AP National News

By KRISHAN FRANCIS and KRUTIKA PATHI Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Ousted Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa is expected to return home more than seven weeks after he fled the country amid mass protests that demanded his resignation, holding him and his family responsible for the country’s economic crisis. Rajapaksa currently does not

BRUSSELS (AP) — Europe’s top human rights body is calling on the Netherlands government to drastically improve reception conditions for asylum seekers. Hundreds of people have been left stranded in recent weeks outside the main Dutch registration center. The Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner, Dunja Mijatovic, said Friday conditions at the Ter Apel center

BERLIN (AP) — The German government has confirmed that families of 11 Israeli athletes killed by Palestinian militants at the 1972 Munich Olympics will receive a total of 28 million euros (dollars) in compensation. The figure — which includes payments already made — had previously been reported by German and Israeli media but not officially

By YESICA FISCH Associated Press ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP) — Heavy fighting continued Friday near Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in a Russian-controlled area of eastern Ukraine, a day after experts from the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog agency voiced concerns about structural damage to the sprawling Zaporizhzhia site. Britain’s Defense Ministry says shelling continued in the district

HERAT, Afghanistan (AP) — A Taliban official says an explosion went off in a mosque in the western Afghan city of Herat, He says there were dead and wounded in Friday’s blast, but could not give detailed casualty figures. The explosion went off during Friday noon prayers, the highlight of the Muslim religious week when

By CIARÁN GILES Associated Press MADRID (AP) — Gibraltar authorities say 80 percent of the diesel from a damaged and partly sunken bulk carrier ship has been removed but that some 180 tons of heavy fuel is still on board. The ship was ordered beached after colliding Monday with another vessel in the bay of

By GRANT PECK Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — A diplomat says a court in military-ruled Myanmar has sentenced a former British ambassador to the Southeast Asian nation to a year in prison for failing to register her residence. The diplomat says former envoy Vicky Bowman’s husband, a Myanmar national, was also given a one-year sentence

BERLIN (AP) — Prosecutors in Germany say a 25-year-old man has died from injuries suffered in an attack at a gay pride event in the western city of Muenster. The victim, whose name wasn’t released for privacy reasons, had come to the aid of other participants in the Aug. 27 event after they were insulted

PARIS (AP) — France’s national anti-terrorism prosecutor has warned of an increased threat of attacks on French soil by Islamic extremists coming from Iraq and Syria. Jean-Francois Ricard said in an interview Friday on French news broadcaster BFM TV that terrorist acts carried out “by individuals coming from areas where terrorists are operating, especially the

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — European stocks opened higher Friday while Asian markets mostly declined ahead of U.S. jobs data that might reinforce U.S. Federal Reserve plans for more interest rate hikes to cool inflation. London, Frankfurt and Shanghai rose. Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney declined. Wall Street futures were nearly

ISTANBUL (AP) — A cargo ship carrying tons of grain from Ukraine was stranded in Istanbul’s Bosporus and had to be rescued early Friday. Turkey’s Directorate General of Coastal Safety tweeted that the 173-meter cargo ship was stuck off the coast of the scenic Bebek neighborhood late Thursday because of a rudder malfunction. The busy

By RAQUEL REDONDO Associated Press MADRID (AP) — The shrieks of fear-infused excitement as bulls charge through the streets of many Spanish towns during wildly popular summer festivals echo in sharp contrast to the number of people who have died after being gored this year. Bull runs may be a beloved spectacle for locals and

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Israeli attack targeting a Syrian airport tore a hole in the runway and also damaged a nearby piece of tarmac and structure on the military side of the airfield, satellite photos analyzed Friday by The Associated Press showed. The attack Wednesday night on

BERLIN (AP) — Two earthquakes hit Liechtenstein just as lawmakers in the tiny Alpine principality were debating the pros and cons of quake insurance. Lawmaker Bettina Petzold-Maehr had just warned that the chances of all Liechtenstein citizens being affected by an earthquake striking the country was high when the first small temblor hit shortly before

By ASHOK SHARMA Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — India has commissioned its first home-built aircraft carrier as it seeks to counter regional rival China’s much larger and growing fleet, and expand its own indigenous shipbuilding capabilities. The INS Vikrant, whose name is a Sanskrit word for “powerful” or “courageous,” is India’s second operational aircraft

FRANKFURT (AP) — Hundreds of Lufthansa flights have been canceled as pilots stage a one-day strike to press their demands for better pay and conditions at Germany’s biggest carrier. The airline said about 800 flights were grounded Friday at its two biggest hubs, Frankfurt and Munich, due to the walkout. It said more than 100,000

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — The head of the U.S. Environment Protection Agency says advanced nuclear technology will be “critical” for both the United States and Japan as they step up cooperation to meet decarbonization goals. Michael Regan, after holding talks with his Japanese counterpart Akihiro Nishimura in Tokyo, told a joint

By JOCELYN NOVECK AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Imagine if they could bottle a potion called “Just Serena.” That was Serena Williams’ succinct, smiling explanation for how she’d managed — at nearly 41, and match-rusty — to defeat the world’s second-ranked player and advance Wednesday to the third round of a U.S. Open

By MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Officials say planes carrying fresh aid from the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan have landed overnight at an airport near Pakistan’s capital. Officials said Friday that the two flights are part of the humanitarian air bridge established last month after floods wreaked havoc in this impoverished Islamic