BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s prime minister says that preliminary talks with the International Monetary Fund are moving forward as the small nation works to pull itself out of one of the worst economic crises in more than a century. Najib Mikati said during an economic conference Monday that an amended financial recovery plan by the government’s financial adviser will be ready by the end of November. Mikati’s announcement comes a month after Lebanon’s Finance Ministry said it has resumed “interactions” with the IMF on a bailout plan. Deep disagreements festered within the Lebanese delegation during ..read more

LONDON (AP) — European lawmakers have pioneered efforts to rein in big technology companies and are working to strengthen those rules, putting them ahead of the United States and other parts of world. While Europe shares values with the U.S., none of the big tech companies that dominate online life are based on the continent. Some say that allowed European officials to make a more clear-eyed assessment of the risks posed by tech companies largely headquartered in the U.S. Drawing up a new package of digital rules for the 27-nation European Union is getting a boost from Facebook whistleblower F ..read more

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell expressed concern that the pandemic recession has had an unusually harmful economic effect on women, who have been forced to shoulder additional responsibilities for childcare, forcing many of them to leave work. The departure of so many mothers from the workforce is a big reason why the proportion of Americans who are either working or looking for work remains below pre-pandemic levels even as employers are scrambling to fill a near-record total of available jobs. When the pandemic recession struck, women, who were more likely to hold fron ..read more

This week’s new entertainment releases include an album from the superstar duo of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, the film “Clifford the Big Red Dog” and the comedy-action film ”Red Notice” which unites Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds. On the small screen, Jeremy Renner, Dianne Wiest and Kyle Chandler head the cast of “Mayor of Kingstown,” about a family of powerbrokers trying to bring “order and justice to a town that has neither.” And Taylor Swift’s 2012 album “Red” is being re-released, expanded to 30 tracks and includes duets with Ed Sheeran, Chris Stapleton and Phoebe Bridgers ..read more

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A judge has determined a defendant from South Dakota accused in a 1974 slaying in Minnesota isn’t competent to stand trial. Algene Vossen was arrested decades after the death of Mable Herman of Willmar, Minnesota, who was found stabbed at her home. But it was only after advances in DNA testing and another look at the case that Vossen was arrested in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he had been living at the time. An attorney for the 80-year-old defendant asked a judge to find Vossen incompetent to stand trial due to his physical and mental status. A judge in Kandiyohi ..read more

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A judge has determined a defendant from South Dakota accused in a 1974 slaying in Minnesota isn’t competent to stand trial. Algene Vossen was arrested decades after the death of Mable Herman of Willmar, Minnesota, who was found stabbed at her home. But it was only after advances in DNA testing and another look at the case that Vossen was arrested in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where he had been living at the time. An attorney for the 80-year-old defendant asked a judge to find Vossen incompetent to stand trial due to his physical and mental status. A judge in Kandiyohi ..read more

WASHINGTON (AP) — European authorities say seven suspected hackers linked to ransomware attacks that targeted thousands of victims have been arrested since last February in a global cybercrime crackdown. Europol said Monday two suspected hackers believed to be linked to the ransomware gang REvil were arrested last week for involvement in attacks that yielded $580,000 in ransom payments. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco appeared to foreshadow Monday’s announcement in an Associated Press interview last week, saying “in the days and weeks to come, you’re going to see more arrests.” A U.S. offi ..read more

BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) — Jurors in a Georgia courtroom are being shown graphic, close-up crime scene photos of the gunshot wounds that killed Ahmaud Arbery. Glynn County police Sgt. Sheila Ramos took the witness stand Monday during the second day of the trial of three white men who chased and shot Arbery, a 25-year-old Black man. Arbery’s slaying on Feb. 23, 2020, became part of a broader reckoning over racial injustice. Father and son Greg and Travis McMichael and their neighbor, William “Roddie” Bryan” are charged with murder and other crimes. Ramos’ crime scene photos showed a grievous wound t ..read more

KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — A man who was shot and wounded by Kyle Rittenhouse on the streets of Kenosha during a night of turbulent protests against racial injustice has taken the stand at Rittenhouse’s murder trial. Gaige Grosskreutz had a pistol in his hand when he approached Rittenhouse and was shot in the arm. Rittenhouse had just killed two other men. Grosskreutz testified on Monday at the start of the trial’s second week. Prosecutors have portrayed Rittenhouse as the aggressor who set in the motion the bloodshed that night in August 2020. His lawyers have argued that he acted in self-defense ..read more

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — A senior U.S. diplomat says he’s received assurances from members of Bosnia’s presidency there will be no repeat of armed clashes in the war-scarred nation despite deep tensions triggered by Bosnian Serb separatist moves. U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gabriel Escobar said on Monday that every has agreed “that there will be no war and that’s the most important message.”  The post US envoy: Bosnia’s presidency pledges no more wars appeared first on KBJR ..read more