Month: September 2022

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Mikhail Gorbachev was enduringly popular in Germany for enabling the country’s reunification after four decades of post-World War II division — and setting the scene for the peaceful collapse of communism that made it possible. The Cold War border that split Germany into capitalist West and communist

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian news reports say the chairman of the board of Russia’s largest private oil company fell out of a hospital window and died. The circumstances of Ravil Maganov’s death were unclear. He was chairman of the board of Lukoil, which was one of the few Russian companies to publicly call for the

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s military says it has shot down a drone hovering over one of its island outposts just off the Chinese coast. The Kinmen Defense Command says the drone entered restricted airspace over Shiyu island. It says flares and warning shots were fired, but the drone maintained its position and was shot

By JALAL BWAITEL Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Two Palestinians were killed in the occupied West Bank, the official Palestinian news agency said, blaming both deaths on Israeli troops conducting arrest raids. However, witnesses said one of the men was apparently killed on Thursday by Palestinian gunmen in a drive-by shooting. The Palestinian Health Ministry

BEIJING (AP) — China is responding furiously to a United Nations report on alleged human rights abuses in its northwestern Xinjiang region targeting Uyghurs and other mainly Muslim ethnic minorities. The report has been in the works for years and was released despite Chinese efforts to delay or block it, aware of how it could

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese government is calling on Washington to repeal technology export curbs after California-based chip designer Nvidia said a new product might be delayed and some work might be moved out of China. The latest controls add to mounting U.S.-Chinese tension over technology and security. American

By ASHRAF KHALIL Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Amid months of mass flight cancellations and delays, the Department of Transportation has launched a customer service dashboard to help vacationers ahead of the travel-heavy Labor Day weekend. Starting Thursday, travelers will be able to check the dashboard and see what kinds of guarantees, refunds or compensation

By JARI TANNER Associated Press HELSINKI (AP) — Finland is slashing the number of visas issued to Russian citizens to a tenth of the regular amount. The decision, announced in August, came into effect on Thursday and is seen as a demonstration of Finland’s solidarity with Ukraine. Finland shares the longest border with Russia of

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s foreign minister is warning that any actions seen as endangering a Russian peacekeeping contingent in a separatist region of Moldova would be considered as an attack on Russia itself. Sergey Lavrov’s statement in a Thursday address at Russia’s top foreign affairs school underlined concerns that Moldova’s Transnistria region, which borders Ukraine,

By COREY WILLIAMS and MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — About 2 in 10 U.S. adults say they or someone close to them has had a personal experience with gun violence, according to a recent poll that shows Black and Hispanic adults are especially likely to have had their lives touched by it.

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD and ADAM BEAM Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The California Legislature was advancing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s blueprint to extend the lifespan of the state’s last operating nuclear power plant by up to five years. The vote represented a setback for environmentalists who wanted to state to abide by a 2016

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gun-control advocates could have had one more victory in their very successful California legislative session. But a risky move supported by Gov. Gavin Newsom backfired on a bill to impose new limits on carrying concealed weapons after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down old rules. The

By MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani health officials are reporting an outbreak of waterborne diseases in the flood-affected areas. Thursday’s announcement about the outbreak of waterborne diseases among flood victims came amid efforts aimed at ensuring the provision of clean drinking water to hundreds of thousands of people displaced by record-breaking floods,

By FARAI MUTSAKA Associated Press HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe has begun moving more than 2,500 wild animals from a southern reserve to one in the country’s north to rescue them from drought, as the ravages of climate change replace poaching as the biggest threat to wildlife. “Project Rewild Zambezi,” as the operation is called,

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese authorities have locked down Chengdu, a southwestern city of 21 million people, following a spike in COVID-19 cases. Residents have been ordered to stay home, and about 70% of the flights have been suspended to and from the city, which is a major transit hub in Sichuan province and a governmental

By KEN MORITSUGU and JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — The U.N. accused China of serious human rights violations that may amount to “crimes against humanity” in a long-delayed report examining a crackdown on Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups. Beijing on Thursday denounced the assessment as a fabrication cooked up by Western

By FRANCES D’EMILIO Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — The moment that the black wall telephone rang early on the morning of Sept. 29, 1978, in Stefania Falasca’s Rome apartment is imprinted in her mind. Then 15, Falasca remembers her father answering and hearing the voice of her uncle, a priest who worked at the

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets were mixed Friday ahead of U.S. jobs data that might influence Federal Reserve plans for more interest rate hikes to cool surging inflation. Shanghai and Seoul advanced while Tokyo and Hong Kong retreated. Oil prices rose more than $1.50 per barrel. Investors looked

By BASSEM MROUE Associates Press BEIRUT (AP) — Forty years since Hezbollah was founded at the height of Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon, the group has morphed from a ragtag organization to the largest and most heavily armed militant group in the Middle East. The Iranian-armed and funded Hezbollah, which has marked the anniversary with