The UK has stripped China's state-owned TV channel of its broadcasting license in the country, after an investigation found the license holder lacked editorial control and had links to China's ruling Communist Party. The communications regulator, Ofcom, said Thursday it revoked the UK license for China Global Television Network, or CGTN, an international English language satellite news channel. CGTN had been available on free and pay TV in the UK It could not be reached immediately for comment

World News Feb. 4, 2021

Sweden says it will develop a digital vaccination certificate this summer to allow people who have been vaccinated to travel. Digitalization Minister Anders Ygeman said three authorities in Sweden had been asked to work on producing the certificate, and the plan is to coordinate it with the World Health Organization and the European Union. On Wednesday, Denmark said it was joining forces with the country's business community to develop a digital corona passport that would be ready for use late

World News Feb. 4, 2021

World Health Organization investigators looking for clues into the origin of the coronavirus in the central Chinese city of Wuhan said that the Chinese side has provided a high level of cooperation, but cautioned against expecting immediate results from the visit. "I keep saying that we need to be realistic, a short mission like this one will not have all the answers but it helps advance the understanding of the (hash)virusorigin (hash)wuhan," Hung Nguyen-Viet, co-leader of the Animal

World News Feb. 4, 2021

British scientists are starting a study Thursday to find out if it's OK to mix and match COVID-19 vaccines. The vaccines being rolled out now require two doses, and people are supposed to get two shots of the same kind, weeks apart. Guidelines in Britain and the US say the vaccines aren't interchangeable, but can be mixed if the same kind isn't available for the second dose or if it's not known what was given for the first shot. Participants in the government-funded study will get one shot of

World News Feb. 4, 2021

NEW YORK (AP) -- Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon as an online bookstore and built it into a shopping and entertainment behemoth, will step down later this year as CEO, a role he's had for nearly 30 years, to become executive chairman, the company announced Tuesday. Bezos, 57, will be replaced in the summer by Andy Jassy, who runs Amazon's cloud-computing business. In a blog post to employees, Bezos said he planned to focus on new products and early initiatives being developed at Amazon. He

World Business Feb. 3, 2021

HOMESTEAD (AP) -- Immigrants cheered President Joe Biden’s plan to provide a path to US citizenship for about 11 million people without legal status, mixing hope with guarded optimism Wednesday amid a seismic shift in how the American government views and treats them. The newly inaugurated president moved to reverse four years of harsh restrictions and mass deportation with a plan for sweeping legislation on citizenship. Biden also issued executive orders reversing some of former Pre

World News Jan. 21, 2021

WEST PALM BEACH (AP) -- His presidency over, Donald Trump bid farewell to Washington on Wednesday but also hinted at a comeback despite a legacy of chaos, tumult and bitter division in the country he led for four years. "Goodbye. We love you. We will be back in some form," Trump told supporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland where he received a 21-gun salute as part of a military send-off before boarding Air Force One for his last time as president. Trump was already in Flori

World News Jan. 21, 2021

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Vice President Kamala Harris broke the barrier that has kept men at the top ranks of American power for more than two centuries when she took the oath Wednesday to hold the nation’s second-highest office. Harris was sworn in as the first female US vice president -- and the first Black woman and person of South Asian descent to hold the position -- in front of the US Capitol by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Later, she presided as Senate president

World News Jan. 21, 2021

JAKARTA (AP) -- A jet carrying 62 people lost contact with air traffic controllers minutes after taking off from Indonesia’s capital on a domestic flight on Saturday, and debris found by fishermen was being examined to see if it was from the missing plane, officials said. Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said Sriwijaya Air’s Flight SJ182 was delayed for an hour before it took off at 2:36 p.m. The Boeing 737-500 disappeared from radar four minutes later, after the pilot

World News Jan. 10, 2021

WILMINGTON (AP) -- President-elect Joe Biden says that President Donald Trump isn't “fit for the job,” but he repeatedly refused to endorse growing Democratic calls to impeach him a second time. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a letter to members of her chamber that lawmakers could move as early as next week to impeach Trump for inciting a violent mob that overran the US Capitol if the president didn’t “immediately” resign. Pelosi and Democratic Senate leader C

World News Jan. 9, 2021

Asian shares were mostly higher Friday on hopes for additional economic stimulus after President-elect Joe Biden takes office.  A new state of emergency in the Tokyo region to combat surging coronavirus cases did little to dampen market optimism. The benchmark Nikkei 225 surged 2.4 percent to close at 28,139.03, its highest finish in more than 30 years.  The emergency declaration, announced by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga for Tokyo and nearby areas, asks people to stay home and ref

World News Jan. 8, 2021

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A violent mob loyal to President Donald Trump stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday and forced lawmakers into hiding, in a stunning attempt to overturn America’s presidential election, undercut the nation’s democracy and keep Democrat Joe Biden from replacing Trump in the White House. The nation’s elected representatives scrambled to crouch under desks and don gas masks, while police futilely tried to barricade the building, one of the most jarring scenes

World News Jan. 7, 2021

BEIJING (AP) -- China's best-known entrepreneur, e-commerce billionaire Jack Ma, made his fortune by taking big risks. The former English teacher founded Alibaba Group in 1999, when China had few internet users. Online payments service Alipay launched five years later, before regulators said such businesses would be allowed. Both long shots grew to dominate their industries. Ma's latest gambit backfired after he called regulators too conservative in an Oct. 24 speech and urged them to be more

World Business Jan. 6, 2021

  President Donald Trump on Thursday extended pandemic-related bans on green cards and work visas to large groups of applicants through March 31, while a federal appeals court sided with him on a rule that requires new immigrants to have their own health insurance. The twin developments on the final day of 2020 encapsulated how Trump has made US immigration policy more restrictive without support from Congress. President-elect Joe Biden has promised to undo many of Trump's actions but it

World News Jan. 1, 2021

The European Union's top court ruled on Thursday that Volkswagen breached the law by installing on its cars a so-called defeat device to cheat on emission tests and cannot argue it was merely protecting car engines. The scandal known as "Dieselgate" erupted five years ago when the US Environmental Protection Agency found that Volkswagen had installed special software to rig US emissions tests for its latest "clean diesel" vehicles. The German car manufacturer admitted to f

World News Dec. 17, 2020