Month: November 2021

LONDON (AP) — A former top aide to Prince Charles has quit as chief executive of the heir to the throne’s charitable foundation after allegations he offered to help a wealthy Saudi businessman who made a large donation secure a knighthood and British citizenship. The Prince’s Foundation said late Thursday that Michael Fawcett, Charles’ former

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has sent paratroopers to Belarus, in a show of support for its ally amid the tensions over an influx of migrants on the Belarus-Poland border, but two of the Russian soldiers were killed in a parachute accident. The Russian Defense Ministry said that as part of

By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA and VANESSA GERA WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Turkey has halted airline ticket sales to Iraqi, Syrian and Yemeni citizens wanting to travel to Belarus, which in recent months has became a key step for migrants and refugees trying to illegally enter the European Union. Friday’s move, announced by Turkey’s Civil Aviation Authority,

PARIS (AP) — The Paris Mosque is marking the sixth anniversary of the attack at the Bataclan concert hall that killed 90 people in the French capital. Muslim leaders laid a wreath at the venue one day before a broader commemoration is due to take place. The mosque is holding its commemoration early to fall

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s main opposition presidential candidate says he will strengthen military cooperation with the United States and Japan if elected to better cope with North Korea’s nuclear threat. Yoon Suk Yeol also says he will strive to make North Korea a leading foreign policy priority

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A Taliban provincial spokesman says a bomb exploded in a mosque during Friday prayers, wounding at least 15 people in eastern Afghanistan, where Islamic State group militants have been waging a campaign of violence. Qari Hanif, the government spokesman for Nangarhar Province, said the bomb appeared to have been planted inside

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — The Catholic Church in Portugal is setting up a national committee to coordinate the work of local church groups looking into possible cases of child sex abuse by members of the clergy. Portuguese bishops say the committee will “strengthen and broaden” the church’s response to any current and historic abuse allegations.

LONDON (AP) — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been given permission to marry his partner, lawyer Stella Moris, in prison. Assange has been held in Belmarsh Prison in London since 2019 as he fights a U.S. attempt to extradite him on espionage charges. The couple began their relationship during Assange’s seven years living in the

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A Danish artist who is seeking to retrieve his sculpture in Hong Kong commemorating the victims of China’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown wants safe passage guaranteed for himself and his employees when they dismantle and remove the artwork called “Pillar of Shame,” which is at the center of a controversy. Jens

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca says it will start to book a modest profit from its coronavirus vaccine as it moves away from the nonprofit model it’s operated during the pandemic. In a third-quarter update Friday, the company said profits from the vaccine in the fourth quarter will

By ALESSANDRA TARANTINO and NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ASSISI, Italy (AP) — Pope Francis is visiting the hilltop town of his namesake for the fifth time of his pontificate, to mark the Catholic Church’s world day of the poor. The Friday visit is one of his first outings since the coronavirus pandemic. Francis took his

By RALPH D. RUSSO AP College Football Writer The college football coaching carousel is spinning faster than ever. It is being pushed by the early signing period for recruits, increased freedom for transfers and impatient fans. Making a coaching change well before the end of the season has gone from rarity to a fairly common

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer Concerns are growing that China’s men’s hockey team could get embarrassed on home ice in Beijing at the 2022 Olympics. The games will feature NHL players for the first time since 2014. China is set to face the United States, Canada and Germany. The International Ice Hockey Federation does

By NICK PERRY and JIM GOMEZ Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Pacific Rim leaders have agreed to do all they can to improve access to coronavirus vaccines and reduce carbon emissions, but failed to reach agreement on whether the U.S. should host talks in two years’ time. U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Top U.K. and European Union officials are meeting Friday to try to resolve their intractable Northern Ireland trade spat. David Frost for Britain and Maros Sefcovic for the EU are meeting in London after four weeks of negotiations failed to bridge gaps over Northern Ireland trade. Alarm

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Embattled Japanese technology conglomerate Toshiba is restructuring to improve its competitiveness, spinning off its energy infrastructure and computer devices businesses. Tokyo-based Toshiba Corp. said Friday it is separating its nuclear power business, including the decommissioning of the nuclear plant in Fukushima that suffered meltdowns in 2011,

By LAETITIA BEZAIN Associated Press ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — International agencies warn that more than 1.1 million people in southern Madagascar urgently need food aid. The World Food Program says that about 700,000 people are already receiving food aid and increased emergency assistance is needed. WFP is working with the Malagasy government and other humanitarian

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark has reintroduced its digital pass and is once again considering COVID-19 to be “a socially critical disease” because the Scandinavian country is seeing an increase in cases. The pass must be used for a month to enter nightclubs, cafes, party buses and to be seated indoors in restaurants. It was

By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska says she’s running for reelection next year. Her decision to run again pits her against a primary challenger endorsed by former President Donald Trump. Murkowski is the only Republican senator who voted to convict Trump at his impeachment trial earlier

