AP National

AP Sports Writer HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — France soccer captain Kylian Mbappé warned on Thursday his country is in a “catastrophic” political situation as it lurches closer to a first far-right government since World War II. The National Rally gained strong results — around 33% of the vote nationwide — on Sunday in the first

AP Sports Writers GENEVA (AP) — The international swimming federation says its executive director has been ordered to testify as a witness in a U.S. criminal investigation into the case of 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for a banned substance in 2021 yet were allowed to continue competing. World Aquatics confirmed to The Associated

Associated Press HELSINKI (AP) — Dozens of classic sailing vessels from 13 countries that are plying the Baltic Sea have arrived in the Finnish capital at the end of the first leg of the Tall Ships Races that began in the Lithuanian port city of Klaipeda in late June. This year’s competition, with a total

AP Business Writers FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The European Union is moving to sharply increase customs duties on electric vehicles made in China. EVs are the latest flash point in a broader trade dispute over Chinese government subsidies and burgeoning exports of green technology to the 27-nation bloc. The European Commission says unfair government subsidies

Associated Press MORIGAON, India (AP) — A blue tarp covered a mother and her newborn daughter from the incessant rain on their boat journey. Jahanara Khatoon, 25, had just given birth on the boat on their way to a healthcare center, surrounded by the raging floodwaters of the Brahmaputra River. “I am very happy,” said

Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s Cabinet was set to convene Thursday to discuss Hamas’ latest response to a U.S.-backed proposal for a phased cease-fire in Gaza, as diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the nine-month war stirred back to life after a weekslong hiatus. Fighting, meanwhile, intensified between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, with

Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s military says it has retreated from a neighborhood in the outskirts of Chasiv Yar, a strategically important town in the eastern Donetsk region which has been reduced to rubble under a monthslong Russian assault. Chasiv Yar is west of neighboring Bakhmut, which was captured by Russia last year

Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine military chief says his forces will defend themselves with “the same level of force” if they come under assault again from China’s coast guard in the disputed South China Sea. Chinese personnel armed with machetes, an axe and spears injured Filipino navy personnel and damaged two of

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia’s prosecutor general says the suspect in the attempted assassination on populist Prime Minister Robert Fico is now facing terror charges. The prosecutor said Thursday that the change is based on evidence the investigators obtained but has not immediately given further details. Fico has currently been recovering at home from multiple

AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Chinese automaker BYD has inaugurated its first electric vehicle plant in Thailand, part of the company’s effort to expand into Southeast Asia while also tackling wealthier markets in the U.S. and Europe. The factory’s opening comes on the same day that the European Union is expected to begin imposing

Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli government has approved plans to build nearly 5,300 new homes in settlements in the occupied West Bank, a monitoring group said Thursday, the latest in a campaign to accelerate settlement expansion, aimed at cementing Israeli control over the territory and preventing the establishment of a future Palestinian state.

Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Several candidates have reported being attacked on the campaign trail in the final stretch before a high-stakes French legislative election. They include French government spokesperson Prisca Thevenot, who was assaulted by a group of people on Wednesday evening while putting up election posters near Paris. Prosecutors said Thursday they have opened

Associated Press Tarmo Peltokoski has been hired to succeed Jaap van Zweden as music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic. The philharmonic says the 24-year-old will start a four-year term in the 2026-27 season after serving as music director designate in 2025-26. Peltokoski grew up in Finland and studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki

AP Sports Writer LONDON (AP) — Some of Britain’s top tennis players are avoiding election talk like double-faults at Wimbledon. Polls opened Thursday morning in the U.K.’s first national election in almost five years but Britain’s rising stars are sticking to the tennis at the All England Club. Jack Draper says he has no interest

Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — An Iranian-born Norwegian man has been found guilty of terrorism in a 2022 attack on an LGBTQ+ festival in Oslo and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Two people were killed and nine were seriously wounded in the shooting at three locations, chiefly outside the London Pub, a popular

Associated Press CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Scientists in South Africa have been stunned to discover that termite mounds that are still inhabited in an arid region of the country are more than 30,000 years old, meaning they are the oldest known active termite hills. Some of the mounds near the Buffels River in

Associated Press BENGALURU, India (AP) — Months of scorching temperatures sometimes over 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit) in parts of India this year — its worst heat wave in over a decade — left hundreds dead or ill. But the official number of deaths listed in government reports barely scratches the surface of the true

Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — After the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, Iranian lawmaker Masoud Pezeshkian wrote that it was “unacceptable in the Islamic Republic to arrest a girl for her hijab and then hand over her dead body to her family.” Days later as nationwide protests and a bloody crackdown on

Associated Press TULUM, Mexico (AP) — After leaving a trail of destruction across the eastern Caribbean and at least nine people dead, Hurricane Beryl strengthened back into a Category 3 storm late Thursday as it chugged over open water toward Mexico’s resort-studded Yucatan Peninsula. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Beryl, which was the earliest

