Month: January 2022

By COLLEEN LONG Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden packed carrots and apples into food boxes for the hungry and chatted with volunteers Sunday at a food bank as part of a day of service for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The couple traveled about a half-hour from

By COLLEEN BARRY AP Fashion Writer MILAN (AP) — Jeff Goldblum infused Milan Fashion Week with some levity as he shimmied down the Prada runway in a dark overcoat that cast a dramatic silhouette.  The latest menswear collection in the two-year-old collaboration between Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons as co-creative directors was at once elemental

OVID, N.Y. (AP) — While the vast majority of New Yorkers are hunkering down to ride out frigid temperatures and snow blasts from the latest winter storm, others are seizing on the opportunity to … pick grapes? One Finger Lakes-area winemaker jokingly calls it “insanity,” but these are the ideal conditions for harvesting grapes for

By COLLEEN LONG Associated Press WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — For more than a year, federal prosecutors have been investigating the Capitol riot, and at least 700 people have been charged, mostly with lower-level crimes. So it was stunning when prosecutors last week charged the leader of the far-right militia group known as the Oath Keepers,

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — After a month at the top of the box office, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” has finally been overtaken by “Scream.” Sunday studio estimates say the Paramount Pictures reboot grossed $30.6 million over the weekend. Paramount forecasts that “Scream” will total $35 million over the four-day

PARIS (AP) — France’s parliament has approved a law that will exclude unvaccinated people from restaurants, sports arenas and other venues. It’s the central measure of French government efforts to protect hospitals amid record numbers of infections driven by the highly contagious omicron variant. Centrist President Emmanuel Macron had hoped to push the bill through

By COLLEEN LONG Associated Press WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — For more than a year, federal prosecutors have been investigating the Capitol riot, and at least 700 people have been charged, mostly with lower-level crimes. So it was stunning when prosecutors last week charged the leader of the far-right militia group known as the Oath Keepers,

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — As California enters its fifth year of broad legal marijuana sales, industry insiders say the practice of working simultaneously in the legal and illicit markets is all too commonplace in the struggling pot economy. Legal businesses have long complained that heavy taxes and regulation —

By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A new election system, narrowly passed by voters in 2020, is set to be used in Alaska races this year. The system would end party primaries and send the top four vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, to the general election, where ranked-choice voting would determine a

By VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says he is returning to Ukraine to fight treason charges even though he views them as politically motivated. He says he believes that fighting them is part of his defense of national unity. Poroshenko spoke at a news conference Sunday in

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan’s military says that an army officer was killed in a shootout with smugglers on the country’s northern border with Syria. It said Sunday that the captain was killed and three others were injured when a group of smugglers opened fire on border guards. The military says the attackers fled into

By MAE ANDERSON AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Sharply higher costs are yet another challenge thrown at business owners by the global pandemic. The unpredictability of shipping, labor and the coronavirus itself have created an environment where owners are often left guessing about when products might arrive and how much they’ll cost. In

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 DUSAN STOJANOVIC Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s president has called on Novak Djokovic to return to his native country hours after the top-ranked tennis player lost his court battle to play at the Australian Open and was deported. It was not immediately clear where Djokovic would go after saying he was “disappointed”

NANTES, France (AP) — Far-left French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon is seeking to reinvigorate his flagging campaign for April’s election with an unusual rally. He used videos, sounds and smells diffused through an exhibition hall in the western city of Nantes. The once-powerful French left wing is deeply fractured and struggling to make its voice

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The president of South Korea has reached a preliminary multibillion-dollar deal to sell Seoul’s surface-to-air missiles to Abu Dhabi and pledged deeper cooperation with the United Arab Emirates during a visit to the Gulf Arab state. After South Korean President Moon Jae-in met with

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spanish police have arrested the leading smuggler of heroin into the European country in a bust that took a total of 10 people into custody and confiscated 55 kilograms of the drug. Police said Sunday that the ring based in the central province of Toledo bought large quantities of heroin from

By HOLLY MEYER and HALELUYA HADERO Associated Press Biltmore United Methodist Church of Asheville, North Carolina, is for sale. Already financially strapped because of shrinking membership and a struggling preschool, attendance at weekly services have plummeted during the pandemic, with many staying home or switching to other churches. Gone, too, is the revenue from renting

By PAMELA SAMPSON and KIM CHANDLER Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — A dangerous winter storm combining high winds and ice is blasting through parts of the U.S. Southeast. The storm knocked out power Sunday to tens of thousands of customers, felled trees and coated roads with treacherous ice. Highway patrols reported hundreds of vehicle accidents.

By YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine says Russia was behind a cyberattack that defaced government websites and it alleged that Russia is engaged in a “hybrid war” against the country. The statement from Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Development came a day after Microsoft said dozens of computer systems at an unspecified

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — By some counts, President Joe Biden can lay claim to a banner first year in office. But the numbers also reveal plenty of setbacks. Most in the United States got their COVID-19 vaccines, but other countries fared better. Economic growth surged but so did inflation. America exited

By BABA AHMED and KRISTA LARSON Associated Press BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Mali’s former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita has died nearly 18 months after he was ousted in a military coup. He was 76. Keita’s death was announced Sunday in Bamako. Keita had been battling health problems in recent years. He won the historic 2013

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — The Austrian government has presented revised plans for its proposed COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Officials say it will now apply to all residents age 18 and over. Originally it was 14 and over. Officials said Sunday that a phased introduction will give people plenty of opportunity to comply.