Month: July 2023

By ANNA FRANTS Associated Press NEAR TSEL, Belarus (AP) — The Belarusian military has shown off a field camp it has offered to Russia’s Wagner military contractor if it relocates to Belarus under a deal that ended its mutiny. An assistant to Belarus’ defense minister told international reporters Friday that Wagner troops could use the

By BASSEM MROUE Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — A Lebanese security official says at least one person is dead and several more are wounded after a shooting inside a mosque in Lebanon. The motive behind Friday’s shooting was not immediately clear. The state-run National News Agency said more shooting occurred between Lebanese troops and the

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s prime minister and Catholic church leaders have begun observances to honor victims of World War II massacres. The lack of official reconciliation over Poles killed by Ukrainian nationalists during the war has marred the tightening strategic relations between the neighboring nations. Warsaw is among the staunchest supporters of Kyiv in

By ZEKE MILLER, TARA COPP and LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday defended what he said was a “difficult decision” to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine, a move the administration said was key to the fight and buttressed by Ukraine’s promise to use the controversial bombs carefully. The

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — The head of the UN nuclear agency, the IAEA, says he’s pushing for access to the roof of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, following reports from Ukrainian officials that the Russians planted explosives there. The plant was seized by Russia, in March 2022, in the

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced his resignation and that of his Cabinet on Friday, citing irreconcilable differences within his four-party coalition about how to rein in migration. The decision by the Netherlands’ longest-serving premier means the country will face a general election later this

By SIBI ARASU Associated Press Maritime nations agreed Friday to slash emissions from the shipping industry to net zero by about 2050 in a deal that many experts and some nations say falls well short of what’s needed to curb warming to agreed temperature limits. Negotiators at the meeting of the United Nations’ International Maritime

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Three helicopter tour operators have pleaded guilty to safety breaches when New Zealand’s White Island volcano erupted in 2019, claiming 22 lives. The companies were to go on trial next week along with six other entities and people following the tragedy at the island, which had been a popular tourist

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian emergency officials say a blast at an explosives plant has killed six people and injured two more. The explosion occurred on Friday as workers were dismantling equipment at one of the workshops of the Promsintez plant in Russia’s Samara region, some 800 kilometers (500 miles) southeast of Moscow, Russian state news

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Appeals court judges in Amsterdam say the Dutch government can order Schiphol Airport, one of Europe’s busiest aviation hubs, to reduce the number of flights from 500,000 per year to 460,000. The Amsterdam Court of Appeal on Friday overturned a lower court that concluded in April the government of the

By MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Muslims in Pakistan are holding rallies to observe a “Day of the Sanctity of Quran” after the prime minister of the South Asian Islamic nation issued a call for anti-Sweden protests over last week’s burning of Islam’s holy book in Stockholm. The biggest anti-Sweden rallies were expected

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Cities across China have opened their air raid shelters to offer residents relief from the heat as unusually high temperatures across parts of the country started claiming lives. Cities including Hangzhou on China’s east coast, Wuhan in the center of the country, and Shijiazhuang in Hebei province neighboring Beijing announced Friday

By JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Friday rolled out a new set of initiatives to reduce health care costs: a crackdown on what he called “junk” insurance plans that play consumers as ‘suckers,’ new guidance to prevent surprise medical bills and an effort to reduce medical debt tied to

BEIJING (AP) — China is insisting it is up to the U.S. to “create necessary conditions” for anti-drugs cooperation, following complaints from Washington that Beijing is ignoring its calls for a crackdown on precursor chemicals for the highly addictive painkiller fentanyl. China “firmly oppose smears and unilateral sanctions on other countries under the pretext of

By ÁLVARO BARRIENTOS Associated Press PAMPLONA, Spain (AP) — Thousands of thrill seekers took part Friday in the first running of the bulls at the San Fermín festival in the northern Spanish city of Pamplona. Several runners took knocks and hard falls in the 8 a.m. event but no one was gored by the beasts,

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Chinese Premier Li Qiang are expressing hopes for better communication as Yellen appeals to Beijing not to let frustration over U.S. curbs on technology exports disrupt economic cooperation. Both governments used positive terms on Friday to describe Yellen’s visit to

By AREF TUFAHA Associated Press NABLUS, West Bank (AP) — Israeli forces killed two Palestinian militants in a flashpoint West Bank city, days after Israel concluded a major two-day offensive meant to crack down on militants. The Israeli domestic security agency Shin Bet said the two men, who it claimed were behind a shooting attack

MILAN (AP) — A fire that broke out in a Milan nursing home during the night has killed six residents. Italian firefighters said the blaze began about 1:30 a.m. on Friday, apparently in the room of two residents, who are among those who died. The firefighters said some 80 other residents were taken to the

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN Associated Press WANTAGH, N.Y. (AP) — Off the coast of Long Island, drones sweep over the ocean, patrolling the water for any danger that might lurk below the surface as beachgoers grow more vigilant because of a recent spate of shark encounters. Over two days this week, five people reported being

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is visiting Beijing as part of efforts to revive U.S.-Chinese relations that are at their lowest level in decades due to disputes over technology, security and other irritants. Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping met in November and agreed to improve relations.

