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WASHINGTON (AP) — OPEC and allied oil-producing countries meet Thursday under the spikey shadow of a new COVID-19 threat, with uncertainty over the omicron variant's impact on the global economic recovery hanging over their decision on how much oil to pump to a world paying more for gasoline.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appointed a new treasury and finance minister early Thursday after Lutfi Elvan stepped down from the post as the currency has been tumbling to record lows.
PARIS (AP) — Greeks who are over age 60 and refuse coronavirus vaccinations could be hit with monthly fines of more than one-quarter of their pensions — a get-tough policy that the country's politicians say will cost votes but save lives.
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s highest court on Thursday advised that the principle to link the bloc’s budget disbursements to the respect for rule of law are compatible with the bloc's laws and that the challenge by Hungary and Poland should be dismissed.
BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her likely successor met Thursday with state governors to consider tighter rules to curb coronavirus infections that again topped 70,000 newly confirmed cases in a 24-hour period.
LAS MANCHAS, Canary Islands (AP) — They come with eagle-eyed drones and high-precision instruments. Aided by satellites, they analyze gas emissions and the flows of molten rock. On the ground, they collect everything from the tiniest particles to “lava bombs” the size of watermelons that one of nature's most powerful forces hurl as incandescent projectiles.
LONDON (AP) — A British court on Thursday dismissed an appeal by a newspaper publisher seeking to overturn an earlier ruling that it breached the privacy of the Duchess of Sussex by publishing portions of a letter she wrote to her estranged father.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Many parts of the country were hit by supply chain disruptions and labor shortages in November, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday.
In a survey of business conditions around the country, the Fed's 12 regional banks found that the economy continued to grow at a modest-to-moderate pace, and the outlook for future growth remains positive.
Tourism businesses that were just finding their footing after nearly two years of devastation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic are being rattled again as countries throw up new barriers to travel in an effort to contain the omicron variant.
ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) — Even Christmas trees aren’t immune to the pandemic-induced shortages and inflation plaguing the economy.
Extreme weather and supply chain disruptions have reduced supplies of both real and artificial trees this season.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Residents of Israel’s seaside metropolis Tel Aviv have for years complained of how expensive it is, with living costs taking a chunk out of their paychecks.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — In northern Denmark, an IKEA showroom turned into a vast bedroom. Six customers and about two dozen employees were stranded by a snowstorm and spent the night in the store, sleeping in the beds that are usually on show.
BEIJING (AP) — Global stocks and Wall Street futures were mixed Thursday as traders tried to figure out the potential impact of the latest coronavirus variant.
London and Frankfurt opened lower and Shanghai and Tokyo fell.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea broke its daily record for coronavirus infections for a second straight day on Thursday with more than 5,200 new cases, as pressure mounted on a health care system grappling with rising hospitalizations and deaths.
BEIJING (AP) — Laos, a nation of 7 million people wedged between China, Vietnam and Thailand, is opening a $5.9 billion Chinese-built railway that links China's poor southwest to foreign markets but piles on potentially risky debt.
IRVING, Texas (AP) — Major League Baseball plunged into its first work stoppage in a quarter-century when the sport’s collective bargaining agreement expired Wednesday night and owners immediately locked out players in a move that threatens spring training and opening day.
NEW YORK (AP) — Before getting locked out, players loaded up Wednesday as big league teams unlocked their coffers for an unprecedented spending spree.
Major League Baseball clubs committed to a one-day record $1.4 billion in salaries Wednesday, hours before the league locked out players following the 11:59 p.m.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government could be heading for a temporary shutdown, with Republicans poised to stall a must-pass funding bill in their effort to force a debate in Congress on rolling back the Biden administration's COVID-19 vaccine mandates for some workers.
BEIRUT (AP) — A Lebanese DJ was days away from moving to Riyadh to play for a month in one of the newest entertainment centers in Saudi Arabia's capital when a brief, polite Whatsapp message informed her that the contract won’t go through.
What’s the status of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate in the U.S.?
