Month: August 2023

By RAFAL NIEDZIELSKI Associated Press JARYLOWKA, Poland (AP) — Poland’s defense minister says his country has increased the number of troops protecting its border with Belarus as a deterrent amid “destabilizing” actions by its pro-Russian neighbor. Mariusz Blaszczak met in Jarylowka, in eastern Poland, on Saturday with some of the troops recently deployed close to

By ZARAR KHAN and KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — An investigation has been launched into the death of a Pakistani porter near the peak of the world’s most treacherous mountain, a Pakistani mountaineer said Saturday, following allegations that dozens of climbers eager to reach the summit had walked past the man after he

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian warplane crashed in Russia’s Kaliningrad region on Saturday during a training mission, killing the two pilots on board. “The Su-30 aircraft crashed in a deserted area. The flight was carried out without ammunition. The crew died,” local military authorities said. According to officials, a technical malfunction was the likely cause.

By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — On and off the big screen, it’s Barbie’s world and Ken is just living in it. As reflected in Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster movie that tackles the legacy Mattel’s famous doll, Barbie has always been more popular than Ken. For every Ken doll sold today, there’s

By OMAR AKOUR Associated Press AMMAN (AP) — The Jordanian state news agency reports that the King of Jordan has approved a bill to punish online speech deemed harmful to national unity. The legislation has drawn accusations from human rights groups of a new crackdown on free expression in a country where censorship and repression

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The office of Pakistan’s prime minister says that first-time Anwaar-ul-haq Kakar will head the national caretaker government as the country moves toward parliamentary elections. A first-time senator, Kakar hails from Pakistan’s southwest. The announcement Saturday was made following a second round of meetings between incumbent Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and opposition leader

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis is strongly condemning the “unjustifiable” assassination of an Ecuadorian presidential candidate. History’s first Latin American pope sent a telegram of condolence following the brazen assassination of Fernando Villavicencio at a political rally Wednesday night in the capital Quito. The slaying has focused global attention on Ecuador’s wave of violent deaths and

By JULIE CARR SMYTH Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — After Ohio voters repealed a law pushed by Republicans that would have limited unions’ collective bargaining rights in 2011, then-GOP Gov. John Kasich was contrite. “I’ve heard their voices, I understand their decision and, frankly, I respect what people have to say in an effort

By BRIAN MELLEY and THOMAS ADAMSON Associated Press LONDON (AP) — French authorities say an overloaded boat carrying migrants capsized before dawn in the English Channel, killing at least six people, and more than 50 were rescued. France’s Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea said several British and French ships were involved

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. human rights office has expressed grave concern over the forced repatriation of North Koreans from China and elsewhere after facing criticism from rights groups for its “unacceptable silence” on the issue. Taking aim at U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and his office,

By SAM MEDNICK Associated Press NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — A local activist in Niger with ties to the military regime says the only way to avoid conflict in the country between mutinous soldiers that ousted the president and regional nations who are threatening an invasion to reinstate him, is to recognize the new regime as

BEIRUT (AP) — The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for an ambush in eastern Syria that killed at least 33 government soldiers and wounded others. The group warned in its Friday night statement that such attacks will continue. IS sleeper cells still carry out deadly attacks despite their defeat in Syria in 2019. The

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Anxious about Japan’s impending release of treated nuclear wastewater from the tsunami-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant, hundreds of South Koreans marched in their capital Saturday. Protesters are calling for Tokyo to abandon the plans, and expressing anger toward Seoul for endorsing the discharge despite alleged

By SUSIE BLANN Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia thwarted an attack by 20 Ukrainian drones targeting Moscow-annexed Crimea overnight, the Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday. Fourteen drones were shot down by Russian air defenses and a further six were jammed electronically, the ministry said in a Telegram post. No casualties or damage were

By SONIA PÉREZ D. Associated Press SAN JUAN SACATEPEQUEZ, Guatemala (AP) — Over the past decade, Guatemalan presidential candidate Sandra Torres has been drifting rightward on the political spectrum as she repeatedly has tried to win the presidency. In her third bid this year, the former first lady has drafted an evangelical pastor as her

By CLAIRE RUSH, BEATRICE DUPUY and JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER Associated Press LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — A raging wildfire that swept through a picturesque town on the Hawaiian island of Maui this week has killed at least 89 people, authorities said Saturday, making it the deadliest U.S. wildfire of the past century. The new death toll

By KOSTYA MANENKOV The Associated Press ANTALYA, Turkey (AP) — Standing in an old Orthodox church in Antalya with a Bible in one hand and a candle in the other, the Rev. Ioann Koval led one of his first services in Turkey after Russian Orthodox Church leadership decided to defrock him following his prayer for

By REBECCA BOONE, JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER and AUDREY MCAVOY Associated Press WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP) — In the hours before a wildfire engulfed the town of Lahaina, Maui County officials failed to activate sirens that would have warned the entire population of the approaching flames and instead relied on a series of sometimes confusing social media

