AP National News

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Ghosts and goblins can scratch the White House from their trick or treating routes this year. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will be in Europe on Halloween and won’t be around to help hand out candy and other treats. Instead, the first lady’s spokesperson

LONDON (AP) — Pharmaceutical company Merck has agreed to allow other drug makers to make its COVID-19 treatment, the first pill that has been shown to be effective against the disease. The move aims at helping millions of people in poorer countries access to the drug. The U.N.-backed Medicines Patent Pool said in a statement

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The U.S. government has asked Britain’s High Court to overturn a judge’s decision that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange should not be sent to the United States to face espionage charges. A lower court judge who refused extradition in January ruled Assange was likely to kill himself if

By AMANDA SEITZ Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Internal Facebook documents reveal a country lit “on fire” in the days after controversial social media posts from then-President Donald Trump last year. Facebook’s own analysis shows that hate speech and violence reports skyrocketed on the site immediately after Trump sent a social media message threatening

By MARGARETTE BURNETTE of NerdWallet With fewer outlets for in-person spending, many people have been saving more money over the last 18 months than before the pandemic started. If you were able to save, sustaining the habits that drove those savings can help you financially prepare for the future. Evaluate if pricey, nonessential purchases are

LONDON (AP) — Climate protesters have tried to block two major roads into London, despite court injunctions banning them from disrupting traffic. Activists from the group Insulate Britain want the government to better insulate homes in the country to cut carbon emissions. They targeted two busy roads leading into the capital during Wednesday’s morning rush

By ALBERTO ARCE The Associated Press A judge has ordered authorities in Spain to register a toddler who was born during her mother’s journey from Cameroon to Europe. According to court documents seen by The Associated Press on Wednesday, the girl’s was born March 27, 2020 birth in an Algeria hospital. But the judge in

By ILAN BEN ZION Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli committee has convened to approve 2,800 new settler homes in the occupied West Bank. Such a move would raise friction with the United States and Europe, anger the Palestinians and test Israel’s fragile governing coalition. Wednesday’s meeting came a day after the Biden administration

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has hit another record for daily COVID-19 deaths as authorities across the country moved to keep most people off work in line with a Kremlin order aimed at stemming the spread. Russia’s coronavirus task force on Wednesday registered 1,123 deaths in 24 hours, the largest daily

By RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union founding member Belgium warned Poland on Wednesday not to treat the EU like “a cash machine” to boost its economic fortunes while disregarding its democratic and rule of law principles at will. Targeting Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Treasury chief Rishi Sunak is set to paint a relatively rosy picture of the state of the country’s economy despite the devastating shock by the coronavirus pandemic when he presents his annual budget to Parliament. With government borrowing less than anticipated a few months ago, following

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is meeting with Greek officials during a visit to Athens that’s expected to focus on furthering Chinese investments in Greece. Greece recently emerged from a decade-long financial crisis that wiped out a quarter of its economy and has been eager to attract international investments. China is

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Relatives and activists say Sudanese security forces have detained three prominent pro-democracy figures overnight. The arrests come as internal and international pressure mounts on the country’s military following its coup and protests denouncing the takeover continued Wednesday. Many businesses have shut in response to calls for strikes.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Unidentified gunmen attacked a police patrol overnight in northwest Pakistan, killing four before fleeing the scene, a police official said. No group claimed responsibility for the attack in Lakki Marwat, a town in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan. Police provided no further details. Pakistan has witnessed scores of such terrorist

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — The German parliament will not extend the “epidemic situation of national scope” when it expires next month, but will keep in place certain measures to check the spread of the coronavirus. Leading members of the country’s parliament, or Bundestag, said on Wednesday that although coronavirus infections have

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Deutsche Bank has seen its net profit increase 6%, to 329 million euros, in the third quarter despite a sharp increase in restructuring costs. The bottom line at Germany’s largest bank benefited from fewer loans going bad as the economy rebounds from the coronavirus pandemic. The bank said Wednesday that it

By BARRY HATTON Associated Press LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal’s parliament is poised to reject the minority Socialist government’s proposed state budget for 2022. That will likely trigger a snap election and put a brake on the country’s post-pandemic recovery plans. The moderate Socialists have been deserted by hard-left allies from the Communist Party and

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — The United Nations Security Council and the United States have imposed sanctions on a Libyan official over the alleged abuse and torture of migrants in a detention center. The Security Council and the U.S. said in separate statements late Tuesday that Osama al-Kuni is the de facto

By LISA MASCARO, AAMER MADHANI and ALAN FRAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democrats are unveiling a new billionaires’ tax proposal to help pay for President Joe Biden’s sweeping domestic policy package. The tax proposed Wednesday would be on the gains of those with more than $1 billion in assets or incomes of more