Germany's Scholz vows a quick resolution to his coalition government's latest standoff
BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor OIaf Scholz is vowing that his coalition government will quickly resolve a dispute over child benefits that has marred attempts to put months of damaging public infighting behind it.
Center-left Social Democrat Scholz leads a coalition of three parties that are broadly socially liberal. But their approaches to economic and other issues are often at odds, in particular between his two junior partners: the environmentalist, traditionally left-leaning Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats.
Vice President Kamala Harris draws unfavorable marks from more than half of Americans, but that hasn’t stopped her from becoming a prolific fundraiser for President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign.
2004 NASCAR champion Kurt Busch officially has retired. The 45-year-old stepped away from racing last season following a significant concussion. He made his retirement official at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday. Busch held back tears as he called it quits. He sat on the same stage where he celebrated his Cup Series victory at the 2017 Daytona 500. Busch says his body is fighting with Father Time. He says he's dealt with arthritis and gout while trying to recover from a rear-impact collision at Pocono Raceway last summer.
Crews in Louisiana were still working to suppress flare-ups as an oil refinery fire burned for a second day along the banks of the Mississippi River. Residents are now worried about health effects from the fumes and black smoke. The Marathon Patroleum company said Saturday that tests have so far found “non-detectable air quality impacts” from the massive fire. The company said two people were injured and 10 others evaluated for heat stress. On Friday, orange flames belched a column of thick smoke over the facility in Garyville, about 30 miles northwest of New Orleans. Residents of the mostly rural area were forced to evacuate.
Authorities in Romania say a fire at a fueling station caused an explosion that killed at least one person and injured at least eight others, prompting an evacuation of the immediate area. A second explosion at the station Saturday injured at least 26 firefighters. The explosions happened at a fueling station that provides liquefied petroleum gas, a fuel used in household appliances and as a gasoline and diesel alternative in some vehicles. They took place in the town of Crevedia, around 30 kilometers (18 miles) northwest of Romania’s capital, Bucharest. Romania’s health minister confirmed to local media that one person had died.
Police say a University of South Carolina student from Connecticut was shot and killed as he apparently tried to enter the wrong home on his street. A Columbia Police Department news release says 20-year-old Nicholas Anthony Donofrio was dead by the time police responded to reports of a home burglary and shooting and that officers found his body on a front porch around 2 a.m. on Saturday. The news release said Donofrio apparently lived on the same street as where he was shot but had entered another home. The release doesn’t address who shot the student or say whether any charges were immediately filed.
Britney Spears has reportedly hired two new people to work at her Los Angeles-area home, including one person with a medical training background.
Some voters in Gabon reported long delays as they headed to the polls Saturday in a vote that is likely to see President Ali Bongo extend the 56-year stranglehold his family has had on political power in the oil-producing central African nation.
BERLIN (AP) - Results from German football:
Saturday Summaries from German football (home teams listed first):
LONDON (AP) - Results from English football:
Saturday Summaries from English football (home teams listed first):
BOSTON — Boston police arrested two individuals connected to a brazen Saturday morning shooting in Dorchester that left seven people with non-life threatening injuries, authorities said.
MINNEAPOLIS — Another person pleaded guilty Thursday in a case authorities have recognized as the largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the nation.
The nation got an insight Wednesday night into what Floridians already suspected — that Gov. Ron DeSantis ousted two Democratic prosecutors, turned schools into culture-war battlegrounds and purposefully underplayed the state’s response to COVID to create bragging rights for his own politica…
LOS ANGELES — With coronavirus cases increasingly on the upswing across California and the nation, an updated COVID-19 vaccine is expected to come out even earlier than expected.
U.K. Conservative lawmaker Nadine Dorries has stepped down from the House of Commons more than two months after announcing she was quitting. Dorries served as culture secretary in former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government and had said she would quit Parliament when Johnson did, which was in June. In her resignation letter published by the Daily Mail on Saturday, Dorries accused the current prime minister, fellow conservative Rishi Sunak, of presiding over “a zombie Parliament where nothing meaningful has happened.” She also claimed Sunak had helped “whip up a public frenzy” against her. Johnson and his allies blame Sunak for helping to topple the former leader.
