AP National News

BERLIN (AP) — German police carried out raids Thursday against biker groups in several western cities in connection with three killings. Tactical operations units and hundreds of regular officers conducted raids in Duisburg, Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen and Muelheim an der Ruhr, police said in a statement. German news agency dpa reported that at least 20 premises

BEIJING (AP) — U.S. envoy John Kerry says China needs to expand its efforts to reduce carbon emissions to hold back the rise in global temperatures. The State Department says Kerry told Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng in a virtual meeting that there is “no way” for the world to solve the climate crisis without

BERLIN (AP) — A German regional official’s plan to let authorities receive anonymous online tip-offs about potential tax evaders has prompted a flood of hate mail, with some accusing him of reviving habits from Germany’s totalitarian past. Danyal Bayaz, the finance minister in southwestern Baden-Wuerttemberg state, on Thursday retweeted some of the messages sent to

By DEREK GATOPOULOS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Mikis Theodorakis, the beloved Greek composer whose rousing music and life of political defiance won acclaim abroad and inspired millions at home, died Thursday. He was 96. His death at his home in central Athens was announced on state television and followed multiple hospitalizations in recent

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s Victoria state is drafting legislation that would make it the first in the country to ban the public display of Nazi symbols as local neo-Nazi activity increases. The proposed ban on Nazi symbols such as the swastika, except for educational or historical purposes, will be

By DANIEL COLE Associated Press LE CANNET-DES-MAURES, France (AP) — After a wildfire blazed through a once-picturesque nature reserve near the French Riviera, winemakers who grow the region’s celebrated crop are taking stock of the damage. Rows of charred grapevines stand next to a vast expanse of steaming black vegetation devastated by the fire, which

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Authorities say attackers believed to be West Papua rebels killed four soldiers and wounded two others at a military post in Indonesia’s troubled easternmost region. A military spokesman says about 50 attackers believed to be from the West Papua Liberation Army stormed the post and attacked the six soldiers with arrows,

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Angela Merkel will leave office as one of modern Germany’s longest-serving leaders and a global diplomatic heavyweight, with a legacy defined by her management of a succession of crises that shook a fragile Europe rather than any grand visions for her own country. In 16 years at

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press VENICE (AP) — Italian director Paolo Sorrentino is turning the camera on his own personal tragedy. Sorrentino’s autobiographical “The Hand of God” premieres Thursday at the Venice Film Festival. It recounts how his otherwise normal childhood in 1980s Naples was upended by the sudden, accidental death of his parents and

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese regulators have ordered ride-hailing platforms to correct unfair market tactics amid a broad crackdown on the internet sector that has spooked investors and shaved billions off the valuations of some of China’s biggest technology companies. The transport ministry, internet watchdog and other regulators on Wednesday ordered 11 such platforms by year’s

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets rose Friday as investors awaited U.S. hiring data some appear to hope will be weak enough to persuade the Federal Reserve to postpone winding down economic stimulus. Tokyo advanced after Wall Street hit a record. Shanghai and Hong Kong declined. The U.S. government

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN, DAVID PORTER and JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A stunned U.S. East Coast faced a rising death toll, surging rivers and tornado damage Thursday after the remnants of Hurricane Ida walloped the region with record-breaking rain, drowning more than 40 people in their homes and cars. In a

By AIJAZ HUSSAIN Associated Press SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Indian authorities cracked down on public movement and imposed a near-total communications blackout in disputed Kashmir on Thursday after the death of Syed Ali Geelani, a top separatist leader who became the emblem of the region’s defiance against New Delhi. Geelani, who died late Wednesday at

By KATHY GANNON Associated Press KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — In the final days of the chaotic American airlift from Afghanistan, Javed Habibi, a green card holder from Richmond, Virginia, said he was getting emails and phone calls from the U.S. government promising that he, his wife and their four daughters would not be left behind.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Former first lady Michelle Obama and The Poor People’s Campaign have been chosen to receive Freedom Awards from the National Civil Rights Museum in Tennessee. The museum said Wednesday that Obama and campaign’s two leaders, the Rev. William Barber and the Rev. Liz Theoharis, will be honored during a virtual ceremony

By ALEXANDRA OLSON AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The construction industry is fighting to recruit more women into a sector that faces chronic labor shortages. Women make up only 4% of skilled construction laborers in the U.S. and often face discrimination on jobs sites. The latest initiative to change that culture is Lean

By REBECCA SANTANA, MELINDA DESLATTE and JANET McCONNAUGHEY Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Commercial flights resumed in New Orleans and power returned to parts of the business district Thursday, four days after Hurricane Ida slammed into the Gulf Coast, but electricity, drinking water and fuel remained scarce across much of a sweltering Louisiana. Meanwhile,

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Just last week, managers overseeing the fight against the massive wildfire scorching California’s Lake Tahoe region thought they could have it contained by the start of this week. Instead, the Caldor Fire crested the Sierra Nevada on Monday, forcing the unprecedented evacuation of all 22,000 residents

By SAM METZ and JANIE HAR Associated Press SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (AP) — Better weather on Thursday helped the battle against a huge California wildfire threatening communities around Lake Tahoe, but fire commanders warned firefighters to be prepared for ongoing dangers. Strong winds and dry conditions that drove the Caldor Fire east through high

By ROBERT BURNS and LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it’s “possible” the United States will seek to coordinate with the Taliban on counterterrorism strikes in Afghanistan against Islamic State militants or others. Milley did not elaborate, and his comment Wednesday