Top General News
Belarus Olympic sprinter arrives in Vienna amid safety fears
VIENNA, Austria (AP) — A plane carrying a Belarusian Olympic sprinter seeking refuge landed in Austria on Wednesday after she resisted an attempt by her Olympic team’s officials to send her home, where she feared reprisals from the authoritarian government. Krystsina...
Cuomo investigation: What we know and what's next
NEW YORK (AP) — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s monthslong fall from grace reached a nadir Tuesday, when investigators said they substantiated sexual harassment allegations against him from 11 women, many of whom have worked for him. Cuomo, once widely beloved for his...
Head of UN health agency seeks vaccine booster moratorium
GENEVA (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization is calling for a moratorium on administering booster shots of COVID-19 vaccines as a way to help ensure that doses are available in countries where few people have received their first shots. WHO Director-General...
Analysis: Delta variant upends politicians' COVID calculus
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s administration drew up a strategy to contain one coronavirus strain, then another showed up that’s much more contagious. This week — a month late — Biden met his goal of 70% of U.S. adults having received at least one...
China seals city as its worst virus outbreak in a year grows
BEIJING (AP) — China's worst coronavirus outbreak since the start of the pandemic a year and a half ago escalated Wednesday with dozens more cases around the country, the sealing-off of one city and the punishment of its local leaders. Since that initial outbreak was...
Black women, across generations, heed Biles’ Olympic example
NEW YORK (AP) — Naomi Osaka. Simone Biles. Both are prominent young Black women under the pressure of a global Olympic spotlight that few human beings ever know. Both have faced major career crossroads at the Tokyo Games. Both cited pressure and mental health. The glare...
This year's summer of climate extremes hits wealthier places
As the world staggers through another summer of extreme weather, experts are noticing something different: 2021′s onslaught is hitting harder and in places that have been spared global warming’s wrath in the past. Wealthy countries such as the United States, Canada,...
Mired in crises, Lebanon marks 1 year since horrific blast
BEIRUT (AP) — United in grief and anger, families of the victims and other Lebanese came out into the streets of Beirut on Wednesday to demand accountability as banks, businesses and government offices shuttered to mark one year since the horrific explosion at the port of Beirut. ...
For Missouri congresswoman, eviction fight is personal
WASHINGTON (AP) — Roughly two decades before she was elected to Congress, Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri lived in a Ford Explorer with her then-husband and two young children after the family had been evicted from their rental home. So for Bush, a freshman Democrat from...
'Uuuh-aaah!' Sport climbing's Ondra screams his way to top
TOKYO (AP) — Weightlifters are among the most vocal athletes at the Olympics, letting out screams as they lock out at the top of a lift: “ahhhhhh!" Tennis players have long been known to be grunters, usually with some form of “ha-uh!" or “ha-ooah!" ...
Latest General News
Rights group urges Western firms to stop Belarus TV ads
BERLIN (AP) — A German-Swiss group that campaigns for human rights in Belarus called Wednesday for Western companies to stop buying airtime for advertising on the authoritarian country’s state broadcasters. Libereco said major consumer goods companies such as Procter...
Grammys commit to more hiring diversity for 2022 show
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Grammy Awards will adopt an inclusion rider that will require producers to recruit and hire more diverse candidates backstage and in front of the camera for next year's ceremony. The Recording Academy announced Wednesday that the rider will be...
Stocks slip as investors weigh corporate earnings, jobs data
Stocks fell on Wall Street in morning trading on Wednesday as investors weighed another batch of corporate earnings and economic data that could shed more light on how the economic recovery is going. The S&P 500 index fell 0.2% as of 10:14 a.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones...
COVID nurse is thrilled to be back on pro bowling circuit
NEW YORK (AP) — Nursing and professional bowling aren't usually found on the same resume. In fact, Erin McCarthy is just one of a few to claim that territory. The 31-year-old McCarthy has weathered the pandemic as a critical care nurse in Omaha, and she did it during...
Police: Officers shoot, kill armed man after mother stabbed
CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa. (AP) — A police officer shot and killed an armed man after a woman was stabbed at an apartment building in southeastern Pennsylvania, authorities said. The Montgomery County prosecutor's office and Plymouth Township police said officers were dispatched...
Olympics Latest: World champ Dutch out in women's handball
TOKYO (AP) — The Latest on the Tokyo Olympics, which are taking place under heavy restrictions after a year’s delay because of the coronavirus pandemic: ___ World champion the Netherlands is out of the women’s handball competition at the Tokyo...
Mired in crises, Lebanon marks 1 year since horrific blast
BEIRUT (AP) — United in grief and anger, families of the victims and other Lebanese came out into the streets of Beirut on Wednesday to demand accountability as banks, businesses and government offices shuttered to mark one year since the horrific explosion at the port of Beirut. ...
Lowndes County will split tax assessor and collector jobs
COLUMBUS, Miss. (AP) — A northeast Mississippi county will split the offices of tax collector and tax assessor, starting with the next round of elections in 2023. Lowndes County supervisors voted unanimously Monday to make the change, the Commercial Dispatch reported. ...
South Africa quickens vaccine drive, gets more doses from US
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The cars lined up by the strikingly modern mosque and were guided to parking bays where the drivers soon got jabs. The brisk pace at the Houghton mosque COVID-19 vaccination center is seeing 700 people per day getting shots and is expected to soon...
Florida teen held in choking, beating of boy left in woods
LEESBURG, Fla. (AP) — A central Florida teen is accused of choking and beating a boy and leaving him naked and unconscious in the woods, officials said. The 16-year-old teen from Leesburg told Lake County Sheriff's investigators he intended to kill the boy because of...
