Month: December 2021

WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — A six-story condominium building that was the subject of structural complaints dating back to June 2020 has been evacuated in a Milwaukee suburb after engineers found the structure was in imminent danger of collapsing. Police and firefighters cleared the 48-unit Horizon West condominium building in Waukesha on Thursday night after an

By COREY WILLIAMS and ED WHITE Associated Press PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — The parents of a teen accused of killing four students at a Michigan high school have been charged with involuntary manslaughter. A prosecutor described chilling moments that day when a teacher found a drawing of a gun, a person bleeding and the words

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Antony Sher, one of the most acclaimed Shakespearean actors of his generation, has died aged 72. The Royal Shakespeare Company announced Sher’s death on Friday. Sher had been diagnosed with terminal cancer earlier this year. His husband, Royal Shakespeare Company Artistic Director Gregory Doran, took leave from

By KRISHAN FRANCIS Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A U.N expert says contemporary forms of slavery exist in Sri Lanka, with vulnerable groups such as children, women, ethnic minorities and older people particularly affected. The U.N special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, Tomoyo Obokata, said at the end of a mission to

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — The Council of Europe’s committee on torture has harshly criticized Croatia over “severe ill-treatment” of migrants entering the country, and urged authorities to take immediate action to stop the practice. The report published Friday says the committee’s delegation encountered problems in cooperation and obstruction during a visit in Aug. 2020. Croatia

DETROIT (AP) — Honda is recalling nearly 725,000 SUVs and pickup trucks because the hoods can open while the vehicles are moving. The recall covers certain 2019 Passports, 2016 through 2019 Pilots and 2017 through 2020 Ridgeline pickups. Honda says in documents posted Friday by U.S. safety regulators that the hood latch striker can become

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — The newly installed mayor of Rochester, New York, is in quarantine after testing positive for the coronavirus last month. Mayor James Smith took the oath of office remotely Thursday while in isolation in his apartment. Smith has been in quarantine and working from home since testing positive on Thanksgiving. Smith told

By ABDOULIE JOHN and CARLEY PETESCH Associated Press BANJUL, Gambia (AP) — Gambians are getting ready to vote in a historic election that won’t have former dictator Yahya Jammeh on the ballot. While the 2016 elections that removed Jammeh from power after 22 years saw Gambians go from fear to elation, many are still not

PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — A South Florida teenager is accused of making a school shooting threat against Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The school in Parkland, Florida has been a focus of national debate and activism over gun violence since a former student killed 17 people there on Valentine’s Day in 2018. Broward Sheriff’s officials

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dozens of flag-waving demonstrators from a Kurdish organization have broken into the grounds of the global chemical weapons watchdog to protest what they allege is the use of chemical weapons by Turkey’s armed forces. Police arrested about 50 protesters on Friday after they managed to get past security, including a

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A British study has found that Black and other members or racial and ethnic minorities in the U.K are dying with the coronavirus at higher rates than white residents. A government-commissioned report released Friday said COVID-19 death rates have fallen sharply for all ethnicities because of vaccination.

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria’s new parliament has convened for its first session following the country’s third parliamentary election of the year. A new anti-corruption party led by two Harvard University graduates emerged as the surprise winner of last month’s snap election, edging out the GERB party of three-time prime minister Boyko Borissov. Under the

BERLIN (AP) — German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle says it is suspending four employees and one freelancer during an investigation into allegations that they expressed anti-Israel and antisemitic views. Munich daily newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung this week quoted social media comments allegedly made by members of DW’s Arabic service that appeared to downplay the Holocaust or

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Taliban have decreed that they are banning the forced marriage of women in the war-torn country, in what appears to be a move to address criteria that developed nations consider a precondition to recognize their government and restore aid. The move announced by Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhunzada came as poverty

By BABAR DOGAR and MUNIR AHMED Associated Press LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani police say a Muslim mob descended on a sports equipment factory in eastern Punjab province, killing a Sri Lankan and burning his body over allegations of blasphemy. A police chief in the district of Sialkot, where the killing occurred, said factory workers

