AP National News

By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The head of Oklahoma public schools will switch parties and run as a Democrat to challenge Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt for governor next year. Oklahoma State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister made the announcement Thursday, accusing Stitt of “running our state into the ground.” Hofmeister is a former

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida is proposing to lift its three-decade ban on catching and killing goliath groupers after wildlife officials argued their numbers have rebounded. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved a draft proposal on Wednesday to allow the recreational harvest of 200 goliaths per year. Agency spokeswoman Amanda Nalley says the

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin says Russia has the potential to boost natural gas supplies to Europe as surging gas prices put pressure on consumers. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says existing gas transit routes allow for bolstering supplies before the new Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany begins operating. Europe’s

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week, another sign that the U.S. job market and economy continue their steady recovery from last year’s coronavirus recession. The Labor Department said Thursday that unemployment claims were down by 38,000 to 326,000, the first drop

By FRANK BAJAK AP Technology Writer BOSTON (AP) — Microsoft says Russia once again accounted for most state-sponsored hacking, with a 58% share of intrusion attempts it detected in the past year. The targets were mostly government agencies and think tanks — in the United States, followed by Ukraine, Britain and European NATO members. The

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s state TV is reporting that speedboats belonging to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard have intercepted a U.S. vessel in the Persian Gulf. Thursday’s report aired footage that the TV said was filmed from one of the Guard speedboats. It shows a vessel with the U.S. flag and several personnel on board

By MICHAEL BIESECKER, STEFANIE DAZIO and MICHAEL BALSAMO Associated Press HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard has boarded a massive cargo ship as it investigates the rupture of an offshore oil pipeline that sent crude washing up on Souther California beaches. Investigators want to know whether a ship anchor snagged and bent

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Poland’s president is urging the European Union to take “specific actions” to stop Belarus “pushing” migrants across its border into Polish territory. President Andrzej Duda didn’t outline exactly what those actions might be, but said he’s hoping for assistance beyond what the 27-member bloc’s border agency FRONTEX is already providing on

By LAURAN NEERGAARD and JENNIFER McDERMOTT Associated Press Pfizer is asking the U.S. government to allow use of its COVID-19 vaccine in children ages 5 to 11. If regulators agree, shots could begin within a matter of weeks. Pfizer already had announced that a lower dose of its vaccine worked and appeared safe in a

MADRID (AP) — The Spanish government is offering citizens who turn 18 years old next year 400 euros ($462) to spend on cultural activities. But the sum comes with strings attached: the recipients can’t use it to buy tickets for bullfights. The decision was one of the politically controversial measures included in the 2022 national

LONDON (AP) — British bank NatWest faces a potentially hefty fine after admitting to three charges relating to anti-money laundering failures. The case, which was heard at Westminster Magistrates’ Court Thursday, related to 365 million pounds ($495 million) deposited into the account of century-old jeweler Fowler Oldfield between 2012 and 2016. Fowler Oldfield was based

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Colleagues of investigative reporter Anna Politkovskaya are sharply criticizing the Russian authorities for failing to track down the mastermind of her killing 15 years ago. Politkovskaya, who won international acclaim for her reporting on the human rights abuses in the Russian republic of Chechnya was shot dead

By NOMAAN MERCHANT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The CIA says it will create a top-level working group on China as part of a broad U.S. government effort focused on countering Beijing’s influence. Known as a mission center, the group will have weekly director-level meetings intended to drive the agency’s strategy toward China. President Joe

ROME (AP) — Outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Thursday with Pope Francis and toured a Jesuit-run child protection center, while back home three German parties held talks on forming a new government without her center-right bloc. Merkel told reporters she talked politics, climate change and clergy sex abuse during the visit to the Vatican

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the organization withdrew the accreditation of eight Russian officials in response to a rise in “malign activities” by Moscow. The eight officials are to be deprived of access to NATO’s Brussels headquarters from the end of the month. NATO says they were secretly working as intelligence officers.

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Afghanistan’s pavilion has finally arrived at the first world’s fair in the Middle East, a week after Dubai’s Expo opened without it. After the Taliban’s lightning takeover of Afghanistan, the country’s presence at the fair was uncertain. The previous government had organized a pavilion,

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin says Russia has the potential to boost natural gas supplies to Europe as surging gas prices put pressure on consumers. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says existing gas transit routes allow for bolstering supplies before the new Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany begins operating. Europe’s

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — Searching for flights on Google just got “greener.” The tech giant on Wednesday debuted a new tool on Google Flights that tells users which flights in a search result have lower carbon emissions. Flights with significantly lower emissions are highlighted in green indicating what

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A Turkish official says a Kuwaiti passenger plane has made an emergency landing at Trabzon airport in northern Turkey following a bomb threat reported to the airline’s headquarters. Trabzon’s governor said the Jazeera Airways flight from Kuwait with 51 passengers and six crew members on board landed safely in Trabzon on

By MEG KINNARD Associated Press A group intent on expanding Republican power across state-level offices is rolling out a national effort to diversify and broaden the GOP, with an advisory council headed up by a number of possible future presidential hopefuls. The Republican State Leadership Committee on Thursday is launching its “Right Leaders Network.” The