AP National News

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona announced Friday that she has registered as an independent, but she does not plan to caucus with Republicans, ensuring Democrats will retain their narrow majority in the Senate. Sinema, who has modeled her political approach on the renegade style of the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.,

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Gulf Arab leaders and others in the Mideast are meeting in Saudi Arabia as part of a state visit by Chinese leader Xi Jinping. They want to firm up their relations with Beijing as decades of U.S. attention on the region wanes. Representatives of

By ERIC TUCKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The one-for-one swap involving Brittney Griner for Viktor Bout was not the one that U.S. officials had hoped to negotiate or were initially willing to accept. For months they been demanding the release of both Griner and another jailed American, Paul Whelan. The final agreement came together

By MARIAM FAM Associated Press DOHA, Qatar (AP) — An emerald inscribed for a Mughal emperor. A Safavid-period knotted wool carpet. An Ottoman-era curtain, intricately embroidered with metal threads, which was part of the covering of the Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure in Mecca that Muslims consider the metaphorical “house of God.” Like tiles in a

BERLIN (AP) — The top United Nations human rights official says his office will continue reaching out to Beijing about allegations of abuse in China. The office of the former U.N. human rights chief published a report in August stating that China’s detention of Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in the western region

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Nine miners have died in a coal mine explosion in Indonesia’s West Sumatra province and rescue workers are still searching for one missing miner after rescuing two others. The blast, caused by noxious gases including methane, occurred on Friday in a mine in Sawahlunto district owned by a private company while

BRUSSELS (AP) — A new report says the war in Ukraine, chaos in Haiti and criminal groups in Mexico contributed to a 30% spike in the number of journalists killed in 2022 over the previous year. The International Federation of Journalists says 67 journalists and media staff have been killed around the world so far

By LEKAN OYEKANMI and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Brittney Griner returned to the United States early Friday, nearly 10 months after the basketball star’s detention in Russia made her the most high-profile American jailed abroad and set off a political firestorm. Griner’s status as an openly gay Black woman, her prominence

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer Hate mealy apples and soggy french fries? Science can help. Restaurants, grocers, farmers and food companies are increasingly turning to chemistry and physics to tackle the problem of food waste. Some are testing spray-on peels or chemically-enhanced sachets that can slow the ripening process in fruit. Others are developing

By COSTAS KANTOURIS Associated Press THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — A Greek police officer accused of shooting and seriously wounding a Roma teenager during a police chase over an allegedly unpaid gas station bill will remain under house arrest. Friday’s decision comes after a prosecutor and an investigating judge disagreed on whether he should be jailed

By BILL BARROW and NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — In Georgia’s Senate runoff, Republicans once more met the realities of giving Democrats a head start they could not overcome. According to tallies from the secretary of state, Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock built a lead of more than 320,000 votes heading into Tuesday’s election.

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Violent attacks targeting Nigeria’s election commission offices are raising concerns about the security of the West African country’s upcoming February elections. In the latest attack, assailants in southeastern Imo state set fire on Sunday to an office of Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission. Nearly 50 of

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain is easing banking rules brought in after the 2008 global financial crisis in a bid to attract investment and secure London’s status as Europe’s leading finance center. Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt said Friday that the changes will make Britain “one of the most open, dynamic and

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were higher in Europe and Asia ahead of an update Friday on U.S. wholesale prices that will provide insights into how businesses are coping with inflation. Germany’s DAX added 0.2% to 14,295.30 while the CAC 40 in Paris was nearly unchanged at 6,649.30. Britain’s FTSE

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese airline has become the first customer to take delivery of a long-range jetliner produced by a state-owned manufacturer set up to try to compete with Boeing and Airbus. The C919 plane made by Commercial Aircraft Corp. is part of the ruling Communist Party’s efforts to transform the country into a

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Schools across Sri Lanka are closed as health and environment officials say the air quality in most parts of the island nation is unhealthy partly due to extreme weather conditions. Polluted air from neighboring India was aggravating the problem, authorities said Friday, as a storm

MADRID (AP) — Leaders and representatives of nine Mediterranean and Southern European countries are preparing to meet in Spain, with the energy crisis triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine likely to top the agenda. The EU-Med9 meeting in the port city of Alicante on Friday brings together leaders or representatives of Spain, Portugal, France,

ISTANBUL (AP) — News reports in Turkey say a fire has broken out at a luxury hotel located on the grounds of a former Ottoman palace. There were no immediate reports of any injuries. Private broadcaster NTV reported the fire broke out Friday on the fourth floor of the Ciragan Palace Hotel, covering the building