News

By NOMAAN MERCHANT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The CIA says it will create a top-level working group on China as part of a broad U.S. government effort focused on countering Beijing’s influence. Known as a mission center, the group will have weekly director-level meetings intended to drive the agency’s strategy toward China. President Joe

ROME (AP) — Outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Thursday with Pope Francis and toured a Jesuit-run child protection center, while back home three German parties held talks on forming a new government without her center-right bloc. Merkel told reporters she talked politics, climate change and clergy sex abuse during the visit to the Vatican

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the organization withdrew the accreditation of eight Russian officials in response to a rise in “malign activities” by Moscow. The eight officials are to be deprived of access to NATO’s Brussels headquarters from the end of the month. NATO says they were secretly working as intelligence officers.

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Afghanistan’s pavilion has finally arrived at the first world’s fair in the Middle East, a week after Dubai’s Expo opened without it. After the Taliban’s lightning takeover of Afghanistan, the country’s presence at the fair was uncertain. The previous government had organized a pavilion,

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin says Russia has the potential to boost natural gas supplies to Europe as surging gas prices put pressure on consumers. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says existing gas transit routes allow for bolstering supplies before the new Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany begins operating. Europe’s

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Searching for flights on Google just got “greener.” The tech giant on Wednesday debuted a new tool on Google Flights that tells users which flights in a search result have lower carbon emissions. Flights with significantly lower emissions are highlighted in green indicating what

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A Turkish official says a Kuwaiti passenger plane has made an emergency landing at Trabzon airport in northern Turkey following a bomb threat reported to the airline’s headquarters. Trabzon’s governor said the Jazeera Airways flight from Kuwait with 51 passengers and six crew members on board landed safely in Trabzon on

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press A group intent on expanding Republican power across state-level offices is rolling out a national effort to diversify and broaden the GOP, with an advisory council headed up by a number of possible future presidential hopefuls. The Republican State Leadership Committee on Thursday is launching its “Right Leaders Network.” The

By DAVID KEYTON, JILL LAWLESS and CARA ANNA Associated Press STOCKHOLM (AP) — Tanzanian writer Abdulrazak Gurnah has been awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. The Swedish Academy said the award was in recognition of his “uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism.” Born in Zanzibar in 1948 and based in England, Gurnah

By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister says he discussed with officials in Beirut the “positive” effects of ongoing talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia. He also blamed foreign troops based in the Middle East for regional instability. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian is on his first visit to Lebanon since taking his post