AP-National

MOSCOW (AP) — The upper house of Russia’s parliament has unanimously endorsed a bill that would allow authorities to confiscate money, valuables and other assets from people convicted of spreading “deliberately false information” about the country’s military. Following Wednesday’s vote, the is now expected to quickly receive Russian President Vladimir Putin’s signature to become law.

By SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron has paid tribute to victims of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in Israel in a national ceremony and denounced what he described as the “largest antisemitic massacre of our century.” Forty-two French citizens died in the attack, and three hostages are still believed to

By The Associated Press The U.N.’s World Food Program says it is aiming aims to reach up to 3 million Ethiopians affected by climate change and conflict in the coming weeks. That’s half the number the agency supported in Ethiopia before a monthslong aid suspension last year. The program said in a statement issued on

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is naming a top White House aide as the director of the newly established safety institute for artificial intelligence. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo says in a statement that Elizabeth Kelly will lead the AI Safety Institute at the National Institute for Standards and

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. humanitarian aid and refugee agencies are appealing for $4.1 billion in international support for embattled civilians in Sudan amid signs that some may be dying of starvation after nearly a year of war between the forces of rival generals. In their joint appeal on Wednesday,

By JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Swedish officials say they have decided to close their investigation into the September 2022 explosions on the underwater Nord Stream gas pipelines, which were built to carry Russian natural gas to Germany, because they don’t have jurisdiction. Sweden’s investigation was one of three into the

BERLIN (AP) — Ground staff for Lufthansa have walked off the job at five major German airports, causing the airline to cancel hundreds of flights. The Ver.di union called on ground staff at Frankfurt and Munich, Lufthansa’s two main hubs, as well as Berlin, Duesseldorf and Hamburg, to strike for 27 hours starting at 4

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Chinese and U.S. officials have met in Beijing for talks on tough issues dividing the two largest economies as trade and tariffs increasingly draw attention in the runup to the U.S. presidential election. China’s Ministry of Finance said Beijing raised objections to higher tariffs on Chinese

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza is teetering on the brink of financial collapse. Its chief says it might have to halt operations at the end of February without more funds. Israel’s allegations that 12 employees of the aid agency known as UNRWA participated in

By ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia fired cruise and ballistic missiles and Shahed-type drones at six regions across Ukraine on Wednesday morning, authorities reported, killing at least five civilians and injuring almost 40 others, including a pregnant woman. The attacks hit at least three major cities, including the capital Kyiv, where

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A lawyer for Malaysia’s ex-Prime Minister Najib Razak says he is disapppinted he wasn’t given a full royal pardon of his 12-year prison sentence for graft and may file a new appeal to the new monarch. The decision last week by the Pardons Board to cut in half Najib’s jail

By RIAZAT BUTT Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistanis are electing a new parliament Thursday in a race that essentially is concentrated on two parties. One party is that of the recently returned and absolved of all crimes former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The other is that of archrival Imran Khan. Khan is barred from

By ABDUL SATTAR and MUNIR AHMED Associated Press QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — Bombs ripped through two separate political offices in southwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing at least 30 people, officials said, the day before the country was set to elect a new parliament. The attacks in Baluchistan province — home to a low-level insurgency and

By MATTHEW LEE, TIA GOLDENBERG and WAFAA SHURAFA Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that a cease-fire and hostage-release agreement between Israel and Hamas was still possible, despite the two sides being far apart on the central terms for a deal. Blinken was in the region

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — A pod of killer whales that was trapped in drift ice off Japan’s northern main island of Hokkaido, prompting concern from environmental groups, has apparently safely escaped, officials said Wednesday. The killer whales, also known as orcas, were initially spotted by a local fisherman who reported them

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Share are mostly higher in Asia after the S&P 500 neared the 5,000 level for the first time. Hong Kong’s benchmark fell while Shanghai advanced after China replaced its top stock market regulator. Tokyo surged 2% on strong corporate earnings. Beijing has been struggling to prop

By HALLIE GOLDEN Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Adult dancers in Washington state are fighting for statewide worker protections that advocates say would be the most comprehensive in the U.S. The industry has such wide regulation gaps that dancers have had to fend for themselves for safety in the workplace. The proposals being considered in

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Officials in the Philippines say a landslide in the south has left at least seven villagers dead and 48 others missing. A search resumed Wednesday after it was suspended overnight due to fears of more landslides. Torrential rains had swamped the region in recent weeks but the weather had been clear

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — In Donald Trump’s federal 2020 election interference case, all eyes are on the Supreme Court, whose next moves could determine whether the former president stands trial in Washington before the November election. An appeals court panel on Tuesday unanimously rejected Trump’s claims that

By DAMIAN DOVARGANES, RICHARD VOGEL and STEFANIE DAZIO Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jesus Barron answered his wife’s panicked phone call warning him that a mudslide was smashing into their bedroom in the hills of eastern Los Angeles County. Then, the line went dead. “She called me and told me the mountain was coming