Belarus leader vows to keep up raids of NGOs, media outlets

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The longtime leader of Belarus vowed Thursday to continue a crackdown on civil society activists he regards as “bandits and foreign agents.”

PM urges Israelis to get vaccinated as delta variant spreads

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s prime minister on Thursday called upon hundreds of thousands of citizens who have not yet been vaccinated against the coronavirus to get the shot. His appeal came as new infections climbed precipitously in recent weeks.

UN rights body names panel to probe Israel, Palestinians

GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.’s former top human rights official will be part of a new permanent panel investigating abuses in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, the U.N. Human Rights Council said Thursday.

Two Alberta First Nations want court to allow appeal of decision on coal mine

A second Alberta First Nation wants a court to allow it to appeal a review board's decision that an open-pit coal mine in the Rocky Mountains is not in the public interest. The Stoney Nakoda Nation has filed a request with

Mississippi lawmakers work toward medical marijuana program

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Two Mississippi lawmakers say they're continuing to work on proposals to create a medical marijuana program, two months after the state Supreme Court invalidated one that voters had approved.

US launched several airstrikes in support of Afghan forces

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military launched several airstrikes this week in support of Afghan government forces fighting Taliban insurgents, including in the strategically important province of Kandahar, officials said Thursday.

Health officials in Nova Scotia say woman in her 50s latest to die of COVID-19

HALIFAX — Health officials in Nova Scotia say the latest person to die of COVID-19 in the province is a woman in her 50s in the central zone, which includes Halifax. Nova Scotia has reported a total of 93 COVID-19-related deaths

South Dakota court orders sharing of crash victim’s records

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A judge overseeing the criminal trial of South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg has ordered medical providers to turn over their health records for the pedestrian who was struck and killed by Ravnsborg last year.

Pelosi says ‘deadly serious’ Jan. 6 probe to go without GOP

WASHINGTON (AP) — Unfazed by Republican threats of a boycott, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declared Thursday that a congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection will take on its “deadly serious” work whether Republicans participa...

Iowa Democrat Finkenauer seeking GOP Sen. Grassley’s seat

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Democrat Abby Finkenauer, a former congresswoman, is running for Republican Chuck Grassley's U.S. Senate seat, hoping her blue-collar credentials will propel her forward in a state that has grown more conservative over the years...