STOCKHOLM (AP) — Swedish low-cost fashion brand Hennes & Mauritz AB said Friday that its net sales in local currencies have increased by 8% in the fourth quarter of 2021 to 56 billion kronor ($6 billion) back at pre-pandemic level with the full year net sales increasing by 6% to 199 billion kronor ($21 billion). […]
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippines will lift a ban on the entry of foreign tourists and businesspeople next month after nearly two years, in a move to revive the battered tourism industry as the latest coronavirus outbreak started to ease, officials said Friday. Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat said the country will reopen its doors […]
LONDON (AP) — Doubt about the timing of a key report into lockdown-breaching parties within the British government deepened Friday when police said they wanted parts of it to remain unpublished until they finish a criminal investigation. The Metropolitan Police force said it had asked for civil servant Sue Gray’s report to make only “minimal […]
NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian health officials said Thursday there were signs of COVID-19 infections plateauing in some parts of the country but cautioned that cases were still surging in other states, linked to a new, stealthier version of the omicron variant. Most of the cases were concentrated in 10 states, where over 90% of […]
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s AirAsia Group said Friday it has changed the name of its listed holding company to Capital A to reflect the diversity of its business portfolio as it seeks to grow its non-airline revenue. Capital A CEO Tony Fernandes said the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed the group to accelerate plans […]
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian government on Friday pledged to spend another 1 billion Australian dollars ($704 million) over nine years on improving the health of the Great Barrier Reef after stalling a UNESCO decision on downgrading the natural wonder’s World Heritage status. Critics argue the investment is a bid to improve the ruling […]
JAN. 21-27, 2022 From the unfolding crisis in Ukraine to a snowy Acropolis, beleaguered British PM Boris Johnson’s jog with his dog in central London and Africa’s soccer Cup of Nations, this photo gallery highlights some of the most captivating images made or published in the week by The Associated Press from Europe and Africa. […]
BERLIN (AP) — German exports to the U.K. dropped another 2.5% last year, the first full year of Brexit, following a huge decline in 2020 in the first stage of the coronavirus pandemic, according to official figures released Friday. Exports from Germany, which has Europe’s biggest economy, totaled 65.4 billion euros ($73.1 billion) in 2021, […]
TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s government said Friday it will watch the World Health Organization’s investigation into staff complaints over racism and abuse by a top Japanese official at the agency but denied it inappropriately received sensitive vaccine information from him. WHO staffers have alleged that Dr. Takeshi Kasai, the U.N. health agency’s top director in […]
TOKYO (AP) — Marcelo Claure, who joined SoftBank Group after turning around one of its key investments, office-sharing business WeWork, is leaving, the Japanese technology company said Friday. Claure has long been seen as a close aide to SoftBank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son, forging a partnership spanning nine years and overseeing a sprawling investment portfolio. […]
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Filipe Orfao, a 37-year-old emergency room nurse in Lisbon, voices grievances that have long been heard in Portugal. The familiar gripes include a tradition of low pay, a public service career structure that thwarts ambitions to get ahead in life, the nagging enticement of going to work abroad instead of staying […]
NEW DELHI (AP) — Google will invest up to $1 billion in partnership with India’s Airtel to provide affordable access to smartphones to over a billion Indians and speed up use of cloud-based computing for business, the two companies said on Friday. The investment will help India’s small businesses adopt digital tools as India works […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea plans to add hundreds of small neighborhood hospitals and clinics to treat the thousands more people expected to get COVID-19 during a developing omicron surge. Health officials announced the plans Friday as South Korea’s daily cases reached a new high for a fourth straight day. The 16,096 new […]
GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL= Adna 71, Morton/White Pass 35 Auburn 59, Kennedy 42 Auburn Mountainview 62, Kent Meridian 22 Bonney Lake 79, Spanaway Lake 39 Cedar Park Christian Lynnwood 35, Lopez 10 Crosspoint Academy 53, Northwest Yeshiva 23 Enumclaw 77, Franklin Pierce 48 Grandview 71, Ephrata 43 Lake City, Idaho 54, West Valley (Spokane) 48 Lake […]
IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — In a classroom in northern Iraq, Zhiwei Hu presides over his students as a conductor would an orchestra. He cues with a question, and the response from his students resounds in perfect, fluent Chinese. The 52-year-old has been teaching the cohort of 14 Iraqi Kurdish students at the behest of the […]
BOYS PREP BASKETBALL= Aberdeen 75, Shelton 30 Anacortes 58, Meridian 36 Auburn 107, Kennedy 45 Auburn Mountainview 74, Kent Meridian 35 Blaine 58, Oak Harbor 54 Bonney Lake 79, Spanaway Lake 39 Bridgeport 55, Entiat 27 Camas 80, Battle Ground 38 Cedar Park Christian Lynnwood 56, Lopez 45 Columbia River 64, Washougal 53 Connell 61, […]
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — When hundreds of potential jurors gather at a Louisville courthouse on Friday, they’ll find out for the first time that they could be chosen to preside over the only criminal trial to arise from the botched police raid that left Breonna Taylor dead. The former Louisville officer facing trial, Brett Hankison, […]
ATMORE, Ala. (AP) — Alabama executed an inmate by lethal injection for a 1996 murder on Thursday after a divided U.S. Supreme Court sided with the state and rejected defense claims the man had an intellectual disability that cost him a chance to choose a less “torturous,” yet untried, execution method. Matthew Reeves, 43, was […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a break from the past, the U.S. and its allies are increasingly revealing their intelligence findings as they confront Russian preparations for invading Ukraine, looking to undercut Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plans by exposing them and deflecting his efforts to shape world opinion. The White House in recent weeks publicized what […]
NEW YORK (AP) — How many times can I reuse my N95 mask? It depends, but you should be able to use N95s and KN95s a few times. The U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention says health care workers can wear an N95 mask up to five times. But experts say how often the […]
NEW YORK (AP) — Mourning New York police officers will give a final salute Friday to Jason Rivera, a rookie colleague gunned down with his partner a week ago. A morning funeral Mass is planned at St. Patrick’s Cathedral for the officer, who, at age 22, was recently married and barely into his second year […]
RENO, Nev. (AP) — A federal judge is considering temporarily suspending the capture of wild horses in Nevada where their advocates say the federal government is “needlessly and recklessly” killing free-roaming mustangs in violation of U.S. laws. U.S. District Judge Miranda Du says she expects to rule by Monday, maybe sooner, on the advocates’ request […]
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — President Joe Biden will appear in Pittsburgh on Friday as an opening step in a broader campaign to promote the White House’s achievements in key states before the midterm elections. But two of the three leading Democrats on Pennsylvania’s statewide ballot this spring who were invited to appear with Biden will […]
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a U.S. Senate that was upended by toxic Supreme Court battles during the Trump era, the confirmation of President Joe Biden’s pick has the potential for something else: a return to calmer political normalcy. Because the ideological balance of the court is not at stake — Biden is expected to nominate […]
