AP National News

By ZEN SOO Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — China has criticized a press freedom survey from the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents’ Club that found nearly half its members are considering leaving the city. The survey says the members are concerned about a decline in press freedoms under a sweeping national security law imposed by

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The Latvian parliament has given employers the go-ahead to dismiss employees who are required to get vaccinated against the coronavirus but refuse to do so. The Seimas assembly voted 52 -27 to authorize employers to suspend workers without required vaccination certificates for whom they are unable to make accommodations. Employers must

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Pfizer says its experimental pill for COVID-19 cut rates of hospitalization and death by nearly 90% among patients with mild-to-moderate infections. The company announced Friday it will soon ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and international regulators to authorize its pill, which is taken twice

By NICO GARRIGA and THOMAS ADAMSON Associated Press GRANVILLE, France (AP) — French fisherman Hermann Outrequin gave up his fishing company job and went independent in 2019 to have more time for his newborn son. But he hadn’t reckoned with the post-Brexit spat about fishing rights between Paris and London. He has just been denied

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s defense minister, Nobuo Kishi, has said it will step up military cooperation with Germany in the Indo-Pacific region as he welcomed a port call by the first German warship to visit Japan in about 20 years. The frigate Bayern is visiting Tokyo after two days of

BERLIN (AP) — Authorities say that hundreds of thousands of tons of junk have been removed from a valley in western Germany since it was devastated by flooding in mid-July, equivalent to four decades’ worth of garbage. More than 180 people died in Germany and hundreds more were injured in the July 14-15 floods, which

SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Heavy rain has caused flash flooding in Bosnia, prompting evacuations and submerging local roads in some parts of the country on Friday. Homes were flooded around Sarajevo while local roads were submerged in the southwest of the country, prompting some schools to cancel classes. Dozens of people had to be evacuated

By DALATOU MAMANE Associated Press NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — Officials in Niger say suspected Islamic extremists have killed 69 people in an attack on a self-defense group near the border with Mali. Niger’s Interior Ministry says the Tuesday ambush targeted civilians who are aiding the military in the fight against militants in the volatile border

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch Supreme Court has upheld part of a Russian appeal against a $50 billion arbitration award to former shareholders of bankrupted oil giant Yukos. The highest Dutch court ruled Friday that a lower Dutch appeal court wrongly dismissed, on procedural grounds, Russia’s claim that “shareholders committed fraud in the

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s atomic agency says that its stockpile of 20% enriched uranium has reached over 210 kilograms (463 pounds), the latest defiant move ahead of upcoming nuclear talks with the West. The figure, attributed to agency spokesman Behrouz Kamalvan, was carried in a report by the semi-official Tasnim and Fars news agencies.

LONDON (AP) — Entertainer Lionel Blair, a staple on British stage and television for decades, has died. He was 92. Blair’s agent said he died Thursday. No cause of death was given. Blair was born Lionel Henry Ogus in Montreal to Russian Jewish parents. The family moved to Britain when he was a toddler. Among

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s environmentalist Greens are signaling that negotiations to form a new governing coalition are progressing slowly and differences remain over climate policy. The Greens last month entered negotiations with the center-left Social Democrats and the business-friendly Free Democrats on a new government after all three parties made gains in Germany’s Sept. 26

PARIS (AP) — A train struck and killed a migrant from Eritrea and injured several others on the northern coast of France that is the main jumping-off point for migrants seeking to reach Britain. A French official said that among the injured in the accident Thursday evening in Calais, one was in critical condition. Two

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — An influential LGBT advocacy group in China that has spearheaded many of the legal cases pushing for greater rights is halting its work amid growing restrictions on social activism. LGBT Rights Advocacy China announced it was ceasing all activities and shutting down its social media accounts

BANJA LUKA, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Doctors in Bosnia are bracing for a new wave of the coronavirus in the Balkan nation, which has a low vaccination rate and has been among the hardest hit countries in Europe earlier in the pandemic. In the northwestern town of Banja Luka, the COVID-19 ward of the main hospital

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Shares have opened lower in Europe after a downbeat day in Asia, where Chinese benchmarks sagged under revived concerns over property developers. Benchmarks fell in London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai but rose in Paris and Sydney. Jitters over troubles in China’s property sector flared after

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s conservative former top prosecutor, who has called for a stronger U.S. security guarantee to neutralize North Korean nuclear threats, has won the main opposition party’s hotly contested nomination for next March’s presidential election. Recent opinion surveys showed Yoon Suk Yeol would be locked

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch Supreme Court is set to rule in a $50 billion legal battle between Russia and former shareholders of the country’s bankrupted oil giant Yukos. If the highest Dutch court rules in favor of the former shareholders Friday in the long-running legal battle, it will likely lead them to

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Japanese automaker Honda has lowered its profit and vehicle sales forecasts for the fiscal year, pointing to a supply crunch in chips and rising material costs. Honda recorded a 31% drop from last year in its fiscal second quarter profit, to $1.5 billion. Honda Executive Vice

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Germany has recorded its second consecutive daily record for new coronavirus cases as infections pick up across Europe. Its disease control center says unvaccinated people now face a “very high” risk of infection. The center said Friday that the country saw 37,120 reported new infections over the