It's on hold indefinitely because of legal challenges, but employers can still require the shots.
To control the spread of COVID-19, President Joe Biden previously said businesses with 100 or more employees would need to require COVID-19 vaccination or have workers get tested weekly for the virus.
TOKYO (AP) — Japan says it has retracted a ban on new incoming international flight bookings to defend against the new variant of the coronavirus only a day after the policy was announced, following criticisms that it was an overreaction.
BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets were mixed Thursday after a turbulent day on Wall Street as traders tried to forecast the impact of the coronavirus's omicron variant.
Shanghai and Tokyo fell while Hong Kong and Seoul advanced.
CHICAGO (AP) — Marcus Stroman rushed to the airport and caught a flight from Los Angeles to Chicago as soon as he got the word from his agent.
The right-hander arrived just in time with a lockout looming to complete a $71 million, three-year contract.
BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets were mixed Thursday after a turbulent day on Wall Street as traders tried to forecast the impact of the coronavirus's omicron variant.
Shanghai and Tokyo fell while Hong Kong and Seoul advanced.
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A study commissioned by a coalition of oil and natural gas businesses in New Mexico indicates that state and local governments are more reliant than ever before on the industry to pay for basic public services including public education, amid efforts by elected officials to diversify the economy.
Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19 three days before his first presidential debate in September 2020 with Joe Biden, according to a new book by Trump's former chief of staff.
In “The Chief's Chief,” obtained by The Guardian before its Dec.
DETROIT (AP) — Members of the United Auto Workers union apparently will approve picking their leaders in direct elections.
With 72% of the ballots counted, nearly 63% favor direct elections, while about 37% want to keep the current system of delegates selecting the union's leadership.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal government could be heading for a temporary shutdown, with Republicans poised to stall a must-pass funding bill in their effort to force a debate in Congress on rolling back the Biden administration's COVID-19 vaccine mandates for some workers.
HONOLULU (AP) — The Hawaii State Department of Health said Wednesday a laboratory has detected petroleum product in a water sample from an elementary school near Pearl Harbor amid heightened concerns that fuel from a massive Navy storage facility could contaminate Oahu's water supply.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday may have seen slight declines this year, but GivingTuesday generated a new record for giving.
Donations on GivingTuesday, the annual campaign that encourages generosity on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, rose by 9% this year, totaling $2.7 billion in the United States alone, according to organizers.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday in no uncertain terms that he thinks shoplifters should be prosecuted under existing California laws, as he called out local officials whom he said have been reluctant to do so.
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador held a massive rally in Mexico City Wednesday to mark the midway point in his six-year term with polls showing that about two-thirds of Mexicans approve of the job he is doing.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — There’s a new Silicon Valley corporate name change on the block.
A month after Facebook renamed itself Meta, Square Inc., the payments company headed by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, is changing its name to Block Inc.
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Wildlife workers and volunteers scrambled Wednesday to save thousands of fish stranded by an abrupt drop in water levels along a Montana river that's renowned among anglers for its high-quality trout fishing.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday unveiled his new HIV/AIDS strategy to end the more than 40-year-old epidemic, calling for a renewed focus on vulnerable Americans — including gay and bisexual Black and Latino men, who his administration says are too often stigmatized even as they are disproportionately affected.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A lawyer for the state of California defended the constitutionality of the nation’s first law requiring women on corporate boards Wednesday as necessary to reverse a culture of discrimination that favors men.
MEXICO CITY (AP) — A gang rammed several vehicles into a prison in central Mexico and escaped with nine inmates Wednesday in one of the most dramatic breakouts the country has seen in recent years.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Corey Seager and Marcus Semien were well aware of the 102 losses last year and five consecutive losing seasons for the Texas Rangers.
As a half-billion dollar middle infield, they will now work together to turn things around in Texas.
Federal health officials are requiring airlines to gather contact-tracing information on passengers heading to the U.S. who have been in southern Africa in the previous two weeks.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that it issued the latest requirement “to prevent the importation and spread of a communicable disease of public health importance.”