Associated Press HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has launched a new policy that will allow beneficiaries of land taken from white people under controversial land reforms to sell it and to be able to borrow from banks using it as collateral. The new guidelines launched Friday mark a major shift in Zimbabwe’s
Continue ReadingBERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Olaf Scholz has dismissed an assertion by Elon Musk that only a far-right party can “save Germany.” But the German leader said Friday that freedom of opinion “also goes for multibillionaires.” Germany is expected to vote in an early election on Feb. 23 after Scholz’s three-party governing coalition collapsed last month
Continue ReadingAssociated Press TOCOA, Honduras (AP) — Seven bullets pounded into Juan López outside a small white church on a sunny September afternoon. Another environmental champion in Honduras was dead after leading the fight to protect dense jungle and crystalline waters in a region rife with corruption and drug trafficking. López’s killing in the most deadly
Continue ReadingAP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — An inflation gauge that is closely watched by the Federal Reserve barely rose last month in a sign that price pressures cooled after two months of sharp gains. Prices rose just 0.1% from October to November. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, prices also ticked up just 0.1%,
Continue ReadingAP Business Writer Amazon workers affiliated with the Teamsters union are on strike for a second day at seven of the company’s delivery hubs just days before Christmas. At midnight on Saturday, the Teamsters say workers at a prominent unionized warehouse in New York will also join. The union has not indicated how many employees
Continue ReadingFor the world, 2024 was riven by conflict on two fronts. As the year ends, Gaza is in shambles and tens of thousands are dead. Meanwhile an adjacent conflict between Israel and Hezbollah is playing out across the Lebanon landscape as the year ends. A continent away, the Russia-Ukraine war, which began with Russia’s invasion
Continue ReadingAssociated Press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Hundreds of Serbian students and others again blocked traffic for 15 minutes throughout the country as political tensions continue to simmer following last month’s collapse of a concrete canopy that killed 15 people. Friday’s traffic blockades have been held every week at exactly 11:52 a.m., the exact time on
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Less than 1% of Catholic nuns in the United States today are 30 or younger. Seyram Adzokpa and Zoey Stapleton are two of the young women who have made the rare decision to join a religious community and begin the long process to become nuns. Here are their stories.
Continue ReadingAssociated Press Less than 1% of nuns in the United States today are 30 or younger. That number has remained steady in the past decade but shows little signs of increasing. Between 100 and 200 young women enter into a religious vocation each year in the U.S., and not all of them will complete the
Continue ReadingAssociated Press PALMYRA, Pa. (AP) — It was a radical idea, and for many years she had been resistant. But as Zoey Stapleton, 24, walked down a darkened hiking trail, steps behind her parents, she counted back from three and “took a leap of faith,” revealing to them that she wanted to become a nun.
Continue ReadingAssociated Press MIRERENI, Mayotte (AP) — Crowds in Mayotte have vented their frustration at French President Emmanuel Macron, with some booing. Particularly tense scenes unfolded Thursday as he toured destruction wrought by the strongest cyclone to hit the French territory in nearly a century. They underscored the discontent that many residents of the archipelago in
Continue ReadingAssociated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The U.N.’s food agency says more than 40 million people are struggling to feed themselves across West and Central Africa. In a new report released Friday, the World Food Program said that number is set to rise to 52 million by mid-2025, with 3.4 million people facing what it
Continue ReadingMEXICO CITY (AP) — Seven inmates are dead after a prison riot in southern Mexico, where inmates resisted transfers to other jails and fought police with guns and knives. Four police officers and six other inmates were injured in the riot in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco. State police chief Víctor Hugo Chávez said
Continue ReadingAP Business Writer Tesla is recalling almost 700,000 vehicles because of an issue with the warning light on the tire pressure monitoring system. According to a letter Thursday from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the recall includes certain 2024 Cybertruck, 2017-2025 Model 3, and 2020-2025 Model Y vehicles. The issue is that the tire
Continue ReadingAssociated Press LONDON (AP) — Two men have been charged with assaulting police during a scuffle in July at Manchester Airport that led to outrage when video showed an officer stomping on a man’s head. The Crown Prosecution Service said Friday that no officers will be charged because it didn’t think they could win a
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The smooth economy that Donald Trump was poised to inherit suddenly looks a bit rockier — with critics saying the president-elect is contributing to the uncertainty. The Dow Jones stock index essentially ended Thursday flat after having posted 10 days of losses. The Federal Reserve now sees
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Hungary has given political asylum to a Polish opposition politician who is wanted on suspicions of corruption. The move has triggered a diplomatic spat that worsened on Friday. Poland’s government decried Hungary’s decision as a “hostile act” and Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he was dismayed by Hungarian Prime
Continue ReadingAP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Whether dressed in black, mimicking bare branches or decked out with enough bows for a Taylor Swift concert, the Christmas trees in some U.S. homes this year display an unconventional streak. They beckon visitors to behold the decorator’s personality, not a mere symbol of Yuletide cheer. Retail and
Continue ReadingAssociated Press KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) — The World Health Organization and the Rwandan government have declared the outbreak in Rwanda of the Ebola-like Marburg fever over after no new cases were registered in recent weeks. The country first declared the outbreak on Sept. 27 and reported a total of 15 deaths and 66 cases, with
Continue ReadingAssociated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian authorities say an ailing French national on death row for drug offenses has made a last-ditch plea to be returned home. Serge Atlaoui has spent almost 20 years in Indonesian prison. He won a last-minute reprieve in 2015 and was excluded from being executed by a 13-member firing
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