JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's West Bank settler population now makes up more than half a million people, a pro-settler group said Thursday, crossing a major threshold. Settler leaders predicted even faster population growth under Israel's new ultranationalist government. The report, by WestBankJewishPopulationStats.com and based on official figures, showed the settler population grew to 502,991 as of Jan. 1, rising more than 2.5% in 12 months and nearly 16% over the last five years. “We’ve...

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China's health care authorities declined to include Pfizer's COVID-19 treatment drug in a national reimbursement list that would have allowed patients to get it at a cheaper price throughout the country, saying it was too expensive. Paxlovid, an oral medicine developed by New York-based drugmaker Pfizer, has been widely sought after in China since the country began phasing out its “zero-COVID” restrictions and a surge of infections started sweeping through the country....

(SAN FRANCISCO) — Federal prosecutors in San Francisco have charged an IRS agent with leaking bank records of President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. A criminal complaint unsealed Thursday charges John C. Fry with one count of unlawful disclosure of suspicious activity reports. The Brief Newsletter Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. View Sample Sign Up Now An affidavit says Fry acknowledged releasing the information while working at the IRS...

BERLIN — German authorities searched the headquarters of Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt and other offices on Thursday on the suspicion bank employees helped clients set up offshore companies in tax havens to launder hundreds of millions of euros, in an investigation brought about from an analysis of online document leaks. Frankfurt prosecutors’ spokeswoman Nadja Niesen said the investigation was focused on two Deutsche Bank employees, aged 50 and 46, and possibly other not-yet identified...

ANSONIA, Conn. (AP) — Police say a Connecticut man with a crush on singer Taylor Swift robbed a bank and then went to the pop star’s Rhode Island mansion where he threw cash over a fence in an attempt to impress her. Bruce Rowley, of Derby, is charged with robbing an Ansonia bank on April 4. Police say “it seemed he wanted to propose” to Swift, so he drove about 60 miles to Westerly, Rhode Island, and started throwing some of the roughly $1,600 he’s charged with stealing over Swift’s...