AP National News

By LIZ WESTON of NerdWallet Some people can’t wait to retire. Others are pushed into retirement due to illness, job loss or other factors beyond their control. And still others aren’t quite ready to leave the workforce behind. If you’re trying to make up your mind about when’s the right time to retire, experts say

PRAGUE (AP) — Two party coalitions that emerged as winners of the Czech Republic’s parliamentary election have signed a power-sharing deal to govern. A three-party, liberal-conservative coalition composed of the Civic Democratic Party, Christian Democrats and the TOP 09 party garnered 27.8% of votes in last month’s poll. That group has teamed up with the

PARIS (AP) — France’s Catholic Church has announced its decision to financially compensate sex abuse victims by selling property assets and if needed, taking out a loan. French bishops said in a written statement on Monday that they will set up an “independent, national body” tasked with addressing compensation issues. They committed to allocating money

By ANNABELLE LIANG Associated Press SINGAPORE (AP) — Singapore’s High Court has halted the imminent execution of a Malaysian man believed to have a mental disability, amid pleas from the international community and rights groups. The 33-year-old Malaysian man was due to be executed by hanging on Wednesday for trying to smuggle a small amount

By KAREL JANICEK Association Press PRAGUE (AP) — Slovakia has expanded strict coronavirus restrictions to nearly half of the country amid a record surge of infections. The government is expected to discuss additional measures on Monday as the country’s Health Minister Vladimir Lengvarsky joined medical personnel who treat COVID-19 patients in urging Slovaks to get

By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — A top Arab League official is in Beirut to explore ways to resolve an unprecedented diplomatic rift between Lebanon and Saudi Arabia that emerged following comments by the Lebanese information minister. The minister had criticized the war in Yemen that a Saudi-led coalition is waging against the

LONDON (AP) — Northern Ireland’s health minister is suing Van Morrison after the singer called him “very dangerous” for his handling of coronavirus restrictions. The Belfast-born singer opposes restrictions to curb the spread of the virus, and has released several songs criticizing lockdowns. The defamation suit relates to three incidents in which Morrison criticized Northern

By CARA ANNA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — People fleeing Ethiopia say a new round of deadly attacks and forced conscription has begun against ethnic Tigrayans who remain in an area now controlled by Amhara regional authorities in collaboration with soldiers from neighboring Eritrea. The war is intensifying as rival Tigray forces approach Ethiopia’s

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan has reported no daily deaths from COVID-19 for the first time in 15 months, as infections decline rapidly. After record cases last summer, numbers began falling in September. Experts attribute the decline to vaccination progress, mask wearing and other anti-virus measures. Vaccinations, despite a slow start,

LONDON (AP) — A bus has been hijacked and set on fire in Northern Ireland, amid discontent over the trade deal struck as part of the U.K.’s departure from the European Union.  Four masked men boarded the double decker bus on Sunday on the outskirts of Belfast. The group ordered the driver and passengers off

By AHMED AL-HAJ and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A court run by Yemen’s Iran-backed rebels has sentenced an actor and model to five years in prison on charges of committing an indecent act and having drugs in her possession. The court in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa also sentenced three other

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to talk about climate change. But his opponents want to focus on sleaze. As a United Nations climate summit aimed at staving off catastrophic global warming enters its final week in Glasgow,  host Johnson is facing a barrage of criticism in

By ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is encouraging local school districts to host clinics to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to kids and information to parents on the benefits of the shots. First lady Jill Biden and Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy visited the Franklin Sherman Elementary School in McLean, Virginia, on

BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Angela Merkel has a positive verdict on the influx of migrants to Germany in 2015 and 2016 as she prepares to step down: “We managed it.” Merkel became the face of a welcoming approach to migrants as people fleeing conflicts in Syria and elsewhere trekked across the Balkans. More than 1

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s judicial authorities have reportedly banned a newspaper for publishing a front-page graphic that appeared to show Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s hand drawing the poverty line. The semiofficial Mehr news agency said Iran’s media supervisory body shut down the daily newspaper Kelid on Monday, after it published a

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Officials say Poland is stepping up security at its border with Belarus, on the European Union’s eastern border, following reports that a large group of migrants is headed there. Since the summer Poland has been under increasing pressure from migrants from the Middle East and Africa trying to cross into the

By FRANK BAJAK and JOSEPH KRAUSS Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Security researchers say spyware from the notorious Israeli hacker-for-hire company NSO Group was detected on the cellphones of six Palestinian human rights activists. Half are affiliated with groups that Israel’s defense minister controversially claimed last month were involved in terrorism. Monday’s revelation marks the

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — SoftBank Group says it sank into red ink for the July-September period, hit by losses on its investments in China. The Japanese technology conglomerate is reporting a $3.5 billion loss for the fiscal second quarter. Its investment portfolio Vision Fund suffered losses, including the value of

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Police say a rider on a Japanese super-express train started a fire that was quickly put out by fellow passengers and didn’t cause injuries. The suspect allegedly wanted to imitate an attack on Tokyo commuter train a week ago that caused several injuries. The fire caused a