AP National News

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — The Pakistani Taliban are confirming the weekend killing of a former spokesman in neighboring Afghanistan. The outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, known as TTP, announced the Jan. 9 assassination of Mohammad Khurasani, which is an alias. His real name is Khalid Balti. He was killed in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province. The TTP spokesman vowed

By SALLY FRENCH of NerdWallet Travel in the second half of 2021 was a chaotic mess in many capacities, with canceled flights, long delays and other interruptions. It wasn’t uncommon for travelers to find themselves among the mob of people hovering over the customer service counter, jockeying against everyone else to get rebooked on the

By STEVE McMORRAN Associated Press Novak Djokovic was included in the draw for the Australian Open — but he’s still waiting to learn if he can stay in the country. All eyes are now on Immigration Minister Alex Hawke, who must decide whether to deport the tennis star, effectively overruling a judge who ruled Djokovic

By DAVID McHUGH AP Business Writer FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe’s natural gas crisis isn’t letting up. Prices are high. Reserves that are relied on in cold weather are low. Major Russian supplier Gazprom isn’t selling gas like it used to. Pipeline operators say that if there’s a cold winter, the continent’s gas companies will

By DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has recorded a sharp increase in coronavirus cases amid warnings that another surge in infections driven by the highly contagious omicron variant could be on its way. Russia’s state coronavirus task force reported 21,155 new contagions on Thursday, 18% more than the previous day and 33%

By CARLEY PETESCH Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal _ (AP) — The director of Africa’s Centers for Disease Control says the organization is talking to Pfizer about bringing its COVID-19 treatment pill to the continent, which has just passed 10 million cases. The discussions come as Dr. John Nkengasong urges governments and citizens not to relent

SYDNEY (AP) — An Australian man has pleaded guilty to murdering an American mathematician who fell from a Sydney cliff in 1988 in a gay hate crime that was dismissed by police at the time as suicide. Scott White was charged in 2020 with murdering 27-year-old Los Angeles-born Scott Johnson, whose naked body was found

By ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is highlighting the federal government’s efforts to “surge” COVID-19 testing and medical personnel to help overwhelmed medical facilities. The effort comes amid the upswing in coronavirus cases and staff shortages due to the omicron variant. Starting next week, 1,000 military medical personnel will begin

BEIJING (AP) — China is defending what it calls historical rights to virtually the entire South China Sea, following a new U.S. government report saying Beijing’s claims are almost entirely invalid. The Foreign Ministry spokesperson called the State Department report an attempt to distort international law, confuse the public, sow discord and disrupt the regional

PARIS (AP) — France will let in travelers from Britain who are vaccinated against COVID-19 without having to self-isolate or to offer an valid reason for the trip. French Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Thursday that travel restrictions will be eased starting Friday because the highly-contagious omicron variant is now largely dominant in both

By ASHOK SHARMA Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — India and Britain have launched talks on a free trade deal that is expected to boost bilateral trade by billions of dollars in one of the most ambitious negotiations after Brexit. Britain’s International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan met with Piyush Goyal, India’s minister of commerce and

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Senior British government ministers have expressed support for Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson and rejected demands he resign for attending a garden party during the country’s first coronavirus lockdown. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said Thursday that Johnson had made a “very, very sincere” apology, and Foreign

By CHRISTOPH NOELTING and FRANK JORDANS Associated Press KOBLENZ, Germany (AP) — A former Syrian secret police officer was convicted by a German court Thursday of crimes against humanity for overseeing the abuse of detainees at a jail near Damascus a decade ago. Anwar Raslan is the highest-ranking Syrian official so far convicted of the

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel is investigating after an 80-year-old Palestinian with U.S. citizenship died of a heart attack after being detained by Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank. The State Department says it is in touch with the Israeli government to seek “clarification” about the incident, which occurred early Wednesday. Omar Asaad was detained

PARIS (AP) — A French prosecutor has extended the detention period for a suspect in custody over the 2012 slayings of a British-Iraqi family and a cyclist in the French Alps. Saad al-Hilli, his wife Ikbal and his mother-in-law Souhaila al-Allaf, were shot dead on a remote mountain road near Annecy in eastern France. French

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Shares are mostly lower in Europe and Asia after the latest report of surging prices in the U.S. appeared to keep the Federal Reserve on track to raise interest rates in coming months. London, Paris, Tokyo and Shanghai were lower while Sydney and Hong Kong advanced.

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Rescuers in South Korea have located a man under a pile of broken concrete at the construction site of a 39-floor building that partially collapsed, leaving six workers missing. Crews are trying to clear the rubble to reach the man, but have yet to confirm

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The emirate of Ajman is warning its government employees that they will be penalized for coming into contact for a second time with anyone who has contracted COVID-19. State-linked media in the United Arab Emirates reported Thursday that federal employees in Ajman will not receive paid sick leave for

BEIRUT (AP) — A general strike by public transportation and labor unions has paralyzed Lebanon as the nation suffers through one of the world’s worst economic crises. Thursday’s protests come as the country’s ruling class has done almost nothing to pull the country out of its meltdown, rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement. Universities

By DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian Defense Ministry says troops that are part of a Russia-led security alliance are preparing to pull out of Kazakhstan. The withdrawal announced on Thursday comes a week after they were deployed to the ex-Soviet nation on the request of its president, who was seeking to