Month: July 2023

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Officials say a suicide bomber has targeted a security checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least three soldiers and a 10-year-old boy and wounding 14 other civilians. The bombing happened Wednesday in Miran Shah, a town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan. The region is a former stronghold of the

By DENG MACHOL Associated Press JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — President Salva Kiir of South Sudan says his country’s long-delayed elections will take place in 2024 and that he will be on the ballot. Kiir, who has led South Sudan since the territory became independent of Sudan in 2011, accepted the endorsement of the ruling

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Heavy monsoon rains are lashing Pakistan and disrupting lives in areas where residents already were struggling to recover from floods last summer that affected 33 million people and killed 1,739. Pakistani media report that weather-related incidents killed at least three people in the past day and at least 18 people have died

By CHASE BIERENKOVEN Edmunds Automakers routinely update their vehicles with new features, engines and trim levels. At a certain point, the sheer amount of information on this subject can be daunting. Updates from automakers can range from minor changes — like a new center screen — to massive refreshes that totally change the way a

By RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s executive is chiding Poland and Hungary for democratic deficiencies. While the EU Commission’s annual rule of law report on Wednesday notes a smattering of improvements in the two nations, it also underscores many remaining shortcomings that highlight the standoff between the Brussels-based EU institutions

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Police say four officers assigned to a security team protecting South Africa’s deputy president will be charged with assault and other offenses after being caught on video kicking and stomping on at least two men after they pulled their car over on a highway. The weekend incident

By MARC LEVY Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. Bob Casey’s campaign says he raised more than $4 million in the last three months — his best fundraising quarter ever. Casey’s campaign said Wednesday the fundraising result beats the previous best quarter of his career by more than $1.2 million. Casey gives Democrats

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The U.K. is celebrating the 75th birthday of its beloved but increasingly creaky National Health Service. The date is being marked with charity tea parties, royal visits and a service of thanksgiving at London’s Westminster Abbey. However, three respected health think tanks warned Wednesday that the NHS

By JOE REEDY AP Sports Writer Morgan Pressel considered extending her playing career so she would have the opportunity to play in this week’s U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach. Even though she stopped playing two years ago, Pressel will still have an excellent vantage point for all four rounds of the first Women’s Open

WASHINGTON (AP) — Nine people outside enjoying the Independence Day festivities in the nation’s capital have been shot and wounded in a spate of violence marring the holiday. The shooting happened early Wednesday a 20-minute drive east of the White House. Police say the gunshots were fired from an SUV and the shooting was targeted.

BEIJING (AP) — China is dismissing criticism of racially tinged comments by its top diplomat. At a forum on Monday, Wang Yi said Europeans and Americans were incapable of distinguishing among Chinese, Koreans and Japanese. He then said: “No matter how yellow you dye your hair, or how sharp you make your nose, you’ll never

By CARA ANNA Associated Press NANTERRE, France (AP) — The race of the police officer who fatally shot a French teenager during a traffic stop last week hasn’t been disclosed, and there’s no reason why it would be. Officially, race doesn’t exist in France. But the death of the French-born 17-year-old with North African roots,

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A powerful summer storm lashing the Netherlands and parts of Germany has killed at least two people, blown trees onto houses and forced one of Europe’s busiest airports to cancel or delay hundreds of flights. The national meteorological institute issued its highest-level alert in three provinces as Storm Poly hit

By FRANK BAJAK, HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH and LARRY FENN Associated Press The confidential documents stolen from schools and dumped online by ransomware gangs are raw, intimate and graphic. They describe student sexual assaults, psychiatric hospitalizations, abusive parents, truancy — even suicide attempts. “Please do something,” begged a student in one leaked file, recalling the trauma of

By MALAK HARB Associated Press JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank (AP) — Palestinian residents of the Jenin refugee camp encountered scenes of widespread destruction as they emerged from their homes and returned from nearby shelters following the most intense Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank in nearly two decades. The two-day offensive destroyed

By CHRISTOPHER WEBER Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — California has moved responsibility for youth prisons to the county level, the final step toward local control in a yearslong reform effort aimed at keeping young offenders closer to home and prioritizing rehabilitation over punishment. The realignment that took effect July 1 officially shut down the

