Year: 2021

The Associated Press Tropical Depression Grace is drenching Haiti, dumping up to 15 inches of rain on a quake-damaged landscape as thousands of people huddle in fields and search for survivors. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Fred weakened after hitting Florida’s Gulf Coast Monday afternoon near Cape San Blas and moving inland. The U.S. National Hurricane Center

By FARAI MUTSAKA Associated Press LUSAKA, Zambia (AP) — Zambia’s veteran opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema has won the southern African country’s presidency with more than 50% of the vote. Hichilema was declared president–elect after getting more than 2.8 million votes to President Edgar Lungu’s 1.8 million votes, achieving one of the biggest electoral wins in

QUINCY, Calif. (AP) — Firefighters battling flames in Northern California forests are girding for new bouts of windy weather, and a utility has warned thousands of customers it might cut their electricity to prevent new fires from igniting if gusts damage power lines. Conditions that suppressed the huge Dixie Fire overnight gave way Monday afternoon

By AHMAD SEIR, TAMEEM AKHGAR, KATHY GANNON and JON GAMBRELL Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — At least seven people are dead after the main airport in the Afghan capital descended into chaos. Thousands of Afghans rushed onto the tarmac Monday, a day after the government fell to the advancing Taliban. Some people were so

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s most populous state has reported its worst day of the pandemic with 478 new infections and seven COVID-19 deaths as pandemic restrictions tightened in other parts of the country. The previous record daily tally in New South Wales before Monday was 466 new cases reported

By EILEEN NG Associated Press KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has resigned less than 18 months in power, apologizing for his shortcomings but blaming those he said were “hungry for power.” Muhyiddin says he hoped to stay on until the coronavirus vaccination program is completed and the economy has recovered,

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and COLLEEN BARRY Associated Press The chop of U.S. military helicopters whisking American diplomats to Kabul’s airport has punctuated a frantic rush by thousands of other foreigners and Afghans to flee to safety as well, as a stunningly swift Taliban takeover reached Afghanistan’s capital. U.S. reports of gunfire at the airport Sunday

By BEN FINLEY Associated Press Earthquakes have been wreaking havoc in Haiti since at least the 18th century, when the city of Port-au-Prince was destroyed twice in 19 years. Saturday’s powerful quake killed hundreds and injured thousands more. Eleven years earlier a temblor killed tens of thousands of people, if not hundreds of thousands. Haiti

By MARK STEVENSON and EVENS SANON Associated Press LES CAYES, Haiti (AP) — Haitian authorities have raised the death toll from the powerful earthquake that struck southwestern Haiti over the weekend to 1,419. The country’s Civil Protection Agency also said Monday that the number of injured people has grown to 6,000. The earthquake destroyed thousands

By ASHRAF KHALIL and JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has approved a significant and permanent increase in the levels of food stamp assistance available to needy families. It’s the largest single increase in the program’s history. Starting in October, average benefits for food stamps  will rise more than 25 percent

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER, ROBERT BURNS and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is calling the violent chaos at Kabul’s airport “gut-wrenching,” but he’s standing by America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan. Biden spoke from the White House on Monday in his first in-person remarks since the Taliban over the weekend rolled over an

By SHEIKH SAALIQ Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s harsh anti-terror law is coming under rare scrutiny. Some Indian courts and legal experts say the law allows for arbitrary arrests and is being used to squash dissent. Tough requirements for granting bail mean people often spend months, sometimes years, in jail without being found

By The Associated Press A young Chinese woman says she was held for eight days at a Chinese-run secret detention facility in Dubai along with at least two Uyghurs. While so-called “black sites” are common in China, the account of 26-year-old Wu Huan is the only testimony known to experts that Beijing has set one

By The Associated Press A young Chinese woman says she was held for eight days at a Chinese-run secret detention facility in Dubai along with at least two Uyghurs. While so-called “black sites” are common in China, the account of 26-year-old Wu Huan is the only testimony known to experts that Beijing has set one