AP National News

NEW YORK (AP) — Rosamund Pike is already starring in the Amazon Prime Video based on Robert Jordan’s “The Wheel of Time” books. She’s also taken on the epic task of narrating the first of the “Wheel of Time” novels, “The Eye of the World.” Macmillan Audio announced Thursday that the audiobook comes out Nov.

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week to a new low point since the pandemic erupted, evidence that layoffs are declining as companies hold onto workers. Unemployment claims dropped 6,000 to 290,000 last week, the third straight drop, the Labor Department said

By MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The two men running to become New York City’s next mayor offered starkly different visions at their first debate about how to lead the nation’s largest city out of the pandemic, improve public safety and gird the city of 8.8 million people for more powerful

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syria’s Justice Ministry says authorities have executed 24 people after charging them with igniting deadly wildfires last year. The blazes left three people dead and burnt thousands of hectares (acres) of forests. Executions are common in war-torn Syria, where the decade-old conflict has left hundreds of thousands dead and displaced half

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO defense ministers are weighing what lessons to draw from the military mission in Afghanistan, including whether to even undertake major operations outside Europe and North America. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says Afghanistan “highlights the challenges and the risks to engage in big missions and operations outside

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Authorities in Moscow have announced plans to shut restaurants and non-food stores and introduce other restrictions later this month as Russia registered the highest daily numbers of new coronavirus infections and deaths since the start of the pandemic. The government coronavirus task force reported 36,339 new confirmed

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — A Nigerian separatist leader accused of instigating violence in country’s southeast has pleaded not guilty to terrorism and treason charges in a court in the capital, Abuja. Amid heavy security presence, Nnamdi Kanu, who also holds British citizenship, was brought into the court for his trial.

PARIS (AP) — Facebook says it’s struck a deal with a group of French publishers to pay for links to their news stories that are shared by people on the social network. The company said Thursday that it inked the licensing agreement with a group representing 300 French publishers to “improve the quality of online

By NOHA ELHENNAWY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Libya is hosting an international conference aimed at resolving the country’s thorniest issues ahead of general elections in December. Western, regional and United Nations representatives are meeting Thursday in the capital, Tripoli. On the table are several contentious issues, including maintaining the country’s ceasefire, uniting the many

ATHENS Former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou says he will seek the leadership of the once-powerful Socialist party founded by his father, in an effort to revive its popularity that plummeted during a recent financial crisis. Papandreou’s father Andreas and grandfather George also served as prime ministers in liberal and Socialist governments. Family ties still

By JILL LAWLESS and DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British police have charged a 25-year-old man with the murder of a Conservative lawmaker, alleging that the killing was an act of terrorism by a supporter of the Islamic State group. Prosecutors said Ali Harbi Ali, a man from London with Somali heritage, had

By YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Coronavirus infections and deaths in Ukraine have surged to all-time highs amid a laggard pace of vaccination, with overall inoculations among the lowest in Europe. Ukrainian authorities on Thursday reported 22,415 new confirmed infections and 546 deaths in the past 24 hours, the highest numbers since

MIAMI (AP) — The mask mandate for students in some South Florida schools could soon be eased as local rates of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations continue to fall. Miami-Dade school Superintendent Alberto Carvalho says the number of students being quarantined has dropped significantly since school started. He says a decision will be based on the

BERLIN (AP) — Police say a gas station attendant in Germany has been punched and kicked by a customer after an argument over the latter’s failure to wear a mask. The incident in Bremen came about a month after a gas station clerk was fatally shot in western Germany by a man who refused to

By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — The head of environmental group Greenpeace has warned against efforts by countries and corporations to “greenwash” their ongoing pollution of the planet at the forthcoming U.N. climate talks. The summit in Glasgow is expected to see a flurry of new commitments from governments and businesses to reduce

By RANDA KRISS of NerdWallet The Paycheck Protection Program provided small-business owners with just under $800 billion in COVID-19 relief. That program ended on May 31, but business owners’ need for affordable financing didn’t go away with it. Other government funding options may help those still affected by the pandemic. For example, recent changes to

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Hundreds of Greek state hospital workers are marching through central Athens as part of a 24-hour strike to protest staff shortages and compulsory coronavirus vaccinations. About 500 protesters demonstrated in the center of the capital, heading to the health ministry chanting slogans and holding up banners. Unions representing the doctors, nurses

By MIKE CORDER, RAF CASERT and SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders are meeting to discuss ways to ease the pain of soaring energy bills for consumers. They’re also seeking to safeguard energy supplies to the 27-nation bloc by speeding up the transition away from polluting fossil fuels to sustainable alternatives.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani counter-terrorism forces say they have killed three Afghan militants who belonged to the Islamic State group during a raid on a hideout near the country’s border with Afghanistan. The gun battle was the latest episode of violence in Pakistan involving extremist groups that appear to have been emboldened by the

CHAPPAQUA, N.Y. (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton has released a video saying he’s on the road to recovery after being hospitalized in Southern California for six days to treat an infection unrelated to COVID-19. The 75-year-old Clinton arrived at his home in New York on Sunday. Clinton says in the video released Wednesday he’s