Month: January 2022

NEW YORK (AP) — Three women are facing federal charges of attacking an airline security officer who tried to block them from boarding a flight at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport in September. Prosecutors say the security officer confronted the women because of problematic behavior, including a refusal by one to wear a face

ROME (AP) — With a state funeral, Italy has paid tribute to David Sassoli, the president of the European Union’s parliament, who died earlier in the week. An EU flag draped the coffin. Top EU and Italian authorities attended the service on Friday in a church in Rome. Sassoli died in an Italian hospital on

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Americans overlooked shortages, spiking prices and uncertainty over the omicron variant to break spending records during the critical holiday shopping season. But figures released Friday show that after spending robustly early in the holiday season, consumers sharply slowed their purchases from November to December. The

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romanian authorities say children aged between 5-11 will be able to get vaccinated against COVID-19 starting late January, as the country grapples with a virus surge and low adult vaccination rates. Parents or guardians can schedule appointments starting this week to get their children inoculated with Pfizer jabs that will be

By ALEKSANDAR FURTULA and MIKE CORDER Associated Press VALKENBURG, Netherlands (AP) — Shops, bars and restaurants in a southern Dutch town have opened in a protest action that underscored growing anger at weeks of coronavirus lockdown measures. The move Friday comes a day before some of the restrictions are expected to be eased. People are

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s Defense Ministry says that a massive leak from a military equipment database includes only publicly available information and is not harmful. The ministry said Friday that the database found on the internet is a list coming from a body responsible for making purchases for Poland’s military. It blamed the leak

By ULIANA PAVLOVA Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian government has decided to delay a controversial bill requiring QR codes confirming vaccination or recovery from COVID-19 to access public places, despite surging cases and warnings from top officials about the highly infectious omicron variant. Russia on Friday reported 23,820 new infections, a 12% increase

By DAVID EGGERT Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s attorney general is asking federal prosecutors to open a criminal investigation into 16 Republicans who submitted false certificates stating they were the state’s presidential electors despite Joe Biden’s 154,000-vote victory in 2020. Democrat Dana Nessel disclosed that her office has been evaluating charges for nearly

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Croatian authorities say last year’s population census in the European Union country has shown an almost 10% drop over the past decade. Officials said Friday that the census listed 3.8 million citizens compared to close to 4.2 in the previous census in 2011. The decrease reflects the depopulation problem in Croatia

By DUSAN STOJANOVIC Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Novak Djokovic’s supporters in Serbia were dismayed after waking up to the news that the top-ranked tennis player again faces deportation from Australia after his visa was revoked for a second time. Australia’s immigration minister used his ministerial discretion to cancel the 34-year-old Serb’s visa on

STOCKHOLM (AP) — The office of Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson says she has tested positive for COVID-19. She took part in a debate in parliament with other party leaders earlier this week and at least two other top politicians also have since tested positive. Andersson is working from home and is doing fine. Following

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean rescuers have pulled a body from a heap of rubble at the construction site of a 39-floor building that partially collapsed four days earlier in the southern city of Gwangju. City officials say the man, one of six construction workers who were missing after the collapse, was pronounced

LONDON (AP) — British prosecutors say a court hearing for an American citizen who left Britain after being involved in a crash that killed a teenage motorcyclist has been called off. Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service said last month the case against Anne Sacoolas would be heard at London’s Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Jan. 18. It

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan has commissioned new navy minelayers to add to its defenses against giant rival China. President Tsai Ing-wen presided over a ceremony commissioning the navy’s First and Second Mining Operations Squadrons. The ships are able to automatically sow large numbers of small but powerful mines without the need for divers. Such

BEIJING (AP) — China says it gained support on issues including the treatment of Uyghur Muslims from Persian Gulf states following talks at which they agreed to upgrade relations. The Foreign Ministry spokesperson says Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers expressed firm support for China’s positions on issues related to Taiwan, Xinjiang and human rights. He

By COLLEEN BARRY AP Fashion Writer MILAN (AP) — Milan fashion houses were charting a path out of the pandemic that included a menswear calendar packed with 22 live runway shows and another 18 physical presentations this month. But that was before the omicron surge. Milan Fashion Week with previews for fall-winter 2022-23 opens Friday

GENEVA (AP) — The government of Ethiopia has sent a letter to the World Health Organization accusing its Ethiopian director-general of “misconduct” after his sharp criticism of the war and humanitarian crisis in the country. Ethiopia nominated Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to be the head of the U.N. health agency four years ago, but says he

