TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s central bank on Friday raised the benchmark interest rate to 1. 25% from 1. 0%, a 31-year-high. The Bank of Japan has been trying to normalize monetary policy after decades of keeping interest rates near or below zero to try to encourage more borrowing and spending to and...

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The deadly collapse of a multistory building in Gaza has drawn new attention to the hardships facing Palestinians there nearly a year after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas promised to kickstart reconstruction. But as talks faltered, plans for rebuilding Many...

Iran says it has struck an oil tanker trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile, South Korea says it is considering expanding the operations of a naval operation in the Gulf of Aden off the Arabian Peninsula to protect its ships and oil routes, but it won't send troops to intervene in the...

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares mostly rose in early Friday trading, getting a lift from a rally on Wall Street as well as declining oil prices. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 gained 1. 4% to 65,000. 72 in afternoon trading after the Bank of Japan raised the benchmark interest rate to 1. 25% from 1. 0%,...

Russians on Friday began three days of voting in the country’s first wartime parliamentary election, which features virtually no opposition and is all but certain to secure the Kremlin’s political dominance. Authorities spread the election over the weekend in a bid to boost turnout among the a...