AP National News

BEIJING (AP) — China says president and ruling Communist Party leader Xi Jinping is holding talks with visiting European Council President Charles Michel in Beijing. The two trading giants are experiencing frictions over trade, Russia and Taiwan. The official Xinhua News Agency gave no details about the discussions Thursday. However, EU officials say the one-day

By ISAAC SCHARF Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli forces have killed two Palestinian militants during an arrest raid in the occupied West Bank. The Islamic Jihad militant group said both men were members. The military said troops were carrying out an arrest raid Thursday and were met by gunfire. The forces responded, and the

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Sleep plunges the soldier back into the horrors of Ukraine’s battlefields. He can hear bombs falling again and picture explosions. He imagines himself frantically running, trying to save himself and others. The nightmares are so vivid and frightening that he pleads with his doctor for help.

By JUWON PARK Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Award-winning “Squid Game” actor Oh Young-soo will stand trial on charges of indecent assault after a woman accused him of inappropriately touching her in 2017, a South Korean court said. The district court in Seongnam city said Thursday that prosecutors indicted the 78-year-old Emmy nominee

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Shares advanced in Europe and Asia on Thursday after a rally on Wall Street spurred by the Federal Reserve chair’s comments on easing the pace of interest rate hikes to tame inflation. Signs that China may be shifting its approach to containing COVID-19 outbreaks to focus

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Palestinian Health Ministry says two Palestinians were killed during an Israeli military raid in a militant stronghold in the occupied West Bank. Reports by Israeli media said the two men killed Thursday were commanders in the Islamic Jihad militant group. According to the reports, the military was conducting an arrest raid

By GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Voters in Oregon passed one of the nation’s toughest gun control laws, but the new permit-to-purchase mandate is facing a legal challenge with days to go before it takes effect. A federal judge in Portland will hear oral arguments about whether to put a hold on

By ZEN SOO Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Videos of hundreds protesting in Shanghai started to appear on WeChat Saturday night. Showing chants about removing COVID-19 restrictions and demanding freedom, they would only stay up for only minutes before being censored. Elliot Wang, a 26-year-old in Beijing, was amazed. “I started refreshing constantly, and

Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — Voters in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat are casting ballots in crucial local elections. The vote is seen as a barometer of his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s popularity ahead of a general election in 2024. Thursday’s polls are the first of two phases of voting in

By SARA BURNETT Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Emboldened by the results of November’s midterms, abortion rights supporters say they are preparing for even bigger fights in state legislatures and pivotal elections to come, including 2024 races for Congress and president. Victories for abortion rights ballot measures and candidates who support abortion provided a roadmap

By SYLVIE CORBET, MATTHEW DALY and AAMER MADHANI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Presidents Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron are celebrating the longstanding U.S.-French relationship — but these are friends with differences. The French president is using his visit to Washington to sharply criticize aspects of the U.S. president’s signature climate law as a bad

NEW YORK (AP) — Former major league outfielder Yasiel Puig has decided to withdraw his agreement to plead guilty to a charge of lying to federal agents investigating an illegal gambling operation. Puig is changing his plea to not guilty because of “significant new evidence,” according to a statement from his attorneys in Los Angeles.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Voice of America says the Taliban have banned FM radio broadcasts from VOA and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Afghanistan, starting Thursday. VOA said Taliban authorities cited “complaints they have received about programming content” without providing specifics. VOA and RFE are funded by the U.S. government, though they claim editorial independence.

By BILL BARROW and JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia voters have cast more than 1 million ballots ahead of the Dec. 6 U.S. Senate runoff between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker, with Warnock looking to juice an apparent Democratic head start in early voting with a visit Thursday

By TED ANTHONY AP National Writer He grinned, and — just eight years after the crackdown on democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square — the spectacle of China’s ruler beaming and glad-handing people in the very heart of capitalism seemed at once charming and really, really odd. It was an October morning in 1997 at the

By SIBI ARASU Associated Press BENGALURU, India (AP) — India officially takes up its role as chair of the Group of 20 leading economies for the coming year Thursday and it’s putting climate at the top of the group’s priorities. Programs to encourage sustainable living and money for countries to transition to clean energy and

By KANIS LEUNG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — The trial of a Hong Kong newspaper publisher who was arrested in a crackdown on a pro-democracy movement was postponed Thursday after the territory’s leader asked China to effectively block him from hiring a British defense lawyer. Jimmy Lai, 74, faces a possible life sentence if

By KEVIN FREKING and JOSH FUNK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. House moved urgently to head off the looming nationwide rail strike on Wednesday, passing a bill that would bind companies and workers to a proposed settlement that was reached in September but rejected by some of the 12 unions involved. The measure

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — As hundreds of students mourned together inside the University of Idaho’s stadium Wednesday night, family members of four slain classmates urged them to raise their eyes from grief and focus on love and the future. The vigil was held in honor of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen,