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British regulator 1st to OK Moderna's updated COVID booster
LONDON (AP) — British drug regulators have become the first in the world to authorize an updated version of Moderna's coronavirus vaccine that includes protection against the omicron variant, which the government said would be offered to people aged 50…
China announces new drills as US delegation visits Taiwan
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China announced more military drills around Taiwan as the self-governing island’s president met with members of a new U.S. congressional delegation on Monday, threatening to renew tensions between Beijing and Washington after a similar recent visit…
WNBA's Brittney Griner appeals her Russian prison sentence
MOSCOW (AP) — Lawyers for American basketball star Brittney Griner have filed an appeal of her nine-year Russian prison sentence for drug possession, Russian news agencies reported Monday, amid talks between the U.S. and Russia that could lead to a high-profile prisoner…
Red panda found in fig tree after escaping Australian zoo
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A red panda that spent two days on the lam after escaping from an Australian zoo was recaptured Sunday after he was spotted hanging out in a fig tree in a nearby park. Named Ravi,…
3 newborn lion cubs a rare joyous sight in war-scarred Gaza
Three newborn lion cubs are displayed at Nama zoo in Gaza City, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2022. The lioness gave birth to three cubs five days after Israel and Palestinian militants ended a fierce round of cross-border…
Dairy farm in Ukraine's Donbas region struggles to survive
DMYTRIVKA, Ukraine (AP) — One of the last working dairy farms on Ukrainian-controlled territory in the eastern Donbas region is doing everything it can to stay afloat in a place where neither workers nor animals are safe from war. Only…
Poland investigates 'ecological catastrophe' of fish die-off
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland has deployed soldiers to help clean up the Oder River, which runs along the border with Germany, after 10 tons of dead fish surfaced from the waterway in what one official described as an “ecological…
Ship reaches Ukraine to load up with wheat for hungry Africa
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A ship has docked in a Ukrainian Black Sea port to begin loading wheat for hungry people in Ethiopia. That would be the first food delivery to Africa under a U.N.-brokered plan to unblock grain trapped…
European drought dries up rivers, kills fish, shrivels crops
LUX, France (AP) — Once, a river ran through it. Now, white dust and thousands of dead fish cover the wide trench that winds amid rows of trees in France’s Burgundy region in what was the Tille River in the…
Roller coaster crash at German amusement park injures 34
BERLIN (AP) — Two roller coaster trains crashed into each other Thursday at an amusement park in southern Germany, injuring at least 34 people, two of them severely, German media reported. One roller coaster train braked heavily and another train…
Hostage standoff at Beirut bank ends with gunman's arrest
An armed man talks to hostages inside a bank in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022. A Lebanese security official says a man armed with a shotgun has broken into a Beirut bank, holding employees hostage…
Wildfire in southwestern France: 6,000 people evacuated
PARIS (AP) — Firefighters were battling a wildfire in southwestern France on Wednesday in a region known for its pine forests that was ravaged by flames last month. The blaze forced the evacuation of about 6,000 people and destroyed at…
London kids to be offered polio shot after more virus found
LONDON (AP) — British health authorities say they will offer a polio booster dose to children aged 1 to 9 in London, after finding evidence the virus has been spreading in multiple regions of the capital, despite not confirming any…
Ukrainian resistance grows in Russian-occupied areas
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Guerrilla forces loyal to Kyiv are killing pro-Moscow officials in a growing challenge to Russia’s grip on areas it occupies in southeastern Ukraine. They are blowing up bridges and trains and identifying key targets for the…
Rescuers to move whale stranded in French river to saltwater
PARIS (AP) — French environmentalists prepared Tuesday to move a beluga whale that strayed into the Seine River last week to a saltwater basin in Normandy, hoping to save the life of the dangerously thin marine mammal. A medical team plans to…
Russia successfully launches Iranian satellite
In this handout photo taken from video released by Roscosmos on Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022, a Russian Soyuz rocket lifts off to carry Iranian Khayyam satellite into orbit at the Russian leased Baikonur cosmodrome near Baikonur,…
Nuclear plant in Ukraine is shelled; Rising dangers feared
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine traded accusations Monday that each side is shelling Europe's biggest nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. Russia claimed that Ukrainian shelling caused a power surge and fire and forced staff to lower output…
