AP National News

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has expressed “shame” for himself and the Roman Catholic Church for the scale of child sexual abuse within the church in France. The pope spoke during his Wednesday regular audience at the Vatican about a report released a day earlier that estimated some 330,000 French children were abused by

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s environmentalist Greens say they want to hold negotiations on a new governing coalition under the leadership of outgoing Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats which narrowly won the country’s election. The Sept. 26 election left two parties as likely kingmakers. They are the Greens who finished third and the business-friendly

BERLIN (AP) — Police are carrying out large-scale raids in three German states in connection with a suspected money-laundering network that reportedly funneled millions to Turkey and Syria. Duesseldorf police said the raids that began early Wednesday involved over 1,000 officers in three western and northern states. Police say the activity is part of an

By NINIEK KARMINI Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A Chicago woman convicted of assisting her boyfriend in her mother’s murder and stuffing the body in a suitcase on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali in 2014 is being released early from a 10-year prison sentence. A prison official confirmed that Heather Mack, who was 18

By MARK LONG AP Pro Football Writer JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan has publicly reprimanded Urban Meyer for what he called the coach’s “inexcusable” behavior at an Ohio bar over the weekend. A video that surfaced Saturday night shows a young woman dancing close to Meyer’s lap as he sits on

By AARON FAVILA and JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The son and namesake of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos has registered his candidacy for next year’s presidential elections. His move sparked a protest by more than 100 activists who recalled the widespread human rights atrocities that marked the martial law era under his

By KAREL JANICEK Associated Press PRAGUE (AP) — Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis is heading into a parliamentary election this week hit by yet another scandal that links him and hundreds of other wealthy people to offshore accounts. Findings by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists dubbed the “Pandora Papers” found that Babis put $22

By KATHLEEN RONAYNE and MATTHEW DALY Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Oil spilling into federal waters off California’s coast has prompted fresh calls for an end to offshore oil drilling in state and federal waters. But that’s easier said than done. Neither the longstanding ban on new drilling leases in state water nor an

By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — A trove of leaked documents shows that for years, Lebanon’s politicians and bankers have stowed wealth in offshore tax havens and used it to buy expensive properties. It’s a galling revelation for masses of newly impoverished Lebanese, caught in one of the world’s worst economic meltdowns in

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press writer BRDO CASTLE, Slovenia (AP) — European Union leaders are gathering to reassure six countries in the Balkans that they could join the trading bloc one day. That is, if they can meet the EU’s standards. But an EU summit in Slovenia on Wednesday is unlikely to provide any signals

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Britain is experiencing empty gas pumps, worker shortages and unavailable items on store shelves. But Prime Minister Boris Johnson has played to an adoring crowd during his Conservative Party’s annual conference. Johnson ends the four-day conference Wednesday with a speech promising that Britain will emerge from

By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho Gov. Brad Little says he will rescind an executive order involving COVID-19 vaccines by Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin. Also on Tuesday, the commanding general of the Idaho National Guard told McGeachin she can’t activate troops to send to the U.S.-Mexico border. Little and Major General

By SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press BASRA, Iraq (AP) — Candidates in Iraq’s parliamentary election on Sunday are trying to persuade the country’s disillusioned younger voters to trust a balloting process long tainted by tampering and fraud. Public apathy is widespread, and some of the pro-reform activists whose street protests in 2019 led to the vote

By ANDREW SELIGMAN AP Sports Writer CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago White Sox have a rare opportunity to capture the spotlight and expand their fan base in a city in which they’re often overshadowed by their neighbors a few miles north. They’re in the playoffs for the second year in a row, a first for

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — The organization that handles claims on behalf of Jews who suffered under the Nazis says Germany has agreed to extend compensation to Jewish survivors who endured the World War II siege of Leningrad and two other groups who had not received any monthly pensions from Germany. The

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles leaders are poised to enact one of the nation’s strictest vaccine mandates — a sweeping measure that would require the shots for everyone entering a bar, restaurant, nail salon, gym or even a Lakers game. The City Council on Wednesday is scheduled to consider the proposal and most members

By HAVEN DALEY BENICIA, Calif. (AP) — Some residents in the drought-parched U.S. West are turning to pricey machines that developers say can produce hundreds of gallons of water a day, literally out of thin air. The air-to-water systems work like an air conditioner by using coils to chill air, then collecting drops in a

By STEFANIE DAZIO, MATTHEW BROWN and BRIAN MELLEY LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Federal investigators say a ship’s anchor may have hooked, dragged and torn a massive underwater pipeline that spilled tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil into the water off Southern California. They also say the pipeline owner didn’t quickly shut down

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian government minister says a review of defamation laws will likely examine whether platforms such as Facebook should be liable for users’ defamatory posts. The High Court made a landmark ruling last month that media outlets are “publishers” of allegedly defamatory comments posted by third

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — A probe is continuing into what caused an offshore pipeline break that spilled tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil off Southern California. One possibility is that an anchor on a cargo ship snagged the pipe, dragged it and eventually cracked it open. Federal