AP National News

BEIJING (AP) — In a sharp reversal, China has announced a series of measures rolling back some of its most draconian anti-COVID-19 restrictions, including limiting harsh lockdowns and ordering schools without known infections to resume regular classes. The National Health Commission in a 10-point announcement on Wednesday stipulated that COVID-19 tests and a clean bill

By JOSEF FEDERMAN Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s ties to the Jewish American community, one of its closest and most important allies, are about to be put to the test, with Israel’s emerging far-right government on a collision course with Jews in the United States. Major Jewish American organizations, traditionally a bedrock of support

BEIJING (AP) — In a sharp reversal, China has announced a series of measures rolling back some of the most draconian anti-COVID-19 restrictions. The Wednesday announcement includes limiting the scale of lockdown to individual apartment floors and buildings, rather than entire districts and neighborhoods. People who test positive for the virus will be able to

By JOHN FLESHER AP Environmental Writer DETROIT (AP) — In a bustling metro area of 4.3 million people, Yale University wildlife biologist Nyeema Harris ventures into isolated thickets to study Detroit’s most elusive residents — coyotes, foxes, raccoons and skunks among them. Harris and colleagues have placed trail cameras in woodsy sections of 25 city

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Officials say South Korea’s economy is recovering from the initial shock of a nationwide walkout staged by thousands of cargo truckers, even as their strike reached its 14th day on Wednesday amid a stalemate with the government over freight fare issues. The government of President

By AUDREY McAVOY Associated Press PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) — A handful of centenarian survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor are expected to gather at the scene of the Japanese bombing on Wednesday to commemorate those who perished 81 years ago. That’s fewer than in recent years, when a dozen or more traveled to

By MARK SHERMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is taking up a case with the potential to reshape elections for Congress and the presidency. The justices are hearing arguments Wednesday over the power of state courts to strike down congressional districts drawn by the legislature because they violate state constitutions. North Carolina

By RAHIM FAIEZ Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Afghan girls will be allowed to take their high school graduation exams this week even though they have been banned from classrooms since the Taliban took over the country in August 2021. That’s according to an education official and two documents from the government obtained by The

By ADI MARSIELA Associated Press BANDUNG, Indonesia (AP) — A man blew himself up Wednesday at a police station on Indonesia’s main island of Java, killing an officer and wounding seven people, officials said, in what appeared to be the latest in a string of suicide attacks blamed on Muslim militants. The attacker entered the

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Expedited drug approvals slowed this year as the Food and Drug Administration’s controversial accelerated pathway came under new scrutiny from Congress, government watchdogs and some of the agency’s own leaders. With less than a month remaining in the year, the FDA’s drug center has granted 10

By MARK PRATT Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — “Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa explained the significance of the Chicxulub impact crater to actor Domhnall Gleeson over a drink of negroni sbagliato in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia,” is the kind of sentence that just might tie your tongue up in knots. It contains five examples

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — China’s imports and exports shrank in November under pressure from weakening global demand and anti-virus controls at home. Exports sank 9% from a year ago to $296.1 billion, worsening from October’s 0.9% decline, customs data showed Wednesday. Imports fell 10.9% to $226.2 billion, down from the

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer Shares fell in Asia on Wednesday after Wall Street declined on fears the Federal Reserve will need to keep the brakes on the economy to get inflation under control, risking a sharp recession. Oil prices were mixed. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.6% to 27,727.53 and the Kospi in

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press There weren’t enough uncounted votes in Republican-leaning areas for Republican challenger Herschel Walker to make up his runoff election night gap with incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock. That’s what led The Associated Press to call the race for Warnock late Tuesday. Voting in the runoff began just weeks after the

By LEAH WILLINGHAM Associated Press WELCH, W.Va. (AP) — The head of the federal Environmental Protection Agency has visited a West Virginia county where some residents recently got access to clean water after years of having to boil it before drinking. EPA Administrator Michael Regan spoke with community members in McDowell County about drinking water

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration has signed off on two new significant arms sales to Taiwan in approvals that are sure to rankle China. The State Department said late Tuesday that it had approved sales worth more than $425 million of spare aircraft parts to Taiwan to support its fleet of F-16 fighters, C-130

By BILL BARROW and JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock defeated Republican challenger Herschel Walker in a Georgia runoff election Tuesday, ensuring Democrats an outright majority in the Senate for the rest of President Joe Biden’s current term and capping an underwhelming midterm cycle for the GOP in the last

By LOLITA C. BALDOR and KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The COVID-19 vaccine mandate for members of the U.S. military would be rescinded under the annual defense bill heading for a vote this week in Congress, ending a directive that helped ensure the vast majority of troops were vaccinated but also raised concerns

By LEAH WILLINGHAM Associated Press WELCH, W.Va. (AP) — The head of the federal Environmental Protection Agency has visited a West Virginia county where some residents recently got access to clean water after years of having to boil it before drinking. EPA Administrator Michael Regan spoke with community members in McDowell County about drinking water