World

India’s coronavirus caseload tops 3 million

Published on Mon, 08/24/2020 - 3:24pm

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s coronavirus caseload topped 3 million on Sunday, with the country leading the world in new infections as the disease marched through impoverished rural areas in the north and the wealthier but older populations of the south.

Health authorities reported 69,239 new cases and 912 deaths, bringing the total to 3,044,940. 

Cases have leveled off in India’s two largest cities, with serological surveys showing widespread prevalence among the residents of the capital, New Delhi, and financial center Mumbai. 

Berlin Film Festival to make acting prizes gender neutral

Published on Mon, 08/24/2020 - 3:24pm

BERLIN (AP) — The organizers of the Berlin International Film Festival say they will stop awarding separate acting prizes to women and men beginning next year.

Berlinale organizers said Monday the performance awards will be defined in a gender-neutral way at next year’s festival, for which a physical event is planned.

The festival awards a Golden Bear for the best film and a series of Silver Bears, which until this year included best actor and best actress honors. 

Russia to let dissident in coma fly to Berlin for treatment

Published on Fri, 08/21/2020 - 4:10pm
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By DARIA LITVINOVA Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian doctors gave a dissident who is in a coma after a suspected poisoning permission to be transferred abroad for medical treatment, in a sudden reversal Friday that came after more than 24 hours of wrangling over Alexei Navalny’s condition and treatment.

Iran surpasses 20,000 confirmed virus deaths

Published on Wed, 08/19/2020 - 4:10pm
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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran surpassed 20,000 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus on Wednesday, the health ministry said — the highest death toll for any Middle East country so far in the pandemic. 

The announcement came as the Islamic Republic, which has been struggling with both the region’s largest outbreak and the highest number of fatalities, went ahead with university entrance exams for over 1 million students. Iran is also preparing for mass Shiite commemorations later this month. 

Millions of women lose contraceptives in pandemic

Published on Wed, 08/19/2020 - 4:09pm
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NEW DELHI (AP) — Millions of women and girls globally have lost access to contraceptives and abortion services because of the coronavirus pandemic. Now the first widespread measure of the toll says India with its abrupt, months-long lockdown has been hit especially hard.

Several months into the pandemic, many women now have second-trimester pregnancies because they could not find care in time.

Pope: Rich can’t get priority for vaccine

Published on Wed, 08/19/2020 - 4:08pm

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Wednesday warned against any prospect that rich people would get priority for a coronavirus vaccine. 

“The pandemic is a crisis. You don’t come out of it the same — either better or worse,’’ Francis said, adding improvised remarks to his planned speech for his weekly public audience.

“We must come out better” from the COVID-19 pandemic, the pope said.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, the pope said, the world can’t return to normality if normal means social injustice and degradation of the natural environment. 

Amazon continues to burn in 2020 despite promises to save it

Published on Wed, 08/19/2020 - 4:07pm

NOVO PROGRESSO, Brazil (AP) — A year ago this month, the forest around the town of Novo Progresso erupted into flames — the first major blazes in the Brazilian Amazon’s dry season that ultimately saw more than 100,000 fires and spurred global outrage against the government’s inability or unwillingness to protect the rainforest.

Lebanese customs chief arrested over Beirut blast

Published on Tue, 08/18/2020 - 3:55pm
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BEIRUT (AP) — The head of Lebanon’s customs authority was formally arrested on Monday after being questioned over the massive explosion in Beirut earlier this month, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The investigation is focused on why nearly 3,000 tons of explosive ammonium nitrate was being stored at the city’s port. The ignition of the stockpile caused an explosion that tore through the capital, killing at least 180 people and wounding 6,000.

Int’l court: Hezbollah member guilty in Lebanon ex-PM death

Published on Tue, 08/18/2020 - 3:53pm
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LEIDSCHENDAM, Netherlands (AP) — A U.N.-backed tribunal on Tuesday convicted one member of the Hezbollah militant group and acquitted three others of involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The Special Tribunal for Lebanon said Salim Ayyash was guilty as a co-conspirator of five charges linked to his involvement in the suicide truck bombing. Hariri and 21 others were killed and 226 were wounded in a huge blast outside a seaside hotel in Beirut on Feb. 14, 2005.

Israelis eager to tighten ties to UAE after historic accord

Published on Tue, 08/18/2020 - 3:42pm
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JERUSALEM (AP) — For eager Israelis, anticipation is mounting that Dubai’s glitzy Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, will soon join the ranks of the Pyramids in Egypt and the ancient ruins in Jordan’s Petra as a once-forbidden destination now within reach.