AP National News

BERLIN (AP) — The German parliament’s upper house has halted a proposed reform of the country’s unemployment benefit system, a central policy of center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government. Germany’s main center-right opposition bloc objects to the overhaul on the grounds that it would reduce pressure and incentives for people to take available jobs. Scholz’s three-party

CAIRO (AP) — The family of Egypt’s imprisoned hunger-striking activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah says he has started drinking water again. The announcement came in a letter that the family says it received from Abdel-Fattah through the prison authorities on Monday. It was dated on Saturday. Abdel-Fattah, one of Egypt’s most prominent pro-democracy campaigners, had intensified his

By KANIS LEUNG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong customs officials say they seized about 220 pounds of methamphetamine that was hidden inside an industrial device being sent from Mexico. They say part of the device, an electromagnetic separator that removes metal particles from other materials, was hollowed out and contained crystal meth

By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine police chief says law enforcers have killed 46 drug suspects and arrested more than 22,000 under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., figures he says shows efforts to avoid lethal force. Marcos Jr., who took office in June, has vowed to press on with his predecessor’s

By SEUNG MIN KIM and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AP) — President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping opened their first in-person meeting Monday since the U.S. president took office nearly two years ago, aiming to “manage” differences between the superpowers as they compete for global influence amid increasing economic and

By SAM MEDNICK Associated Press KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday visited the newly liberated southern city of Kherson, where he posed with Ukrainian troops in a central square. Zelenskyy has previously appeared unexpectedly in other front-line zones at crucial junctures of the war, to support troops and congratulate them for

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — Three people have been killed and two others were wounded in a shooting late Sunday at the University of Virginia, according to the school’s president. Police are searching for a suspect, who remains at large. The shooting at around 10:30 p.m. Sunday “resulted in three fatalities; two additional victims were injured

By SEUNG MIN KIM and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AP) — President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping opened their first in-person meeting Monday since the U.S. president took office nearly two years ago, amid increasing economic and security tensions between the two superpowers as they compete for global influence. Xi

By SAM MEDNICK Associated Press YUZHNE, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian media are reporting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has visited the newly liberated southern city of Kherson. The presidential office said it could not immediately confirm that Zelenskyy had travelled to Kherson and he himself had said Sunday on Facebook that he was in his

By NINIEK KARMINI Associated Press NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AP) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was taken to the hospital after suffering a health problem following his arrival for the Group of 20 summit in Bali, multiple Indonesian authorities said Monday. Russia’s top diplomat arrived on the resort island the previous evening ahead of the

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Asian stocks declined while Europe opened higher Monday as optimism about lower U.S. inflation competed with unease over a rise in Chinese virus cases. London and Frankfurt gained. Shanghai and Tokyo retreated while Hong Kong rose. Oil prices were little-changed. Investors were encouraging by lower U.S.

By THOMAS ADAMSON and JILL LAWLESS Associated Press PARIS (AP) — The interior ministers of France and Britain have signed a joint agreement in Paris to try to curb migration across the English Channel — a regular source of friction between the two countries. The British government has agreed to pay some 72.2 million euros

By MEHMET GUZEL and SUZAN FRASER Associated Press ISTANBUL (AP) — Police have detained a suspect who is believed to have planted the bomb that exploded on a bustling pedestrian avenue in Istanbul, Turkey’s interior minister said Monday, adding that initial findings indicate that Kurdish militants were responsible for the deadly attack. Six people were

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The Palestinian Health Ministry says Israeli forces shot and killed a 19-year-old Palestinian woman during a raid in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli military says soldiers opened fire on a vehicle that was accelerating toward them after they signaled for it to stop. It says Monday’s incident is under

By HANNA ARHIROVA Associated Press KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — Where just last week there was fear in Kherson, now there is an abundance of joy. That emotion is bursting out even though there is no power, no water and barely any cellphone coverage in the southern Ukrainian city that was liberated in the last few