News

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan is sending three military aircraft to Afghanistan to evacuate Japanese citizens and local staff as security deteriorates following the Taliban takeover. Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi says the planes will pick up Japanese nationals and Afghans who worked for the Japanese Embassy and development agencies. Japan closed

By ALEXANDRA JAFFE Associated Press SINGAPORE (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris says the U.S. must maintain its focus on evacuating Americans and vulnerable Afghans and shouldn’t get distracted by questions over what went wrong in the chaotic U.S. exit from Afghanistan. Harris made the comment at a news conference in Singapore after meeting with

By ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Firefighting aircraft and ground forces in Greece have gained the upper hand over two new blazes that broke out in areas already scarred by major wildfires this summer. The first broke out Monday in the southern part of Evia, Greece’s second-largest island, whose north was devastated

By NICK PERRY and ROD McGUIRK Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand’s government says it’s extending a strict nationwide lockdown until at least Friday as it tries to extinguish a growing coronavirus outbreak. The news came as health authorities reported 35 new local infections of the fast-spreading delta variant, the highest number

By JOSEF FEDERMAN Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — A leading international human rights group says Israeli airstrikes that demolished four high-rise buildings in the Gaza Strip during a May war apparently violated international laws of war. Human Rights Watch on Monday called on the Israeli military to produce evidence justifying the attacks. The New York-based

By SARAH EL DEEB Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s health sector is a casualty of the multiple crises that have plunged the country into a downward spiral. A financial and economic meltdown has been compounded by a complete failure of the government, runaway corruption and a pandemic that isn’t going away. The collapse is

By ZEINA KARAM Associated Press Ahmad Sarmast left his home in Melborne, Australia, on a mission to revive music in the country of his birth, Afghanistan. The school he founded was a unique experiment in inclusivity for the war-ravaged nation. It enrolled orphans and street kids, and sought to bring a measure of joy back

By AHMAD SEIR, RAHIM FAIEZ and JOSEPH KRAUSS Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A firefight outside Kabul’s international airport has killed an Afghan soldier. The shooting Monday highlights the perils of evacuation efforts even as the Taliban warned any attempt by U.S. troops to delay their withdrawal to give people more time to flee

BERLIN (AP) — Many train drivers with Germany’s national railway have walked off the job as their union embarks on its second two-day strike this month in a bitter dispute with the company. The GDL union called on passenger train drivers to strike from 2 a.m. Monday to 2 a.m. Wednesday. Freight train drivers already

By DAVID PORTER and TED SHAFFREY Associated Press MONROE TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — Residents across the waterlogged Northeast are clearing mud and tearing out soggy carpets after deluges dropped by Tropical Storm Henri. The smell of sewage filled the air in a New Jersey retirement community as people returned to their soaked homes and possessions

By MARINA VILLENEUVE Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Kathy Hochul has become New York’s first female governor. The Democrat from western New York assumed the office at the stroke of midnight Tuesday. She’s taking control of a state government desperate to get back to business after months of distractions over sexual harassment allegations against