News

BERLIN (AP) — Austrian media have reported that investigators have searched the offices of the country’s governing People’s Party in connection with a bribery investigation. Prosecutors said that they are investigating Chancellor Sebastian Kurz among others. The Austria Press Agency reported Wednesday that the chancellery building was also searched, though it wasn’t immediately clear whether

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — The two parties that emerged as likely kingmakers from Germany’s election last month say they will hold talks on a possible new government under the leadership of outgoing center-left Social Democrats. If ultimately successful, the negotiations would send outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right Union bloc into opposition

LONDON (AP) — Amazon has opened its first general store outside the United States in a mall in Britain. It will sell the online retailer’s most popular products including books, toys, games and consumer electronics. The U.S. company said the store is called “4-star.” That’s because it sells products rated 4 stars or above by

By YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A popular Russian newspaper has shut down its branch in Belarus after one of its local staff was arrested. Komsomolskaya Pravda announced the decision to close its Belarusian subsidiary on Tuesday night, citing “the events of the past year and especially the past week.” Last Wednesday,

By JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Swedish health authorities have suspended the use of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for those ages 30 and under. Sweden’s Public Health Agency said Wednesday the move was done out of precaution. The agency said the reason for the pausing is “signals of an increased risk of

STOCKHOLM (AP) — The tenant who is suspected in the huge Swedish apartment building explosion and fire last month that injured 16 people has been found dead in the water. Police said Wednesday that they do not suspect foul play in connection with his death. The man was found in Goteborg harbor, only a few

By RAHIM FAEIZ and SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The group’s chief spokesman says the Taliban have arrested four Islamic State members north of the Afghan capital, while witnesses said two Taliban fighters were shot dead in the northeast, raising the specter of all-out conflict. Zabihullah Mujahid said Wednesday an operation was

By VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has called for the global community to stop a “humanitarian catastrophe” which she said is being created by the Belarusian regime as it facilitates largescale migration into the European Union. Thousands of migrants from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Africa have been

By HUIZHONG WU and DAVID RISING Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — With record numbers of military flights near Taiwan over the last week, China has been stepping up its harassment of the island it claims as its own, demonstrating a new level of threat as it asserts its territorial ambitions in the region. With

By LISA MASCARO and JONATHAN LEMIRE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is escalating his campaign to get Congress to lift the federal debt limit. He will host business leaders at the White House on Wednesday and is warning that failure to extend the government’s borrowing authority could set off a global financial

MIAMI (AP) — Federal prosecutors have brought another case against the so-called “Lizard King” of Florida, accusing him of scheming to export illegally harvested turtles to China and Japan. They say Michael Van Nostrand and his company, Strictly Reptiles, established a network of “collectors” who searched the Florida wilds for fresh-water specimens including the three-stripe