BERLIN (AP) — Austrian Interior Minister Karl Nehammer says he will be the acting leader of the conservative People’s Party and will seek to become Austria’s next chancellor. The current chancellor, Alexander Schallenberg, said Thursday that he would step down to make way for someone to take over as both the head of government and

By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — A research institute’s analysis has concluded the incoming German government’s plans for curbing greenhouse gas emissions are insufficient to put Germany on course to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris climate accord. The German Institute for Economic Research study released Friday was conducted by leading economists

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV and YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin says President Vladimir Putin will seek binding guarantees precluding NATO’s expansion to Ukraine during a planned call with U.S. President Joe Biden. A U.S. intelligence report and the Ukrainian defense minister have warned of a possible Russian invasion as soon as next

By SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press RANYA, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi Kurds seem to make up the majority of Middle Eastern migrants seeking to move to Europe these days. Although northern Iraq is more prosperous than the rest of the conflict-scarred country, growing unemployment and frustration over corruption forces many to consider the risky journey. Last

BEIJING (AP) — The prime minister of Laos has ridden the first run of a $5.9 billion Chinese-built train connecting his isolated, mountainous country with southern China. The two governments tout the line as a boost to economic growth. But it leaves a debt that foreign experts say Laos might struggle to repay. The railway

By SUZAN FRASER Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Europe’s democracy and human rights-promoting body says it is initiating a disciplinary process against Turkey after it failed to comply with a court’s ruling to release a jailed businessman and philanthropist. A Turkish court extended Osman Kavala’s imprisonment last week, defying the European Court of Human

By ROB HARRIS AP Global Soccer Writer LONDON (AP) — An investigation into the disorder at the European Championship final says aggression by England fans exposed an “embarrassing” part of the national culture that endangered lives and should lead to fans being barred from stadiums if they are chanting abuse and under the influence of

By ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — For months, President Joe Biden has taken it on the chin from Republicans over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The Democratic president’s efforts to confront COVID-19 have long attracted a litany of fiery statements, legal challenges and more than a few barbs from his predecessor. But

By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s health minister says more than 1% of the population is currently infected with the coronavirus, and has called on citizens who haven’t done so yet to get vaccinated. Figures published by the country’s disease control agency on Friday showed 74,352 newly confirmed daily cases and 390

IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Iraqi Kurdish media says an attack by Islamic State militants on a village in northern Iraq has killed at least 12 people, including a number of Kurdish forces. Private broadcaster Rudaw says the attack took place late Thursday in a village in the Makhmour region, triggering a confrontation with Kurdish peshmerga

COTABATO, Philippines (AP) — Philippine troops have killed an Islamic rebel leader and four of his men in fighting in the volatile south in the latest setback for insurgent forces aligned with the Islamic State group. Army troops gunned down Asim Karinda and four others, just over a month after he took over the armed

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s governing Conservative Party has held onto a seat in Parliament in a special election triggered by a lawmaker’s death. But the party saw its margin of victory slashed after weeks of headlines about politicians’ ethics breaches and an uncertain coronavirus picture. Conservative candidate Louie French was elected for the district of

By OMER FAROOQ Associated Press HYDERABAD, India (AP) — Indian authorities have issued an alert, shut schools and canceled trains in parts of the country as rescue teams brace for a tropical storm brewing in the Bay of Bengal. The storm is expected to hit the coastline of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh on

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Bosnian police say they have arrested seven people suspected of war crimes against civilians during the 1992-95 conflict in the Balkan country. The security agency on Friday said in a statement that the group were apprehended in the areas of the eastern towns of Bijeljina and Sokolac. No other details were

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese real estate developer has warned it might not be able to pay a $400 million bond due next week, adding to financial strain in an industry that is struggling to avoid defaults on billions of dollars of debt. Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd., headquartered in Hong Kong, said an attempt to

By BARBARA SURK and JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — France has announced multibillion-euro deals to sell fighter planes and combat helicopters to the United Arab Emirates. The contracts announced Friday aim to boost military cooperation with its top ally in the Persian Gulf amid their shared concerns about Iran. France

By SUZAN FRASER Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s beleaguered currency has been plunging to all-time lows against the U.S. dollar and the euro in recent months as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan presses ahead with a widely criticized effort to cut interest rates despite surging consumer prices. As a result, families are struggling to