Month: January 2022

LONDON (AP) — Amazon’s British website has backed away from plans to stop accepting Visa credit cards issued in the United Kingdom. The online retailer said Monday that the change would not be implemented as planned Wednesday while talks between the two sides continue. Amazon had announced the move in November, blaming “the high fees

By LIZ WESTON of NerdWallet We may think spending money on ourselves will make us happier than spending it on someone else. But research shows that spending money on others is more likely to make us happy. To maximize your happiness while helping others, include a social connection such as taking someone out to dinner

By DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities have reported a sharp spike in new coronavirus cases apparently driven by the rapid spread of the omicron variant health officials warned about last week. The country’s state coronavirus task force on Monday registered 30,726 new infections. That’s twice as many as 15,830 just a

ISTANBUL (AP) — A Turkish court has acquitted German journalist Mesale Tolu after years on trial for terror-related charges. She was accused of engaging in terror propaganda and being a member of a banned left-wing group — the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party. The 38-year-old German citizen was placed in pre-trial detention for eight months in 2017.

By LLAZAR SEMINI Associated Press TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania and Turkey have pledged to further boost their ties and increase their economic and cultural relations. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Albania on Monday to talk with Prime Minister Edi Rama on strengthening bilateral ties and also inaugurate new apartments funded by Turkey for

By ILAN BEN ZION Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinian residents of a flashpoint east Jerusalem neighborhood are locked in a tense standoff with Israeli authorities after police came to evict them from a disputed property. Several residents of a home in Sheikh Jarrah climbed onto the roof of the building on Monday with gas

By KEN MORITSUGU Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — Former NBA great Yao Ming says he and others had a pleasant talk when they met last month with Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai. The Grand Slam champion in women’s doubles had disappeared after making a sexual assault allegation against a former high-ranking Chinese official. Yao played

By SYLVIE CORBET The Associated Press PARIS (AP) — A Paris court has convicted French far-right presidential candidate Éric Zemmour for inciting racial hatred over 2020 comments he made about unaccompanied migrant children. Zemmour was also sentenced to pay several thousand euros in damages to anti-racist groups. Zemmour said he will appeal the decision. He

By SHEIKH SAALIQ Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian police say that a Hindu monk has been charged with inciting religious violence after he called for the “genocide” of India’s Muslims at a meeting of right-wing supporters. Police in the northern holy town of Haridwar said Monday the monk, Yati Narsinghanand Giri, was being

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping is calling for greater world cooperation against COVID-19 and says his country would send an additional 1 billion doses of vaccine to other countries. In a speech Monday at a virtual gathering hosted by the World Economic Forum, he also urged other powers

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — A senior U.N. official says Libya could hold elections by June after the county missed a December deadline to elect its first president since the 2011 ouster and killing of dictator Moammar Gadhafi. U.N. special adviser Stephanie Williams has told The Associated Press in an interview that

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Weary of harsh COVID-19 border restrictions, many Australians wanted Novak Djokovic deported for traveling to a tennis tournament without being vaccinated. But the backdrop to the government’s tough line is Australia’s complicated, and strongly criticized, immigration and border policies. A decade ago, thousands of people were

By DEREK GATOPOULOS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece has imposed a vaccination mandate for people 60 and older, as a spike in infections has put sustained pressure on Greek hospitals. People in that age group who fail to get vaccinated will face a 50-euro ($57) fine in January and monthly fines of 100

By JULIE WALKER and KAREN MATTHEWS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A dangerous winter storm is whipping the East Coast with significant snowfall, strong thunderstorms and blustery winds. Meteorologists said a foot or more of snow fell in parts of New York state, Ohio and Pennsylvania through Monday. New York City was spared most

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s Army Radio says a delegation of Indonesian officials made a rare visit to Israel recently to discuss coronavirus strategies, despite the countries not having diplomatic relations. Army Radio reported on Monday that the Indonesian health officials aimed to “learn how to deal with the coronavirus pandemic” from Israeli officials. The report

By AYA BATRAWY Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Emirati police say a suspected drone attack claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels may have sparked an explosion that engulfed three oil tankers in Abu Dhabi and another fire at an extension of Abu Dhabi International Airport that killed three people and wounded six. Abu

GENEVA (AP) — Seven activists have gone on trial in Switzerland on charges including trespassing and resisting arrest over their roles in a campsite protest against the expansion of a limestone quarry in rolling Swiss countryside. The defendants, who are being tried separately in rapid-succession hearings this week, are among some 40 people facing court

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Sweden’s domestic security agency says it has taken over the preliminary investigation into drones that last week were seen hovering over the country’s three nuclear power plants. At first police said there had been drones over two nuclear plants — one at Forsmark, north of Stockholm, and the other at Oscarshamn

