AP National News

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. regulators have authorized a second pill against COVID-19, an antiviral drug from Merck that may help blunt the wave of infections driven by the omicron variant. The Food and Drug Administration granted the drug emergency use Thursday for adults with early COVID-19 who face the

The Associated Press Stocks are off to a solid start on Wall Street Thursday, keeping the market on track for solid gains in this holiday-shortened week. The S&P 500 index added 0.5% in the early going, led by technology companies and banks. Safe-play sectors like real estate and utilities lagged behind. The Dow Jones Industrial

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits was unchanged last week, remaining at a historically low level that reflects the job market’s strong recovery from the coronavirus recession last year. Jobless claims were unchanged from the week before at 205,000. The four-week average, which smooths out week-to-week ups

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The British government says it won’t introduce any new coronavirus restrictions until after Christmas, and called early studies on the severity of the omicron variant encouraging. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said two studies suggesting omicron carries a significantly lower risk of hospitalization than the previously dominant delta

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s new foreign minister has pledged to speed up efforts to get thousands of former local employees and other endangered people out of Afghanistan, four months after the country’s military airlift ended. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Thursday that more than 15,000 people whom Germany had promised to take in remain in

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged the West to “immediately” meet Russia’s demand for security guarantees precluding NATO’s expansion to Ukraine and the deployment of the military alliance’s weapons there. Putin accused the West during a marathon news conference on Thursday of trying to make Ukraine “anti-Russia,

By AL-HADJI KUDRA MALIRO Associated Press BENI, Congo (AP) — Authorities say five people have died after a small passenger plane crashed in eastern Congo. Three passengers and two crew members had been aboard the aircraft bound for Shabunda in South Kivu province. Dieudonne Kashombanya, administrator of Shabunda, said that the cause of Thursday’s crash

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Wrkter WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer prices rose 5.7% over the past year, the fastest pace in 39 years as a surge in inflation battered Americans as the holiday shopping season was getting under way. The November increase, reported Thursday by the Commerce Department, followed a 5.1% rise for the

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania’s prime minister has apologized for a large leak of personal records from a government database of state and private employees, which he said seems more like an inside job than a cyber attack. A file containing the personal identity card numbers, employment and salary data of some 637,000 people became

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s state-run agency says a joint Turkish and Qatari delegation is traveling to Afghanistan to discuss plans for their two countries’ companies to run Kabul’s international airport in a partnership. Anadolu Agency said officials from Turkey and Qatar met in Doha this week to coordinate details of the plan and were

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ROME (AP) — Pope Francis has removed the head of the Vatican office that handles the high-priority issues of migration, environment and COVID-19. Francis thanked Cardinal Peter Turkson for his five years of service. But according to a Vatican statement, he decided on new leadership following the results of an

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A Turkish court has again ruled to keep businessman and philanthropist Osman Kavala behind bars, despite a decision from Europe’s democracy and human rights-promoting body to initiate a rare disciplinary process against Turkey for failing to release him. In a routine monthly review of his case on Thursday, a panel of

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s Justice Ministry says it has reached a plea deal with a powerful opposition lawmaker that will see him resign from parliament. The deal leaves open the possibility that Aryeh Deri could return to the Knesset in the near future. The ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the

BAYTOWN, Texas (AP) — Crews are working to extinguish a large fire at a Houston-area refinery that has left four people injured. The fire started at about 1 a.m. Thursday at ExxonMobil’s refinery in Baytown, which is about 25 miles east of Houston. The company says four people were hurt but everyone else on site

By RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The Belgian government has tentatively committed to phasing out the country’s existing nuclear power plants by 2025. Under a complicated compromise agreement reached Thursday after all-night negotiations, the country would use gas as a bridge toward sustainable energy sources and possible new-technology nuclear options later. The government

BEIJING (AP) — China has plunged a city of 13 million people into lockdown to stamp out an increase in coronavirus infections, as the country doubles down on its “zero tolerance” policy just weeks before it is set to host the Winter Olympics. The restrictions in the northeastern city of Xi’an took effect at midnight