Month: August 2022

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s annual inflation rate rose to 7.9% in August, returning to its highest level in nearly half a century after it dipped in the two previous months, according to official data. Inflation in Europe’s biggest economy first hit 7.9% in May — the highest rate since the winter of 1973-1974, when prices

By LEANNE ITALIE Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — At 24, El Johnson has made up her mind that she won’t bear children, though she and her girlfriend haven’t ruled out adoption. The graduate student who works in legal services in Austin, Texas, has a list of reasons for not wanting to give birth: the

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — An American court has thrown out a lawsuit against a German museum foundation over a medieval treasure trove. The lawsuit was filed by heirs of Nazi-era Jewish art dealers. The court said the U.S. lacked jurisdiction to hear such a case. The foundation that oversees Berlin’s museums

By ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities say they have picked up a group of 30 people from a wooden boat that had lost steering and was drifting close to the rocky coast of a small islet north of Crete in the latest case of boats carrying migrants running into trouble

BEIJING (AP) — China says a key congress of the ruling Communist Party at which leader Xi Jinping is expected to be granted a third five-year term will open on Oct. 16. Such congresses are held every five years and usually bring in a new slate of leaders. Xi, who is also head of state,

BEIJING (AP) — China has placed millions of its citizens under lockdown following fresh outbreaks of COVID-19. The measures affected about half of the 6 million residents of the port city of Dalian, along with Chengde and Shijiazhuang in Hebei province, both around three hours from the capital Beijing. Dalian’s lockdown is due to last

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — The defense ministers of Japan and Israel have shared concerns about growing global tensions from Asia to the Middle East and have signed an agreement to step up cooperation in military equipment and technology. Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada says he welcomes stronger military ties with Israel

By HUIZHONG WU and JOE McDONALD Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has arrived in Taiwan for a visit focused on semiconductors, the critical chips that are used in everyday electronics and have become a battleground in the technology competition between the U.S. and China. His visit is the latest in

MONROE, Mich. (AP) — Severe storms that brought damaging winds, heavy rains and flash flooding to parts of the Midwest and the South were blamed for the deaths of three people, including two children in Michigan and Arkansas as well as a woman in Ohio. Monday’s storms also knocked out electrical service to hundreds of

By KELSEY SHEEHY of NerdWallet Money rules of thumb can be useful guardrails, helping you allocate spending and determine what’s affordable. They can also be incredibly defeating when they feel unattainable. If money “rules” feel completely detached from your reality, you’re not alone. The average American doesn’t come close to hitting many of the popular

By FRANK JORDANS, BARBARA SURK and JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Olaf Scholz says Germany is well-prepared to tackle a possible energy shortage due to Russia’s squeeze on European gas supplies. Fears are growing about the rising energy prices that will hit consumers across the continent this winter. Scholz says gas

By CARA ANNA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The first ship carrying grain from Ukraine for people in the hungriest parts of the world has docked at the Horn of Africa port of Djibouti as areas of East Africa are badly affected by deadly drought and conflict. Food security experts call it a drop

SYDNEY (AP) — An Australian man has been convicted of murdering his wife 40 years ago after a renewed police investigation that was triggered by a popular podcast. Christopher Dawson faces a possible life sentence. He opted for a trial by judge instead of a jury in the New South Wales state Supreme Court due

UTRECHT, Netherlands (AP) — Almost the entire Dutch railway network has been shut down as workers affected by soaring inflation and staff shortages strike to demand better pay and working conditions. Staff at the railway company NS stopped work for the day Tuesday in the central Netherlands region that acts as a hub for almost

By MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — The United Nations and Pakistan have appealed for $160 million in emergency funds for nearly a half million displaced victims of record-breaking floods that have killed 1,162 people since mid-June. The appeal was issued at a ceremony in the capital, Islamabad, with the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

By PAUL BYRNE Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine claimed to have destroyed bridges and ammunition depots and pounded command posts in a surge of fighting in the Russian-occupied south, fueling speculation Tuesday that its long-awaited counteroffensive to try to turn the tide of war is underway. Russia said it inflicted heavy casualties in

By LORNE COOK Associated Press PRAGUE (AP) — European Union nations are divided over whether to slap a broad visa ban on Russian citizens over the war in Ukraine. They are torn between a desire to pressure President Vladimir Putin and concern about punishing people who may not even support the war he launched. Germany

COTABATO, Philippines (AP) — Philippine police officials say suspected Muslim rebels have killed a town police chief and his driver and wounded three other officers who were traveling to arrest a criminal suspect. Police say about 10 men opened fire on a vehicle carrying Ampatuan town police chief Lt. Reynaldo Samson in the midmorning attack

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian state TV says an automobile crash in southwestern Iran has killed at least 16 people. The Tuesday crash happened as a truck hit a minibus that was carrying laborers on the road linking the city of Shushtar with the city of Dezful in Khuzestan province. The report also said eight

By YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Kazuo Inamori, founder of Japanese ceramics and electronics maker Kyocera who also became a philanthropist singing the virtues of fairness and hard work, has died. He was 90. Kyocera says Inamori, who also founded major telecommunications company KDDI Corp., died Aug. 24 at his home in Kyoto.

By MARIA CHENG AP Medical Writer LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization’s top director in the Western Pacific, Dr. Takeshi Kasai, has been indefinitely removed from his post, according to internal correspondence obtained by The Associated Press. Kasai’s removal comes months after an AP investigation revealed that dozens of staffers accused him of racist,

By JOCELYN NOVECK Associated Press PARIS (AP) — An elegant dinner at the Ritz in Paris. A post-midnight drive past the city’s floodlit treasures. And then, tragedy. The story of Princess Diana’s death at age 36 in that catastrophic crash in a Paris traffic tunnel continues to shock, even after a quarter-century. Twenty-five years later,

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Above all, there was shock. That’s the word people use over and over again when they remember Princess Diana’s death in a Paris car crash 25 years ago this week. The woman the world watched grow from a shy teenage nursery school teacher into a glamorous celebrity

By DEREK GATOPOULOS and ADAM PEMBLE Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Before taking a shot, Ukrainian sniper Andriy buries his face in a foldout mat, breathing slowly and deliberately. “I need to be completely relaxed, to find a place where I will not move the rifle when I pull the trigger,” he says. “I

NABLUS, West Bank (AP) — The Israeli military says several Israelis were wounded overnight after they entered the Palestinian West Bank city of Nablus and came under fire. The Israelis appeared to be headed to a flashpoint shrine in the city, where visits are usually coordinated by the military under tight security precautions. After they