AP National News

By LIZ WESTON of NerdWallet If you’re going to need a home loan in retirement — to buy your next house or replace the mortgage you’ve got — you’re far better off applying while you’re still working if you can. Even with good credit scores and solid income, retirees can find it more difficult to

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s wife is stepping down as the education minister of the region where the couple lives. The government of Brandenburg state, an eastern region that surrounds Berlin, said on Monday that Britta Ernst is resigning from her post, but didn’t give any reason. The 62-year-old Ernst has been Brandenburg’s

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Saudi-led military coalition has freed 104 more prisoners captured in Yemen’s war, a unilateral release that followed an organized prisoner swap amid renewed diplomatic efforts to halt the conflict. The International Committee of the Red Cross said it flew on Monday 96 released detainees from Saudi Arabia’s Abha

By ALI ABDUL-HASSAN and ABBY SEWELL Associated Press BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq has offered to mediate between Ukraine and Russia to try resolve the war in Europe, but Ukraine’s top diplomat rejected the offer during a rare visit to Baghdad. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba reiterated on Monday his country’s position that it would not engage

SYDNEY (AP) — Prosecutors in Australia say two suspected Chinese spies gave a Sydney businessman envelopes of cash for information about subjects including a government deal with the U.S. and Britain to build a fleet of Australian nuclear-powered submarines. The businessman, Alexander Csergo, was refused bail when he appeared in a Sydney court charged with

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and past leaders of the U.K. and Ireland gathered in Belfast on Monday, 25 years after their charm, clout and determination helped Northern Ireland strike a historic peace accord. They met to remember a moment, said former U.S. Senator George

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Global markets rose moderately Monday, although worries continued about economic growth and inflationary pressures. France’s CAC 40 rose less than 0.1% in early trading to 7,522.58. Germany’s DAX gained 0.2% to 15,830.74. Britain’s FTSE 100 added 0.5% to 7,911.91. U.S. shares were set to drift higher

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has hailed the military’s performance during massive naval drills that involve the entire Russian Pacific Fleet in a show of force amid the tensions with the West over the fighting in Ukraine. Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin that the exercise that

By THALIA BEATY Associated Press Every day, people in the U.S. donate their time, skills and energy to their communities by volunteering with nonprofit organizations. The Associated Press interviewed five volunteers who shared what motivated them to get involved and reflected on why they think more people don’t give their time. Recently released data from

MOSCOW (AP) — A top Kremlin foe was convicted Monday on charges of treason and denigrating the Russian military and sentenced him to 25 years in prison after a trial that marked the latest move in a relentless crackdown on the opposition amid the fighting in Ukraine. Vladimir Kara-Murza, Jr., a prominent opposition activist who

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong says her country is working to stabilize relations with China but can’t return to the thriving economic relationship with its biggest trading partner that existed 15 years ago. Wong told Australia’s National Press Club on Monday that bilateral relations that existed when

BERLIN (AP) — Former Chancellor Angela Merkel is to be decorated with Germany’s highest possible honor in recognition of her near-record 16 years at the helm of the country. Germany’s president on Monday plans to bestow Grand Cross of the Order of Merit for special achievement on the four-term chancellor, who will become only the

PARIS (AP) — France’s government is sounding the alarm about the growing risk of forest fires because of climate change, as hundreds of firefighters in the country’s parched south wrestle with their biggest woodland-destroying blaze so far this year. The fire erupted Sunday and burned on more than 1,000 hectares (2,500 acres) of land on

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Asian markets rose Monday, although worries continued about economic growth and inflationary pressures. Traders are focused on companies’ upcoming earnings reports and worry about how inflation might affect moves by the Federal Reserve and the world’s other central banks on interest rates. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225

By NICOLAS VAUX-MONTAGNY Associated Press PARIS (AP) — A French court is ruling Monday on whether Airbus and Air France are guilty of manslaughter over the 2009 crash of Flight 447 en route from Rio to Paris. The accident killed 228 people and led to lasting changes in aircraft safety measures. Acquittal is likely, in

By KELVIN CHAN AP Business Writer LONDON (AP) — Norwegian startup Freyr will first build batteries to power electric vehicles and store clean energy in a remote town near the Arctic Circle. Up next? An Atlanta suburb. That’s because a new U.S. clean energy law offers generous tax credits — up to 40% of costs

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and past leaders of the U.K. and Ireland are gathering in Belfast on Monday, 25 years after their charm, clout and determination helped Northern Ireland strike a historic peace accord. They are meeting for an anniversary conference in a Northern

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City police are working to quickly prepare evidence for the Clay County prosecutor in the shooting of a Black teenager while trying to pick up his younger brothers from a friend’s house Thursday. “I want everyone to know that I am listening,” Police Chief Stacey Graves said Sunday at