AP National News

By RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Christian Democrat Roberta Metsola of Malta has been elected president of the European Union’s parliament. Metsola was the candidate of the parliament’s biggest group, and she received 458 of the 616 votes cast on Tuesday. She succeeds Italian Socialist David Sassoli, who died last week. Metsola is

By ZEN SOO Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong authorities say they will kill about 2,000 small animals, including hamsters, after several tested positive for the coronavirus at a pet store where an employee was also infected. They say the city will also stop the sale of hamsters and the import of small

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Pakistani Taliban have claimed responsibility for multiple overnight gun attacks on police in the capital of Islamabad and elsewhere in the country’s northwest. Three officers and three assailants were killed. Monday night’s attack in Islamabad raised fears that insurgents have a presence in one of the country’s safest cities. On Tuesday,

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s environment minister says the country will gradually phase out coal plants over the next two decades while developing new technologies to reduce, capture and recycle carbon. Environment Minister Tsuyoshi Yamaguchi said in an interview with The Associated Press that Japan hopes to lead a zero-emissions push

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — The European Union’s foreign policy chief says Sudan’s military rulers have shown an unwillingness to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the country’s ongoing crisis. Tuesday’s comments by EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell came a day after security forces opened fire on anti-coup protesters in the capital,

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Conservative government has suffered a setback in Parliament in its attempt to give authorities stronger powers to curb peaceful but disruptive protests. Parliament’s upper chamber, the House of Lords, rejected some of the most contentious provisions in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill late Monday. The defeated measures would give

By RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Christian Democrat Roberta Metsola of Malta has been elected president of the European Union’s parliament following the death of Socialist David Sassoli last week. Metsola is only the third woman elected to the post. Her birthday was Tuesday, and at age 43, she is the European Parliament’s

By ZEN SOO Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong authorities say that they will cull some 2,000 small animals after several hamsters tested positive for the coronavirus at a pet store where an infected employee was working. Officials said Tuesday they would also stop the sale hamsters and the import of small mammals

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Despite sitting almost on top of the volcano that erupted so violently, the Pacific nation of Tonga appears to have avoided the widespread devastation that many initially feared. Tonga has so far reported three deaths, and concerns remain for the fate of people on two

By ZEN SOO Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong authorities say that they will cull some 2,000 small animals, including hamsters, after several of the rodents tested positive for the virus at a pet store where an infected employee was working. Officials said Tuesday they would also stop the sale and import of

GENEVA (AP) — Four people have gone on trial in the Swiss capital over a protest four years ago where some demonstrators hoisted a banner showing a gun pointed at an image of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan next to the words, “Kill Erdogan.” Bern regional prosecutors opened a probe for alleged “public provocation of

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Pakistani Taliban have claimed responsibility for an overnight gun attack on police in the capital of Islamabad that killed an officer and both of the assailants. The Monday night attack has raised fears that insurgents had a presence in Islamabad. On Tuesday, Mohammad Khurasani, the spokesman for the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan,

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Global shares are mostly lower while oil prices surged following an attack on an oil facility in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Stocks in France, Germany and Britain are lower in early trading. Markets finished lower in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul and Sydney. U.S.

By ABDULLAH AL-SHIHRI and AYA BATRAWY Associated Press RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — South Korea’s leader has landed in Saudi Arabia, where he was greeted in Riyadh by the kingdom’s crown prince and an honor guard marching band. Tuesday’s stop was the second in the Mideast for South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his wife,

By DAVID KEYTON and JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press SKIEN, Norway (AP) — Anders Behring Breivik, the right-wing extremist who killed 77 people in bomb-and-gun massacres  in Norway’s worst peacetime slaughter in 2011, appeared Tuesday before a court for a parole hearing. A southern Norwegian court must rule whether Breivik is still so dangerous that

By ZEN SOO Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong authorities say that they will cull some 2,000 hamsters after several of the rodents tested positive for the virus at a pet store where an infected employee was working. Officials said Tuesday they would also stop the sale and import of the rodents in

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese state media say parcels mailed from overseas may have spread the coronavirus in Beijing and elsewhere, despite doubts among overseas health experts that the virus can be transmitted via packaging. The State Post Bureau says it has ordered stronger measures to ventilate and disinfect sites where items mailed from overseas are

By KRISHAN FRANCIS Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s leader has promised human rights reforms and justice for people missing from the country’s civil war, after years of resisting calls for such measures. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was speaking before a new session of Parliament as the government looks for international support in

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates’ government health app says that Abu Dhabi is requiring people entering the capital city to show proof of booster shots. The app said in a post earlier this week that visitors are no longer be considered fully vaccinated unless they have received a booster at

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares are mostly lower while oil prices surged following an attack on an oil facility in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Stocks fell in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul and Sydney but rose in Shanghai.  U.S. futures declined as the yield on the 2-year