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By FRANCES D’EMILIO Associated Press ROME (AP) — The Italian government has vowed to crack down on demonstrators threatening to block train tracks as a rule requiring COVID-19 tests or vaccines took effect for long-distance domestic transport. As of Wednesday, passengers must show a so-called “Green Pass” to board domestic flights, trains and buses traveling

By The Associated Press UNITED NATIONS — The president of the U.N. Security Council says the U.N.’s most powerful body will not take its focus off Afghanistan this month and “the real litmus test” for the new Taliban government will be how it treats women and girls. Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason of Ireland said Wednesday

By ARITZ PARRA Associated Press MADRID (AP) — Pope Francis criticized the West’s recent involvement in Afghanistan as an outsider’s attempt to impose democracy — although he did it by citing Russia’s Vladimir Putin while thinking he was quoting Germany’s Angela Merkel. Asked during a radio interview about the new political map taking shape in

HONG KONG (AP) — Popular Hong Kong singer and pro-democracy activist Denise Ho will not be allowed to perform at one of the city’s top theaters later this month. Ho’s company says the Hong Kong Arts Centre “arbitrarily” suspended its venue reservations for the singer’s popular concerts. The arts center did not respond to a

By SETH BORENSTEIN and JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — A new report from the United Nations weather agency finds the world is getting several times more weather disasters than in the 1970s. And they are costing seven times more than in the past, even when adjusted for inflation. But Wednesday’s World Meteorological Organization

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Micronesia’s leader says he’ll continue to walk around his island nation without fear, despite an alleged assassination threat against him over his government’s vaccine mandate. Micronesia is one of the few countries to impose a broad vaccine mandate. Some citizens have strongly objected, and one

By KRUTIKA PATHI Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — More students in India will be able to step inside a classroom for the first time in nearly 18 months, as authorities have given the green light to partially reopen more schools despite apprehension from some parents and signs that infections are picking up again. Schools

ADGER, Ala. (AP) — Two electric company employees contracted to work with Alabama Power were killed while working on storm restoration. WBMA-TV reports that the Pike Electric workers were on duty near an intersection in Adger, about 23 miles southwest of Birmingham, just before noon when the accident happened, according to the The Jefferson County

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel approved a series of measures easing its blockade of the Gaza Strip, including opening the main commercial crossing with the Palestinian enclave to imports. Wednesday’s announcement by COGAT, the Israeli defense body responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs, came as tensions have run high in recent weeks as Hamas activists have launched

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has warned U.S. climate envoy John Kerry that deteriorating U.S.-China relations could undermine cooperation between the two on climate change. Wang told Kerry by video link that such cooperation cannot be separated from the broader relationship and called on the U.S. to take steps to improve ties.

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets are higher as investors waited for U.S. jobs data that might influence when the Federal Reserve starts to wind down its stimulus. Shanghai and Hong Kong advanced. Tokyo, South Korea and Sydney declined. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index added 0.1%, pushed up

By JAY REEVES Associated Press HOUMA, La. (AP) — Main Street in the Louisiana town of Houma resembles a canyon of rubble after Hurricane Ida. Metal roofs peeled off buildings covered the sidewalks Tuesday, and red bricks from a collapsed building mingled with broken glass on a corner. A once shady square a block away

By GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press A federal bankruptcy judge has approved with conditions a historic opioid settlement between Purdue Pharma and thousands of local and state governments. The agreement accepted Wednesday caps a long-running legal drama involving a company that had come to symbolize the corporate culpability behind an epidemic that has claimed more than