KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A Taliban spokesman says explosions and gunfire in Iran targeted and killed at least two Afghans earlier this month. Iran has denied any shooting took place in the country’s restive southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan, which borders Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The Taliban spokesman said on Thursday that explosions and gunfire targeted
Continue ReadingAssociated Press BERLIN (AP) — Germany has ordered the closure of all three Iranian consulates in the country in response to the execution of Iranian German prisoner Jamshid Sharmahd, who lived in the United States and was kidnapped in Dubai in 2020 by Iranian security forces. Sharmahd was put to death in Iran on Monday
Continue ReadingAssociated Press The city of Asheville has restored running water to most of its users nearly a month after Hurricane Helene damaged infrastructure and killed more than 200 people around the region. A boil water notice will remain in effect indefinitely as workers clear sediment from reservoirs and run water quality tests. Some residents find
Continue ReadingAP Music Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Country music has become a dominant force, bleeding into pop music’s mainstream. Artists who were once not associated with the genre, like Beyoncé and Post Malone, have recently released country records. They, like Shaboozey, take a hybrid, genre-averse approach to the music. Next week, some of them may
Continue ReadingAssociated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Billions of dollars in advertising are raining down on voters across the Rust Belt, Rocky Mountains and American southwest as the two major political parties portray their opponent’s candidates as extreme in a struggle for control of the U.S. Senate. In three races alone — Ohio, Pennsylvania and Montana
Continue ReadingBRUSSELS (AP) — The European Commission has fined Israeli generic drugmaker Teva more than 460 million euros ($500 million) for improperly seeking to protect the patent for its multiple sclerosis drug and for disparaging a rival company’s development of a competing medicine. The commission said in a statement Thursday that the pharmaceutical firm “misused the
Continue ReadingAP Business Writer Fewer Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week as layoffs remained at historically healthy levels despite elevated interest rates. The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claim applications fell by 12,000 to 216,000 for the week of Oct. 26. That’s fewer than the 227,000 analysts forecast. Weekly applications for jobless benefits are
Continue ReadingAP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — As a presidential race profoundly shaped by Americans’ frustration with high prices nears its end, the government said Thursday that an inflation gauge closely watched by the Federal Reserve has dropped to near pre-pandemic levels. Prices rose just 2.1% in September from a year earlier, down from a 2.3%
Continue ReadingAP Business Writer LONDON (AP) — Chinese online retailer Temu is facing a European Union investigation over suspicions it’s failing to prevent the sale of illegal products. The 27-nation bloc’s executive arm opened its investigation on Thursday after putting Temu on its list of “very large online platforms” needing the strictest level of scrutiny under
Continue ReadingAssociated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Angry seasonal firefighters have clashed with police in Greece’s Civil Protection Ministry, during a protest to demand permanent positions as their contracts expire following a grueling wildfire season. Hundreds of people took part in the protest. They are among some 2,500 seasonal firefighters who are now unemployed for at
Continue ReadingAssociated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Donald Trump is traveling to New Mexico and Virginia in the campaign’s final days. It’s a risky detour from the seven battleground states to spend time in places where Republican presidential candidates haven’t won in decades. The former president campaigned in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Thursday during a swing
Continue ReadingAssociated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rowdy crowds took to the streets in Los Angeles after the Dodgers won the World Series, setting a city bus on fire, breaking into stores and setting off firecrackers. But Mayor Karen Bass on Thursday emphasized that “the overwhelming majority of celebrations were joyful and peaceful.” LA police Officer
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WORTHINGTON, Minn. (AP) — Come noon on Sundays, overlapping worship options reflect how much Worthington has changed from a typical Midwestern farming community to a majority-minority hub with migrants from around the world. An overflow crowd is still swaying to thumping praise music from one of 10 Latino choirs at St. Mary’s second
Continue ReadingDemocrat Kamala Harris says recent comments by her opponent, Republican Donald Trump, are “offensive” and that it’s clear he doesn’t understand women. She was responding to Trump, who said Wednesday that he will protect women, “whether the women like it or not.” The subtext of both Trump’s and Harris’ comments appears to be a 2022
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WORTHINGTON, Minn. (AP) — Over the past generation, immigrants from Southeast Asia, East Africa and now predominantly Central America have transformed Worthington, a once overwhelmingly white farming community. Students of color constitute more than 80% of those enrolled in K-12, Spanish is most children’s first language, and soccer is far more popular than
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WORTHINGTON, Minn. (AP) — Two Guatemalans wearing traditional embroidered skirts bought coconut boba teas on an October afternoon at the bustling downtown Asian market. In decades past, the building served as this rural town’s hardware store where farmers shopped for hammers, nuts and bolts. Over the past generation, immigrants from Southeast Asia, East
Continue ReadingAssociated Press ATLANTA (AP) — With the death and destruction in Gaza on her mind, Soraya Burhani agonized over how to cast her vote for president. “For us, Muslims, I see that there’s no good choice,” she said. With the U.S. handling of the Israel-Hamas war and conflict in the Middle East looming over the
Continue ReadingAssociated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Rocket barrages from Lebanon into northern Israel killed four foreign workers and three Israelis on Thursday, Israeli medics said, the deadliest cross-border strikes in Israel since it invaded Lebanon. Israel kept up airstrikes it says targeted Hezbollah militants across Lebanon, where health authorities on Thursday reported 24 people
Continue ReadingAssociated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Commercial satellite images reveal that North Korea freshly carved at least two large trenches across its heavily armed border with South Korea after it blew up northern sections of unused road and rail routes that once linked the rivals earlier this month. Tensions between the Koreas are at
Continue ReadingMOSCOW (AP) — A gas explosion in a residential building in southern Russia has killed five people and injured another four. Local emergency officials said the blast occurred early Thursday in the city of Cherkessk in the Karachay-Cherkessia region, which borders Georgia. They said the explosion severely damaged two upper stories of a five-story residential
Continue Reading