Month: October 2021

By DAVID SHARP Associated Press A Maine law banning obscene license plates goes into effect Monday, but getting the foul language off the roads and highways won’t happen overnight. Rule-making is getting underway to ensure the law protects First Amendment rights while getting rid of profane language. Secretary of State Shenna Bellows says the process

By JILL COLVIN and SARAH RANKIN Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Donald Trump rallied Republicans this past week to vote for Glenn Youngkin in the tight race for Virginia governor. But that may be the closest Trump gets to campaigning in the most closely watched election of 2021. The two men aren’t expected to

By SAM MEDNICK Associated Press OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Africa’s largest film festival is kicking off in Burkina Faso for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The week-long  Pan-African Film and TV Festival of Ouagadougou is also being held amid both the pandemic and a growing jihadi insurgency that’s killed thousands of

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A judiciary spokesperson says a court has sentenced the former governor of Iran’s central bank to 10 years in prison for violating the country’s currency system. The spokesperson says the former central bank chief also had a role in smuggling foreign currency. A former deputy to the bank chief was sentenced

By JIM HEINTZ Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s daily death toll from COVID-19 has exceeded 1000 for the first time as the country faces a sustained wave of rising infections. The national coronavirus task force on Saturday reported 1,002 deaths, up from 999 on Friday, along with 33,208 new confirmed cases. The government said

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s president has paid her respects at a morgue to the dozens of people killed in a deadly inferno that ripped through an aging tower block earlier in the week. Authorities say the fire in the southern city of Kaohsiung killed at least 46 people, after it broke out early Thursday

BERLIN (AP) — The leader of outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party has urged supporters to emulate the unity and discipline of their victorious opponents. Armin Laschet declared Saturday that the center-right Union bloc can only start winning again if its members learn to stand together. Laschet has indicated his readiness to step down as

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese astronauts have begun their six-month mission on China’s first permanent space station, after successfully docking aboard their spacecraft. The astronauts, two men and a woman, were seen floating around the module before speaking via a live-streamed video Saturday. They are the second crew to move into the new space station, which

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A NASA spacecraft named Lucy has rocketed into the sky with diamonds on a 12-year quest to explore a record-setting eight asteroids. Lucy blasted off before dawn Saturday from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The rocket is sending Lucy on a roundabout journey to the Trojan

By MAYUKO ONO and PAN PYLAS Associated Press LEIGH-ON-SEA, England (AP) — Leaders from across the political spectrum have come together to pay tribute to a long-serving British lawmaker who was stabbed to death in what police have described as a terrorist incident. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the leader of the main opposition Labour Party

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Police say four Russian tourists were found dead at a beach resort in western Albania. Albanian police issued a statement Saturday saying the four were found asphyxiated in a hotel sauna in the village of Qerret late Friday. Police did not give more details about the circumstances of the deaths, citing