Year: 2021

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Amanda Gorman, who became world famous in January after reading “The Hill We Climb” at President Joe Biden’s inauguration, can still remember when she was just another young poet trying to find her voice. Gorman and Penguin Random House have established the Amanda Gorman Award

By JO KEARNEY Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A 21-year-old British free climber who scaled his second London skyscraper in a little over a week and his third overall. George King-Thompson climbed the 305-foot-tall Unex Tower in without ropes in around 10 minutes on Thursday morning, stopping to have a vape two stories from the

BEIJING (AP) — Officers from the U.S. and Taiwanese coast guards have met to discuss improving cooperation and communication despite efforts by China to isolate the self-governing island democracy. The virtual meeting came amid moves by the U.S. and others to defy Beijing’s pressure campaign aimed at compelling Taiwan to accept its view that the

By ILAN BEN ZION Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — A prominent international human rights group has accused Hamas of committing war crimes during a recent 11-day conflict with Israel by indiscriminately firing thousands of rockets toward Israeli cities and towns. Human Rights Watch said in a report released Thursday it concluded that a misfired rocket

By JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Danish lawmakers have agreed to evacuate 45 Afghan citizens who worked for Denmark’s government in Afghanistan and to offer them residency in the European country for two years. The plan approved Wednesday applies to people who worked at the Danish Embassy in Kabul and as

By NINIEK KARMINI Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Human rights groups are welcoming Indonesia’s decision to stop abusive “virginity tests” on female army recruits seven years after the World Health Organization declared they had no scientific validity. The army chief of staff said during annual joint military drills with the United States that applicants

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Robert Plant and Alison Krauss have reunited for another album more than a dozen years after their collaboration “Raising Sand” became a critical and commercial hit, earning six Grammy Awards. The 12-track “Raise the Roof” will be out Nov. 19 from Rounder Records and is

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Official figures show the British economy grew by 4.8% in the second quarter of 2021 as lockdown restrictions were lifted. The Office for National Statistics also said that the British economy grew by 1% in June alone, the fifth straight month of growth. The lifting of pandemic

BERLIN (AP) — Striking railway workers in Germany are halting much of the country’s train service for a second day. German news agency dpa reported that one-quarter of long-distance trains and about 40 % of regional and local commuter trains were running on Thursday. Members of the railway workers union GDL are staging the work

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Rescue workers in far eastern Russia are searching for eight people who are missing and fear dead after a helicopter carrying tourists crashed into a deep volcanic lake. Russia’s Emergencies Ministry says 13 tourists and three crew members were aboard the helicopter when it went down Thursday

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish authorities say the death toll from the severe floods and mudslides that struck the north of the country has risen to 17. One other person was reported missing Thursday. The floods battered the Black Sea coastal provinces of Bartin, Kastamonu, Sinop and Samsun on Wednesday, demolishing homes and bridges and

By FARAI MUTSAKA Associated Press LUSAKA, Zambia (AP) — Zambians are voting in tense elections that the president and his main rival have said are a test of the southern African country’s reputation as a stable democracy. Polling began in the presidential and legislative elections across the country at more than 12,000 polling stations, including