By NASSER KARIMI and JON GAMBRELL Associated Press TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — An Iranian author whose bestselling comic novel, “My Uncle Napoleon,” lampooned Persian culture’s self-aggrandizing and paranoid behavior as the country entered the modern era, has died. Iraj Pezeshkzad (ee-RAJ peh-ZESHK-zad) was 94. The travails of Uncle Napoleon, whose delusions have him seeing Britain’s

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press The Transportation Department is launching a $27 billion program to repair and upgrade U.S. bridges. It’s happening as part of the infrastructure law approved in November and comes as President Joe Biden tries to showcase how his policies are delivering for the public. The program is expected to help repair

By DAVID McHUGH Associated Press FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The risk of recession is looming for Germany after Europe’s biggest economy shrank at the end of 2021 and as it faces a bumpy start to this year. The rapid spread of COVID-19’s omicron variant is deterring people from shopping and travel and supply bottlenecks are

By NINIEK KARMINI and EDNA TARIGAN Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A powerful earthquake has shaken parts of Indonesia’s main island of Java, damaging buildings and houses and sending people into the streets, but no casualties were reported. Officials say there is no danger of a tsunami. The U.S. Geological Survey says the magnitude

By ULIANA PAVLOVA and SUZAN FRASER Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Turkish and Armenian envoys have met in Moscow to try to end decades of bitterness between their countries and to establish diplomatic ties. Turkey was among the first countries to recognize Armenia’s independence in 1991. But the neighbors share a bitter relationship and have

By ZEN SOO Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong International Airport is banning transit passengers from 150 countries and territories starting Sunday, tightening stringent travel controls in an effort to stem the spread of the highly contagious omicron variant. Authorities also said Friday they will extend social distancing restrictions, including a ban on

BEIJING (AP) — China is dismissing a warning from Britain’s domestic intelligence service to lawmakers that a London-based lawyer is trying to “covertly interfere in U.K. politics” on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party as “irresponsible.” A Foreign Ministry spokesperson says China has “no need to and will never engage in the so-called interference,” and

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A fire  that erupted during maintenance work at a major oil refinery in Kuwait has killed two workers and critically injured five others. The Kuwait National Petroleum Company says the blaze broke out on Friday at a gas liquefaction unit that had been out of service for maintenance work.

BEIJING (AP) — China is tightening its anti-pandemic measures in Beijing and across the country as scattered outbreaks continue ahead of the opening of the Winter Olympics in a little over two weeks. The actions appear to reflect nervousness about a possible surge in cases ahead of the Beijing Games. Beijing has ordered children at

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has strongly repeated its demand that NATO doesn’t expand eastward despite the rejection of that by the military alliance amid a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday described Moscow’s demands that NATO will neither expand nor deploy forces to Ukraine and

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s Health Ministry says more than 500,000 people have received a 4th vaccine dose. The country began administering second boosters to the most vulnerable late last month and later began offering them to everyone over 60. Authorities hope the additional boosters will blunt a wave of infections driven by the omicron variant.

STOCKHOLM (AP) — A top military chief in Sweden said Friday that they are seeing increased Russian activity in the Baltic Sea which “deviate from the normal picture” to explain why the Scandinavian nation’s military has raised its preparedness. Lt. Gen Leif Michael Claesson said Friday that “it does not have to mean an increased

By NICK PERRY and STEVE McMORRAN Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The treatment of tennis star Novak Djokovic by Australian immigration officials might seem harsh from afar. But Australia has long taken a severe stance on immigration, including warehousing refugees in offshore detention camps and preventing overseas citizens from returning home during the

By YURAS KARMANAU, FRANK BAJAK, ERIC TUCKER and DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Hackers have temporarily shut down dozens of Ukrainian government websites, causing no major damage but adding to simmering tensions while Russia amasses troops on the Ukrainian border. Separately, in a rare gesture to the U.S. at a time of

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Boris Johnson’s office has apologized to the royal family for a lockdown-breaching staff parties in Downing Street on the eve of Prince Philips funeral. They are the latest in a string of rule-breaking social events that are threatening to topple the British prime minister. The Daily Telegraph

BEIJING (AP) — China’s ruling Communist Party says a top official in the southern region of Guangxi is under investigation for corruption. The Central Committee for Discipline Inspection says Vice Governor Liu Hongwu is being investigated for “serious violations of discipline and laws,” the party watchdog’s standard term for graft. It gave no further details.

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer Novak Djokovic’s attempt to stave off deportation and be allowed to play in the Australian Open despite not being vaccinated against COVID-19 is headed for a legal hearing the day before he is scheduled to begin his title defense at a Grand Slam tournament he’s won a record nine