Month: December 2022

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain’s royal family stuck to routine and remained silent Friday over the second half of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan’s documentary series, which made hard-hitting claims against Harry’s brother, Prince William. While the first half of the six-part Netflix series concentrated on the couple’s bruising encounters

By STEVE PEOPLES AP National Political Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Struggling to unify after another disappointing election, the Republican National Committee is consumed by an increasingly nasty leadership fight as the GOP navigates its delicate relationship with former President Donald Trump. With a vote for RNC chair not scheduled until late January, the public

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia’s president has formally dismissed the country’s government a day after it lost a parliamentary no-confidence vote and set the framework for holding an early election by mid-2023. President Zuzana Caputova has given Parliament a deadline to amend the Constitution by the end of January to make a snap election possible.

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s foreign minister will personally take 20 artifacts looted by Europeans during colonial times back to Nigeria when she visits Africa’s most populous country next week. The symbolic gesture follows an agreement earlier this year between Berlin and Abuja that will see all 514 so-called Benin Bronzes held in German museums handed

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (AP) — Virginia State Police say three people have died following a crash that involved a commercial bus carrying 22 people and a tractor trailer on Interstate 64. State police say in a news release that the crash occurred just after 1:30 a.m. Friday in York County near Williamsburg. All 22 passengers on

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court says he is closing investigations in Georgia and the Central African Republic. The announcements Friday mark the first time the prosecution office has wrapped up probes in the court’s 20-year history. The closures come as the court

By MARÍA TERESA HERNÁNDEZ Associated Press RAPA NUI, Chile (AP) — The hillside of Rano Raraku volcano on Rapa Nui feels like a place that froze in time. Embedded in grass and volcanic rock, almost 400 moai – the monolithic human figures carved centuries ago by this remote Pacific island’s Rapanui people — remained untouched

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union says its latest round of sanctions will hit Russia’s military-industrial complex, as well as people and groups that are attacking Ukrainian civilians or kidnapping children. Valdis Dombrovskis, a European Commission vice-president, said Friday the package will deal a blow to 168 “entities” — companies

By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — The International Energy Agency says coal use across the world is set to reach a new record this year amid persistently high demand for the heavily polluting fossil fuel. The Paris-based agency said in a report published Friday that while coal use grew by only 1.2% in

By DANIEL POLITI Associated Press ROSARIO, Argentina (AP) — Excitement for Sunday’s World Cup final in Argentina is rising fast and anxiety is running particularly high in Messi’s hometown as many are hoping he will finally win the one major trophy missing from his illustrious career. The neighborhood in Rosario popularly known as La Bajada

By GEROLD ROZENBLAD and DÁNICA COTO Associated Press PARAMARIBO, Suriname (AP) — Dutch colonizers kidnapped men, women and children and enslaved them on plantations growing sugar, coffee and other goods that built wealth at the price of misery. On Monday, the Netherlands is expected to become one of the few nations to apologize for its

By BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer SAN JOSE, California (AP) — Facebook parent Meta is sparring with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over its pending acquisition of virtual reality fitness company Within Unlimited in federal court in San Jose, California. CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify as a witness. At issue is whether Meta’s

By MAE ANDERSON and MATT O’BRIEN AP Technology Writers Elon Musk’s abrupt suspension of several journalists who cover Twitter widens a growing rift between the social media site and media organizations that have used the platform to build their audiences. Individual reporters with The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, Voice of America and

By SUMAN NAISHADHAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Qatar’s World Cup is ending on Sunday, but the climate pledges that were central to the gas-rich Gulf nation’s successful bid to host the event are staying in the world of mega sporting events. Scientists, environmental advocates and other experts say that sporting events such as the

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer A U.S.-French satellite that will map almost all of the world’s oceans, lakes and rivers rocketed into orbit Friday. The predawn launch aboard a SpaceX rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California capped a highly successful year for NASA. Nicknamed SWOT — short for Surface Water and Ocean

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities say four Turkish nationals have been arrested on suspicion of smuggling migrants after a boat with nearly 100 people on board was found in trouble off an island near Athens. The coast guard says the four were among 97 people on board the boat found Thursday northeast of the

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis will send back to Greece the three fragments of the Parthenon Sculptures that the Vatican Museums have held for two centuries, in the latest case of a Western museum bowing to demands for restitution of artifacts to their countries of origin. The Vatican termed

By DAKE KANG Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — Deaths linked to the coronavirus are appearing in Beijing after weeks of China reporting no fatalities, even as the country is seeing a surge of cases. Relatives of people who died in Beijing said their loved ones had tested positive for COVID-19, while employees at shops in

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — US safety regulators are investigating reports that autonomous robotaxis run by General Motors’ Cruise LLC can stop too quickly or unexpectedly quit moving, potentially stranding passengers. Three rear-end collisions that reportedly took place after Cruise autonomous vehicles braked hard kicked off the probe, according to the

WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband has visited 988 call center that’s part of the recently launched national hotline intended to help anyone experiencing a mental health emergency. Second gentleman Douglas Emhoff has spoken out on the importance of mental health for adults and children. Emhoff met with crisis counselors and call center

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s governing center-right New Democracy party has suspended one of its European Parliament members from the party, pending the outcome of an investigation by European authorities into the payment of an assistant. The issue is not related to a corruption scandal involving Qatar. New Democracy said Friday the suspension was ordered

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa’s ruling African National Congress party has started its crucial national conference amid scandal and bitter divisions. President Cyril Ramaphosa opened the conference Friday evening saying that the country’s crippling national power cuts of more than 7 hours a day, an unemployment rate of 35% and

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — The U.S. Department of Commerce is adding 36 Chinese companies to an export controls blacklist, citing concerns over national security. The addition of the companies to the “entity list” means that export licenses will likely be denied for any U.S. company trying to do business with

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer Starbucks workers around the U.S. are planning a three-day strike starting Friday as part of their effort to unionize the coffee chain’s stores. More than 1,000 baristas at 100 stores are planning to walk out, according to Starbucks Workers United, the labor group organizing the effort. The strike will

By SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron is about to jet off to Qatar for the second time in a week, despite broad concerns about the emirate’s human rights and environmental record. Why? Because France is in the World Cup final, and Macron really is a big soccer fan —

BEIJING (AP) — A squadron of Chinese Navy ships sailed through straits near Japan into the Western Pacific this week, while Beijing blasted Tokyo’s adoption of a new national security strategy putting itself on a more offensive footing, largely as a result of the perceived threat from China. The destroyers Lhasa and Kaifeng, along with