AP National News

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A human rights group is calling on an international court to open an investigation into a crackdown on dissent by Myanmar’s military rulers. The group alleges that the leader of the coup in the Southeast Asian nation is responsible for widespread and systematic torture. The

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Health officials in Japan have confirmed eight more cases of the new omicron variant of the coronavirus, bringing the country’s total to 12. The health ministry says the eight tested positive when they arrived at Japanese airports from late November to earlier this month. Japan eased border

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish security officials say the diversion to Minsk of a Lithuania-bound flight carrying a self-exiled Belarusian journalist was an act of “state terrorism” carried out to detain an opponent of Belarus’ government. Poland’s Internal Security Agency and prosecutors investigated the May 23 incident in which a Ryanair jetliner registered in Poland

BANJA LUKA, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — The Bosnian Serb parliament is convening to vote on a series of steps that would weaken the war-ravaged Balkan country’s central institutions. The Bosnian Serb leader is stepping up his secession campaign despite a threat of new U.S. and other sanctions. The lawmakers are expected Friday to vote on starting

BERLIN (AP) — A close aide of Angela Merkel’s has told a German news outlet that the former chancellor wants to write an autobiographical book explaining her most important political decisions. Merkel handed over the chancellorship to successor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday after a near-record 16 years in power. She didn’t seek a fifth term

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Officials say a Philippine Airlines plane carrying 33 people has veered off the runway after landing in rainy weather at a central airport, causing no injuries but delaying 34 incoming and outgoing flights. The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines says the De Havilland Dash 8 turboprop aircraft was towed away

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Royal Dutch Shell has received approval from shareholders to simplify its archaic corporate structure that grew out of a merger more than a century ago of a British firm that once traded in exotic seashells and an oil company in the Netherlands. The changes will mean a

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A British appellate court has opened the door for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to be extradited to the United States. The High Court in London overturned a lower court that found Assange’s mental health was too fragile to withstand the American penal system. A judge earlier this

By FRANCESCA EBEL Associated Press TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Police violence is among the myriad challenges that LGBTQ people experience in Tunisia, and observers say officers who can dispense beatings with impunity are becoming increasingly brazen. A prominent LGBTQ activist has reported that two men, one dressed in police uniform, threw him to the ground,

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — New coronavirus infections in South Korea have exceeded 7,000 for the third consecutive day as the worst surge since the start of the pandemic overwhelms hospitals and depletes health care workforce. Critics blame the spread on complacency by the government, which dramatically lowered social distancing

By MANUEL DE LA CRUZ and EDGAR H. CLEMENTE Associated Press TUXTLA GUTIERREZ, Mexico (AP) — Mexican rescue workers rushing to a highway accident found a horrific scene of death and injury. A freight truck jammed with as many as 200 migrants tipped over and crashed into the base of a steel pedestrian bridge in

By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — German lawmakers have overwhelmingly backed a bill that requires staff at hospitals and nursing homes to get vaccinated against the coronavirus. The upper house, or Bundesrat, approved the bill hours after lawmakers agreed to fast track the legislative process. The new measure means workers in health care

By JONATHAN PAYE-LAYLEH Associated Press MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — The U.S. government has sanctioned Liberia’s ex-warlord and current senator Prince Yormie Johnson for alleged corruption. The sanctions against Johnson, announced Friday to commemorate International Human Rights Day, come under the Global Magnitsky Act, which authorizes the U.S. government to sanction those it sees as human

By JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary’s Constitutional Court has declined to rule on a motion challenging the primacy of European Union law in a case involving the country’s treatment of refugees and asylum-seekers. Hungary’s justice minister had challenged a ruling by the EU’s top court, which required that migrants be granted

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Tighter restrictions to curb the coronavirus have gone into effect in Britain. Starting Friday, face masks are again compulsory in indoor public spaces in England as part of measures announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to slow the spread of the omicron virus variant. Vaccination passes will

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — A British appellate court has opened the door for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to be extradited to the United States. The High Court in London overturned a lower court that found Assange’s mental health was too fragile to withstand the American criminal justice system. A judge earlier

LONDON (AP) — The United Kingdom’s economy barely grew in October as construction activity slowed due to shortages of building materials and rising prices caused by shipping bottlenecks around the world. The Office for National Statistics said Friday that gross domestic product increased by 0.1% from the previous month, below the forecast of 0.4% from

LONDON (AP) — A British appellate court has opened the door for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to be extradited to the United States. The High Court overturned a lower court ruling that found Assange’s mental health was too fragile to withstand the American criminal justice system. A lower court judge earlier this year refused an

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — A Nigerian official said that gunmen attacked a rural village in the country’s north, killing 16 worshippers at a mosque and kidnapping others. Local government chairman Alhassan Isah Mazakuka said the assault on Ba’are village in the Mashegu area of Niger state lasted for hours on

By RONALD BLUM Associated Press The Salzburg Festival is projecting for a return to normal next summer, announcing a schedule of 228 performances over 45 days that include a new production of Béla Bartók’s “Bluebeard’s Castle” paired with Carl Orff’s “A Play on the End of Time.” Salzburg, Europe’s premier festival, cut to 110 performances