dubai-based airline could happen as the city-state tries to boost its local financial market. President Tim Clark also promised Tuesday at the Dubai Air Show

By WASBIR HUSSAIN Associated Press GAUHATI, India (AP) — Two Indian journalists who were detained on charges of inciting communal violence after tweeting that religious attacks on Muslims were worse than police had reported were granted bail by a court in the northeastern state of Tripura. The journalists were reporting on religious tensions in the

By GRANT PECK Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s state election commission says it is prosecuting the country’s ousted civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and 15 other senior political figures for alleged fraud in last November’s general election. Allegations of widespread electoral fraud were the main reason cited by the military for its Feb.

By JANIE McCAULEY AP Sports Writer STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Jerod Haase begins his sixth season coaching the Stanford men’s basketball team still finding new ways to lead the program. Many recruits now spend an hour visiting with a prominent and innovative doctor in the medical school. Haase develops many of his campus relationships through

By RONALD BLUM AP Sports Writer KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — The newest player on the U.S. men’s national soccer team feels like he fits right in. While former high school classmates are getting ready for Thanksgiving break of their college freshman semesters, 18-year-old defender Joe Scally could make his debut as a reserve in Tuesday

By ARNIE STAPLETON AP Pro Football Writer DENVER (AP) — For a guy who wouldn’t put himself in harm’s way or Darius Slay’s path, Teddy Bridgewater sure didn’t have any problem falling on the sword. Or was he pushed? Broncos coach Vic Fangio called out Bridgewater in a team meeting Monday for being a bystander

By ILAN BEN ZION Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is appearing in court for the first time in over half a year as a one-time confidant prepares to take the stand against him in a high-profile corruption case. Nir Hefetz, a former Netanyahu aide, is a star prosecution witness

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA Associated Press KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Two explosions have rocked Uganda’s capital, Kampala, killing at least three civilians in what police described as a coordinated attack by extremists. Police said three suicide bombers also died in the blasts. The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the explosions. The blasts caused chaos

By MEHMET GUZEL and SUZAN FRASER Associated Press ISTANBUL (AP) — Many people in Turkey are facing increased hardship as prices of food and other goods have soared. While rising consumer prices are affecting countries worldwide as they bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic, economists say Turkey’s eye-popping inflation has been exacerbated by economic mismanagement,

By LLAZAR SEMINI Associated Press GOLEM, Albania (AP) — Hundreds of Afghans who were evacuated from their homeland are staying at a beach resort in Albania, enjoying the warm welcome and a normal daily life free from fear. A group of judges, sportsmen, journalists, activists, artists, law enforcement officers and scientists arrived last month. They

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s state-run news agency says authorities have issued a 40-day temporary custody order for a man considered a suspect in the July 7 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse and placed him in a prison in Istanbul. The suspect, businessman Samir Handal, was detained at Istanbul Airport where he arrived on

JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian health officials say a 26-year-old Palestinian man has been shot and killed by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Health Ministry says the 26-year-old man was shot on Tuesday at the entrance to Tammun, a town near the northern city of Nablus. The circumstances of the shooting were

By MICHAEL TARM AP Legal Affairs Writer KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — A defense lawyer angrily accused the prosecution at Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial of lying. The lead prosecutor struck a measured tone, even as he raised the accused’s rifle at one point and sighted at a courtroom wall. How the indignation and theatrics during Monday’s

By LEE KEATH Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A strange, new relationship is developing in Afghanistan following the takeover by the Taliban three months ago. The Sunni hard-liners are now the only protection for Afghanistan’s mainly Shiite Hazara minority from a more brutal enemy, the Islamic State group. For decades, the Taliban targeted the

By LEE KEATH Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A strange, new relationship is developing in Afghanistan following the takeover by the Taliban three months ago. The Sunni hard-liners are now the only protection for Afghanistan’s mainly Shiite Hazara minority from a more brutal enemy, the Islamic State group. For decades, the Taliban targeted the