News

NEW YORK (AP) — Two years after Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide behind bars, a jury is set to be picked Monday in New York City to determine a central question in the long-running sex trafficking case: Was his longtime companion, Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s puppet or accomplice? Maxwell is accused of acting as Epstein’s chief enabler, recruiting

By STEPHEN WADE and YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — The northern Japanese city of Sapporo became a frontrunner to land the 2030 Winter Olympics after the mayor talked up a plan that he says will cut the costs of holding one of sports’ most expensive events. The mayor says he would also conduct

By LIZ WESTON of NerdWallet We’re living longer on average, but the number of years we’re healthy hasn’t kept up. The result is what actuaries call a “health span gap,” or years and sometimes decades spent living with disabilities. If you want to maximize the number of healthy years you have both before and after

BERLIN (AP) — About 3.5 million state-level employees and civil servants in Germany will receive a 2.8% raise and a tax-free COVID-19 bonus of about $1,470 next year. The agreement announced by two unions Monday also will see higher raises and hazard pay for workers in some medical and care professions and a tax-free bonus

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Scores of opposition supporters in Kyrgyzstan have rallied to challenge the results of a parliamentary election that was swept by parties loyal to the country’s president. Sunday’s election came just over just over a year after a forceful change of government in the ex-Soviet Central Asian nation

MILAN (AP) — The carmaker Stellantis says it’s secured a five-year supply of battery-grade lithium hydroxide in Europe supporting its plans to convert to 98% electrified vehicles by 2025. The car company that combined PSA Peugeot and Fiat Chrysler said Monday that is signed a binding agreement with Vulcan Energy Resources Ltd. in Germany. It

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s prime minister is calling on world powers not to “give in to Iran’s nuclear blackmail” as talks commenced in Vienna. Naftali Bennett said in a video statement obtained by The Associated Press that was delivered to representatives of nations opening negotiations with Iran on Monday that Tehran seeks “to end sanctions

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Actress Lindsay Lohan has told her followers on Instagram that she’s engaged. Lohan announced her engagement to boyfriend Bader Shammas and showed off a traditional oval diamond ring with a photo of the couple looking happy and locked in an embrace. The 35-year-old “Mean Girls” star has been based

By RAF CASERT and MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Nations around the world sought to keep the new omicron variant at bay with travel bans and further restrictions, even as it remains unclear what it means for the COVID-19 pandemic. Japan announced Monday it would suspend entry of all foreign visitors. New cases

By RIAZ KHAN Associated Press PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani authorities say a mob has burned a police station and four police posts in the northwest overnight as officers detained a mentally unstable man accused of blasphemy. Police said Monday the demonstrators wanted to lynch the man on charges that he desecrated the Quran, Islam’s

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization is pushing for an international accord to help prevent and fight future pandemics amid the emergence of a worrying new omicron COVID-19 variant. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also said Monday that many uncertainties remain about just how transmissible and severe infection by