AP National News

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian lawmakers have given crucial second-reading approval to a bill that significantly expands restrictions on activities seen as promoting LGBT rights in the country. A 2013 law banned what authorities deem to be spreading “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” to minors. The new bill extends that ban to spreading such information to

By HOGIR AL ABDO and ABBY SEWELL Associated Press QAMISHLI, Syria (AP) — Turkey’s president says he will carry out a land invasion into Kurdish areas of northern Syria. Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s statement in Ankara Wednesday came after Turkey carried out a barrage of airstrikes on suspected Kurdish militants in northern Syria and Iraq in

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norwegian media say a local court has sentenced a 34-year-old Russian to 90 days in prison for flying a drone in breach of a ban triggered by Russia’s war against Ukraine. The man was not suspected of espionage, a Norwegian newspaper reported Wednesday. He admitted to flying the drone to photograph

By JOHN LEICESTER and SAM MEDNICK Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Authorities reported power outages in multiple cities of Ukraine, including parts of Kyiv, and in neighboring Moldova after renewed strikes on Wednesday struck Ukrainian infrastructure facilities. Multiple regions reported attacks in quick succession, suggesting a barrage of strikes. In several regions, authorities reported

By ALEX BRANDON Associated Press CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) — A Walmart employee opened fire at a store in Virginia, leaving six people dead, police said Wednesday, in the country’s second high-profile mass killing in a handful of days. The assailant also killed himself. The store in Chesapeake was busy just before the shooting Tuesday night

By ALON BERNSTEIN and TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Two blasts went off near bus stops in Jerusalem at the height of morning rush hour on Wednesday, killing a Canadian-Israeli teenager and injuring at least 18, in what police said were attacks by Palestinians. The first explosion occurred near a typically crowded bus

By RAHIM FAIEZ Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban lashed three women and nine men in front of hundreds of spectators in a provincial sports stadium Wednesday, signaling the religious extremist group’s resumption of a brutal form of punishment that was a hallmark of their rule in the 1990s. The office of the governor

By FARAI MUTSAKA Associated Press HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa has delivered a State of the Nation address at the country’s new multimillion-dollar parliament building. China has funded and constructed the imposing and spacious $200 million six-story building in Mt. Hampden, about 18 kilometers (11 miles) west of the capital, Harare, as

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Wilko Johnson, the guitarist with British blues-rock band Dr. Feelgood who had an unexpected career renaissance after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, has died. He was 75. A statement posted Wednesday on Johnson’s official social media accounts on behalf of his family said the musician died Monday

By RONALD MONTOYA Edmunds The Federal Reserve issued its latest interest rate hike in early November. It marks the sixth increase this year and has also pushed auto loan finance rates to their highest since 2008. This will affect car shoppers this holiday season and into 2023 as they contend with fewer low annual percentage

By JOHN LEICESTER and SAM MEDNICK Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Multiple explosions were heard Wednesday in Kyiv after air raid sirens sounded in Ukraine’s capital and elsewhere across the country. There were no immediate reports whether and what targets may have been hit. But the thunderous echoes of what sounded like repeated blasts

By ALON BERNSTEIN and TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Two blasts went off near bus stops in Jerusalem at the height of morning rush hour on Wednesday, killing a teenaged boy and injuring at least 18, in what police said were suspected attacks by Palestinians. The first explosion occurred near a typically crowded

By ALEX BRANDON Associated Press CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) — A shooter opened fire in a Walmart in Virginia, leaving six people dead, police said, in the country’s second high-profile mass killing in a handful of days. The assailant is also dead. The store in Chesapeake was busy just before the shooting Tuesday night with people

BERLIN (AP) — A senior official in southern Germany said Wednesday that organized crime groups were likely behind the theft of a huge horde of ancient gold coins stolen from a museum this week. The 483 coins were discovered in 1999 during excavations of an ancient settlement near the present-day town of Manchning and were

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis gave the World Cup a shout-out on Wednesday and prayed that the Qatar tournament may be an occasion for harmony and peace in the world. Francis is a life-long soccer fan and has long promoted sport as a way of promoting solidarity and fraternity. Speaking at the end of

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) — A shooter opened fire in a Walmart in Virginia late Tuesday, leaving six people dead, police said, in the second high-profile mass killing in a handful of days. The assailant is also dead. The store in Chesapeake is now safe, Officer Leo Kosinski said in the early hours of Wednesday. The

By HOGIR AL ABDO Associated Press QAMISHLI, Syria (AP) — The commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria says his group is prepared to repel a ground invasion by Turkey. SDF head Mazloum Abdi tells the The Associated Press that his group has been preparing for another such attack since Turkey launched

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The U.K. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Scotland does not have the power to hold a new referendum on independence without the consent of the British government. The judgment is a setback for the Scottish government’s campaign to break away from the United Kingdom. Scottish First Minister

BERLIN (AP) — The first of several ships that will serve as floating terminals to receive liquefied natural gas imports in Germany have arrived off the Baltic Sea port of Mukran. In response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Germany has scrambled to secure alternative sources of gas to replace Russian supplies, on which the country

PARIS (AP) — The European Space Agency is unveiling its newest astronaut recruits, concluding its first recruitment drive in over a decade that aims to bring diversity to space travel. Over 22,000 applicants came forward in the hiring push announced February of last year by Europe’s answer to NASA — including more women than ever