Month: December 2021

By SABINA NIKSIC Associated Press SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Some former vaccine skeptics in Eastern Europe are shifting over to the other side. Fata Keco was afraid of possible adverse side effects when she rolled up her sleeve in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo to take her first COVID-19 vaccine shot. but the worst she

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Shares have fallen in Asia after technology companies led Wall Street benchmarks lower. Investors are weighing the implications of higher interest rates, surging coronavirus cases and tensions between Beijing and Washington. Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Seoul declined while Sydney was higher. U.S. shares dropped a

By FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A new poll shows that millennials and Generation Z Americans say they are more likely to be optimistic about the future and their ability to create change, compared with the older Generation X. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll finds that despite the challenges

By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Jurors in the case of former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes on Thursday heard starkly different interpretations of her motives and actions as her long-running criminal trial nears the finish line. A federal prosecutor cast Holmes as a desperate con artist who brazenly lied to

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. Navy says it has rescued five Iranians suspected of smuggling drugs after they apparently set fire to their stash on board a traditional sailing vessel off the coast of Oman. One additional Iranian from the vessel remains missing. The Navy released aerial surveillance footage showing the traditional

By INNA VARENYTSIA and YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press NEVELSKE, Ukraine (AP) — The 7-year-old conflict in eastern Ukraine has all but emptied the village of Nevelske located near the line of contact between Russia-backed separatists and Ukrainian forces. Only five people still live in the village. That’s down from a population of 286 in 2014.

By AARON MORRISON Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, Pulitzer Prize-winning Black journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones said she is clear-eyed about her mission to force a reckoning around the nation’s self-image. But she said intense backlash to her work shows the nation is in “a very frightening time.”

SYDNEY (AP) — Five children have died and four others are in critical condition after falling from a bouncy castle that was lifted 33 feet into the air by a gust of wind at a school on Australia’s island state of Tasmania. The school was holding a celebration to mark the end of the school

By EDNA TARIGAN Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian President Joko Widodo has called on people and government officials to refrain from traveling abroad after the country detected its first case of the omicron variant of the coronavirus in a hospital cleaning worker. The patient has no symptoms and is being quarantined at the

BEIJING (AP) — Beijing Winter Olympics organizers say measures to prevent cross-infections between athletes and the outside world are being extended to holding their garbage inside the bubble dividing the two. Officials say that a team of special workers will be deployed to collect and transfer garbage inside the bubbles to prevent the risk of

By AIJAZ HUSSAIN Associated Press SRINAGAR, India (AP) — The largest mosque in the disputed region of Kashmir dominates its neighborhood with an imposing main gate and massive turrets. It can hold 33,000 worshippers. But Indian authorities see the mosque as a trouble spot — a nerve center for protests and clashes that challenge India’s

By ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Hospitals in Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul are running out of supplies, whether it is diesel fuel to produce supplemental oxygen for COVID-19 patients, or dozens of essential drugs. Employees also have not been paid their salaries for months. The crisis in Afghanistan’s health care system has

By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — After a dozen years in office, one piece of unfinished business remains for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. before he retires at the end of the month. Will the prosecutor known for his caution go out with a bang by bringing criminal charges against

By SEAN MURPHY and BRUCE SCHREINER Associated Press DAWSON SPRINGS, Ky. (AP) — Several tightknit communities of the South and Midwest are turning to the somber task of burying their dead after tornadoes killed dozens of people across eight states. The fierce storms that started Friday night tore a path of destruction from Arkansas to

By LISA MASCARO and ALAN FRAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has all but acknowledged negotiations over his sweeping domestic policy package will have to be pushed into the new year. It was a setback Thursday as Senate Democrats rushed to try to send the roughly $2 trillion bill to his desk

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s workplace regulators are extending the state’s coronavirus pandemic regulations into next year with some revisions that employers say could worsen the labor shortage. The move Thursday was criticized by business groups and hailed by labor advocates. The revised rules require that vaccinated but asymptomatic workers

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli government says it is donating 1 million coronavirus vaccines to the U.N.-backed COVAX program. The Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that the AstraZeneca vaccines would be transferred to African countries in the coming weeks. It says the decision is part of Israel’s strengthening ties with African countries. COVAX is a

By BRIAN MELLEY and MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal prosecutors are blaming a Texas oil company’s negligence for a crude spill that fouled Southern California’s coastline. A criminal indictment from a federal grand jury released Wednesday says fatigued workers failed to properly act when repeated alarms signaled an offshore pipeline rupture.

By MARK LONG AP Pro Football Writer JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Urban Meyer’s tumultuous NFL tenure ended after just 13 games — and two victories — when the Jacksonville Jaguars fired him early Thursday because of an accumulation of missteps. Owner Shad Khan made the move hours after ex-Jaguars player Josh Lambo told a Florida

By JAMES LAPORTA and JASON DEAREN Associated Press An Associated Press investigation has shown how U.S. troops have stolen guns and explosives from the military — and the weapons of war ended up on America’s streets. One insider theft case involves two men who’d forged a deep bond on the battlefields of Afghanistan. Several years

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Addressing a group of visiting French lawmakers, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen is calling for greater unity among democratic nations in the face of rising authoritarianism. Tsai on Thursday also said the self-governing island republic would take on greater responsibilities to contribute to regional and global peace and stability. The visit by

By AMY FORLITI and STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kim Potter’s police chief at the time she shot and killed Daunte Wright testified at her manslaughter trial, calling Potter “a fine officer” and saying he “saw no violation” of policy in Potter’s actions at the scene. Tim Gannon resigned as chief in the

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — For months, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell responded to surging inflation by counseling patience and stressing that the Fed wanted to see unemployment return to near-pre-pandemic levels before it would raise interest rates. But on Wednesday, Powell suggested that his patience has run out. High inflation

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea will prohibit private social gatherings of five or more people nationwide and force restaurants to close at 9 p.m. as the country grapples with the deadliest month of the pandemic. Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said the tougher new measures will be enforced for

First lady Jill Biden met with victims of a Christmas parade crash in suburban Milwaukee where six people were killed and dozens were injured after an SUV plowed through the crowd. Biden and second gentleman Doug Emhoff visited Children’s Wisconsin hospital on Wednesday in Milwaukee. They were joined by U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy.