Month: April 2024

By SUZAN FRASER Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A senior Turkish official says Ankara will back the outgoing Dutch prime minister’s candidacy for the position of NATO secretary general. The official says Turkey informed its allies on Monday. The decision comes three days after Prime Minister Mark Rutte traveled to Turkey to seek support

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The father and former coach of Olympic champion runner Jakob Ingebrigtsen has been charged with abusing one of his other children, his lawyer says. It is the latest development in an ongoing conflict involving one of Norway’s most prominent sporting families. Jakob Ingebrigtsen won the 1,500-meter race at the Tokyo Olympics

LONDON (AP) — British author C.J. Sansom, best known for his historical crime novels featuring the Tudor lawyer and investigator Matthew Shardlake, has died at 71. His publisher, Pan Macmillan, says Christopher John Sansom was working on his latest Shardlake novel when he died Saturday after a period of worsening health. Sansom introduced the character

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A court has convicted five former firefighters and disaster response officials over a 2018 wildfire outside Athens that killed more than 100 people. The fire that swept through the seaside town of Mati, east of Athens, was the deadliest in the country’s history. Residents and vacationers, many trapped in their cars,

BEIJING, China (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit France, Serbia and Hungary next week as Beijing appears to seek a larger role in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine that has upended global political and economic security. China’s Foreign Ministry says the visit by Xi, China’s president and head of the ruling Communist

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Solomon Islands pro-Beijing Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has withdrawn from the contest to remain head of the strategically important South Pacific island nation’s government following general elections two weeks ago. Sogavare has been re-elected to the parliament. But Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported he told a press conference

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s foreign minister has abruptly resigned in dissatisfaction over a Cabinet reshuffle that removed him as one of the country’s deputy prime ministers. Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin on Monday confirmed the report of the resignation of Parnpree Bahiddha-Nugara, saying that he respected the decision, and that he has already started looking for

By ERICK KAGLAN Associated Press LOME, Togo (AP) — Togolese voters headed to the polls on Monday to vote in the country’s parliamentary elections, which will test support for a proposed new constitution that would scrap future presidential elections and give lawmakers the power to choose the president instead. The opposition and the clergy say

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer PITTSBURGH (AP) — Within three or four years, thousands of  self-driving tractor-trailers are expected to travel on America’s public freeways. The goal is for the trucks, which can run nearly around the clock without any breaks, to speed the flow of goods, accelerating delivery times and perhaps lowering costs.

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer PITTSBURGH (AP) — Late this year, Aurora Innovation Inc. plans to start hauling freight on Interstate 45 between the Dallas and Houston areas with 20 driverless trucks. Within three or four years, Aurora and its competitors expect to put thousands such self-driving trucks on America’s public freeways. The goal

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Older Americans are fueling a sustained boost to the U.S. economy. Benefiting from outsize gains in the stock and housing markets over the past several years, they are accounting for a larger share of consumer spending — the principal driver of economic growth — than ever

By ACHMAD IBRAHIM and NINIEK KARMINI Associated Press BOGOR, Indonesia (AP) — Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Indonesian President Joko Widodo have celebrated the countries’ continued cooperation at their seventh and final Leaders’ Retreat in Jakarta, an annual meeting between the two leaders that was also attended this year by their successors. All

PARIS (AP) — French media are reporting that police have summoned actor Gérard Depardieu for questioning about allegations made by two women that he sexually assaulted them on movie sets. Broadcaster BFMTV and the daily Le Parisien both reported that the 75-year-old actor was called in for police questioning in Paris on Monday. The Paris

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — A suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted a vessel in the Red Sea on Monday, authorities said, the latest assault in their campaign against international shipping in the crucial maritime route. The attack happened off the coast of Mokha, Yemen, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Police in Kenya say at least 40 people have died after a dam collapsed in the country’s west. The floodwaters swept through houses and cut off a major road. The Monday morning incident happened after the Old Kijabe Dam, located in the Mai Mahiu area of the Great Rift Valley region

By JOSEF FEDERMAN and SAMY MAGDY Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli officials on Monday appeared to be increasingly concerned that the International Criminal Court may issue arrest warrants against the country’s leaders, as international pressure mounts over its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Israeli airstrikes on the southern Gaza city of

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani police say a judge who was kidnapped after gunmen ambushed his vehicle has been freed in a late-night operation. Around 15 men on motorbikes intercepted Judge Shakirullah Marwat’s vehicle as he was traveling toward Dera Ismail Khan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. A police official said Monday that Marwat was

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Authorities on the Greek island of Samos say a migrant died and 25 others were rescued from a sinking dinghy that had left the nearby coast of Turkey. A search and rescue operation was launched, assisted by the European border protection agency, Frontex, for others possibly missing. The coast guard said

