AP-National

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese authorities say that a strong earthquake that struck the country’s southwest Japan has left nine people with minor injuries. The temblor also caused damage such as burst of water pipes and small landslides. But there was no danger of a tsunami. The magnitude 6.6 quake struck

HELSINKI (AP) — Wireless and fixed-network equipment maker Nokia has reported a smaller-than-expected profit and a substantial double-digit fall in sales in the first quarter due to a market weakened by a lack of investment by clients in 5G technology. The Finnish company reported a net profit of 501 million euros for the January-March period,

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain’s governing Conservative Party suspended a lawmaker who is alleged to have misused campaign funds. The Times of London claims Mark Menzies used donors’ money for personal medical expenses and to pay off someone who was threatening him. Its report includes a claim Menzies called an aide

By ZIMO ZHONG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stocks tumbled Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei slumping 3.5% on heavy selling of semiconductor-related shares and other market heavyweights. Tensions in the Middle East were weighing on sentiment across the region, and U.S. futures were sharply lower. Oil prices jumped about $3 as the state-run IRNA

By BASSEM MROUE and KAREEM CHEHAYEB Associated Press BEIT MERI, Lebanon (AP) — Lebanon’s Interior Minister says Israeli agents were most likely behind this month’s killing of a U.S-sanctioned Lebanese currency exchanger in a mountain resort overlooking Beirut. The minister said Wednesday that the ongoing investigation points to Israel’s spy agency, the Mossad, because of

By KEN MORITSUGU Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — Europe wants two things from China: First, a shift in its relatively pro-Russia position on the war in Ukraine. Second, a reduction in the trade imbalance. It’s not clear if it will get very far on either front. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz this week became the latest

By GRACEY WAKARY and EDNA TARIGAN Associated Press MANADO, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian authorities closed an airport and residents left homes near an erupting volcano Thursday due to the dangers of spreading ash, falling rocks, hot volcanic clouds and the possibility of a tsunami. Mount Ruang on the northern side of Sulawesi Island had at

By RAF CASERT Associated Press ANDEREN, Netherlands (AP) — Inside the barn on the flat fields of the northern Netherlands, Jos Ubels cradles a newborn Blonde d’Aquitaine calf, the latest addition to his herd of over 300 dairy cattle. Little could be more idyllic. Little, says Ubels, could be more under threat. As Europe seeks

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Prosecutors say two German-Russian men have been arrested in Germany on suspicion of espionage. One of them is accused of agreeing to carry out attacks on potential targets including U.S. military facilities in hopes of sabotaging aid for Ukraine. The two were arrested on Wednesday in the

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates struggled Thursday to recover from the heaviest recorded rainfall ever to hit the desert nation, as its main airport worked to restore normal operations even as floodwater still covered portions of major highways and roads. Dubai International Airport, the world’s

By STEPHEN WADE AP Sports Writer SHANGHAI (AP) — Formula 1 returns to China this weekend after a five-year absence. And no matter who wins on Sunday, the star locally will be China-born driver Zhou Guanyu. Despite his so-so results, Zhou is on the verge of stardom in China. He’s the subject of a new

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations says America will stand with Japan until all the Japanese abducted by North Korea decades ago return home to end their painful separation. Linda Thomas-Greenfield made the comments on Thursday as she began her visit to Tokyo by meeting with

By EDNA TARIGAN Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attacked the United States for earlier blocking United Nations resolutions calling for a cease-fire in Gaza after a meeting with his counterpart in Indonesia. The Chinese and Indonesian foreign ministers reiterated their countries’ calls for an immediate and lasting cease-fire in

By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER, REBECCA BOONE, CLAUDIA LAUER and CHRISTOPHER L. KELLER Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — More than half a year after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century burned through a historic Maui town, officials are still trying to determine exactly what went wrong and how to prevent similar catastrophes in

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa faces an unusual national election this year, its seventh vote since transitioning from white minority rule to a democracy 30 years ago. Polls and analysts warn that for the first time, the ruling African National Congress party that has comfortably held power since Nelson Mandela

By MARK BAKER and ROD McGUIRK Associated Press SYDNEY (AP) — A Muslim community leader says a 16-year-old boy accused of stabbing two Christian clerics during a Sydney church service might have “anger management and behavioral issues” and a “short fuse” but had shown no signs of being radicalized. Authorities have declared the stabbing a

By GEIR MOULSON and KERSTIN SOPKE Associated Press HALLE, Germany (AP) — One of the most prominent figures in the far-right Alternative for Germany party has gone on trial on charges of using a Nazi slogan. The trial on Thursday came months ahead of an election in which he plans to run to become his

By JUAN ZAMORANO Associated Press PANAMA CITY (AP) — Six of the eight candidates vying to be Panama’s next president have laid out their plans to generate jobs and to manage the country’s water crisis in their final debate before the country’s May 5 election. Former government minister José Raúl Mulino, who has led in

By SAM MEDNICK Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Every year, Alon Gat’s mother led the family’s Passover celebration of the liberation of the ancient Israelites from Egypt thousands of years ago. But this year, Gat is struggling with how to reconcile a holiday commemorating freedom after his mother was slain and other family members abducted

By KRUTIKA PATHI and SHEIKH SAALIQ Associated Press AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — Hindu nationalism was once a fringe ideology in India, and now it is mainstream. Nobody has done more to advance this cause than Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He’s one of India’s most beloved and polarizing political leaders. And no entity has had more