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Pochaina neighborhood in the Ukrainian capital comes alive every weekend as hundreds of people flock to its famous flea market, looking for finds. Antique-hunters, collectors and many others look over seemingly endless rows of trinkets and time-worn wares. It’s a dizzying array that includes Soviet-era relics such as decorative medals,

By MARK THIESSEN, ED KOMENDA and AUDREY MCAVOY WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP) — As smoke cleared from the fires in Maui that killed at least 80 people and wiped out a historic town, the firestorm left hundreds of people searching desperately for missing loved ones. But amid the tragedy, glimmers of joy and relief broke through

By VALERIE GONZALEZ Associated Press HEBBRONVILLE, Texas (AP) — As one of the worst heat waves on record set in across much of the southern United States this summer, authorities and activists in South Texas found themselves embroiled in a mystery in this arid region near the border with Mexico. Barrels of life-saving water that

By JAMES POLLARD Associated Press/Report for America PHILLIPS COMMUNITY, S.C. (AP) — All along the South Carolina coast, developers of new homes and vacation getaways are targeting properties owned by the descendants of enslaved people. From Myrtle Beach to Hilton Head, Black landowners who inherited property have been outmatched in disputes with investors seeking to

By JAMES POLLARD Associated Press/Report for America PHILLIPS COMMUNITY, S.C. (AP) — The Rev. Elijah Smalls Jr. once grew okra, butter beans and other vegetables in the neighborhood where his family has lived near the South Carolina coast since not long after the Civil War. That was before new half-a-million-dollar homes in a nearby subdivision

By ELLEN KNICKMEYER and TRACY BROWN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — After nearly three weeks of appealing to the United States and other allies for help restoring Niger’s president to power, friends and supporters of the democratically elected leader are making a simpler plea: Save his life. President Mohamed Bazoum, leader of the last remaining

By NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press DENVER (AP) — This week’s confrontation that ended with FBI agents fatally shooting a 74-year-old Utah man who threatened to assassinate President Joe Biden was just the latest example of how violent rhetoric has created a more perilous political environment across the U.S. Six days earlier, a 52-year-old Texas man

BEIJING (AP) — Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes in China’s southwest after heavy rain caused hillsides to collapse. Meanwhile, two people died and 16 are missing following a mudslide in the country’s west, state media reported Saturday. Storm Khanun, which hit Japan as a typhoon, is now lashing China’s

By SARA BURNETT Associated Press VAIL, Iowa (AP) — Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy was more than 40 minutes into a town hall in rural Iowa when a woman in the crowd posed a pointed question. Or perhaps it was a suggestion. “I know you want to be president,” she said. “But would you consider

By STEVE PEOPLES AP National Political Writer NEW YORK (AP) — As he gears up for reelection, President Joe Biden is already facing questions about his ability to convince voters that the economy is performing well. There’s skepticism about the 80-year-old president’s ability to manage a second term. And on Friday, Biden faced a fresh

By RUSS BYNUM Associated Press SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The historic downtown of Savannah, Georgia, boasts nearly two dozen public squares. All the people they honor were white men. Soon, one of the squares could be named for a Black person or a woman for the first time in the city’s 290-year history. Savannah’s city

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer A judge’s order requiring “religious-liberty training” by a conservative Christian group is stirring debate among legal scholars. A federal judge in Dallas this week ordered the training for three Southwest Airlines lawyers. The judge blames the lawyers for Southwest defying a previous order he issued in a case involving

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A walrus calf found on its own miles from the ocean on Alaska’s North Slope last week and who received cuddles as part of his care after being rescued died on Friday. “While often rewarding, wildlife rescue is inherently unpredictable and comes with it the possibility of great loss. For those

By EILEEN NG Associated Press KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian state elections have ended in a return to the status quo, with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government and the Islamist opposition each retaining control of three states as expected. The Election Commission said Anwar’s multi-coalition government triumphed in two of the country’s richest states,

By CARLA BRIDI and MAURICIO SAVARESE Associated Press BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Brazil’s federal police on Friday alleged former President Jair Bolsonaro received cash from the nearly $70,000 sale of two luxury watches he received as gifts from Saudi Arabia while in office, posing another potential blow for the embattled far-right leader. Earlier in the

By PAUL J. WEBER Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Authorities say a 3-year-old child riding one of Texas’ migrant buses died while on the way to Chicago. Texas authorities confirmed a child’s death in a statement Friday that did not say where the child was from or why they became ill. It is the

By JONATHAN MATTISE Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A jury has found a security guard not guilty of charges in a 2018 fatal shooting outside the Nashville restaurant where he was working. The verdict Friday came in a second-degree murder trial against Nathan Glass that hinged on whether he was justified to fire at

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A Marine at California’s Camp Pendleton has been charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl who was found in a base barracks. Military prosecutors have charged the Marine with sexual assault of a minor and authorities will determine whether he should be court-martialed. The girl had been missing for more than