AP National News

HELSINKI (AP) — Finland is slashing the number of visas issued to Russian citizens to a tenth of the regular amount. The decision, announced in August, came into effect on Thursday and is seen as a demonstration of Finland’s solidarity with Ukraine. Finland shares the longest border with Russia of all European Union members and

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s foreign minister is warning that any actions seen as endangering a Russian peacekeeping contingent in a separatist region of Moldova would be considered as an attack on Russia itself. Sergey Lavrov’s statement in a Thursday address at Russia’s top foreign affairs school underlined concerns that Moldova’s Transnistria region, which borders Ukraine,

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland is to release a long-awaited report on the losses incurred by years of Nazi German invasion as it marks 83 years since the start of World War II. Poland’s right-wing government argues that the country which was the war’s first victim has not been fully compensated by Germany. It rejects

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Global shares were lower Thursday, tracking a broad slide on Wall Street, as investors braced for higher interest rates and inflation worries for some time. France’s CAC 40 declined 1.6% to 6,025.93 in early trading, while Germany’s DAX slipped 1.6% to 12,633.32. Britain’s FTSE 100 was

BERLIN (AP) — German carrier Lufthansa says it is canceling almost all passenger and cargo flights Friday from its two biggest hubs, Frankfurt and Munich, due to a planned strike by pilots. A union representing Lufthansa pilots said early Thursday that they will stage a walk-out after demands for a pay increase were rejected by

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers have failed to replace limits on carrying concealed weapons that were struck down by a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling. A measure that would have enacted more than three dozen new restrictions failed by one vote early Thursday in the state Assembly. Sen. Anthony

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD and ADAM BEAM Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The California Legislature was advancing Gov. Gavin Newsom’s blueprint to extend the lifespan of the state’s last operating nuclear power plant by up to five years. The vote represented a setback for environmentalists who wanted to state to abide by a 2016

By EILEEN NG Associated Press KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian former first lady Rosmah Mansor has been ordered to serve 10 years in prison after being found guilty of soliciting and receiving bribes during her husband’s corruption-tainted administration, a week after he was imprisoned over the massive looting of the 1MDB state fund. Rosmah

By EILEEN NG Associated Press KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian former first lady Rosmah Mansor has been ordered to serve 10 years in prison after being found guilty of soliciting and receiving bribes during her husband’s corruption-tainted administration, a week after he was imprisoned over the massive looting of the 1MDB state fund. Rosmah

BERLIN (AP) — A union representing pilots at German carrier Lufthansa says they will stage a walk-out Friday after demands for a pay increase were rejected by management. The union accused Lufthansa on Thursday of failing to improve on their previous offer, leaving pilots no choice but to go on strike. According to Lufthansa the

By MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani health officials are reporting an outbreak of waterborne diseases in the flood-affected areas. Thursday’s announcement about the outbreak of waterborne diseases among flood victims came amid efforts aimed at ensuring the provision of clean drinking water to hundreds of thousands of people displaced by record-breaking floods,

By FARAI MUTSAKA Associated Press HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe has begun moving more than 2,500 wild animals from a southern reserve to one in the country’s north to rescue them from drought, as the ravages of climate change replace poaching as the biggest threat to wildlife. “Project Rewild Zambezi,” as the operation is called,

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese authorities have locked down Chengdu, a southwestern city of 21 million people, following a spike in COVID-19 cases. Residents have been ordered to stay home, and about 70% of the flights have been suspended to and from the city, which is a major transit hub in Sichuan province and a governmental

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A top South Korean official says that China and Russia’s reluctance to toughen U.N. sanctions on North Korea is “the biggest challenge” facing international efforts to eliminate the North’s nuclear arsenal. Vice Defense Minister Shin Beomchul spoke with The Associated Press on Thursday ahead of

By DEREK GATOPOULOS Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The company that oversees Ukraine’s nuclear power plants said shelling by Russian forces triggered a shutdown at one of the reactors at the Zaporizhzhia plant, underscoring the risks faced by a team of U.N. inspectors that was heading there Thursday to assess its safety. A team

BY EILEEN NG Associated Press KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s former first lady Rosmah Mansor has been convicted of soliciting and receiving bribes during her husband’s corruption-tainted administration Thursday, a week after her husband was imprisoned over the massive looting of the 1MDB state fund. Rosmah was found guilty on three charges of soliciting

By HANNA ARHIROVA and YESICA FISCH Associated Press MYKHAILO-KOTSYUBYNSKE, Ukraine (AP) — The first day of school in Ukraine on Thursday won’t include children sharing memories of fun vacations with their families. Their stories are of surviving war. For many, their last day of school was the day before the Feb. 24 Russian invasion of

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has launched weeklong war games that involve forces from China and other nations in a show of growing defense cooperation between Moscow and Beijing as they both face tensions with the U.S. The maneuvers are also intended to demonstrate that Moscow has a sufficient capability for

By KEN MORITSUGU and JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — China has denounced a long-delayed U.N. report that was released over its protest and that says the government’s arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in the western region of Xinjiang may constitute crimes against humanity. Human rights groups and the

By FRANCES D’EMILIO Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — The moment that the black wall telephone rang early on the morning of Sept. 29, 1978, in Stefania Falasca’s Rome apartment is imprinted in her mind. Then 15, Falasca remembers her father answering and hearing the voice of her uncle, a priest who worked at the