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Police on Thursday found the remains of a 12-year-old girl, two days after she was snatched by a crocodile while swimming in a creek in remote northern Australia. The remains were found in the river system near where the girl vanished at the Indigenous community of Palumpa, southwest of the Northern

Associated Press Millions of people in the U.S. celebrated and suffered under heat warnings Thursday as they flocked to beaches and traveled in droves to toast their nation’s birth with July Fourth parades, cookouts and the always anticipated fiery splashes of color in the evening sky. In Washington, neon bursts of light illuminated the night

Associated Press The age question for presidential candidates is more than four decades old. President Ronald Reagan answered it with a pledge to resign if he became impaired, and later with a clever joke that reset his campaign from a stumbling debate performance to a 49-state landslide and a second term. “I will not make

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s conduct behind closed doors, in the Oval Office, on Air Force One and in meetings around the world is described in the same dual way by those who regularly see him in action. He is often sharp and focused. But he also has moments, particularly later in

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A 23-year-old Oakland man has been charged in connection with a mass shooting that wounded 14 at a Juneteenth celebration last month. Prosecutors with the Alameda County district attorney’s office have charged the man with four counts of felony assault with a semiautomatic firearm for the shooting of four people. The

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico’s statewide public defenders office says a recent cybersecurity breach could delay some court proceedings across the state. The New Mexico Law Offices of the Public Defender reported Wednesday that it was still trying to fully restore its computer systems, including email, after the issue was discovered last Thursday.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Officials say a flight to Manchester, New Hampshire was diverted to Buffalo, New York, after a man allegedly exposed himself and urinated in the aisle of the airplane. Federal prosecutors say the 25-year-old Oregon man was arrested and charged with indecent exposure Wednesday after the flight landed at Buffalo Niagara International

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — A former engineer at a U.S. military air logistics center is charged with making false statements and obstructing justice during a criminal investigation into a 2017 military plane crash in Mississippi that killed 16 service members. Prosecutors said Wednesday that 67-year-old James Michael Fisher was arrested Tuesday. He is a former

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two horses were struck and killed by passing vehicles after they ran onto a Los Angeles freeway. That is according to the California Highway Patrol. The fatal collisions occurred late Tuesday. Other drivers saved a third horse and helped the animal over to the freeway’s shoulder to avoid getting hit. California

Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Four anti-abortion activists who were convicted for their roles in a 2021 Tennessee clinic blockade will serve sentences ranging from six months in prison to three years of supervised release. U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger sentenced the four Tuesday and Wednesday. All four were convicted of serious felony conspiracy

Associated Press CANCUN, Mexico (AP) — Stung by past failures to prepare for hurricanes, the Mexican government is evacuating even sea turtle eggs from beaches ahead of Hurricane Beryl. Beryl remains far offshore in the Caribbean near Jamaica, but is expected to hit somewhere south of Cancun by early Friday. Given that Mexico did so

AP Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — A leading House Democrat is preparing a constitutional amendment in response to the Supreme Court’s landmark immunity ruling, seeking to reverse the decision “and ensure that no president is above the law.” Rep. Joseph Morelle of New York, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, sent a letter

Associated Press A federal judge has ordered Louisiana to take steps to protect the health and safety of incarcerated workers toiling in the fields of a former slave plantation. He says they face “substantial risk of injury or death” in blistering summer temperatures. U.S. District Judge Brian Jackson on Tuesday gave the state seven days

AP National Political Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Jim Clyburn is often credited as the man who delivered the presidency to Joe Biden with a pivotal endorsement four years ago. But on Wednesday, the South Carolina congressman sent a resounding message to the Democratic president and elected officials across the nation that it may be

Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — U.S. officials have asked Haiti’s prime minister to prioritize the establishment of an electoral council as the country strives to rebuild its government amid rampant gang violence. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Brian Nichols, said Wednesday that U.S. officials asked Haitian Prime Minister

Associated Press Vice President Kamala Harris has been one of President Joe Biden’s staunchest defenders following his shaky performance in last week’s debate, but she’s also emerged as a potential option to lead the party herself if Biden opted not to continue his campaign. One big question is what would happen to the current campaign’s

Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — A man accused of killing a Detroit synagogue leader during a violent overnight encounter denied any role in her death. Michael Jackson-Bolanos testified in his own defense Wednesday. It was a dramatic moment in a trial that has mostly centered on circumstantial evidence. Samantha Woll was found dead outside her

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey officials say financial concerns spurred state lawmakers to rescind $24 million in funding for a planned outpost of Paris’ acclaimed Pompidou Center in Jersey City. But the city’s mayor believes his deteriorating relationship with Gov. Phil Murphy led to the decision. Centre Pompidou x Jersey City was to

Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Two more people charged with conspiring to bribe a Minnesota juror with a bag of $120,000 in cash in exchange for the acquittal of defendants in one of the country’s largest COVID-19-related fraud cases have pleaded not guilty. Said Shafii Farah and Abdulkarim Shafii Farah were arraigned before U.S. Magistrate

AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Did the media covering President Biden miss a story that was right in front of them? That’s a question being asked in the wake of the president’s halting debate performance in the debate with Donald Trump last week. Some critics wonder whether reporters who follow Biden should have

AP Tennis Writer LONDON (AP) — Emma Navarro has eliminated former No. 1 Naomi Osaka in Wimbledon’s third round. The 19th-seeded Navarro won 6-4, 6-1 at Centre Court on Wednesday. Navarro had never been past the second round at a Grand Slam tournament until this season. She made it to the third round at the

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — At least one mystery about President Joe Biden’s often convoluted answers during the presidential debate has been solved. During the debate, the 81-year-old Democrat ended one of his statements about the national debt by declaring, “We finally beat Medicare.” That was not what Biden had intended to say about the

Associated Press Voters in five states will decide referendums on abortion rights this year, with potentially more to come. Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Nevada and South Dakota will hold referendums on enshrining protection for abortion rights. The U.S. Supreme Court removed the nationwide right to abortion with a 2022 ruling, which sparked a national push to

AP Health Writer A fourth farm worker has been infected with bird flu in the growing outbreak linked to dairy cows, health officials reported Wednesday. The worker had direct contact with infected dairy cows on a northeast Colorado farm, state and federal health officials said. The man developed pink eye, or conjunctivitis, received antiviral treatment

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles will pay more than $21 million to settle claims by residents of a neighborhood where police bungled the detonation of a cache of illegal fireworks, injuring 17 people and displacing dozens of others three years ago. The City Council unanimously approved the payments Tuesday and the settlements will now

Associated Press Ariana Madix just celebrated her 39th birthday, and if her last year was any indicator, this one should be full of surprises. The “Vanderpump Rules” star whose boyfriend of nearly 10 years was caught in an affair with a co-star, has turned lemons into lemonade. She competed on “Dancing with the Stars” where

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has plenty of explanations for his terrible performance in last week’s presidential debate. None of them have done much to assuage Democrats’ concerns about Donald Trump returning to the White House. During the debate, his campaign said he had a cold. Then aides suggested he studied too

Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Chancellor Mark Mone says he’ll step down from his post next year and return to teaching. Mone announced on the social platform X that he plans to resign effective July 1, 2025. He said he will transition to a professorship in the university’s business school. He

CANTON, Mass. (AP) — The woman accused of ramming her luxury SUV into her boyfriend and callously leaving him on the ground before a snowstorm had dated the Boston police officer briefly when they were in their 20s, and they reconnected after the pandemic. Long before she was charged with murder in the death of

A snake in the U.K. has drawn attention to the ability of some female species to reproduce without a mate. The boa constrictor gave birth to 14 babies last week at a school in the city of Portsmouth after having no contact with any other snakes for at least nine years. The process is called

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The leader of a conservative think tank orchestrating plans for a massive overhaul of the federal government in the event of a Republican presidential win said that the country is in the midst of a “second American Revolution” that will be bloodless “if the left allows it to be.”

Associated Press WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A long Fourth of July holiday weekend in the United States is expected to create new travel records. The Transportation Security Administration predicts that its officers will screen more than 3 million travelers at U.S. airports on Sunday. That would break the record of just under 3

Associated Press ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A Maryland board led by Gov. Wes Moore has approved a $50.3 million emergency contract with a company that removed debris from the March collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Maryland entered into the emergency contract with Swedish construction company Skanska USA Civil Southeast Inc. in April. Skanska

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — After weeks of disagreement, Virginia lawmakers have reached a deal to repeal new restrictions on a program that offers free college tuition at state schools for families of veterans who were killed or seriously disabled while on active duty. Senate Finance Chair Louise Lucas and House Appropriations Chairman Luke Torian say

AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Akira Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai” is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. But despite its age, the vitality and fleet-footed movement of Kurosawa’s epic is still breathtaking. To watch it again is to be swept along, all over again, by its flowing action and breadth of vision. Just as

Associated Press Rudy Giuliani’s bankruptcy has come under fire from creditors including two former Georgia election workers who won a $148 million defamation judgment against him. The creditors say they’ll likely ask next week that the case be dismissed and accuse Giuliani of flouting bankruptcy rules. A status conference was held Wednesday before a federal

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia sports radio host Howard Eskin’s employer has suspended him from Phillies home games for the rest of the season after investigations showed he kissed a worker for Citizens Bank Park’s food service provider without consent. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported Tuesday that Audacy, the parent company for Philadelphia’s SportsRadio 94WIP, said in

CAMDEN, Ark. (AP) — At least two people are injured and another is missing after an explosion at a defense weapons plant in Arkansas. A spokesperson for General Dynamics says it happened Wednesday morning at its Ordnance and Tactical Systems facility in Camden, south of Little Rock. The company initially called it an “incident involving

Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Suburban Chicago mom Keely Roberts counts the days, not years, since a deadly shooting at an Independence Day parade in 2022 injured her and left one of her twin boys paralyzed from the waist down. She says it has been 730 days since her now-10-year-old son Cooper could chase his