Russia marks another record number of daily COVID-19 cases
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia reported another daily record of confirmed coronavirus cases Monday as a surge in infections has prompted the Kremlin to tell most people to stay away from work starting later this week. The Russian government’s coronavirus task force tallied 37,930 new confirmed cases in 24 hours, the highest number since the start […]1 day ago
Tokyo eateries return to normal hours as virus cases drop
TOKYO (AP) — People in Tokyo can eat and drink in bars and restaurants later in the evening starting Monday as officials ease social distancing rules with the country’s daily coronavirus cases reaching their lowest levels in more than a year. Crowds have been returning to bars and trains since Japan lifted its moderate state […]1 day ago
Australia wants Facebook to seek parental consent for kids
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia plans to crack down on online advertisers targeting children by making social media platforms seek parental consent for users younger than 16 years old to join or face fines of 10 million Australian dollars ($7.5 million) under a draft law released Monday. The landmark legislation would protect Australians online and […]1 day ago
129-year journey nears end as France returns Benin treasures
PARIS (AP) — In a move with potential ramifications for other European museums, France is displaying 26 looted colonial-era artifacts for one last time before returning them to Benin — a decision authorities in the West African country described as “historic.” The wooden anthropomorphic statues, royal thrones and sacred altars were pilfered by the French […]1 day ago
Widodo calls for ASEAN travel corridor to bolster recovery
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Indonesian President Joko Widodo has urged Southeast Asian countries to speed up plans to create a regional travel corridor to help revive tourism and speed up a recovery from the economic damage of the pandemic. Citing U.N. and World Trade Organization data, Widodo said Monday that the level of restrictions […]1 day ago
6 candidates for US Senate in Ohio vie for evangelical votes
WESTERVILLE, Ohio (AP) — The lone Republican moderate at a U.S. Senate candidate forum in Ohio on Sunday said at one point he felt “like a Browns fan in Pittsburgh Stadium.” The crowd of about 950 at the evangelical Genoa Baptist Church in the northern suburbs of Columbus never quite booed Matt Dolan, a state […]1 day ago
Toyota testing hydrogen combustion engines in race cars
TOKYO (AP) — Toyota said Monday it is testing hydrogen combustion engines in race cars as it works toward using the technology in commercial products. Such engines burn hydrogen as fuel instead of gasoline, much like rockets. The Japanese automaker said testing the technology in race cars will allow it to collect data and try […]1 day ago
Today in History
Today in History Today is Monday, Oct. 25, the 298th day of 2021. There are 67 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Oct. 25, 1983, a U.S.-led force invaded Grenada (greh-NAY’-duh) at the order of President Ronald Reagan, who said the action was needed to protect U.S. citizens there. On this […]1 day ago
China to start vaccinating children to age 3 as cases spread
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Children as young as 3 will start receiving COVID-19 vaccines in China, where 76% of the population has been fully vaccinated and authorities are maintaining a zero-tolerance policy toward outbreaks. China becomes one of the very few countries in the world to start vaccinating children that young against the virus. Cuba, […]2 days ago
Michigan vigil prays for missionaries kidnapped in Haiti
HART, Mich. (AP) — More than 100 people gathered Sunday in a small Michigan town to pray for the safe release of a local family among 17 members of a missionary group kidnapped by a gang in Haiti more than a week ago. The vigil in the western Michigan community of Hart took place after […]2 days ago
Plane from NY to LA makes emergency landing in Wisconsin
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — An American Airlines plane traveling from New York to Los Angeles was forced to make an emergency landing Sunday afternoon in Wisconsin, according to officials with the airline and the Dane County Regional Airport in Madison. An airport official said the plane landed without incident around 2:19 p.m. Central time after […]2 days ago
Orthodox patriarch hospitalized at start of 12-day US visit
WASHINGTON (AP) — The spiritual leader of the world’s 200 million Eastern Orthodox Christians was hospitalized Sunday in Washington on the first full day of a planned 12-day U.S. visit and will stay overnight, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America said. The archdiocese said Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was preparing to leave for a service at […]2 days ago
Picasso artworks auctioned for combined $109M in Las Vegas
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Eleven Pablo Picasso artworks have been sold for a combined $109 million in a Las Vegas auction coinciding with the artist’s 140th birthday. The nine paintings and two ceramic pieces had been displayed inside the Picasso restaurant at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art for more than two decades until owner […]2 days ago
Pope: Don’t send migrants back to Libya and ‘inhumane’ camps
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Sunday made an impassioned plea to end the practice of returning migrants rescued at sea to Libya and other unsafe countries where they suffer “inhumane violence.” Francis also waded into a highly contentious political debate in Europe, calling on the international community to find concrete ways to manage […]2 days ago
Facebook dithered in curbing divisive user content in India
NEW DELHI, India (AP) — Facebook in India has been selective in curbing hate speech, misinformation and inflammatory posts, particularly anti-Muslim content, according to leaked documents obtained by The Associated Press, even as its own employees cast doubt over the company’s motivations and interests. From research as recent as March of this year to company […]2 days ago
AP PHOTOS: Sufi religious order finally able to gather again
RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Followers of a Sufi religious order convened on a Moroccan village near the city of Nador for the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad in the first such gathering since the pandemic. A few hundred faithful, known as Fuqaras, from France, Tunisia, Ivory Coast and other countries, met for the weeklong Islamic […]2 days ago
EXPLAINER: What the metaverse is and how it will work
LONDON (AP) — The term “metaverse” seems to be everywhere. Facebook is hiring thousands of engineers in Europe to work on it, while video game companies are outlining their long-term visions for what some consider the next big thing online. The metaverse, which could spring up again when Facebook releases earnings Monday, is the latest […]2 days ago
Africa tries to end vaccine inequity by replicating its own
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — In a pair of Cape Town warehouses converted into a maze of airlocked sterile rooms, young scientists are assembling and calibrating the equipment needed to reverse engineer a coronavirus vaccine that has yet to reach South Africa and most of the world’s poorest people. The energy in the gleaming […]2 days ago
Today in History
Today in History Today is Sunday, Oct. 24, the 297th day of 2021. There are 68 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On Oct. 24, 1940, the 40-hour work week went into effect under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. On this date: In 1648, the Peace of Westphalia (west-FAY’-lee-uh) ended […]2 days ago
Facebook dithered in curbing divisive user content in India
NEW DELHI, India (AP) — Facebook in India has been selective in curbing hate speech, misinformation and inflammatory posts, particularly anti-Muslim content, according to leaked documents obtained by The Associated Press, even as its own employees cast doubt over the company’s motivations and interests. From research as recent as March of this year to company […]3 days ago
Uganda police say 1 killed, 7 injured in explosion at eatery
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — One person was killed and seven others injured Saturday in an explosion at a restaurant in a suburb of Uganda’s capital, Kampala, police said. Police said in a statement that a bomb squad had been deployed following “a serious blast” around 9 p.m. local time. It said detectives would “determine whether […]3 days ago
Striking bourbon workers ratify new Heaven Hill contract
BARDSTOWN, Ky. (AP) — Striking workers at one of the world’s largest bourbon producers voted to a ratify a new contract Saturday, a day after announcing a tentative agreement with Heaven Hill. About 420 members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 23D went on strike about six weeks ago, forming picket lines at the […]3 days ago
A magical trove of Ricky Jay ephemera hits auction block
NEW YORK (AP) — Conjurers, cheats, hustlers, hoaxsters, pranksters, jokesters, posturers, pretenders, sideshow showmen, armless calligraphers, mechanical marvels and popular entertainments. Those were the things that interested the grizzled Ricky Jay, the sleight-of-hand artist, card shark, author, actor and scholar extraordinaire on all of the above who died in 2018 at age 72. When he […]3 days ago
