World

Prague zoo's month-old Sumatran orangutan finally has a name

PRAGUE, Czech Republic - He's called Pustakawan, or Kawi, if you wish. Prague's zoo said on Wednesday it has finally completed the process of naming a critically endangered Sumatran orangutan baby bor...

Dec 16, 2020

German government backs bill requiring 5G security pledge

BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Cabinet approved a bill Wednesday that would require companies involved in setting up critical infrastructure such as high-speed 5G networks to guarantee tha...

Dec 16, 2020

Retail sales fell 1.1% in November, biggest drop in 7 months

NEW YORK - Americans held back on spending during the start of the holiday shopping season, a troubling sign for retailers and the state of the U.S. economy. U.S. retail sales fell a seasonally adjust...

Dec 16, 2020

US brands Vietnam, Switzerland as currency manipulators

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Treasury Department has branded Vietnam and Switzerland as currency manipulators while putting China and nine other countries on a watch list in an annual report designed to halt...

Dec 16, 2020

Sen. Elizabeth Warren's book 'Persist' to come out in April

NEW YORK - Sen. Elizabeth Warren has a book coming out about six key experiences and perspectives. The title should be familiar to those who have followed the Massachusetts Democrat's career: "Persist...

Dec 16, 2020

Suspect in Japan anime studio fire charged with murder

TOKYO - Japanese prosecutors formally filed murder charges Wednesday against a suspect in a deadly fire at a Kyoto anime studio last year, after it was determined that he has recovered enough from his...

Dec 16, 2020

Virus shuts many UK theatres but online the show goes on

LONDON - When Andrew Lincoln steps onstage at London's Old Vic Theatre as Ebenezer Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol," he looks out on an empty auditorium. The spectators are beyond the theatre walls, in ...

Dec 16, 2020

AP Interview: Flattening curve wasn’t enough for New Zealand

WELLINGTON, New Zealand - New Zealand this year pulled off a moonshot that remains the envy of most other nations: It eliminated the coronavirus. But the goal was driven as much by fear as it was ambi...

Dec 15, 2020

Sundance Film Festival unveils slate for 1st virtual edition

A Questlove-directed documentary about the other major music event of the summer of 1969 and documentaries about the creators of Sesame Street and the coronavirus pandemic in China are among the 72 fe...

Dec 15, 2020

AP sources: Biden picks Buttigieg as transportation chief

WASHINGTON - President-elect Joe Biden is expected to pick former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg to head the transportation department, according to three people familiar with the plans. Bu...

Dec 15, 2020