Efforts to feed Beluga whale in France's Seine fail so far
PARIS (AP) — Efforts to feed a dangerously thin Beluga whale that has strayed into the Seine River in France have failed so far and experts are now trying to get the whale out of the river lock where it…
Mexico to send aquatic drone into shaft with trapped miners
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico will attempt to send an aquatic drone into a collapsed coal mine where 10 miners have been trapped since last week. Laura Velázquez, national Civil Defense coordinator, said Monday that images from the drone could…
US pledges $1 billion more rockets, other arms for Ukraine
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced another $1 billion in new military aid for Ukraine on Monday, pledging what will be the biggest yet delivery of rockets, ammunition and other arms straight from Department of Defense stocks for Ukrainian forces.…
Woman injured by polar bear on Norway’s Svalbard Islands
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A polar bear attacked a campsite Monday in Norway’s remote Arctic Svalbard Islands, injuring a French tourist, authorities said, adding that the wounds weren't life-threatening. The bear was later killed. The woman, who was not identified,…
Ukrainian risks her life to rescue wild animals from war
Natalia Popova, 50, pets a tiger at her animal shelter in Kyiv region, Ukraine, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022. Popova, in cooperation with the animal protection organisation UA Animals, has already saved more than 300 animals from…
Fire at music pub in eastern Thailand kills at least 13
Major fire damage fills the interior at the Mountain B pub in the Sattahip district of Chonburi province, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) southeast of Bangkok, Thailand. Over a dozen people were killed and dozens injured…
Efforts intensify to reach 10 trapped coal miners in Mexico
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Efforts to rescue 10 miners trapped in a collapsed and flooded coal mine in northern Mexico intensified Thursday with hundreds of people involved in the operation, authorities said. The collapse occurred after the miners breached a…
Amazon workers at UK warehouse stop work to protest pay
LONDON (AP) — More than 700 Amazon warehouse workers in England staged a protest Thursday in a dispute over pay, in the latest sign of workplace friction stoked by Britain's cost of living crisis and a growing discontent among employees…
Russian judge sentences WNBA's Griner to 9 years in prison
KHIMKI, Russia (AP) — A judge in Russia has convicted and sentenced American basketball star Brittney Griner to nine years in prison for drug possession and smuggling. Judge Anna Sotnikova said the time…
Senate set to vote to ratify adding Sweden, Finland to NATO
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate is set to ratify NATO membership for Finland and Sweden, a crucial step toward swiftly expanding the Western military alliance with a show of U.S. support in…
Volcano near Iceland's main airport erupts again after pause
REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — A volcano in southwest Iceland began erupting Wednesday, the country’s meteorological authorities said — just eight months after its last eruption officially ended. The Icelandic Meteorological Office urged people not to go near the Fagradalsfjall volcano,…
Ferrari earnings up 22% on surging deliveries to Americas
MILAN (AP) — Luxury Italian automaker Ferrari raised its 2022 forecast Tuesday after reporting a 22% increase in second-quarter earnings as sales in the Americas surged. The maker of high-performance luxury sports cars reported net profits of 251 million euros…
UK authorities charge man arrested at castle with crossbow
LONDON (AP) — British prosecutors have charged a man with intending to “injure or alarm” Queen Elizabeth II after he was arrested at Windsor Castle on Christmas Day. Jaswant Singh Chail, 20, has been charged under the Treason Act after…
US House Speaker Pelosi arrives in Taiwan, defying Beijing
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrived in Taiwan on Tuesday night despite threats from Beijing of serious consequences, becoming the highest-ranking American official to visit the self-ruled island claimed by China in 25 years. Pelosi’s visit…
Ukraine seeks to retake the south, tying down Russian forces
Even as Moscow's war machine crawls across Ukraine's east, trying to achieve the Kremlin's goal of securing full control over the country's industrial heartland, Ukrainian forces are scaling up attacks to reclaim territory in the Russian-occupied south. The Ukrainians have…
2 years later, hope for justice in Beirut explosion fades
Port workers run to the scene of an explosion that hit the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2020. Massive explosions rocked downtown Beirut on Tuesday, flattening much of the port, damaging buildings and blowing…
1st ship carrying Ukrainian grain leaves the port of Odesa
