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BERLIN (AP) — German lawmakers on Wednesday approved a proposal by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to mandate uniform restrictions in areas where the coronavirus is spreading too quickly, among them closures and a nighttime curfew. As parliament's lower house debated…

SpaceX has bumped its next astronaut launch by a day because of dangerously high waves and wind offshore. Liftoff is now scheduled for early Friday morning from NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Officials announced the flight delay Wednesday for the two Americans, one Japanese and one French. The astronauts will spend six months at the International Space Station, arriving aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule. The capsule has the ability to abort the launch all the way to orbit in case of an emergency. That's why SpaceX needs good weather not only at the Florida launch site, but all the way up the East Coast and across the North Atlantic to Ireland.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Since the coronavirus pandemic struck Spain, a glass pane has separated Xavier Antó and Carmen Panzano for the first prolonged period of the couple’s 65-year marriage. Antó, age 90, appears three or four times a week…

Japanese residents with tickets to the Tokyo Olympics may not know until weeks before the games open if they’ll be allowed to attend. Fans from abroad have already been barred. Organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto says a decision on venue capacity may not be made until June. She had previously promised that decision for this month. Hashimoto says “we are still studying the timing.” Hashimoto spoke after she and CEO Toshiro Muto took part in an online briefing with the IOC executive board in Switzerland. She says “I guess we need a little more time to make a proper judgment.”

Officials say 22 COVID-19 patients on ventilators have died in a hospital in western India when their oxygen supply was interrupted by a leak in a supply line. They say the supply of oxygen has since resumed to other patients. A fire officer says the leak was stopped within 15 minutes in the Zakir Hussain Hospital in Nashik, a city in Maharashtra state that is the worst hit by the latest surge in coronavirus cases in the country. Television images showed white fumes spreading in the hospital area, causing panic. Five of the 140 COVID-19 patients were shifted to another hospital. 

An upcoming international peace conference that was meant to move Afghanistan’s warring sides to a power-sharing deal and ensure an orderly U.S. exit from the country has been postponed. The conference sponsors cited lack of prospects for meaningful progress and said no new date has been set. As peace efforts stalled, Germany’s Defense Ministry suggested NATO military planners were contemplating a possible withdrawal of international troops from Afghanistan as early as July 4. That’s more than two months ahead of the planned Sept. 11 pullout date. Wednesday's decision came several days after Taliban insurgents dismissed the U.S.-promoted conference in Istanbul as a political spectacle serving U.S. interests. 

The new season of spring shows has begun, and viewership is way up by all accounts. We’re not talking about screens, which we’ve all been glued to during the pandemic. Less noticed is another trend: people tuning in to nature…

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Wednesday that he did nothing wrong when he exchanged text messages with a wealthy industrialist and promised he would “fix” the tax rules for him. The BBC reported that it had…

MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday sternly warned the West against further encroachment on Russia's security interests, saying Moscow's response will be “quick and tough.” Putin's warning during his annual state-of-the-nation address came amid a massive Russian military…

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Wednesday donated a religious offering to a Tokyo shrine viewed by China and both Koreas as a symbol of wartime aggression, though he avoided a visit. Suga’s offering of “masakaki” leaves…

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The president of the ethnically divided island nation of Cyprus met with Greece’s prime minister on Wednesday before informal talks to be held in Switzerland next week. The Geneva talks will be attended by representatives of…

India has been overwhelmed by hundreds of thousands of new coronavirus cases daily, bringing pain, fear and agony to many lives as lockdowns have been placed in Delhi and other cities. India’s Health Ministry reported 295,041 new cases on Wednesday…

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary's right-wing government and the liberal leadership of the country's capital city are absorbed in a conflict over a hospital for the homeless that may soon be forced to close its doors. The hospital provides medical…

BANGKOK (AP) — Aid workers and activists are warning Myanmar’s political upheavals risk causing a regional refugee crisis as the strife following a February coup displaces growing numbers of people who have lost their livelihoods. Tom Andrews, the U.N. special…

A sense of relief is palpable across the United States after a jury found former Minnesota Police Officer Derek Chauvin guilty of murder and manslaughter in killing George Floyd. But when it comes to what’s next, the reaction is more hesitant. Some are hopeful, pointing to the protests and sustained outcry as signs of change to come, in policing and otherwise. Others are more circumspect, wondering if the one longed-for outcome will really be the start of something better in a country fraught with a history of racial injustice, especially when it comes to the treatment of Black people at the hands of law enforcement.