AP National News

By LAURAN NEERGAARD AP Medical Writer Amid all the focus on COVID-19 vaccinations, U.S. health experts have another plea: Don’t skip your flu shot. Flu cases have dropped to historically low levels during the pandemic. The U.S. and Europe experienced hardly any flu last winter, and the Southern Hemisphere just ended its second flu season

By FRANCES D’EMILIO Associated Press ROME (AP) — A court in southern Italy on Thursday convicted the former mayor of a tiny town dubbed “the town of welcome” of aiding illegal immigration and sentenced him to 13 years and two months in prison. Domenico “Mimmo” Lucano was also convicted of fraud, embezzlement, criminal association and

By DARIA LITVINOVA Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russian authorities are seeking to detain a prominent investigative journalist, his lawyer says. Thursday’s move comes as independent media, opposition supporters and human rights activists are facing increased government pressure. Lawyer Yulia Kuznetsova said that The Insider news site founder and managing editor Roman Dobrokhotov was being

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria’s troubled northern region continues to witness violence with the death of 32 persons and the abduction of 24 persons in two states, local officials told The Associated Press. The attacks in Niger and Sokoto states happened on Tuesday, and a phone blackout in the affected

By MARKUS SCHREIBER and KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press ITZEHOE, Germany (AP) — A former secretary for the SS commander of the Stutthof concentration camp skipped the start Thursday of her trial in Germany on more than 11,000 counts of accessory to murder. She was picked up several hours later and ordered held in custody. The

By COLLEEN BARRY Associated Press MILAN (AP) — Young climate activists denounced Italian police for temporarily detaining delegates who protested peacefully inside their Milan conference before Italian Premier Mario Draghi’s speech. Discontent with the three-day conference had bubbled from its start. Swedish activist Greta Thunberg said the delegates had been “cherry-picked” and that organizers were

By TODD RICHMOND Associated Press She lived a life of adventure that spanned two continents. She fell in love with a World War II fighter pilot, barely escaped Europe ahead of Benito Mussolini’s fascists, ground steel for the U.S. war effort and advocated for her disabled daughter in a far less enlightened time. She was,

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union expressed concern Thursday about media freedom in Slovenia after the head of the country’s only news agency stepped down over a new public service contract that would dictate the way STA is funded. STA Director Bojan Veselinovic resigned saying that the draft contract would damage the agency. “I will

DETROIT (AP) — Hyundai and Kia are recalling more than 550,000 cars and minivans in the U.S. because the turn signals can flash in the opposite direction of what the driver intended. The recall covers Hyundai’s Sonata midsize car from the 2015 through 2015 model years, and Sonata gas-electric hybrids from 2016 and 2017. Kia’s

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose for the third straight week, a sign that the highly contagious delta variant may be slowing a recovery in the job market. Claims rose unexpectedly by 11,000 last week to 362,000, the Labor Department said Thursday, though

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. economy expanded at a 6.7% annual pace from April through June, the Commerce Department said Thursday, slightly upgrading its estimate of last quarter’s growth in the face of a resurgence of COVID-19 in the form of the delta variant. The government’s estimate of growth

NEW YORK (AP) — The latest news about California Gov. Gavin Newsom is more personal, if less dramatic, than the recall effort he easily defeated two weeks ago. He has written a children’s book. Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers, announced Thursday that Newsom’s “Ben and Emma’s Big Hit” is scheduled for Dec.

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — Very heavy rainfall in Slovenia has caused floods in the capital Ljubljana, interrupting a theatre show and forcing hundreds of interventions by emergency crews. Firefighters said Thursday that the situation overnight was unprecedented because huge quantities of rain fell within a short period of time. Firefighters in Ljubljana say there have

By DUSAN STOJANOVIC Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia and Kosovo have reached an agreement to deescalate tensions on their mutual border that have been triggered by a dispute over vehicle license plates, a European Union mediator announced Thursday. “We have a deal! After two days of intense negotiations, an agreement on de-escalation and

NEW YORK (AP) — The latest news about California Gov. Gavin Newsom is more personal, if less dramatic, than the recall effort he easily defeated two weeks ago. He has written a children’s book. Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers, announced Thursday that Newsom’s “Ben and Emma’s Big Hit” is scheduled for Dec.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Authorities in Austin, Texas, say a man wearing an American flag bandanna threw a Molotov cocktail into the headquarters of the county Democratic Party. Authorities say the incendiary device did not ignite when it was thrown into the Travis County Democratic Party headquarters at about 2 a.m. Wednesday. A small stack

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer Shortages of power, computer chips and other parts, soaring shipping costs and shutdowns of factories to battle the pandemic are taking a toll on Asian economies. While business sentiment is improving in some parts of Asia as governments begin easing restrictions put in place to curb coronavirus infections, there

By SUZAN FRASER Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey intends to seek compensation for its removal from a U.S.-led stealth fighter jet program, possibly during a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden on the margins of a Group of 20 meeting next month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. Erdogan, speaking to journalists during

By CARLA K. JOHNSON and HANNAH FINGERHUT Associated Press A survey of Americans on President Joe Biden’s plan to require most workers to get either vaccinated or regularly tested for COVID-19 finds a deep and familiar divide: Democrats are overwhelmingly for it, while most Republicans are against it. With the highly contagious delta variant driving

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Swedish police said Thursday they are seeking a man in connection with an explosion and fire at a large apartment building this week that injured 16 people, four of them seriously. The man is wanted on suspicion of public destruction and hasn’t been located yet, police said. Authorities didn’t identify him, but