BEIJING (AP) — China’s Defense Ministry is accusing the United States of turning of Taiwan into a powder keg with its latest sales of military equipment to the self-governing island democracy. Defense Ministry spokesperson Col. Tan Kefei responded Wednesday to the State Department’s approval of the sale of 30 mm ammunition and related equipment, along

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — It was Scotland on parade. Bagpipes, kilts, drums and a Shetland pony named Corporal Cruachan IV marched down Edinburgh’s Royal Mile on Wednesday to honor King Charles III. Two months after his lavish coronation at Westminster Abbey in London, Scotland hosted its own event to mark the

By TRISHA AHMED Associated Press/Report for America ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The U.S. citizenship test is changing, with rollout expected late next year. Under the proposed changes, the test would have a new English-speaking section and a new written multiple-choice format in the civics section. Some immigrants and advocates worry the changes will hurt

By TRISHA AHMED Associated Press/Report for America ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The U.S. citizenship test is being updated, and some immigrants and advocates worry the changes will hurt test-takers with lower levels of English proficiency. The naturalization test is one of the final steps toward citizenship — a monthslong process that requires legal permanent

By SHEIKH SAALIQ Associated Press KANGVAI, India (AP) — India’s remote northeastern state of Manipur is caught in a deadly conflict between two ethnic communities that have armed themselves and launched brutal attacks against one another. At least 120 people have been killed since May. Witnesses interviewed by The Associated Press described how angry mobs

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press ATTARAT, Jordan (AP) — Jordan’s Attarat power plant was envisioned as a landmark project promising to provide the desert kingdom with a major source of energy while solidifying its relations with China. But weeks after its official opening, the site, a sea of black, crumbly rock in the barren desert

By SHEIKH SAALIQ Associated Press KANGVAI, India (AP) — Zuan Vaiphei is armed and prepared to kill. He is also ready to die. Vaiphei spends most of his days behind the sandbag walls of a makeshift bunker, his fingers resting on the trigger of a 12-gauge shotgun. Some 1,000 yards ahead of him, between a

By EILEEN NG Associated Press KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Less than a year after taking office, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim faces a critical first test in state elections next month that pits his government against a powerful Islamic opposition. The Election Commission said Wednesday that over 9.7 million voters will head to the ballot

By ROBERT YOON Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — New York City elections officials will begin releasing preliminary results from ranked choice voting in last week’s City Council primaries. The city is still tabulating first round results, so those results may change in the coming days and weeks as additional ballots are tallied. Voting in the

By AAMER MADHANI and CHRIS MEGERIAN WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has welcomed Sweden’s prime minister at the White House in a show of solidarity as the United States presses for the Nordic nation’s entry into NATO. This comes a week before the alliance’s summit. Biden said Wednesday it was “very important” for Sweden

By MORGAN LEE and PAUL J. WEBER Associated Press EL PASO, Texas (AP) — The Texas gunman who killed 23 people in a racist 2019 attack at a Walmart has returned to federal court for sentencing. Patrick Crusius is facing multiple life sentences after pleading guilty to one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S.

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press STAR, Idaho (AP) — Once he and his wife, Jennifer, moved to a Boise suburb last year, Tim Kohl could finally express himself. Kohl did what the couple never dared at their previous house outside Los Angeles — the newly-retired Los Angeles police officer flew a U.S. flag and a

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets sank Wednesday after a survey showed Chinese industrial activity weakening. Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney retreated. Oil prices were mixed. U.S. markets were closed Tuesday for a holiday. An index of service industry activity by a leading Chinese business magazine, Caixin, weakened

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The satellite North Korea failed to put into orbit wasn’t advanced enough to conduct military reconnaissance from space as it claimed, South Korea’s military said Wednesday after retrieving and studying the wreckage. North Korea had tried to launch its first spy satellite in late May,

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has criticized Hong Kong authorities over their pursuit of two pro-democracy activists who live in Australia. Hong Kong is offering rewards for the arrests of eight pro-democracy activists now living in the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia who are accused of national security offenses. Albanese

The television actor Allison Mack, who pleaded guilty for her role in a sex-trafficking case tied to the cult-like group NXIVM, has been released from a California prison, according to a government website. Mack, best known for her role as a young Superman’s close friend on “Smallville,” was sentenced to three years behind bars in