AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Best-selling author Barbara Taylor Bradford has died. She was 91. She became a publishing sensation in her 40s with the tenacious saga “A Woman of Substance” and wrote more than dozen other novels that sold more than 80 million copies worldwide. Starting with “A Woman of Substance,” published
Continue ReadingBAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s prime minister says the country’s population has grown to 45.4 million, according to preliminary results from a national census, the first in nearly 40 years. The nationwide population census carried out earlier this month is a step aimed at modernizing data collection and planning in a country long impacted by conflict
Continue ReadingKUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Swiss watchmaker Swatch has won a suit against the Malaysian government after a court ordered the return of 172 Swatch watches seized last year due to designs that authorities said bore LGBT elements. Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution said Monday the government will wait for the court’s full judgment before deciding
Continue ReadingAssociated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Diplomats and other officials say there have been several sticking points in ceasefire talks to end the war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, even as conditions for an agreement appear to be ripe. Israel’s military has killed nearly all of the militant group’s top leaders, but it
Continue ReadingAssociated Press I have a confession. I like the Thanksgiving leftovers better than the holiday feast. The Thanksgiving meal is a family favorite, and I love all of the foods. But what makes me even happier is opening the fridge the next morning and foraging for a slice of apple pie or some leftover roasted
Continue ReadingAP Business Writer ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — The Justice Department and Google have made their closing arguments in a trial alleging Google’s online advertising technology constitutes an illegal monopoly. The arguments in federal court Monday in northern Virginia came as Google already faces a possible breakup of the company over its ubiquitous search engine. The
Continue ReadingAssociated Press TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — The newly elected Georgian parliament has opened its inaugural session as opposition lawmakers and the country’s president stayed away and thousands of protesters rallied outside under a heavy police presence. They accused the ruling Georgian Dream party of rigging the vote under Russian influence. The Oct. 26 election that
Continue ReadingAssociated Press AVIGNON, France (AP) — A high-profile rape trial in France is moving into a new phase with prosecutors setting out the verdicts and punishments they want for 51 men men accused of raping Gisèle Pelicot, 71, while she was drugged and rendered unconscious by her husband of nearly 50 years. Dominique Pelicot has
Continue ReadingAssociated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates says police have arrested three Uzbek nationals for the killing of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi. Monday’s statement from the country’s Interior Ministry offered no motive for the slaying of Zvi Kogan. Kogan, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi who went missing on Thursday, ran a kosher grocery
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The X account for internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom says he has suffered a “serious stroke.” He has been fighting deportation from New Zealand to the United States on charges relating to his file-sharing website Megaupload for 12 years. The post said, “I have the best health professionals helping
Continue ReadingBEIRUT (AP) — An international human rights group says an Israeli airstrike that killed three journalists and wounded others in Lebanon last month was most likely a deliberate attack on civilians and an apparent war crime. The Oct. 25 airstrike killed three journalists as they slept at a guesthouse in southeast Lebanon in one of
Continue ReadingAssociated Press BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania’s political landscape is reeling after a little-known, far-right populist secured the first round in the presidential election, going from an obscure candidate to beating the incumbent prime minister and a reformist politician. Calin Georgescu was ahead Momday after nearly all ballots were counted with around 22.94% of the
Continue ReadingAssociated Press PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — The U.N. chief, Pope Francis and others are calling for nations to end the production and use of land mines, even as their deployment grows. They made the appeal Monday at a conference on the 25-year-old Mine Ban Treaty that opened in Cambodia. A land mine monitoring group
Continue ReadingThe Israeli ambassador to Washington says a ceasefire deal to end fighting between Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah militants could be reached “within days.” Ambassador Mike Herzog told Israeli Army Radio on Monday that there remained “points to finalize” and that any deal required agreement from the government. Israeli officials say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security
Continue ReadingAssociated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has described a public threat by the vice president to have him killed by an assassin as a criminal plot and vowed to fight it, in a looming showdown between the country’s top two leaders. Vice President Sara Duterte said Saturday in an online
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — Hundreds of supporters of India’s main opposition party have protested against billionaire Gautam Adani, who was recently indicted in the U.S. for alleged fraud and bribery, and accused the government of protecting the Indian coal magnate whose companies’ shares have plunged since the charges last week. Activists belonging to
Continue ReadingAssociated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Authorities say police are firing tear gas canisters at supporters of Pakistan’s imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan. They have started reaching and gathering near the capital after marching from the restive northwest to demand his release. Monday’s development comes shortly after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko arrived in Islamabad for a
Continue ReadingAssociated Press LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Authorities have closed schools and suspended internet services in a northern Indian city a day after four people were killed in clashes sparked by an official survey probing whether a 16th-century mosque was built on a Hindu temple. Nearly 1,000 Muslim protesters gathered outside the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal
Continue ReadingAssociated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — American Airlines says it doesn’t expect significant disruptions to flights this week as a result of a labor strike at its hub in Charlotte, North Carolina. Service workers there walked out Monday during a busy week of Thanksgiving travel to protest what they say are unlivable wages. Employees of
Continue ReadingRussia’s military captured a British national fighting with Ukrainian troops who have occupied part of Russia’s Kursk region, according to reports Monday, as Moscow began daylight drone attacks on civilian areas of Ukraine and its ground forces accelerated gains along parts of the front line. The Briton was identified by state news agency Tass and
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