Month: January 2022

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s health ministry says the government’s ban on travel from certain coronavirus-ravaged countries should be a thing of the past. The Health Ministry on Thursday recommended canceling travel bans and relaxing other testing requirements as the super-contagious omicron variant sweeps the world. The decision removes all countries from Israel’s “red”

By CLAUDIA LAUER, MICHAEL RUBINKAM and MARYCLAIRE DALE Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Investigators are looking into whether a 5-year-old who was playing with a lighter set a Christmas tree on fire, sparking a conflagration that killed 12 family members in a Philadelphia rowhome. That’s according to a search warrant application revealed Thursday. City and

By NOHA ELHENNAWY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Sudanese security forces have fired tear gas and live ammunition, killing at least three people as thousands took to the streets in the capital of Khartoum and other cities once again to protest the October military coup. In Omdurman, the twin city of Khartoum, two protesters were

By BARRY HATTON Associated Press LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal’s government has announced new incentives for people to get COVID-19 booster shots. People who had a booster jab two weeks previously will from next Monday no longer need to show a negative coronavirus test result to attend events and enter places where it otherwise would

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Growth in the U.S. service industry, where most Americans work, pulled back in December after expanding at a record pace the previous two months. The Institute for Supply Management reported Thursday that its monthly survey of service industries declined to a reading of 62

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Prince William has appealed for innovators around the world to submit nominations for his Earthshot Prize, a competition aimed at finding new ways to tackle climate change. William and his charity, The Royal Foundation, launched the prize in 2020 inspired by U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s 1962 “Moonshot” speech that challenged

BERLIN (AP) — The Austrian government has announced new measures to slow down the spread of the omicron variant in the Alpine country. Chancellor Karl Nehammer told reporters in Vienna on Thursday: “We have to adjust to a new situation with omicron, we have to adjust to the fact that the infection numbers will increase

By KATHY McCORMACK Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire attorney general’s office says the stepmother of a girl who disappeared in 2019 at age 5 has been charged with welfare fraud for collecting food stamps in her name. The agency said Thursday that Kayla Montgomery has been charged one with one count

By RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Europe’s sky is filling up with near-empty flights that even airlines admit serve no purpose except securing valuable time slots at some of the world’s biggest airports. The practice comes as the European Union has committed to being a global leader in combating climate change and flights

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. trade deficit surged to a near-record high of $80.2 billion in November as exports slowed  while imports jumped sharply. The  November deficit was 19.3% higher than the October deficit of $67.2 billion and was just below the all-time monthly record of $81.4 billion set

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Retired Republican U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy is ignoring pleas from former President Donald Trump to run for Wisconsin governor. Duffy announced Thursday on Jay Weber’s conservative talk radio show that he is taking a pass on running for the office currently held by Democratic Gov. Tony

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week but remained at historically low levels, suggesting that the job market remains strong. U.S. jobless claims rose by 7,000 last week to 207,000.  The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week gyrations, rose by

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Powerball tickets sold in Wisconsin and California were winners of the latest jackpot and will split $632 million. The Wisconsin Lottery says the winning ticket in its state was sold in a Green Bay suburb at a Citgo station on Packerland Drive. The retailer will receive $100,000 for selling the winning

LONDON (AP) — The BBC has appointed British journalist Deborah Turness as its new chief executive for news and current affairs. Turness comes to the BBC from British media company ITN, where she is currently CEO. The 54-year-old native of England will replace Fran Unsworth, who is leaving at the end of January. Turness previously

By KELVIN CHAN AP Business Writer LONDON (AP) — French regulators have fined Google and Facebook a total of more than 200 million euros for not making it as easy for users to opt out of online tracking as it is for them to accept it. The CNIL data privacy watchdog said that while the

By GERALD IMRAY Associated Press CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Firefighters have left South Africa’s Parliament complex four days after a major blaze destroyed the main chamber of the country’s national legislature. Authorities said Thursday that a South African police unit that deals with serious or high-profile crimes has assumed control of the Cape

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s biggest governing party says it aims for a final decision by the end of March on the introduction of a universal vaccine mandate against COVID-19. Parliament last month approved legislation that will require staff at hospitals and nursing homes to show that they are fully vaccinated or have recovered from the

PARIS (AP) — France is allowing vaccinated travelers from South Africa to enter its territory without having to observe a coronavirus quarantine. The French government published a decree Thursday that removed South Africa from the list of places subject to highly restricted travel rules. Unvaccinated people coming from South Africa still must quarantine in France

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press MAKURDI, Nigeria (AP) — Police in Nigeria say gunmen have abducted three Chinese nationals working in the country’s north central region. They say the gunmen also killed two Nigerians who were working with the expatriates Tuesday at a hydroelectric power plant under construction in Niger state. A police spokesperson says

By CARA ANNA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — China’s foreign minister says his country will appoint a special envoy to the Horn of Africa region. That’s where Ethiopia and Eritrea have been fighting forces from Ethiopia’s Tigray region and Somalia is in the grip of a political crisis caused by a long-delayed election. Chinese

By FRANCES D’EMILIO and MEHMET GUZEL Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — Christians around the world have marked Epiphany with a series of celebrations. Epiphany is also known as the Three Kings Day for Catholics and the Baptism of Christ for the Orthodox  Pope Francis used a Mass to decry consumerism, parades were held in