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian officials say a group of militants has attacked a police checkpoint in Russia’s North Caucasus region, killing two officers. Russia’s Interior Ministry says four other officers were wounded and all five attackers were killed in the shootout in the Karachay-Cherkessia region late Sunday. Authorities say the same gunmen had raided another

By KANIS LEUNG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — A Hong Kong transgender activist has received a new ID card reflecting his gender change, after a yearslong legal battle to change the document, and he vowed to continue working for equality for the LGBTQ+ community. Henry Tse won his appeal over the government’s refusal to

By DORANY PINEDA Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — A professor who helped save Europe’s largest saltwater lagoon is one of this year’s winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize, known as the “Green Nobel.” The prize honors grassroots environmental activists and leaders around the world for their efforts to protect the natural world. Among the

By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — The Rolling Stones are showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. They kicked off their latest tour Sunday night at Houston’s NRG Stadium. During a vibrant two-hour show, the Stones, who’ve been touring for more than 60 years, played with the energy of band that

By SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press VERSAILLES, France (AP) — The historic Versailles Palace Gardens will soon host the Paris Olympics equestrian sports. Meanwhile, the select number of riders of the National Equestrian Academy handling the palace’s famed royal stables continue to care for their beloved horses. The elite academy — founded by French horse trainer

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A pair of giant pandas will soon make the journey from China to the U.S., where they will be cared for at the San Diego Zoo. It’s all part of an ongoing conservation partnership between the two nations. The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance said Monday that its caretakers recently visited

By The Associated Press Israeli airstrikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah have killed at least 22 people, including six women and five children, Palestinian health officials said. One of the children killed in the strikes overnight into Monday was just 5 days old. Israel has regularly carried out airstrikes on Rafah since the

BERLIN (AP) — Nine people charged in connection with an alleged far-right plot to topple the German government are going on trial in one of three cases linked to the plot that came to light in late 2022. The trial that opens Monday in Stuttgart is the first one and focused on those defendants of

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Scotland’s leader is facing a week of high-stakes talks to save his job and re-energize the country’s independence movement after he torpedoed a coalition with the Green Party by ditching a target for fighting climate change. First Minister Humza Yousaf, whose Scottish National Party has been weakened

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is talking with liberal opposition leader Lee Jae-myung about how to revive bipartisan cooperation, after Yoon’s conservative party lost massively in recent parliamentary elections. Monday’s meeting is their first since Yoon took office in 2022 after defeating Lee in

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Police allege in court documents that four teenagers plotted to buy guns and attack Jewish people days after a Christian bishop was stabbed in a Sydney church. Five teens were charged in court last week with offenses including conspiring to engage in or planning a terrorist

By AUDREY McAVOY Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — For decades, tourists to Hawaii have brought home gift boxes of the islands’ famous chocolate-covered macadamia nuts for friends and family, but these days many of the kernels in the package might not be Hawaii-grown. This little-known fact is surfacing at the state Legislature as lawmakers wrestle

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s leading presidential candidate repeatedly touted the social programs of outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and walked a fine line between supporting the national oil company and promising a clean energy transition in the second debate ahead of the June 2 election. Former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum of the

By KEN MILLER Associated Press SULPHUR, Okla. (AP) — Small towns in Oklahoma are beginning a long cleanup after tornadoes flattened home and buildings and killed at least four people, including an infant. The damage Monday was extensive in the community of Sulphur, where a weekend tornado crumpled many downtown buildings and sheared the roofs

By CHRISTOPHER WEBER, CAROLYN THOMPSON and MARGERY BECK Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Protests are roiling college campuses across the U.S. as upcoming graduation ceremonies are threatened by disruptive demonstrators, with students and others sparring over Israel’s military offensive in Gaza and its mounting death toll. Many campuses were largely quiet over the weekend

By EVELYNE MUSAMBI Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya has postponed the reopening of its schools by one week due to ongoing flooding caused by heavy rains, as flood-related deaths since mid-March in the East African country neared 100. The Education Ministry said Sunday night some schools remained “adversely affected” by the flooding. Local

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Seven Minnesotans accused of fraud are set to stand trial in what prosecutors call a massive scheme to exploit lax rules during the COVID-19 pandemic and steal from a program meant to provide meals to low-income children. Opening statements are expected Monday. They are the first of

By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — A trial for a mass environmental injury case is starting more than two years after a U.S. military fuel tank facility under ground poisoned thousands of people when it leaked jet fuel into Pearl Harbor’s drinking water. The 17 plaintiffs represent more than 7,500 others, including

By MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — The trial of a woman charged in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend is set to begin. Karen Read is facing charges including second degree murder in the death of Officer John O’Keefe, 46, in 2022. O’Keefe was a 16-year veteran of the Boston

By ISABELLA VOLMERT Associated Press SHERIDAN, Ind. (AP) — U.S. Rep. Victoria Spartz is the first and only Ukrainian-born member of Congress. In the first days of the war, she emerged as a natural voice for Ukraine. But she recently voted against sending $61 billion of aid to the country. Her reversal aligns with other

By CIARÁN GILES Associated Press MADRID (AP) — Spain is in nail-biting suspense Monday as it waits for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to announce whether he will continue in office or not. Sánchez shocked the country on Thursday, announcing he was taking five days off to think about his future after a court opened preliminary

By JUAN ZAMORANO Associated Press PANAMA CITY (AP) — The leading candidate to be Panama’s next president is a last-minute stand-in who promises to return the Central American country to a boom time that experts say will be difficult to recapture. José Raúl Mulino, a maritime lawyer and former security minister, was thrust to the

By RIAZAT BUTT and ADIL JAWAD Associated Press KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Born and raised in Pakistan to parents who fled neighboring Afghanistan half a century ago, an 18-year-old found himself at the mercy of police in Karachi who took his cash, phone and motorbike, and sent him to a deportation center. Scared and bewildered,

By YURI KAGEYAMA Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Naked and frail, a shaggy-haired man films himself as he endures solitude in a tiny room for months, and months more. “The Contestant” directed by Clair Titley, explores the story behind the late 1990s reality TV show from Japan, “A Life in Prizes,” in which a comedian

By DEEPTI HAJELA Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Students protested what they saw as injustice and demanded change. Administrators were under pressure to get things back to normal. Police came onto the Columbia University campus and made arrests. This wasn’t this month — it was April 1968. The week-long protest that included building takeovers

By GABRIELA SÁ PESSOA Associated Press SAO PAULO (AP) — It took almost a half century for Brazilian singer Cátia de França to find her audience, but she finally has — with the help of a near-obsolete audio technology. Born in Paraíba, a state in Brazil’s poor northeast region, 77-year-old de França’s blend of psychedelic

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is beginning his seventh diplomatic mission to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war began more than six months ago. He has a lot he’ll try to accomplish during stops in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Israel this week.

By The Associated Press This week’s new streaming entertainment releases include the return of “Hacks” on Max and the new Jerry Seinfeld movie “Unfrosted” on Netflix. Get ready to dance when Dua Lipa’s new album arrives on Friday fans of the classic VH1 series “Behind the Music,” get ready for new episodes. The first one,

BEIJING (AP) — Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk has met with a top government leader in the Chinese capital, just as the nation’s carmakers are showing off their latest electric vehicle models at the Beijing auto show. Chinese Premier Li Qiang told Musk on Sunday that he hopes the U.S. will work more with

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were trading higher Monday amid optimism over the rally that ended the week on Wall Street, although eyes were on the Federal Reserve policy meeting set for later this week. Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 added 0.6% in early trading to 7,621.40. South Korea’s Kospi surged

By VICTORIA MILKO Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A data analysis shows Indonesia had a 27% increase in primary forest loss in 2023. The losses were in protected national parks and in massive swaths of jungle cut down for palm oil and paper plantations and for mining. Despite that increase, the World Resources Institute

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has described domestic violence as a national crisis after thousands rallied around the country against violence toward women. Thousands rallied in cities around Australia on Sunday to draw attention to the deaths of 27 women so far this year allegedly caused by acts of gender-based violence

LUPTON, Ariz. (AP) — Local authorities say Interstate 40 has reopened in both directions as fire crews continue watch over a controlled burn of remaining fuel from a freight train derailment by the Arizona-New Mexico state line. Earlier evacuation orders have been lifted. No one was hurt in the Friday derailment of the BNSF Railway

KENNER, La. (AP) — Police in Louisiana say three officers have been wounded by gunfire in a standoff with a man suspected of shooting three other people. Kenner Police Chief Keith Conley says the officers were taken to a New Orleans area hospital Sunday. Their conditions weren’t immediately known. SWAT team officers remained outside a

LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) — A Florida sheriff says two of his deputies are hospitalized after being wounded in a shootout with a man who opened fire when the officers tried to pull him from his car. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd praised his deputies at a news conference Saturday and said of the slain suspect:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A marathon runner in the St. Jude Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series in Nashville this weekend has died after receiving emergency treatment at the race. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series says the runner received urgent medical attention on-site Saturday before being taken to a hospital, where the participant died. Organizers