Bolsonaro's tough 2021 balance between ideology, pragmatism

BRASILIA (AP) — Brazil’s pugnacious president, Jair Bolsonaro, survived 2020 in surprisingly good shape personally and politically, with buoyant popularity ratings despite his own bout of COVID-19 and a broader pandemic that has killed nearly 200,000 of his countrymen.

Minority-owned companies waited months for loans, data shows

NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of minority-owned small businesses were at the end of the line in the government’s coronavirus relief program as many struggled to find banks that would accept their applications or were disadvantaged by the terms of the program.

Child labor in palm oil industry tied to Girl Scout cookies

They are two young girls from two very different worlds, linked by a global industry that exploits an army of children.

The Latest: Thailand adds 745 virus cases, new restrictions

BANGKOK — Thailand registered 745 new coronavirus cases in two days on Monday with a new death reported in Bangkok, where a semi-lockdown went into effect, the government said.

No snake soup for Hong Kong's young snake catcher

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong is home to a variety of snakes — from the venomous king cobra to larger species such as the Burmese python. Whenever one of these reptiles is spotted slithering into a home or coming alarmingly close to a residential area, Ken Lee is among the snake catchers called to capture the creatures.

Biden's pick to lead Treasury made over $7M in speaking fees

REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden’s choice to be treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, collected more than $7 million in speaking fees over the past two years from major financial firms and tech giants including Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Google, according to disclosure forms filed as part of her nomination.

Minnesota GOP lawmakers sue to undo state employee pay raise

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A pair of Minnesota Republican lawmakers is suing the state's budget agency in an attempt to halt pay raises for state employees.

EXPLAINER: Should vaccine volunteers now get the real thing?

Tens of thousands of Americans have volunteered to test COVID-19 vaccines, but only about half of them got the real thing during trials.

Budget, bonds, virus top North Dakota legislative session

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota lawmakers convene Tuesday either in person wearing masks or remotely for the state's 67th legislative session, where they will face tough spending choices amid a pandemic that’s hit a state economy already reeling from depressed oil and agriculture prices. Ambitious billion-dollar bonding proposals are expected to highlight the session. It will be the first in state history that forbids lawmakers from taking gifts or other things of value from lobbyists and others under new voter-approved ethics rules.

Virus forces changes as Minnesota Legislature opens Tuesday

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — When the Minnesota Legislature convenes for its 2021 regular session Tuesday, it won't look like a normal session. The House will meet entirely via Zoom until further notice because of the pandemic. The Senate will try a hybrid approach. And the Capitol will remain surrounded by riot fencing.

UK to ramp up inoculations with Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine

LONDON (AP) — Britain on Monday was taking another giant step in the fight against COVID-19, ramping up its immunization program by giving shots from the vaccine created by Oxford University and pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca.

Virus, elections, budget top Wisconsin legislative agenda

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Pandemic response measures and changing election procedures will take center stage when the Wisconsin Legislature opens its 2021-22 session on Monday, eclipsing even state budget deliberations that typically consume the first six months of every session.

Texas judge dismisses suit aimed at overturning election

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday dismissed a

The Latest: Japan's prime minister weighs state of emergency

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said Monday vaccine approval was being speeded up and border controls beefed up to curb the spread of the coronavirus, and he promised to consider declaring a state of emergency.

Quiet New Year gives breathing room after UK-EU Brexit split

LONDON (AP) — A steady trickle of trucks rolled off ferries and trains on both sides of the English Channel on Friday, a quiet New Year’s Day after a seismic overnight shift in relations between the European Union and Britain.

Biden flexes Georgia muscle alongside GOP in Senate races

President-elect Joe Biden is going all-in to help Democrats win two Senate runoffs in Georgia that will determine party control in the critical early years of his administration, a widespread effort that not long ago would have been unthinkable in a Republican-dominated state in the Deep South.

Trump, on tape, presses Ga. official to 'find' him votes

ATLANTA (AP) — President Donald Trump pressured Georgia's Republican secretary of state to “find” enough votes to overturn Joe Biden's win in the state's presidential election, repeatedly citing disproven claims of fraud and raising the prospect of “criminal offense" if officials did not change the vote count, according to a recording of the conversation.

UK's Johnson warns of more lockdown measures as virus soars

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned Sunday that more onerous lockdown restrictions in England are likely in the coming weeks as the country reels from a new coronavirus variant that has pushed infection rates to their highest recorded levels.

Algerian ex-president’s brother, former spy bosses cleared

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — A military appeals court in Algeria on Saturday cleared the brother of the country’s longtime former leader, two ex-intelligence chiefs and the leader of a leftist political party who had all been accused of plotting against the state.

Legals for January, 4 2021