AP National News

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria’s caretaker prime minister says his country has set the future decarbonization of the economy as a priority in its pandemic recovery plan submitted formally for consideration to the European Commission. But Prime Minister Stefan Yanev also warned that Bulgaria will try to negotiate for itself a 10-year extension in the

BEIJING (AP) — China’s central bank says financial risks from China Evergrande Group’s debt problems are “controllable” and unlikely to spill over, amid growing investor concerns that the crisis could ripple through other developers. Evergrande is the world’s most indebted developer, with over $300 billion in liabilities. The company has missed a third round of

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ROME (AP) — Italy’s new national airline has made its inaugural flight and unveiled its new name and logo. ITA Airways has recycled the red, white and green of its predecessor as it tries to chart a new future amid competition from low-cost airlines. ITA, or Italy Air Transport, officially

By JOSEPH KRAUSS Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel is quietly advancing controversial settlement projects in and around Jerusalem while refraining from major announcements that could anger the Biden administration. Critics say Israel is paving the way for rapid growth when the political climate changes. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid met with U.S. officials in

By NICOLAE DUMITRACE and JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press KONGSBERG, Norway (AP) — Residents of a Norwegian town are grappling with the horrible knowledge that someone living in their community used a bow and arrow to attack people on a weekday evening and killed five of them. People lay flowers and lit candles on a

ST. HEDWIG, Texas (AP) — Authorities say a flash flood from the remnants of Hurricane Pamela swept a woman and a young girl to their deaths in a Texas creek as they were heading to a school. Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar says the 52-year-old woman and a 5-year-old girl died when the separate vehicles

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — The leaders of Japan and South Korea have said they will look to deepen ties in the face of regional security threats, despite recently strained bilateral relations. Japan’s new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida spoke Friday by telephone with Korean President Moon Jae-in. Kishida has already spoken to

LONDON (AP) — British police say a man has been arrested after a reported stabbing in eastern England. News outlets say the victim is Conservative lawmaker David Amess. The Essex Police force said officers were called to reports of a stabbing in Leigh-on-Sea just after noon Friday. It said “a man was arrested shortly after

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin says there must be no rush in officially recognizing the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan, but has stressed the need to engage in talks with them. During a video call Friday with leaders of other ex-Soviet nations, Putin said the new Afghan government formed

By GERALD IMRAY Associated Press CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South African police say they have arrested 56 people who will likely face charges of kidnapping after two government Cabinet ministers and a deputy minister were taken hostage for about three hours on Thursday night. It happened when the ministers’ meeting with military veterans

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Americans continued to spend at a solid clip in September even while facing sticker shock in grocery aisles, car lots and restaurants as snarled global supply chains slow the flow of goods. Retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.7% in September from the month before,

By KRISHAN FRANCIS Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — A Sri Lankan court has summoned the country’s attorney general and a former navy commander to explain the prosecutor’s decision not to press charges for the abduction and deaths of 11 men during the country’s civil war. The families of the victims earlier this week

By SAMYA KULLAB and TAMEEM AKHGAR Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Suicide bombers attacked a Shiite mosque packed with worshippers attending Friday prayers in southern Afghanistan, killing at least 37 people and wounding more than 70, according to a hospital official and a witness. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the carnage

By NICOLAE DUMITRACE and JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press KONGSBERG, Norway (AP) — Residents of a Norwegian town are grappling with the horrible knowledge that someone living in their community used a bow and arrow to attack people on a weekday evening and killed five of them. People lay flowers and lit candles on a

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British health officials say an estimated 43,000 people may have been wrongly told they don’t have the coronavirus because of problems at a private laboratory. The U.K. Health Security Agency said Friday that a lab in the central England city of Wolverhampton has been suspended from processing

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has reiterated that anti-Semitism “has no place” in the 27-nation bloc. Friday’s statement came after Slovenian Prime minister Janez Jansa posted a message on social media that was criticized by some European lawmakers as anti-Semitic. Jansa, whose country currently holds the rotating EU Council

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s daily tolls of coronavirus infections and deaths have surged to another record in a quickly mounting figure that has put a severe strain on the country’s health care system. The government’s coronavirus task force on Friday reported 32,196 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 999 deaths in

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — European Union agencies are launching a year-long operation to crack down on fraud targeting the bloc’s multibillion euro COVID-19 pandemic recovery fund. The EU police agency Europol said Friday that Operation Sentinel will coordinate the fight against fraud, tax evasion, excise fraud, corruption, embezzlement, misappropriation and money laundering and and

VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — A forthcoming flight to space by a Japanese billionaire will let the public have a closer look at life on board the International Spacer Station. Fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa is set to rocket to space in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft together with producer Yozo Hirano, who will film

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Thousands of protesters in Bangladesh’s capital have clashed with police, amid Muslim-Hindu tensions in the country. Police Friday used tear gas and batons against demonstrators angry over what they perceived as an image insulting Islam that had gone viral over social media. Demonstrators gathered to protest images that earlier emerged on