AP National News

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — The first female president of Japan’s powerful labor union federation says she will work to correct the gender gap in wages and working conditions to help empower women. Tomoko Yoshino, who was elected this month as head of the 7 million-member Japanese Trade Union Confederation, says progress

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Coronavirus infections and deaths in Russia have climbed to another pandemic record, putting a growing strain on the country’s health care system. The government coronavirus task force on Friday reported 37,141 new infections and 1,064 deaths in the past 24 hours. That brought Russia’s death toll to

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Prosecutors in the United Arab Emirates say they have imprisoned a television journalist over apparently leaked pre-match comments made before the Emirates’ tie with Iraq during a World Cup qualifier earlier this month. Authorities did not identify the journalist they imprisoned from the state-run Abu Dhabi Sports Channel, nor

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand is accelerating plans to reopen the country to foreign tourists, slashing mandatory quarantines beginning Nov. 1 for fully vaccinated visitors arriving by air from 46 countries and territories. The Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration also announced a loosening of local restrictions, including cancellation of a curfew in some areas. Prime Minister

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Some 2,000 Polish coal miners staged a noisy protest in Luxembourg against a decision by the European Union’s top court to shut down a major coal mine in Poland and to fine the country for flouting the ruling. Clad in yellow vests emblazoned with “HANDS OFF TUROW,”  the protesters on Friday

By MORGAN LEE and WALTER BERRY Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Authorities say actor Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun on a movie set and killed the cinematographer. The director of the Western being filmed was wounded. Authorities are investigating. Santa Fe County Sheriff’s officials said cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and director Joel Souza

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders are discussing the sensitive topic of migration to the bloc and how to stop the influx of refugees arriving via neighboring Belarus. EU members Poland and Lithuania have been struggling to cope with an unusually high number of migrants arriving at their borders with

STOCKHOLM (AP) — An award-winning 19-year-old Swedish rapper has been shot to death in southern Stockholm in an incident that media reports suggest could be gang-related. Police spokesman Ola Osterling told the Swedish news agency on Friday that rapper Einar was struck by several bullets in the Hammarby suburb south of central Stockholm and died

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The Iranian capital Tehran has held its main public Friday prayer service for the first time in 20 months, after it was halted amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizers said beforehand that all health protocols would be followed to protect the expected hundreds of worshippers during the ceremony at Tehran University. Iran’s

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Worried that the flu and COVID-19 could together trigger a winter-time double-whammy of new infections and deaths, France is forging ahead with a nationwide vaccination and booster-shot program against both diseases. France’s annual flu vaccination campaign kicked off Friday, four days earlier than initially planned. Its launch

By ASHOK SHARMA Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — A fire official in Mumbai says at least one person died after jumping from the 19th floor to escape a fire that engulfed a 61-story luxury apartment building in western India. Another 15 people have been rescued and the fire brought under control later Friday. TV

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II is back at Windsor Castle and in good spirits after revelations that she spent the night in a London hospital earlier this week. The palace said on Friday that the 95-year-old British monarch went to the private King Edward VII’s Hospital in London

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian emergency officials say 16 people have been killed by an explosion and fire at a gunpowder factory. The Emergency Situations Ministry said the explosion hit the factory in the Ryazan region, about 270 kilometers (about 167 miles) southeast of Moscow. One person was hospitalized with serious injuries, according to local officials.

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin  expressed hope that new Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett would continue in the footsteps of his predecessor in maintaining close and “trusting” relations with his country. Welcoming Bennett at the start of their first meeting in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi, Putin

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer Shares are mostly higher in Europe after a mixed session in Asia. Benchmarks rose in Paris, London, Tokyo and Hong Kong. Shares fell in Shanghai and Seoul. State media reports said China Evergrande Group, the troubled property developer whose cash crunch has rattled markets, made an overdue bond payment

BERLIN (AP) — Police say a train driver in Germany has died after being hit by a falling branch during a storm that swept across a swath of central Europe. The 50-year-old man had stopped his train near Templin, north of Berlin, on Thursday to help a colleague clear away branches that had fallen onto

BEIJING (AP) — China is saying there is “no room” for compromise or concessions over the issue of Taiwan, following a comment by U.S. President Joe Biden that the U.S. is committed to defending the island if it is attacked. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson reasserted China’s longstanding claim that the island is its territory. China

JULHAS ALAM Associated Press DHAKA,Bangladesh (AP) — Two groups of Rohingya refugees have clashed in a camp in southern Bangladesh, leaving at least six refugees dead and 10 others injured, police say. The violence broke out in Cox’s Bazar district when one side opened fire, killing four people at the scene. Two others died in

By ASHOK SHARMA Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — A fire has broken out out in a 61-story luxury apartment building in central Mumbai in western India. A fire official says 16 fire engines are trying to extinguish the blaze. The New Delhi Television channel reported one death on Friday, but there was no immediate

By NASSER KARIMI Associated Press TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranians are flocking to Tehran’s contemporary art museum to marvel at American pop artist Andy Warhol’s iconic work. That’s even as Iranian hard-liners, now back at the helm of the country, regularly rail against the poisoning of Islamic society by Western culture. At the exhibit this