Stormy Daniels has joined the chorus of social media users who are skeptical of former President Donald Trump’s booking weight.
Voters in Gabon say polling stations opened far later than planned as the Central African nation held elections for local leaders, legislators and a president. Incumbent President Ali Bongo Ondimba is seeking a third seven-year term and to continue a 55-year political dynasty. Bongo came to power in 2009 after the death of his father, Omar Bongo, who ruled the country for 41 years. This year, the opposition united in favor of his main challenger, economics professor Albert Ondo Ossa, one week before the general election. Voters in Libreville, Gabon’s capital, complained of polling stations opening late. Many election sites had failed to open as of 2 p.m. Saturday.
Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs has agreed to a one-year contract worth up to $12 million, according to a person with knowledge of the deal. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Saturday because the team announced that Jacobs had signed but didn’t provide details on the terms. Jacobs posted on social media, “I'm back.” He would have received $10.1 million this season if he had signed the franchise tag tender. His deal appears similar to the one fellow running back Saquon Barkley agreed to late last month to stay with the New York Giants.
An automotive parts supplier plans to close its northeastern Indiana plant next spring, costing more than 150 employees their jobs. The Star of Auburn reports that Plymouth-Michigan based TRAM Inc. said the company’s TRIN Inc. plant in the town of Ashley will close on March 31, 2024, and 155 workers would be laid off. The company said in a federal WARN Act notice sent to Indiana officials that both the closure and layoffs are expected to be permanent. The Ashley plant is located about 30 miles north of Fort Wayne. It makes switch-related automotive components, including steering pad switches, power seat switches and door lock switches.
LOS ANGELES — Bob Barker, the TV game-show legend who hosted “The Price Is Right” for more than three decades and became one of the country’s most prominent animal rights activists, has died. He was 99.
A second container ship has left port through a temporary Black Sea corridor established by Ukraine’s government after Russia halted a wartime agreement aimed at ensuring safe grain exports. The Primus, a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier, left the port of Odesa on Saturday morning and was steaming south toward Bulgaria. Its departure came 10 days after the launch of another container ship that had been docked in Odesa since before Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor, the Hong Kong-flagged Joseph Schulte. Analysts had surmised that China’s political closeness to Russia might have eased that ship’s passage and raised doubts whether vessels registered elsewhere would follow.
ORLANDO, Fla. — SpaceX waited a day later than planned but sent up the next quartet of astronauts headed to the International Space Station during an overnight launch from Kennedy Space Center early Saturday.
Finland’s Sami Välimäki and England’s Matt Wallace have shot 5-under 67s to share a one-stroke lead over another Ryder Cup hopeful, Nicolai Hojgaard, after the third round of the Czech Masters. Välimäki and Wallace each carded six birdies and one bogey to move to 16 under overall at the Albatross Golf Resort near Prague. Hojgaard shot a 3-under 69. The European tour event has a lot at stake for the trio as Europe captain Luke Donald is announcing his six Ryder Cup picks on Sept. 4. Europe faces the U.S. at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome in September.
Zimbabwe’s ruling party was on track Saturday for a resounding win in this week’s election, which observers said was badly flawed.
Oliver Anthony, the man behind this week's fast-rising, chart-topping hit "Rich Men North of Richmond," released the second installment of his "It's a pleasure to meet you" videos, this time talking about the way his song has been co-opted by conservatives and weaponized politically.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Chances continue to increase that a system in the Caribbean but headed to the Gulf of Mexico will form into a tropical depression or storm and threaten Florida, according to the National Hurricane Center as of 8 a.m. Saturday.
2019 U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu has pulled out of the year's last Grand Slam tournament because of an injury. The U.S. Tennis Association announced Andreescu’s withdrawal but didn't specify the nature of the injury. She will be replaced in the women’s singles bracket by a player who qualified for the field or lost in qualifying. Andreescu was supposed to face Lesia Tsurenko in the first round. Play begins Monday at Flushing Meadows. Andreescu is a 23-year-old from Canada who has been ranked as high as No. 4 and is currently No. 51. She won the U.S. Open as a teenager by beating Serena Williams in the final four years ago.
