AP National News

By KRUTIKA PATHI Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — India is celebrating giving its billionth COVID-19 vaccine dose. It’s a hopeful milestone for the South Asian country where the delta variant fueled a crushing surge and missteps initially held back its inoculation campaign. The country crossed the 1 billion mark on Thursday. About half of

LYONS, Ill. (AP) — Authorities say an officer accidentally fired his handgun during a struggle while police were making arrests in suburban Chicago, wounding two other officers. Police say Chicago officers spotted a car Wednesday night that was tied to homicide and a police helicopter tracked it to a gas station in Lyons. Chicago Police

By RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders are pressuring a defiant Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to fall back into line on recognizing that EU law trumps national decision-making, hoping that dialogue will stave off a fundamental crisis in the bloc. Morawiecki this week painted a picture of an overbearing union

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

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Australia and Britain are defending their nuclear submarine deal with the U.S. amid concerns it could escalate tensions in the region and spark an arms race. U.K. Minister for Armed Forces James Heappey says there “has been a lot of overhyping” of the pact known as AUKUS. He says the

By WILL WEISSERT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The father of a 14-year-old girl killed in the 2018 Florida high school shooting massacre is joining the top ranks of an anti-gun violence group to promote like-minded political candidates around the country ahead of next year’s midterm elections. Fred Guttenberg will be a senior adviser to

MADRID (AP) — Hundreds of people were evacuated during the night on the Spanish island of La Palma as a river of molten rock creeps deeper into a coastal town during a protracted volcanic eruption. Emergency services helped some 500 people to leave their homes. That brings to around 7,500 the number of people forced

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

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

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Global shares are mostly lower after major Chinese property developer Evergrande said a plan to sell its property management arm to a smaller rival had fallen through. Benchmarks in France, Germany and Britain declined in early trading. Shares finished lower in Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo.

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has registered the highest daily numbers of new coronavirus infections and deaths since the start of the pandemic as the authorities hoped to slow the spread by introducing a nonworking week. The government coronavirus task force reported 36,339 new confirmed infections Thursday and 1,036 deaths in

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Floods and landslides triggered by days of torrential rains have killed at least 99 people in Nepal since Monday. In neighboring India, heavy downpours this week have also wreaked havoc, killing at least 88 people, while flooding roads, destroying bridges and causing landslides in which several homes were washed away. Forecasters

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian Outback town of Quilpie (Quill-Pea) hoped its offer of free residential land to anyone who would make it their home might attract five new families to the remote community of 800. But authorities have been overwhelmed by more than 250 inquires in less than

By VICTORIA MILKO Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A senior U.S. official says the United States is at a turning point in deciding how to handle the crisis in military-ruled Myanmar, weighing further political and economic steps to pressure the government to change its behavior. U.S. State Department Counselor Derek Chollet told The Associated

ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkish state broadcaster TRT News says six suspects have been jailed pending trial over an alleged plot against Chechen dissidents. The suspects are reportedly four Russians, a Ukrainian and an Uzbek national. The television station reported Thursday that they are being held on charges of “political and military espionage.” They had allegedly

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s first domestically produced space rocket reached its desired altitude but failed to deliver a dummy payload into orbit in its first test launch on Thursday. South Korean President Moon Jae-in still described the test as an “excellent accomplishment” that takes the country a

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has kicked off an annual air force drill across the country, a week after holding another massive exercise in air defense. State TV reported that bombers, jet fighters, and attack and surveillance drones will participate in the drill on Thursday, using heavy weapons including laser-guided missiles. It said 10 Iranian

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Joshua Samuel painfully recalls the day, one year ago, that Nigerian soldiers opened fire in Lagos while he and thousands of others were protesting police brutality. He is among more than 100 Nigerians awaiting rulings on their petitions seeking compensation and justice for what they allege

PARIS (AP) — A powerful autumn storm, named Aurore, has blasted parts of western Europe. It has knocked out power to a quarter of a million French homes and damaged buildings in at least four countries. Train services were disrupted by uprooted trees littering tracks in France, Germany and the Netherlands on Thursday and roofs

BEIJING (AP) — China’s leading financial magazine has been dropped from an official list of outlets websites can republish, reducing the exposure of a rare independent voice as the authorities tightens control over the media. Caixin Media is privately funded, unlike most state-run media. Internet platforms are barred from publishing content from non-approved sources. The