AP National News

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. State Department has approved the sale of an anti-tank mine-laying system to Taiwan amid the rising military threat from China. The department on Wednesday said the Volcano system and all related equipment would cost an estimated $180 million. It’s capable of scattering anti-tank and anti-personnel mines from either a ground

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Authorities in Ukraine say several regions of the country, including its capital, are facing a Russian missile attack. Air raid sirens rang out in many regions early Thursday. In Kyiv, the regional administration said air defense systems have been activated to fend off the missiles. Sounds of explosions were heard in

By KEN MORITSUGU and HUIZHONG WU Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — Moves by several countries to mandate COVID-19 tests for passengers arriving from China reflect global concern that new variants could emerge in its ongoing explosive outbreak — and that the government may not inform the rest of the world quickly enough. There have been

By RIAZAT BUTT Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Even before the Taliban barred Afghan women from working at non-governmental groups, their forces visited the office of one local organization in the capital Kabul several times to check female staff were obeying rules on dress codes and gender segregation. Already, the women in the office

By BEATRICE DUPUY, RICHARD LARDNER and SABINA NIKSIC Associated Press SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Vildana Mutevelić huddled in her apartment with her two young children and elderly cousins. They had no heat, electricity or running water as artillery shells tore the roof off their building and almost took their lives. To survive, she improvised. Mutevelić

By KEN MORITSUGU and HUIZHONG WU Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — Moves by the U.S., Japan and others to mandate COVID-19 tests for passengers arriving from China reflect global concern that new variants could emerge in its ongoing explosive outbreak — and the government may not inform the rest of the world quickly enough. There

By JACQUES BILLEAUD Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — A court is scheduled on Thursday to unveil the winners of the Arizona attorney general’s race and two other elections that were so close they triggered mandatory recounts. In one of the tightest elections in state history, Democrat Kris Mayes was ahead of Republican Abraham Hamadeh by

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Shares slipped in Asia on Thursday after benchmarks fell more than 1% on Wall Street in the middle of a mostly quiet and holiday-shortened week. U.S. futures were mixed and oil prices declined. Investors are watching to see how China’s relaxation of its stringent COVID-19 policies,

By SOPHENG CHEANG Associated Press PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A fire burning through a Cambodian hotel casino has killed at least 10 people and injured 30 others, police said Thursday, and neighboring Thailand sent firetrucks to help fight the blaze in a bustling border region. Videos posted on social media showed people apparently jumping

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Local reports say a fire burning through a Cambodian hotel casino on the border with Thailand has killed at least 10 people. The reports said the blaze at the Grand Diamond Casino and Hotel in the border town of Poipet broke out around midnight on Wednesday and was still burning

OJAI, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say they won’t file criminal charges over decades of alleged sexual misconduct at an elite private high school in Southern California even though they say “numerous” children were victimized. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office and county district attorney’s office announced Wednesday that they have completed an investigation into more than

By MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin says he has a type of lymphoma that is a “serious but curable form of cancer” and he is beginning several months of treatment. Raskin will be the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Reform Committee in the next Congress. He

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The statue of a 19th-century Northern California rancher and meat-packing magnate has been decapitated leaving investigators in the state’s capital city scratching their heads to find a motive behind the vandalism. Tipsters could receive a $1,000 reward for information about what befell the nearly century-old granite statue of Charles Swanston in

By DUSAN STOJANOVIC Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic says Serbs will start removing their barricades in Kosovo on Thursday in a move that deescalates tensions that triggered fears of new clashes in the Balkans. The agreement with Kosovo Serbs was reached at a late-night crisis meeting on Wednesday. It followed

By COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press DENVER (AP) — Police say a man who put three failed explosive devices inside a worship hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in suburban Denver before killing his wife and himself there on Christmas morning is suspected of causing an explosion at a union building. Shortly before Sunday’s murder-suicide, police say Enoch