AP National News

By FRANK JORDANS, BARBARA SURK and JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Olaf Scholz says Germany is well-prepared to tackle a possible energy shortage due to Russia’s squeeze on European gas supplies. Fears are growing about the juggernaut of rising prices that will likely hit consumers across the continent this winter. Scholz

BEIJING (AP) — China says a key congress of the ruling Communist Party at which leader Xi Jinping is expected to be granted a third five-year term will open on Oct. 16. Such congresses are held every five years and usually bring in a new slate of leaders. Xi, who is also head of state,

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — Independent U.N. human rights experts are expressing concerns about the adverse impact on the rights of racial and ethnic minorities from the U.S. Supreme Court decision that stripped away constitutional protections for abortion in the United States. They called on the Biden administration and state governments to

BEIJING (AP) — China has placed millions of its citizens under lockdown following fresh outbreaks of COVID-19. The measures affected about half of the 6 million residents of the port city of Dalian, along with Chengde and Shijiazhuang in Hebei province, both around three hours from the capital Beijing. Dalian’s lockdown is due to last

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — The defense ministers of Japan and Israel have shared concerns about growing global tensions from Asia to the Middle East and have signed an agreement to step up cooperation in military equipment and technology. Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada says he welcomes stronger military ties with Israel

By HUIZHONG WU and JOE McDONALD Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has arrived in Taiwan for a visit focused on semiconductors, the critical chips that are used in everyday electronics and have become a battleground in the technology competition between the U.S. and China. His visit is the latest in

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has again filed paperwork to terminate his agreement to buy Twitter, this time based on information in a whistleblower complaint filed by Twitter’s former head of security. In an SEC filing Tuesday, Musk said his legal team notified Twitter of “additional bases” for ending the deal on top of the ones

MONROE, Mich. (AP) — Severe storms that brought damaging winds, heavy rains and flash flooding to parts of the Midwest and the South are being blamed for the deaths of two children in Michigan and Arkansas. Monday’s storms also knocked out electrical service to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in Michigan and Indiana.

By AMI BENTOV Associated Press BEERSHEBA, Israel (AP) — An Israeli court on Tuesday sentenced the Gaza director of a major international charity to 12 years in prison. Mohammed el-Halabi was found guilty earlier this year of terrorism charges in a high-profile case in which independent investigations found no proof of wrongdoing. El-Halabi was arrested

By JOHNSON LAI Associated Press PENGHU, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s president has told the self-ruled island’s military units to keep their cool in the face of daily warplane flights and warship maneuvers by rival China, saying that Taiwan will not allow Beijing to provoke a conflict. China has kept up military pressure on Taiwan in

PRAGUE (AP) — The Dutch defense minister has expressed concern at gun violence in the United States in the aftermath of a shooting in Indianapolis over the weekend that left one Dutch soldier dead and two wounded. Kajsa Ollongren said Tuesday that many Dutch military personnel train in the U.S. “and we really don’t expect

SYDNEY (AP) — An Australian man has been convicted of murdering his wife 40 years ago after a renewed police investigation that was triggered by a popular podcast. Christopher Dawson faces a possible life sentence. He opted for a trial by judge instead of a jury in the New South Wales state Supreme Court due

UTRECHT, Netherlands (AP) — Almost the entire Dutch railway network has been shut down as workers affected by soaring inflation and staff shortages strike to demand better pay and working conditions. Staff at the railway company NS stopped work for the day Tuesday in the central Netherlands region that acts as a hub for almost

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Global stocks and Wall Street futures rebounded Tuesday as investors digested last week’s Federal Reserve pledge to fight inflation by keeping interest rates elevated. London, Frankfurt and Tokyo advanced, while Shanghai declined. The euro edged up to just over $1. Wall Street futures were higher after

BERLIN (AP) — A Vienna court has overturned the corruption conviction of former Austrian Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache for trying to change laws to favor a private hospital in exchange for donations to his political party. Local media reported Tuesday that the Vienna Higher Regional Court said proceedings would have to be repeated because exculpatory

By MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — The United Nations and Pakistan are set to appeal Tuesday for $160 million in emergency funding for nearly a half million displaced victims of record-breaking floods that have killed more than 1,150 people since mid-June, officials said. Pakistani authorities backed by the military, rescuers and volunteers have

By PAUL BYRNE Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A surge in fighting on the southern front line and a Ukrainian claim of new attacks on Russian positions fed speculation Tuesday that a long-expected counteroffensive to try to turn the tide of war has started. Officials in Kyiv, though, warned against excessive optimism in a

By AMI BENTOV Associated Press BEERSHEBA, Israel (AP) — An Israeli court on Tuesday sentenced the Gaza director of a major international charity to 12 years in prison. Mohammed el-Halabi was found guilty earlier this year of terrorism charges in a high-profile case in which independent investigations found no proof of wrongdoing. El-Halabi was arrested