AP National News

By HYUNG-JIN KIM and KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea’s recent barrage of missile tests, including Wednesday’s record of at least 23 launches, is raising an important question about its weapons program: How does the impoverished country pay for the seemingly endless tests? While some experts say each North Korean

BEIJING (AP) — In a much-scrutinized meeting Friday with visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine and warned against the conflict going nuclear. The German leader is in Beijing for a one-day visit that has drawn criticism over China’s tacit support for Russia, lingering controversies

By COLLEEN BARRY and SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press MILAN (AP) — France and Germany are asking Italy’s new far-right-led government to grant a safe port to nearly 1,000 people rescued by humanitarian groups in the central Mediterranean, some of whom have been stuck at sea for more than two weeks. Humanitarian groups caring for the

By AAMER MADHANI Associated Press SAN DIEGO (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday is set to tour a southern California communications company that is expected to benefit from his legislative push to bolster American semiconductor manufacturing — and he’s taking a vulnerable Democratic congressman with him. Biden will be joined by Rep. Mike Levin

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — World shares were higher on Friday, led by gains in Chinese markets as investors grasped at hopes for an easing of the country’s stringent pandemic controls. Hong Kong’s benchmark soared more than 7% but then fell back, gaining 5.4% after a Communist Party newspaper, the Global

BEIJING (AP) — In a much-scrutinized meeting Friday with visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine and warned against the conflict going nuclear. The German leader is in Beijing for a one-day visit that has drawn criticism over China’s tacit support for Russia, lingering controversies

By KANIS LEUNG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Revelers have returned to Hong Kong Stadium to enjoy a highly-anticipated international rugby sevens tournament for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began. It wasn’t a celebration for everyone. Some international fans unaware of the city’s pandemic restrictions were being turned away at the gate.

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — With Russia’s war in Ukraine raging, Pope Francis joined Muslim, Christian and Jewish leaders Friday in calling for the world’s great religions work together for peace, telling an interfaith summit that religion must never be used to justify violence and that faith leaders must counter the

By MUNIR AHMED and RIAZAT BUTT Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan is in a stable condition after being shot and wounded during a protest march, a senior leader from his party said Friday. Khan’s protest march and rallies were peaceful until Thursday afternoon’s attack, raising concerns about growing political

BERLIN (AP) — Official figures show that German factory orders were down 4% in September compared with the previous month, underlining expectations that Europe’s biggest economy is heading into recession. The Economy Ministry said Friday that the decline was led by a decline in foreign orders, which dropped 7%. Orders from inside Germany were up

By FRANK JORDANS and SETH BORENSTEIN Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — When world leaders, diplomats, campaigners and scientists descend on Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt next week for talks on tackling climate change, don’t expect them to part the Red Sea or other miracles that would make huge steps in curbing global warming. Each year there

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea has scrambled about 80 military aircraft, including advanced F-35 fighter jets, after tracking about 180 flights by North Korean warplanes inside North Korean territory in what appeared to be a defiant show of strength. North Korea’s mobilization of warplanes came after it test-fired

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer Thirty years ago there was hope that a warming world could clean up its act. It didn’t. The United States helped forge two historic agreements to curb climate change then torpedoed both when new political administrations took over. Rich and poor nations squabbled about who should do what. During

By HANNA ARHIROVA and ADAM SCHRECK Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainians no longer ask if their country will be hit by Russia with nuclear weapons. They are preparing for it. People casually discuss which city could be the most likely target or what type of weapon might be used. Amid the war and

By ASHOK SHARMA and SHONAL GANGULY Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — Haze and smog have enveloped the skyline of India’s capital region leading to a ban on construction activity, the closing of factories and the use of water sprinklers and anti-smog guns to fight air quality that has hit dangerous levels. The Delhi government

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran is marking the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran as its theocracy faces nationwide protests after the death of a 22-year-old woman earlier arrested by the country’s morality police. While crowds in Tehran looked large with chador-wearing women waving the Islamic

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB Associated Press BHANINE, Lebanon (AP) — Shadia Ahmed panicked as rainwater flooded her shack one night, drenching her seven children. The next morning, the kids were seized by vomiting, diarrhea and other symptoms. After an aid group administered tests for cholera in Ahmed’s Syrian refugee encampment in the northern Lebanese town of