Australia pledges $704 million to save Great Barrier Reef
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 […]14 hours ago
AP Week in Pictures: Europe and Africa
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. […]15 hours ago
Germany: Brexit pushed exports to UK down 2.5% last year
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, […]15 hours ago
Executive overseeing investments leaves Japan’s SoftBank
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. […]15 hours ago
Old grievances haunt Portugal’s vote: low pay, stagnation
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 […]15 hours ago
Google to invest $1 billion to push India’s digitalization
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 […]15 hours ago
S. Korea plans to add small hospitals as COVID cases surge
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea plans next month 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 […]15 hours ago
Rwanda to reopen its Uganda border, ending a tense standoff
KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Rwandan authorities said early Friday they would reopen the border with Uganda, ending nearly three years of a standoff that appeared to hurt both countries’ economies and raised fears of armed hostilities. The announcement came after a period of quiet diplomacy during which Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni dispatched envoys including his […]17 hours ago
Pictures of Week in Latin America & Caribbean Photo Gallery
Jan. 21 -27, 2022 This photo gallery highlights some of the most compelling images made or published by Associated Press photographers in Latin America and the Caribbean. It was curated by AP photo editor Anita Baca in Mexico City. Follow AP visual journalism: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apnews AP Images on Twitter: http://twitter.com/AP_Images AP Images blog: http://apimagesblog.com Copyright […]17 hours ago
Hong Kong cuts foreign arrival quarantine from 21 to 14 days
HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong is cutting the length of mandatory quarantine for people arriving from overseas from 21 to 14 days, even as the southern Chinese city battles a new surge in COVID-19 cases. Hong Kong is a major hub for business and finance and the tight restrictions on foreign travel had drawn […]17 hours ago
Toyota heading to moon with cruiser, robotic arms, dreams
TOKYO (AP) — Toyota is working with Japan’s space agency on a vehicle to explore the lunar surface, with ambitions to help people live on the moon by 2040 and then go live on Mars, company officials said Friday. The vehicle being developed with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency is called Lunar Cruiser, whose name […]19 hours ago
N. Korea confirms missile tests as Kim visits munitions site
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Friday its two latest rounds of weapons tests this week were successful while vowing to bolster its nuclear “war deterrent” and speed up the development of more powerful warheads. It appeared North Korean leader Kim Jong Un did not attend the tests on Tuesday and Thursday, which […]21 hours ago
Family clarifies no ‘Picasso NFT’ is set to be sold online
GENEVA (AP) — Pablo Picasso’s family is not selling a digital asset linked to one of his works after all. After a granddaughter and great-grandson of the artist trumpeted the upcoming sale, lawyers for the family said Thursday that his heirs have not authorized the launch of any such “Picasso NFT.” An intra-family disagreement has […]23 hours ago
Burkina Faso’s junta leader promises security, order
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Burkina Faso’s new military leader said he was going to bring security and order back to the conflict-ridden nation and unite the country, but warned that betrayal wouldn’t be tolerated by the new regime. Lt. Col. Paul Henri Sandaogo Damiba, leader of the Patriotic Movement for Safeguarding and Restoration, spoke […]1 day ago
Crowd in Ontario cheers on anti-vaccine mandate truck convoy
TORONTO (AP) — Crowds cheered, waved flags and hoisted signs in Ontario on Thursday as parts of a convoy of truckers headed for Ottawa to protest the Canadian government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for cross-border drivers. Several thousand people are expected in Ottawa as early as Friday as part of group demanding an end to vaccine […]1 day ago
Venezuela: Petition fell short in seeking Maduro recall vote
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela’s National Electoral Council said Thursday that an opposition petition drive seeking to force a recall referendum against President Nicolás Maduro fell far short of the signatures needed, a result that had been expected because authorities allowed only a 12-hour period for the effort. The council said only 42,421 signatures were […]1 day ago
Officials ID Indian family who died trying to cross into US
OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Officials in Ottawa said Thursday they have confirmed the identities of four Indian nationals whose bodies were found frozen in Manitoba near the Canada-U. S. border last week. The High Commission of India released a notice saying the four who died were Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel, a 39-year-old man, Vaishaliben Jagdishkumar Patel, […]1 day ago
Pakistani army says 10 soldiers killed in militant raid
QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Militants attacked a security post in a remote area of southwest Pakistan, triggering a firefight that killed 10 soldiers and an assailant, the military said Thursday. The predawn attack happened Wednesday in Kech, a town in Baluchistan province, according to a statement released by the military. It said the troops returned […]1 day ago
6 dead, 30 missing after migrant boat sinks off Tunisia
TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — At least six Africans trying to migrate to Europe died and an estimated 30 were missing in the Mediterranean Sea after their boat sank off the coast of Tunisia on Thursday, according to Tunisia’s Defense Ministry. Tunisian naval and coast guard forces retrieved the bodies, rescued 34 survivors and are searching […]1 day ago
Kim Jones back on runway as Fendi channels celestial Rome
PARIS (AP) — The name Kim Jones dominated Paris fashion for a second week running as the indefatigable Briton who designs for Dior Men’s returned to the runway for his latest couture collection for Fendi. Following in the steps of the late Karl Lagerfeld at the Roman house’s creative helm is no easy task — […]1 day ago
Reports: 6 wounded in Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan border clash
MOSCOW (AP) — Fighting between the border guards services of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan has wounded at least six people, local news reports said Thursday. The conflict reportedly began near the Kyrgyz city of Batken after Tajik border guards closed a road that leads to sizable towns in Kyrgyzstan’s west. Kyrgyz authorities say the Tajik guards […]1 day ago
Board approves fiscal plan for Puerto Rico amid bankruptcy
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Pay raises for teachers, firefighters, corrections officers and other employees were included in a revised fiscal plan approved Thursday that will serve as Puerto Rico’s economic blueprint criticized by some as the island emerges from bankruptcy. A federal control board that oversees the U.S. territory’s finances noted that many […]1 day ago
Trudeau isolates after being exposed to someone with COVID
TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday he is isolating at home after learning he was exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID-19. Trudeau tweeted the result of his rapid test is negative. He is following public health rules and isolating for five days. He learned he was exposed on Wednesday […]1 day ago
