Month: December 2021

By JOCELYN NOVECK AP National Writer Denzel Washington the actor has some 60 films under his belt, plus two Oscars, and at 66 is universally regarded as one of the all-time greats. Denzel Washington the director has just completed his fourth feature, “A Journal for Jordan,” opening Christmas Day. He says he doesn’t call himself

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A South African judge has ruled that former President Jacob Zuma can appeal a court decision ordering him back to jail to serve the remainder of his sentence. Zuma led the country between 2009 and 2018. He had only served two months behind bars when he was

By ROB MAADDI AP Pro Football Writer The NFL’s decision to reduce COVID-19 testing for asymptomatic, vaccinated players could signal a trend for pro sports leagues and provide an example for society to follow heading into 2022. Despite a rising number of positive cases that forced three games to be rescheduled over the weekend, the

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain has announced $1.3 billion in grants and other aid to help the hospitality industry survive the onslaught of the omicron variant of COVID-19. The government on Tuesday bowed to days of pressure from pubs, restaurants and other businesses that have seen income plunge following public health

By DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian president has reiterated the demand for guarantees from the U.S. and its allies that NATO will not expand eastward, blaming the West for current tensions in Europe. Vladimir Putin’s speech Tuesday at a meeting with Russia’s top military brass came just days after Moscow submitted

By STEPHEN McGRATH Associated Press BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Hundreds of far-right protesters have gathered in Romania’s capital to oppose a bill that would introduce “green certificates” in workplaces which authorities hope will limit the spread of coronavirus infections and prevent another collapse of the health care system. Romania, a European Union nation of about

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The ruler of Dubai has been ordered to pay his ex-wife and their children close to 550 million pounds ($730 million). The ruling by a U.K. court makes it one of the most expensive divorce settlements in British history. The High Court said Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates has recorded its biggest jump in daily coronavirus cases in months, a spike that comes as the omicron variant races across the globe and the Mideast tourist hub prepares to welcome hordes of tourists for the holidays. The 452 infections,

By COLIN BERESFORD of NerdWallet Building credit from scratch when you’re young can feel overwhelming; it’s no wonder that nearly 40% of Americans between the ages of 20 and 24 have no credit history or too insufficient of a credit history to have a score, according to the Consumer Finance and Protection Bureau. But many

By BUSABA SIVASOMBOON and PATRICK QUINN Associated Press BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) — Thailand has decided to immediately reimpose a mandatory quarantine for visitors and suspend a “test-and-go” scheme for fully vaccinated arrivals as concerns grow over the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus. The decision is a blow to efforts to revive Thailand’s

BERLIN (AP) — Franziska Giffey has become Berlin’s new mayor as the leader of a three-party left-wing governing coalition. She is a former federal minister who quit Germany’s national government earlier this year. Giffey was elected by the state legislature on Tuesday nearly three months after a regional election in which she led her center-left

BY SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — A United Nations official says more than 160 migrants drowned in two separate shipwrecks off Libya over the past week. The fatalities were the latest disasters in the Mediterranean Sea involving migrants seeking a better life in Europe. The deaths have brought the tally in the central

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — The operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant says it has applied for approval from safety authorities to construct an undersea tunnel and other facilities needed for the planned release of large amounts of treated radioactive water into the sea. The operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings,

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s military has tested a home-grown Babur cruise missile that has a range of more than 900 kilometers (560 miles), twice the distance of an earlier missile of the same model . The missile’s extended range further enhances nuclear-armed Pakistan’s military capability. Pakistan and neighbor India, which is also nuclear armed, have

PARIS (AP) — The French army says it has “neutralized” a regional Islamic State group leader wanted in connection with the killing of seven aid workers, mostly French citizens, and a leading guide in a Niger giraffe park in August 2020. France’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that, in cooperation with Nigerien authorities, operatives from France’s

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s former military intelligence chief says that Israel was involved in the American airstrike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in January 2020. Maj. Gen. Tamir Heyman, the now-retired general who headed military intelligence until October, appears to be the first official to confirm Israel’s involvement in an interview published in the

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan has hanged three death-row inmates amid growing criticism from human rights groups of its use of the death penalty. Justice Minister Yoshihisa Furukawa says the three were convicted of “extremely ghastly” murders and the punishment was appropriate. Japan and the U.S. are the only two countries

BEIJING (AP) — China has announced sanctions on four members of the U.S. government’s Commission on International Religious Freedom in retaliation for penalties imposed on Chinese officials over complaints of abuses in the country’s northwestern Xinjiang region. The tit-for-tat sanctions add to spiraling tension over Xinjiang. Activists are calling for a boycott of February’s Winter

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has fired cruise missiles during a major military exercise across the country’s south. Tuesday’s report by the semiofficial Tasnim news agency, believed to be close to the Guard, did not specify the range of the missiles. It said five cruise missiles were fired from onshore and offshore

By ZEYNEP BILGINSOY Associated Press ISTANBUL (AP) — The Turkish lira is making significant gains after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced measures to safeguard deposits in the lira against volatility seen in recent weeks. The lira hit an all-time low of 18.36 against the U.S. dollar Monday but rebounded to a high of 11.09 Tuesday

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Hundreds of protesters have marched through the streets of the Afghan capital toward the shuttered U.S. Embassy, calling for the release of Afghanistan’s frozen assets. The protesters Tuesday marched down a central avenue holding banners reading, “Let us eat” and “Give us our frozen money.” The Taliban provided the protesters with

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — The high-profile trial of former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes boils down to a single question: Did she cover up defects in her startup’s blood-testing technology to rip off investors while potentially endangering the lives of unwitting patients? Federal prosecutors charged Holmes, 37, with 11

BERLIN (AP) — Germany has announced new restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the new omicron variant of COVID-19. The new rules, which go into effect on Dec. 28, fall short of a full lockdown but include contact restrictions for vaccinated people. Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at a press conference Tuesday evening that “we

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press MONTGENEVRE, France (AP) — As Europe erects ever more fearsome barriers against migration, volunteers along the Italy-France border are working to keep migrants from being killed or maimed by cold and mountain mishaps as they cross the high Alps. Networks of hundreds of volunteers run migrant shelters, clothe those in

By SARAH EL DEEB and CHRISTOPH NOELTING Associated Press GIESSEN, Germany (AP) — Syrians are fleeing their country in growing numbers, driven not by the horrors of war but by the misery of the war’s aftermath. They have lost hope in a future at home amid poverty and corruption, as well as continued hostilities, government

By FRANCISCO UBILLA Associated Press PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain (AP) — When the Polish Olympic athlete Jolanta Ogar-Hill and her wife decided to have a baby, it was obvious to them both that Poland would not be the place to bring up their child. In recent years, right-wing ruling politicians and church leaders in the

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets hvae followed Wall Street higher after President Joe Biden reassured investors by calling for more vaccinations but no business or travel curbs to in response to the omicron coronavirus omicron variant. Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul advanced while Shanghai was down less than