AP National News

By ELDAR EMRIC Associated Press SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Some migrants in Bosnia were able to escape the hardship of their everyday lives for the glamour of fashion world for an evening. A fashion show featuring migrant models was held on Thursday evening in Sarajevo. They presented a brand created jointly by a Bosnian designer

By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A powerful typhoon that battered the central Philippines has left at least 12 people dead in massive floods that trapped residents on roofs and damaged buildings including a hotel and an airport. Typhoon Rai slightly weakened after slamming ashore Thursday on the country’s southeastern coast but

By SALAR SALIM Associated Press IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — Northern Iraq’s provincial governor says eight people have died amid severe flooding caused by torrential rainfall in northern Iraq. Omed Khoshnaw says seven have died due to flooding and one was killed in a lightning strike, adding that women and children are feared among the dead.

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says his government is accelerating COVID-19 booster shots and securing oral medicines after speaking with Pfizer Inc. CEO Albert Burla. Japan has confirmed a handful of omicron variant cases, while revealing a cluster of infections of about 100 U.S. troops on Japan’s

BEIJING (AP) — China has said it will take unspecified “necessary measures” to safeguard its institutions and enterprises after the U.S. Senate passed a new law barring imports from the Xinjiang region unless businesses can prove they were made without forced labor. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Friday that the legislation approved Thursday indicates that

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The Istanbul governor’s office says at least 22 people have died in Istanbul after drinking bootleg alcohol. At least 16 people have been hospitalized and are in serious condition. The governor’s office said Friday that 11 of the dead and five of those who had fallen ill were foreign nationals. It

BERLIN (AP) — A closely watched survey shows business confidence in Germany has dropped for the sixth month in a row amid concern over the latest wave of coronavirus infections. The Ifo institute said Friday that its monthly confidence index for Europe’s biggest economy dropped to 94.7 points in December from 96.6 last month. The

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A British national has been ordered held in pre-trial custody suspected of being drunk on the British freighter that collided with a Danish freighter off southern Sweden that left one person dead and one missing. The man was a crew member of the Scot Carrier that collided Monday with Danish-flagged Karin

By BUSABA SIVASOMBOON Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Fighting between Myanmar government forces and ethnic guerrillas has sent about 2,500 villagers fleeing across the border into Thailand. The exodus was the biggest since April this year, when thousands from Myanmar’s eastern state of Karen fled to Thailand following airstrikes by Myanmar forces in territory held

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is setting conditions for working with Russia on its new security proposal. But he says NATO will cooperate with Moscow to build fresh confidence between them should Russia help ease tensions with Ukraine. Russia has submitted draft documents outlining security arrangements it wants to negotiate with the U.S.

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Shares are mostly lower in Europe and Asia after a retreat on Wall Street led by technology companies. Investors are weighing the implications of higher interest rates, surging coronavirus cases and tensions between Beijing and Washington. Benchmarks declined in Paris, London, Frankfurt and Tokyo but rose

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The U.N.’s main human rights body is opening a special session to discuss rights violations in conflict-torn Ethiopia. Many Western countries are trying to set up an international team of experts to boost scrutiny of the situation despite a lack of support from African nations. The Ethiopian

BERLIN (AP) — Austria’s parliament has approved legislation that will allow chronically or terminally ill people to stipulate their will to die in tightly defined circumstances. Lawmakers approved the new rules by a broad majority on Thursday, with only one of three opposition parties voting against. A change was necessary after a federal court last

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s biggest opposition party, the center-right Christian Democratic Union of former Chancellor Angela Merkel, is set to announce the results of a ballot on who will become its new leader after a painful election defeat. Armin Laschet, the CDU’s leader since January, is stepping down after leading the Union bloc, which the

BEIJING (AP) — China says it will take all necessary measures to safeguard its institutions and enterprises after the U.S. Senate passed a new law barring imports from the Xinjiang region unless businesses can prove they were produced without forced labor. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson says the measure approved Thursday indicates that the U.S. has

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ROME (AP) — Pope Francis is celebrating his 85th birthday. It’s a milestone made even more remarkable given the coronavirus pandemic, his summertime intestinal surgery and the weight of history: His predecessor retired at this age and the last pope to have lived any longer was Leo XIII over a

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ROME (AP) — Pope Francis is celebrating his 85th birthday. It’s a milestone made even more remarkable given the coronavirus pandemic, his summertime intestinal surgery and the weight of history: His predecessor retired at this age and the last pope to have lived any longer was Leo XIII over a

By CHISATO TANAKA and MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press OSAKA, Japan (AP) — More than 20 people are feared dead after a fire broke out in a building in Osaka in western Japan, and police are investigating arson as a possible cause. The fire started on the fourth floor of an eight-story building in the major