AP National News

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — In a darkened hotel room in New York’s Soho neighborhood, Brendan Fraser kindly greets a reporter with an open plastic bag in his hand. “Would you like a gummy bear?” Fraser, the 54-year-old actor, is in many ways an extremely familiar face to encounter. Here

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has tightened control and oversight over Vatican-based foundations and associations in his latest effort to impose international standards of accounting and governance on Vatican offices.  A new law aims to bring the Holy See into further compliance with recommendations from a Council of Europe

By MOLLY QUELL Associated Press THE HAGUE (AP) — News channel Al Jazeera is formally asking the International Criminal Court to investigate the fatal shooting of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh as she was reporting from a Palestinian refugee camp in May. Al Jazeera, which made the request Tuesday, has accused the Israeli government of specifically

By KELVIN CHAN AP Business Writer LONDON (AP) — Facebook’s quasi-independent oversight board says an internal system that exempted high-profile users, including former U.S. President Donald Trump, from some or all of its content moderation rules needs a major overhaul. The report released Tuesday by the Oversight Board said the system “is flawed in key

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH Associated Press The COVID-19 pandemic sent Heidi Whitney’s daughter into a tailspin. Suddenly the San Diego middle schooler was sleeping all day and awake all night. When in-person classes resumed, she was so anxious at times that she begged to come home early, telling the nurse her stomach hurt. Whitney tried to

By MELISSA LAMBARENA of NerdWallet With rising costs of goods and services, turning to “buy now, pay later” plans when you check out can be tempting. With no interest or fees, not to mention the predictability of installment plans, this option seems like a more ideal payment method than a credit card. But using these

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A Memphis police officer was wounded and a suspect was killed during a shootout following a call about a suspicious vehicle at a gas station, authorities said. The Memphis Police Department said in a tweet that the officer was struck multiple times Monday night in the Oakhaven neighborhood, just north of

BERLIN (AP) — A 45-year-old German man who had offered babysitting services online went on trial Tuesday in the western city of Cologne accused of almost 100 counts of child sexual abuse. Prosecutors told the Cologne regional court that the man documented the abuse of babies, children and teenagers, and shared videos and images of

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — A newly founded Japanese semiconductor company aiming to revive Japan’s chip industry will collaborate with a Belgian research organization in research and development of next-generation chips for production in Japan. Economy and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura told reporters Tuesday that the new company, Rapidus, which was launched

BANGKOK (AP) — Three Thai railway workers have been killed and four others wounded when a bomb exploded as they were clearing the wreckage of an earlier attack over the weekend in the country’s south. Police say the workers were repairing tracks near a station not far from the Malaysian border when the bomb exploded

By STEVE PEOPLES and SARAH RANKIN Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin swept into office as a Republican revelation with a fresh formula for victory as the GOP contemplated its future beyond Donald Trump. But a year after Youngkin’s stunning win, some Republicans believe the shine of his national star is

By JARI TANNER Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Latvian media authorities have revoked the license of an independent Russian TV channel exiled in the Baltic country for, among other things, voicing support for the Russian military and including Crimea in its map of Russia. The decision by the Latvian National Electronic Mass Media Council

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press President Joe Biden on Tuesday plans to visit the building site for a new computer chip plant in Arizona, using it as a chance to emphasize how his policies are fostering job growth in what could be a challenge to the incoming Republican House majority. Biden has staked his legacy

GDYNIA, Poland (AP) — Polish President Andrzej Duda and the country’s defense minister have taken delivery of a first shipment of tanks and howitzers from South Korea, hailing the swift implementation of a deal signed in the summer in the face of the war in neighboring Ukraine. The two were in the Polish Navy port

By EVELYNE MUSAMBI Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Tanzania’s president has canceled Independence Day celebrations scheduled for Friday and directed that the budget instead be used to build dormitories for children with special needs. The 61st Independence Day event was to cost $445,000, money that will be used to build eight dormitories in primary

By COSTAS KANTOURIS Associated Press THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — Residents of a Roma settlement have lit fires near a police station outside Greece’s second-largest city of Thessaloniki to protest the police shooting of a 16-year-old driver during a chase over an unpaid gas station bill. Tuesday’s violence came after a 34-year-old police officer appeared in

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has fired a barrage of artillery rounds into waters near rival South Korea for the second consecutive day in a tit-for-tat for the South’s live-fire drills. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected North Korea firing around 90 artillery rounds from

BEIJING (AP) — China’s Defense Ministry says the country strictly adheres to a policy of no first use of nuclear weapons “at any time and under any circumstances.” The pledge came in a scathing response Tuesday to a U.S. report alleging a major buildup in Beijing’s nuclear capabilities. The Pentagon last week released an annual

By LEAH WILLINGHAM Associated Press The head of the federal Environmental Protection Agency is scheduled to visit 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 will speak with community members in McDowell County about drinking water and