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By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian opposition activists say an explosion at the base of an al-Qaida-linked group in northern Syria has killed eight fighters and wounded others. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the blast Tuesday at the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham base in northwestern Idlib province, the last major rebel stronghold

By BABACAR DIONE Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Senegalese officials say that Chad’s former dictator Hissene Habre has died at the age of 79 of COVID-19 in Senegal. Habre was convicted of crimes against humanity in 2016 by a special African court set up in Senegal after the former president spent decades in luxurious

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — One of the year’s most anticipated debut novels is now an Oprah Winfrey book club pick. Honorée Fanonne Jeffers’ “The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois” weaves centuries of Black history through a family in the American South and its contemporary narrator, young Ailey Paul

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s prime minister is insisting that efforts by Middle Eastern migrants to enter the European Union country from neighboring Belarus are part of an organized bid by the Minsk regime to sow political instability in the EU. Poland says it has sent tents, blankets, power generators and other items to help

By STEPHEN WADE AP Sports Writer TOKYO (AP) — The Paralympics have begun in the same empty National Stadium that hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the Tokyo Olympics. Japanese Emperor Naruhito again had the official honor of getting it all started. The Paralympics open with COVID-19 cases on the rise in Tokyo and

By CHALIDA EKVITTHAYAVECHNUKUL Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand has decriminalized the possession and sale of kratom, a plant that’s native to Southeast Asia whose leaves are used as a mild stimulant and painkiller. Kratom also has a following in the United States for its pain-relieving qualities. Thailand’s justice minister says thousands of legal cases

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Indian government forces have killed two senior rebel commanders and three other militants in two separate counterinsurgency operations in disputed Kashmir. The killings come during an intensified government offensive against anti-India rebels in Kashmir. Rebels have also killed several members of India’s governing party in the region and carried out attacks

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer Airbnb is offering free housing to 20,000 Afghan refugees globally and sought more assistance from hosts who rent property through the home-sharing company. In a tweet early Tuesday, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky wrote, “The displacement and resettlement of Afghan refugees in the U.S. and elsewhere is one of the

BERLIN (AP) — The head of Germany’s national labor agency says the country needs significantly more immigrants to plug gaps in the work force as the population ages. The chairman of the Federal Labor Agency said in Tuesday’s edition of the daily newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung that he expects the number of working-age people in Europe’s

LONDON (AP) — McDonald’s says it has pulled milkshakes from the menu in all 1,250 of its British restaurants because of supply problems stemming from a shortage of truck drivers. The fast-food chain says it is also experiencing shortages of bottled drinks. McDonald’s says that “we are currently experiencing some supply chain issues, impacting the