AP National News

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Everyone over the age of 18 in Norway will be offered a booster shot of a vaccination against coronavirus, the country’s prime minister says. He added Friday that unvaccinated health care personnel should be tested twice a week and must wear face masks. He said “the infection will be among us

Johnson & Johnson is splitting into two companies, separating the division that sells Band-Aids and Listerine, from its medical device and prescription drug business. The company said Friday that the division selling prescription drugs and medical devices will keep Johnson & Johnson as its name. The new consumer health company will house brands including Neutrogena,

LONDON (AP) — A former top aide to Prince Charles has quit as chief executive of the heir to the throne’s charitable foundation after allegations he offered to help a wealthy Saudi businessman who made a large donation secure a knighthood and British citizenship. The Prince’s Foundation said late Thursday that Michael Fawcett, Charles’ former

LONDON (AP) — Around 1,000 people are believed to have crossed the English Channel in small boats on Thursday to reach the U.K. from France. The number is thought to have set a new daily record for Channel crossings by migrants and refugees. Lifeboat crews and Border Force boats were busy well into the evening

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Homer Plessy, the namesake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1896 “separate but equal” ruling, is being considered for a posthumous pardon. The Creole man of color died with a conviction still on his record for refusing to leave a whites-only train car in New Orleans in 1892. Now the Louisiana Board

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has sent paratroopers to Belarus in a show of support for its ally amid the tensions over an influx of migrants on the Belarus-Poland border. The Russian Defense Ministry said that as part of joint war games about 250 Russian paratroopers parachuted from Il-76 transport planes

By KAREL JANICEK Associated Press PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech government is requiring children to get tested for COVID-19 as part of efforts to curtail a recent steep rise in cases. The education minister said all elementary and high schools are required to test the country’s 1.4 million students in two waves on Nov. 22

By ALESSANDRA TARANTINO and NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ASSISI, Italy (AP) — Pope Francis is visiting the hilltop town of his namesake for the fifth time of his pontificate, to mark the Catholic Church’s world day of the poor. The Friday visit is one of his first outings since the coronavirus pandemic. Francis took his

PARIS (AP) — The Paris Mosque is marking the sixth anniversary of the attack at the Bataclan concert hall that killed 90 people in the French capital. Muslim leaders laid a wreath at the venue one day before a broader commemoration is due to take place. The mosque is holding its commemoration early to fall

By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA and VANESSA GERA WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Turkey has halted airline ticket sales to Iraqi, Syrian and Yemeni citizens wanting to travel to Belarus, which in recent months has became a key step for migrants and refugees trying to illegally enter the European Union. Friday’s move, announced by Turkey’s Civil Aviation Authority,

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca says it will start to book a modest profit from its coronavirus vaccine as it moves away from the nonprofit model it’s operated during the pandemic. In a third-quarter update Friday, the company said profits from the vaccine in the fourth quarter will

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s main opposition presidential candidate says he will strengthen military cooperation with the United States and Japan if elected to better cope with North Korea’s nuclear threat. Yoon Suk Yeol also says he will strive to make North Korea a leading foreign policy priority

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A Taliban provincial spokesman says a bomb exploded in a mosque during Friday prayers, wounding at least 15 people in eastern Afghanistan, where Islamic State group militants have been waging a campaign of violence. Qari Hanif, the government spokesman for Nangarhar Province, said the bomb appeared to have been planted inside

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — The Catholic Church in Portugal is setting up a national committee to coordinate the work of local church groups looking into possible cases of child sex abuse by members of the clergy. Portuguese bishops say the committee will “strengthen and broaden” the church’s response to any current and historic abuse allegations.

LONDON (AP) — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been given permission to marry his partner, lawyer Stella Moris, in prison. Assange has been held in Belmarsh Prison in London since 2019 as he fights a U.S. attempt to extradite him on espionage charges. The couple began their relationship during Assange’s seven years living in the

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A Danish artist who is seeking to retrieve his sculpture in Hong Kong commemorating the victims of China’s 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown wants safe passage guaranteed for himself and his employees when they dismantle and remove the artwork called “Pillar of Shame,” which is at the center of a controversy. Jens

ASSISI, Italy (AP) — Pope Francis is visiting the hilltop town of his namesake for the fifth time of his pontificate, to mark the Catholic Church’s world day of the poor. The Friday visit is one of his first outings since the coronavirus pandemic. Francis took his time greeting schoolchildren and some of the 500

By RALPH D. RUSSO AP College Football Writer The college football coaching carousel is spinning faster than ever. It is being pushed by the early signing period for recruits, increased freedom for transfers and impatient fans. Making a coaching change well before the end of the season has gone from rarity to a fairly common

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer Concerns are growing that China’s men’s hockey team could get embarrassed on home ice in Beijing at the 2022 Olympics. The games will feature NHL players for the first time since 2014. China is set to face the United States, Canada and Germany. The International Ice Hockey Federation does

By NICK PERRY and JIM GOMEZ Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Pacific Rim leaders are expected to find common ground on improving access to coronavirus vaccines and reducing fossil fuel subsidies in their annual summit, being held virtually with New Zealand as host. The pledges are among those likely to be included in