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The first ship carrying Ukrainian grain set out Monday from the port of Odesa under an internationally brokered deal to unblock the embattled country's agricultural exports and ease the growing global food crisis. The Sierra Leone-flagged…
Australian, Canadian climbers die on Pakistan's K2
ISLAMABAD (AP) — An Australian and a Canadian mountain climber died last week in northern Pakistan while attempting to scale K2, the world’s second-highest mountain, officials said Thursday. The death of Matthew Eakin was announced by the Australian Department of…
Kim threatens to use nukes amid tensions with US, S. Korea
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned he’s ready to use his nuclear weapons in potential military conflicts with the United States and South Korea, state media said Thursday, as he unleashed fiery rhetoric against…
Russia attacks Kyiv area for the first time in weeks
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces launched a missile attack on the Kyiv area for the first time in weeks Thursday and pounded the northern Chernihiv region as well, in what Ukraine said was revenge for standing up to the…
Strong quake kills 5, injures dozens in northern Philippines
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A strong earthquake set off landslides and damaged buildings in the northern Philippines on Wednesday, killing at least five people and injuring dozens. In the capital, hospital patients were evacuated and terrified people rushed outdoors. The…
Japanese city alarmed by biting, clawing, attacking monkeys
TOKYO (AP) — People in a southwestern Japanese city have come under attack from monkeys that are trying to snatch babies, biting and clawing at flesh, and sneaking into nursery schools. The attacks — on…
Big pink diamond discovered in Angola, largest in 300 years
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A big pink diamond of 170 carats has been discovered in Angola and is claimed to be the largest such gemstone found in 300 years. Called…
Ukraine's grain is ready to go. But ships aren't. Why? Risk
Shipping companies are not rushing to export millions of tons of grain trapped in Ukraine, despite a breakthrough deal to provide safe corridors through the Black Sea. That is because explosive mines are drifting in the waters, ship owners are assessing the…
In a first, coin bearing zodiac found off Israel's coast
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's Antiquities Authority said Monday it has discovered a rare 1,850-year-old bronze zodiac coin during an underwater survey off the coastal city of Haifa. The coin bears the image of the zodiac sign Cancer behind a depiction…
Russia to drop out of International Space Station after 2024
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia will pull out of the International Space Station after 2024 and focus on building its own orbiting outpost, the country's new space chief said Tuesday amid high tensions between Moscow and the West over the fighting…
Pope apologizes for 'devastating' school abuses in Canada
MASKWACIS, Alberta (AP) — Pope Francis has apologized for the Catholic Church’s cooperation with Canada’s “devastating” policy of Indigenous residential schools, saying the forced assimilation of Native peoples into Christian society destroyed their cultures, severed their families and marginalized generations…
UN health agency chief declares monkeypox a global emergency
LONDON (AP) — The expanding monkeypox outbreak in more than 70 countries is an “extraordinary” situation that qualifies as a global emergency, the World Health Organization chief said Saturday, a declaration that could spur further investment in treating the once-rare disease and…
Women mountain climbers from Pakistan, Iran reach K2 summit
Pakistani mountaineer Samina Baig flashes a victory sign while she poses for a photograph outside a hotel, in Skardu, Pakistan, on June 17, 2021. Baig from Pakistan and another from Iran appear to be the first…
Indigenous Canadians wary, hopeful as pope prepares apology
MASKWACIS, Alberta (AP) — Indigenous Canadians are voicing a range of skepticism, wariness and hope as Pope Francis prepares to arrive in their country next week. He's scheduled to deliver a historic apology for abuses at Catholic-run residential schools. Generations…
White House announces $270M military package for Ukraine
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House announced Friday that the U.S. is sending an additional $270 million in security assistance to Ukraine, a package that will include additional medium range rocket systems and tactical drones.…
Protest held at Uffizi's 'Spring' but painting not damaged
ROME, Italy (AP) — Italian environmental activists glued their hands Friday to the glass protecting Sandro Botticelli’s painting “Spring” in the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, police said. The museum said thanks to the glass, which was installed as a precaution…
Ukraine, Russia sign U.N. deal to export grain on Black Sea
ISTANBUL (AP) — Russia and Ukraine signed separate agreements Friday with Turkey and the United Nations clearing the way for exporting millions of tons of desperately needed Ukrainian grain — as well as Russian grain and fertilizer — ending a…