By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The son of former Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos has defeated a bid to disqualify him from the May 9 presidential race but still faces other petitions from human rights victims and others who have raised alarm over atrocities under his late father’s rule. The Commission on

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The pilot of a medical helicopter that crash-landed without loss of life next to a church in a residential area of suburban Philadelphia last week has been released from a hospital. The pilot has been identified as Danial Moore. He said Sunday morning he didn’t remember much about the accident but was

By ZEYNEP BILGINSOY Associated Press ISTANBUL (AP) — A Turkish court has ordered that prominent Turkish civil rights activist and philanthropist Osman Kavala should stay in prison, despite his more than four years in pre-trial detention. The hearing Monday took place as a Council of Europe deadline that could trigger infringement procedures looms. The European

By YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has returned to Ukraine to face court on treason charges he believes are politically motivated. At the Kyiv airport, where he arrived on a flight from Warsaw on Monday morning, Poroshenko was greeted by several thousand supporters. From the airport, Poroshenko

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — Credit Suisse says its chairman has resigned following an internal investigation that reportedly turned up that he had violated quarantine rules intended to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The resignation of Antonio Horta-Osorio, a British-Portuguese national who took the job barely eight months ago, was announced Monday. It’s

By JOE McDONALD Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — The number of babies born in China fell again last year, adding to pressure on the ruling Communist Party’s ambitions to boost national wealth and global influence with a workforce that has been declining for a decade. Official data showed 10.6 million babies were born in 2021.

By MARK LEWIS Associated Press STAVANGER, Norway (AP) — Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik goes to court Tuesday, after 10 years behind bars, claiming he is no longer a danger to society and attempting to get an early release from his 21-year sentence. The far-right terrorist has shown no remorse since slaying 77 people

By STEVE McMORRAN AND BRUCE MATTHEWS Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — To some, it seems a cloud has been lifted from the Australian Open. To others, Novak Djokovic still is almost palpably present, his name on everyone’s lips on the opening day of the first major tennis tournament of the year. Djokovic left Australia

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has told parliament that fighting the pandemic and strengthening defense are his government’s top priorities. Kishida delivered a speech opening this year’s parliamentary session hours after North Korea test-fired two possible ballistic missiles — its fourth tests this month. He urged Japanese

By TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Arab politician Mansour Abbas broke a longstanding taboo when he joined Israel’s governing coalition last year. The bold move appears to be paying dividends: Abbas is the linchpin of the shaky union, securing hefty budgets and favorable policies for his constituents and even being granted

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — World shares are mixed after China reported that its economy expanded at an 8.1% annual pace in 2021, though growth slowed to half that level in the last quarter. Paris, Frankfurt, Tokyo and Shanghai advanced while Hong Kong and Seoul declined. Shortly before the growth data

By JAY REEVES Associated Press BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A new effort to preserve historic Black churches in the United States has received a $20 million donation that will go to help congregations. The National Trust for Historic Preservation says Lilly Endowment Inc. contributed the money to the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. It

By JAMIE STENGLE, JAKE BLEIBERG and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press COLLEYVILLE, Texas (AP) — The rabbi of a Texas synagogue where a gunman took hostages during livestreamed services says he threw a chair at his captor before escaping with two others after an hourslong standoff. Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker told “CBS Mornings” on Monday that he

By JAMIE STENGLE Associated Press DALLAS (AP) — The tight-knit congregation at a Texas synagogue where four people were held hostage by an armed captor during a 10-hour standoff over the weekend traces its roots back to a gathering organized over 20 years ago by a handful of families who were new to the area.

BEIJING (AP) — A 26-year-old woman in China’s capital Beijing who contracted the omicron strain of COVID-19 has drawn national attention on social media for her shopping trips. The woman, who has not been formally identified, reportedly visited high-end shops in the city before showing symptoms of having the virus. It wasn’t known how she

By JEFF MARTIN and MICHAEL WARREN The Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Martin Luther King, Jr.’s eldest son has condemned the inaction of federal lawmakers on voting rights. Speaking in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Martin Luther King III said he was marking the federal holiday named for his father, but he wasn’t there to celebrate.

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — President Joe Biden  campaigned to help unite the country. But first lady Jill Biden says “healing” a nation wounded by a deadly pandemic, natural and other disasters and deep political polarization is among her chief roles, too. In an Associated Press interview looking back on her

NEW DELHI (AP) — Birju Maharaj, a legend of classical Indian dance and among the country’s most well-known performing artists, has died. He was 83. His granddaughter said Maharaj had a kidney ailment and had been undergoing dialysis. Known as Maharaj-ji by his many fans, he was considered an icon of the kathak form of