AP National News

By KELSEY SHEEHY of NerdWallet Some cities and states are targeting remote workers as a way to boost the local tax base and combat decades of brain drain. To get out-of-staters to relocate and live and work from a new city, these locales are shelling out $10,000 or more — or other benefits. For instance,

BEIJING (AP) — Advertisements featuring some Chinese models have sparked feuding in China over whether their appearance and makeup are perpetuating Asian stereotypes. German automaker Mercedes-Benz and a Chinese snack company are the latest to get caught up in the fray. Some Chinese consumers complained after the local snack brand Three Squirrels featured advertisements on

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The multibillion-dollar world’s fair in Dubai has warned that some venues on site may shut down as coronavirus cases rapidly rise in the United Arab Emirates. Dubai’s Expo 2020 said that virus outbreaks among workers may force some parts of the fair to “close

By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s prime minister says talks with the International Monetary Fund are inching closer to a “final formula” for a draft deal before the end of February. The Lebanese government has not been able to meet since mid-October after the militant Hezbollah group and its allies demanded the

By COLLEEN SLEVIN Associated Press DENVER (AP) — Police are investigating the aftermath of a shooting rampage that spanned several locations in and around Denver and left five people dead, including the gunman. The Monday evening shootings also wounded three people, including an officer as police pursued the suspect. The suspect died after exchanging gunfire

By DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s Supreme Court has ruled that one of the country’s oldest and most prominent human rights organizations should be shut down. The move is the latest step in a months-long crackdown on dissent. The Prosecutor General’s Office last month petitioned the Supreme Court to revoke the legal

BERLIN (AP) — German prosecutors say they have charged two Afghan brothers with murder over the killing in July of their sister, whom they allegedly wanted to punish for her Western way of life. The men are accused of luring their 34-year-old sister to a meeting in Berlin, then choking and strangling her and cutting

By MOHAMMAD TAUFAN Associated Press PALU, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian police say they have arrested five people suspected of smuggling 29 kilograms (64 pounds) of methamphetamine into Indonesia from Malaysia. A police official says the five are part of an international drug smuggling network and include a Malaysian citizen. He says the suspects told police

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Yemen’s Iran-backed rebels say they’re temporarily allowing U.N. humanitarian flights to land at the airport in the capital of Sanaa. The development follows a week-long halt in flights after the Houthi rebels closed the airport, saying it was unsafe. They accused their adversary, the Saudi-led coalition, of

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s highest court has ruled that officials must draw up rules to protect disabled people if hospitals end up having to triage patients in the pandemic. The Federal Constitutional Court said on Tuesday that the parliament violated a clause in the constitution stating that no one can be discriminated against because of

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Global shares have advanced following a rally on Wall Street as investors shrugged off concerns about the omicron coronavirus variant. Shares were higher in early trading in France and Germany and little changed in Britain. Benchmarks rose in Japan, South Korea and China. Markets were closed

By TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s prime minister says he doesn’t oppose a “good” nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. Naftali Bennett spoke on Tuesday, a day after negotiators from Iran and five world powers resumed talks on restoring Tehran’s tattered 2015 nuclear deal. Bennett voiced skepticism in an

By LINDSEY TANNER AP Medical Writer New York nurse Sandra Lindsay became a vaccine activist after being hailed as the first person in the United States to get a COVID-19 shot a year ago. In the months since, Lindsay has appeared on panels, in Zoom town halls and at other events in the U.S. and

By TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press BNEI BRAK, Israel (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jews have yet to receive their COVID-19 shots. The community has some of the lowest vaccination rates in the country despite being pummeled by the virus throughout the pandemic. And now the new omicron variant has arrived. Officials scramble

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press CHEMNITZ, Germany (AP) — Lutheran pastors across Germany’s Saxony state have used their sermons and opened their churches to promote vaccines as the most efficient way to prevent severe illness and to end the pandemic. Several churches hosted vaccine clinics this month, hoping that offering jabs in a familiar environment

By LINDSEY TANNER AP Medical Writer From South African undertakers to ultra-Orthodox Israeli rabbis, an unconventional cadre of people has joined global efforts to increase COVID-19 vaccination rates. Launching campaigns that traditionally have been the realm of public health authorities, they’re opening church doors, going door to door, village to village, touting the benefits of

By GERMAN DE LOS SANTOS and RODRIGO ABD Associated Press ROSARIO, Argentina (AP) — Evangelical pastors have become increasingly influential inside Argentine prisons, especially in Santa Fe province. Officials there say about 40% of inmates live in cellblocks run on evangelical rules. Those units are much like those in the rest of the prison, but

DENVER (AP) — Police say a shooter has killed four people and injured an officer in the Denver area. Lakewood police say the suspect also died Monday after a series of shootings. KDVR reports officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect. Authorities say the officer was in stable condition when taken to a hospital with a