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street drifted to a mixed finish Friday after data suggested the U.S. job market is still warm enough to keep the economy growing but maybe not so hot that it stokes inflation much higher. The S&P 500 lost 12.64 points, or 0.3%, to 4,398.95,

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s government has formally endorsed the safety of Japanese plans to release treated wastewater from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean. The assessment from Seoul released on Friday was based on a 22-month review by government-funded scientists and aligns with

NEW DELHI (AP) — An Indian state court has refused to stay opposition leader Rahul Gandhi’s conviction for criminal defamation. Friday’s ruling sets back his prospects to contest elections next year. He had been ousted from Parliament after his conviction in March, and a stay would have opened up a path to reinstate his parliamentary

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — In 2010, newly anointed as a Grammy winner, Taylor Swift released “Speak Now,” her third studio album and her first without a single songwriting collaboration. Her 2006 self-titled debut and 2008’s “Fearless” had inspired both acclaim and criticism for her bold bridges and keen lyricism

By RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is taking a major step in approving plans to boost its anemic production of ammunition and missiles within the 27-nation bloc. It’s aimed at both defending itself and quickly helping Ukraine in trying to push back the invasion by Russia. The EU presidency announced

By DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Russia’s rebellious mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin walked free from prosecution for his June 24 armed mutiny, and it’s still unclear if anyone will face any charges in the aborted uprising against military leaders or for the deaths of the soldiers killed in it. Instead, a campaign

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press PARIS (AP) — After a pleasant evening of wine-tasting — joyfully billed “Grapes and Friends!” — with a hundred or so people and oysters, charcuteries and cheeses, the mayor of the picturesque French town of Quissac was on his way home. Then his phone rang: Urban unrest that was engulfing

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States and its Western allies clashed with Russia and Iran at the U.N. Security Council over Tehran’s advancing uranium enrichment and its reported supply of combat drones to Moscow used to attack Ukraine. The sharp exchanges were at a meeting Thursday on implementation

By SETH BORENSTEIN and ISABELLA O’MALLEY Associated Press Earth’s average temperature set a new unofficial record high on Thursday, the third such milestone in a week that already rated as the hottest on record. The planetary average hit 63 degrees Fahrenheit (17.23 degrees Celsius), surpassing the 62.9-degree mark (17.18-degree mark) set Tuesday and equaled Wednesday,

By ANDREW DeMILLO, THOMAS PEIPERT and DYLAN LOVAN Associated Press RICHMOND, Ky. (AP) — The United States has destroyed the last of its declared chemical weapons stockpile, a milestone in the history of warfare dating back to World War I.  The White House on Friday said workers at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky

By TERRY TANG and GEORGE WALKER IV Associated Press HAZEL GREEN, Ala. (AP) — A partnership between the U.S. Forest Service and historically Black colleges or universities is opening the eyes of students of color who never pictured themselves fighting forest fires. An on-site fire academy in Alabama is part of the 1890 Land Grant

By BILL BARROW Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter are marking their 77th wedding anniversary with a quiet Friday at their south Georgia home, extending their record as the longest-married first couple ever as both nonagenarians face significant health challenges. The 39th president is 98 and has been in home hospice care

By THOMAS BEAUMONT Associated Press COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Campaigning in Iowa on Friday, former President Donald Trump attacked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as an enemy of corn-based ethanol in his largest campaign event in the leadoff caucus state in nearly four months. Trump, appearing in Council Bluffs in the western part of the

By JILL COLVIN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Seven weeks before the premiere debate of the 2024 GOP primary, anxiety is building that the event could prove messy and divisive for the party. Some candidates, like former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, are struggling to meet fundraising and polling requirements to make it onstage. He

By AYANNA ALEXANDER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — For a century, the League of Women Voters in Florida formed bonds with marginalized residents by helping them register to vote — and, in recent years, those efforts have extended to the growing Asian American and Asian immigrant communities. But a state law signed by Gov. Ron

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Another month, another solid gain for America’s job market. The pace of hiring by businesses and government agencies in June — 209,000 added jobs — was the smallest monthly gain in 2 1/2 years. Yet it was still a healthy increase, enough to reduce the unemployment

SEATTLE (AP) — A passenger aboard an Alaska Airlines flight from Atlanta to Seattle Wednesday is accused of making a bomb threat that caused pilots to land the plane in Spokane, Washington. Documents filed in U.S. District Court said Brandon Scott, 38, faces a false information and hoaxes charge, The Seattle Times reported. After the