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Caretaker Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has announced a three-week partial lockdown amid surging COVID-19 cases in the Netherlands. The lockdown that begins Saturday night is the first to start in Western Europe since a new wave of infections began surging across parts of the

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — A former German environment minister and outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief of staff have both announced that they will run for the leadership of Merkel’s center-right party as the race to head it in opposition starts to take shape. The Christian Democratic Union has decided to hold

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping emerges from a party conclave this week not only more firmly ensconced in power than ever, but also with a stronger ideological and theoretical grasp on the ruling Communist Party’s past, present and future. That lays the groundwork for him to take a third five-year term as party

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand says it would delay the reopening of nightlife entertainment venues to Jan. 15 despite pleas from the industry to make it sooner. A spokesman for the government’s COVID-19 administration cited concerns about ventilation and inefficient prevention measures in pubs, bars and karaoke joints. Starting in November, Thailand began reopening to fully

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A jury has recommended up to 28 years in prison for a Missouri man found guilty of killing his wife. The jury returned the recommendation early Friday only hours after Joseph Elledge was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of Mengqi Ji. The judge will make the official sentence Dec.

By SAM MAGDY and SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Libyan leaders have reaffirmed in Paris their commitment to ensure the success of the country’s political process through long-awaited elections next month. Regional and world powers hope the vote will pull oil-rich Libya out of its decade-old chaos. France hosted an international conference on

By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL AP Science Writer GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — No country will see energy needs grow faster in coming decades than India, and even under the most optimistic projections part of that demand will have to be met with dirty coal power — a key source of heat-trapping carbon emissions. The fundamental question for

By VESELIN TOSHKOV Associated Press SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Voters go to the polls in Bulgaria for the third time in seven months this weekend after no party secured enough support in the previous two elections in April and July to form a stable government. More than 6.7 million Bulgarians are eligible to vote not

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s disease control center is calling for people to cancel or avoid large events and to reduce their contacts as the country’s coronavirus infection rate hits the latest in a string of new highs. The center said Friday that Germany’s infection rate climbed to 263.7 new cases

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s preparations for the next coronavirus surge include adding thousands more hospital beds to avoid a situation like last summer when many COVID-19 patients were forced to stay home, even when they needed supplemental oxygen. Japan has the most hospital beds per capita in the world, but

By FRANK JORDANS, ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL and SETH BORENSTEIN Associated Press GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Going into overtime, negotiators at U.N. climate talks in Glasgow are still trying to find common ground on phasing out coal, when nations need to update their emission-cutting pledges and, especially, on money. Talks are at a “bit of a stalemate,”

BEIJING (AP) — Beijing Olympic officials say two foreign athletes have tested positive for COVID-19 in ongoing test events for February’s Winter Games, Officials also expressed sympathy for a Polish luge competitor who cracked a kneecap at the Olympics sliding center this week in a crash that has been blamed on human error. The two

By DREW COSTLEY and SETH BORENSTEIN Associated Press ST. HELENA ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — In some parts of the U.S., the risks from climate change have intensified enough to raise a startling question: Should some populated places simply be abandoned to nature? One strategy that is gaining traction is so-called managed retreat, which is the

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Nearly two years into a global health crisis that has killed more than 5 million people, infections are again sweeping across parts of Western Europe. That’s in a region with relatively high vaccination rates and good health care systems but where lockdown measures are largely

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The outgoing Honduran president has started a three-day surprise visit to Taiwan amid worries by the self-ruled island that the next president of the Central American nation may break off relations and switch to diplomatic ties with Beijing. President Juan Orlando Hernández and his wife will meet Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen

By DAVID RISING and SOPHENG CHEANG Associated Press PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A Cambodian court has released 18 activists, including a prominent labor leader who has been a longtime critic of the government. The Phnom Penh Court of Appeals says it ordered the release of Rong Chhun and four others, but gave no immediate

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — An Israeli appeals court says a 6-year-old boy who survived a cable car crash in Italy must be returned to his relatives there within 15 days, upholding an earlier ruling in a bitter custody battle with family members in Israel. Eitan Biran’s parents and younger sibling were among 14 people

By LAURIE KELLMAN Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — A Palestinian doctor living in Canada is back in Israel, seeking justice for his three daughters and a niece killed in 2009 by a direct Israeli strike on his house in Gaza. Israel’s highest court will hear his appeal on Monday, demanding an official apology and compensation

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Graeme Edge, a drummer and co-founder of The Moody Blues, has died. He was 80. The band’s frontman Justin Hayward confirmed Edge’s death Thursday on the group’s website. The cause of his death has not been revealed. Hayward called Edge the backbone of the British rock band, which was inducted into

By GRANT PECK Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — A court in military-ruled Myanmar has sentenced U.S. journalist Danny Fenster to 11 years in prison with hard labor. It’s the maximum penalty under three charges and was imposed despite calls by the United States and rights groups for Fenster’s release. It is also harshest punishment yet