AP National News

BEIJING (AP) — China is going to expand visa-free entry to citizens of nine more countries as it seeks to boost tourism and business travel to help revive a sluggish economy. A Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Friday that travelers from Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Estonia, Latvia and Japan will be able to

Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Two Australian teenagers and a British woman have died from suspected methanol poisoning after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos. An American man and two Danes also died, though their exact causes of death have not been released. A New Zealander also has been sickened. The U.S. State Department issued a

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te will visit the self-governing island’s allies in the South Pacific, where rival China has been seeking diplomatic inroads. The Foreign Ministry announced Friday that Lai would travel from Nov. 30 to Dec. 6 to the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau. The trip comes against the background of

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Indigenous leaders from the Wampis Nation in Peru are urging lawmakers at the House of Commons in London to ban international banks’ support for Amazon oil activities they say harm their ancestral rainforests. HSBC bank, JPMorgan Chase and Santander helped finance the Peruvian state-owned oil company Petroperu as it sought

By VANESSA GERA Associated Press (AP) — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s centrist Civic Coalition is holding a primary to choose a candidate who will run in the nation’s presidential election next year. Party members are choosing between Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski and Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski. The winner of the party primary will face

Associated Press TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — As Iran faces increasing tensions with the West and turmoil at home, a new exhibition at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art is displaying Western artwork including pieces not seen by the public in at least a decade. The unveiling of the exhibition “Eye to Eye” has drawn numerous

Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, one of Asia’s richest men, may be facing his biggest challenge yet with an indictment by U.S. prosecutors for alleged fraud and bribery. But it’s unclear just how the case will affect his businesses and own future — as well as the Indian economy and

Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An Australian Cabinet minister on Friday rejected X Corp. owner Elon Musk’s allegation that the government intended to control all Australians’ access to the internet through legislation that would ban young children from social media. Treasurer Jim Chalmers said Musk’s criticism was “unsurprising” after the government introduced to Parliament

Associated Press BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romanians will vote Sunday in a presidential election that looks likely to pit a far-right nationalist party leader against the leftist prime minister in a runoff in two weeks. Thirteen candidates are vying for the presidency in the European Union and NATO member country. Romania also will hold parliamentary

Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s popular defense minister has taken himself out of contention to become the country’s next leader. His decision clears the way for Chancellor Olaf Scholz to seek a second term in an early election after a week of arguments that exposed deep divisions in his struggling party. Defense Minister Boris

Associated Press BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Friday denounced the International Criminal Court’s issuing of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he would defy it by inviting him to Hungary. In comments to state radio, Orbán accused the ICC, the world’s top war crimes court based

AP Business Writer HONG KONG (AP) — A senior Chinese official says higher tariffs on Chinese exports will backfire by boosting prices paid by consumers. The official, Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen, told reporters in Beijing that China can manage “the impact of external shocks” like higher tariffs. Asked about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s plan

Associated Press VANG VIENG, Laos (AP) — A second Australian teenager who fell critically ill after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos has died in a hospital in Bangkok, her family said Friday, bringing the death toll in the mass poisoning of foreign tourists to six. Holly Bowles, 19, had been in critical condition on life

AP Sports Writer Jason Kelce will try his hand at late-night television early next year. Kelce announced during an appearance on ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Thursday night that he will host “They Call It Late Night with Jason Kelce,” on ESPN. The one-hour show will tape on five straight Friday nights beginning Jan. 3.

Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Russia has supplied air defense missile systems to North Korea in exchange for sending its troops to support Russia’s war efforts against Ukraine, a top South Korean official said Friday. The U.S., South Korea and Ukraine say North Korea sent more than 10,000 troops to Russia in October,

Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The Bahamas says it will refinance $300 million of its external debt to free up more than $120 million for marine conservation projects and climate change mitigation. It is the fifth such debt-for-nature swap in the world. The Bahamian government signed the deal announced Friday with The

Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The only emperor penguin known to have swum from Antarctica to Australia was released at sea 20 days after he waddled ashore on a popular tourist beach, officials said Friday. The adult male was found on Nov. 1 on Ocean Beach sand dunes in the town of Denmark in

Associated Press BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — A new draft of a deal on money to curb and adapt to climate change released Friday afternoon at the United Nations climate summit pledged $250 billion annually by 2035 from wealthy countries to poorer ones. The amount pleases the countries who will be doling out the money but

Associated Press BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — Pragnya Mohan has been a professional triathlete for nearly a decade, but summers in her native India are now so hot that she can’t train there anymore. And she worries about a day when heat around the world kills her sport entirely. She was among athletes who spoke at

Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has announced that his government plans to retire all coal and other fossil fuel-powered power plants within 15 years, while drastically boosting renewable energy capacity. Experts and environmental activists are welcoming that, while hedging their hopes. Indonesia is one of the world’s largest producers and