AP National News

By DAVID RISING Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — A U.S. coast guard cutter conducting patrols as part of an international mission to prevent illegal fishing was recently unable to get clearance for a scheduled port call in the Solomon Islands. The incident comes amid growing concerns of Chinese influence on the Pacific nation. The cutter

By MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — School districts around the country are starting to invest in programs aimed at addressing the mental health of teachers. Faced with a shortage of educators and widespread discontentment with the job, districts are hiring more therapists, holding trainings on self-care and setting up system to better

MT. MORRIS, Mich. (AP) — A blind Michigan judge went for a drive and a sheriff rode shotgun. As 100 people watched, Richard Bernstein of the Michigan Supreme Court drove a car on a dirt track Tuesday at the Genesee County fairgrounds, northwest of Flint. The 47-year-old Bernstein says he’s always wanted to know “what

By ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s prime minister has defended the workings of the country’s intelligence service in the face of a wiretapping scandal, saying its operation is essential to the country’s security despite what he described as the misstep of tapping an opposition politician’s phone. Speaking during a parliamentary debate

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA Associated Press BAGHDAD (AP) — A small homemade explosive has donated near Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone as an Australian diplomatic convoy made its way into the area. Two security officials told The Associated Press there were no injuries in Friday’s explosion. The blast happened as Australian diplomats are trying to help

By FERNANDO LIMA Associated Press LUANDA, Angola (AP) — Angola’s President Joao Lourenco appears set to win a second term and his MPLA party is close to extending its 47-year rule over the country. With 97% of ballots counted from the Western African nation’s election, the ruling Peoples Movement for the Liberation of Angola, known

BEIJING (AP) — The latest “Minions” movie subtly reinforces a message for Chinese audiences that viewers in other countries won’t see: Crime doesn’t pay. A postscript added to the version being shown in China says a villainous character, who drives off a free man at the end of the movie, is later jailed for 20

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norwegian mass-murderer Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in 2011, is once again suing the government, seeking to force an end to his isolation. A Norwegian newspaper reported Friday that a notice had been sent to the Justice Ministry. Since his 2012 conviction, Breivik has been in solitary confinement. In

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets were higher Friday ahead of a speech by the Federal Reserve chair that investors hoped would shed light on plans for more interest rate hikes. London and Frankfurt opened higher. Tokyo and Hong Kong advanced while Shanghai declined. Oil prices rose. Investors focused

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek lawmakers are discussing a wiretapping scandal that has roiled the government ahead of elections due to be held next year, in a parliamentary session called following revelations that the intelligence service had bugged an opposition politician’s phone. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis opened Thursday’s session on what the government has called

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Authorities have moved 150 migrants from an overcrowded asylum-seekers center in the northeastern Netherlands to two sports halls in a central city, alleviating the suffering of some of the people who have been camped in the open air in sweltering summer temperatures. The city of

By OMAR FARUK Associated Press MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Hell began at sunset. It was a Friday evening in Somalia’s capital. The patrons of the Hayat hotel had finished their latest prayers and settled in for coffee, tea or dinner. Families, businesspeople and government workers were there — some of the many who see the

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Sending a murder suspect to face trial in China could end up costing New Zealand taxpayers millions of dollars because officials would need to post an extra diplomat to Shanghai to monitor his treatment, documents exclusively obtained by The Associated Press show. But the documents

By PAUL BYRNE Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A mission from the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant next week after it was temporarily knocked offline and more shelling was reported in the area overnight, Ukrainian officials said Friday. Fire damage to a transmission line at

By YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — They’re your run-of-the-mill “salarymen,” as company workers in Japan are called — hard-working, friendly and, well, rather regular. But the chief executive and general manager at a tiny Japanese security company are among the nation’s biggest TikTok stars, drawing 2.7 million followers and 54 million likes, and

By SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Jennifer Jones keeps feeding money into her energy meter, but it never seems to be enough. And when she can’t pay, she feels the impact immediately. The power in her London home has gone off suddenly three times recently, once when her partner was cooking an egg.