World

Jobless claims down 19,000, still 4 times pre-pandemic level

WASHINGTON - The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits last week fell by 19,000 to 787,000, still a historically high level as a resurgent coronavirus maintains its grip on the U.S. econom...

Dec 31, 2020

Security firms say suspicious object on oil tanker off Iraq

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Sailors involved in transferring fuel oil from an Iraqi tanker in the Persian Gulf to another vessel owned by a shipping company traded in the U.S. discovered a "suspicio...

Dec 31, 2020

Calamity? Anomaly? 2020 was a box office year like no other

When the sun sets on the 2020 film box office, it'll be difficult to look at the numbers as anything but disastrous. After five consecutive years of North American revenues exceeding $11 billion, this...

Dec 31, 2020

Final goodbye: Recalling influential people who died in 2020

In a year defined by a devastating pandemic, the world lost iconic defenders of civil rights, great athletes and entertainers who helped define their genres. Many of their names hold a prominent place...

Dec 31, 2020

Minneapolis police shoot, kill man during traffic stop

MINNEAPOLIS - Police in Minneapolis shot and killed a man during a traffic stop on the city's south side Wednesday night, stirring anxiety about renewed protests following the first police-involved de...

Dec 30, 2020

Trump push on $2K checks flops as GOP-led Senate won't vote

WASHINGTON - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell all but shut the door Wednesday on President Donald Trump's push for $2,000 COVID-19 relief checks, declaring Congress has provided enough pandemic ...

Dec 30, 2020

Speedy Sir: Lewis Hamilton knighted in year-end royal honours

LONDON - Lewis Hamilton is now a "Sir" as well as a seven-time Formula One champion. Hamilton received a knighthood Wednesday as part of Queen Elizabeth II's New Year's honours list, which also recogn...

Dec 30, 2020

Police on report man was making bombs: 'Hindsight is 20/20'

NASHVILLE - More than a year before Anthony Warner detonated a Christmas Day bomb in downtown Nashville, officers visited his home after his girlfriend told police he was building bombs in a recreatio...

Dec 30, 2020

Government: Colombia manual coca eradication most in decade

BOGOTA - Colombia manually eradicated 130,000 hectares of coca crops in 2020, the highest figure in the last decade, the government said. The figure easily tops the 94,670 hectares of coca manually er...

Dec 30, 2020

China gives conditional approval to Sinopharm vaccine

BEIJING - China has given conditional approval to a coronavirus vaccine developed by state-owned Sinopharm. The vaccine is the first one approved for general use in China. Chen Shifei, the deputy comm...

Dec 30, 2020