Facing a possible strike at US ports, Biden administration urges operators to negotiate with unions

WASHINGTON (AP) — Top Biden administration officials met Friday with port operators ahead of a possible strike at East and Gulf coast ports, with a union contract expiring after Monday. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su and Lael Brainard,...

Qatar is the second Muslim nation whose citizens can travel to the US without a visa

NEW YORK (AP) — The Gulf nation of Qatar on Tuesday became just the second Muslim-majority country to be admitted into a program that allows its citizens to travel to the United States without first obtaining a U.S. visa. The departments of State and Homeland Security jointly...

Today in History: September 22, Lincoln issues preliminary Emancipation Proclamation

Today is Sunday, Sept. 22, the 266th day of 2024. There are 100 days left in the year. Autumn begins at 8:43 a.m. EDT. Today in history: On Sept. 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, declaring all enslaved people in...

Faked video targeting France and UAE likely Russian despite Moscow's links to Gulf Arab states

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A fake video that ricocheted across the internet claiming tensions between France and the United Arab Emirates after Telegram CEO Pavel Durov's detention in Paris likely came from Russia, an analysis by The Associated Press shows, despite Moscow's efforts to...

Francine strengthens into a hurricane in the Gulf as Louisiana prepares for storm to make landfall Wednesday

The US sanctions a man it says leads a fuel theft ring for hyper-violent Mexican cartel

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Close to the leadership of Mexico’s hyper-violent Jalisco New Generation cartel is a man known as “the tank" who leads its fuel theft arm, supplying it with tens of millions of dollars a year by selling stolen gasoline through a network of seemingly legitimate businesses,...

Oman state-run oil firm OQ will make initial public offering and potentially seek billions

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Omani state-run oil and gas company announced Monday it will make an initial public offering of its exploration and production business, potentially seeking billions in a major move toward privatization in the sultanate. OQ, formerly known as...

Taliban vice and virtue laws provide 'distressing vision' for Afghanistan, warns UN envoy

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban’s new vice and virtue laws that include a ban on women’s voices and bare faces in public provide a “distressing vision” for Afghanistan’s future, a top U.N. official warned Sunday. Roza Otunbayeva, who heads the U.N. mission in the country,...

The UAE accepts credentials of Taliban ambassador in a major diplomatic win for Afghanistan’s rulers

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The United Arab Emirates on Wednesday accepted the credentials of the Taliban’s ambassador to the oil-rich Gulf Arab state, the biggest diplomatic coup for Afghanistan’s rulers who are not officially recognized as the country’s legitimate government. The...

Floods and climate change blamed for surge in dengue in the Emirates as WHO warns of global spike

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Since the United Arab Emirates witnessed its heaviest recorded rainfall ever three months ago, the desert nation has issued a multitude of warnings about dengue which, activists say, has surged and struck hardest among the vast populations of laborers. ...