AP National

By THOMAS ADAMSON AP Fashion Writer PARIS (AP) — Diaphanous origami-like sculptures that floated like spring seeds caught in the wind captured the essence of the subtle, rich, and exquisite display from Issey Miyake at Paris Fashion Week — one of the strongest in seasons. The breathtaking menswear displays in the show “Up, Up, and

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Rescuers have called off a search for a Japanese mountaineer who went missing a week ago while trying to scale one of the highest mountains in northern Pakistan. Authorities said there was hardly any chance of survival for 36-year-old Atsushi Taguchi. His fellow climber, Ryuseki Hiraoka, died while scaling the roughly

By DAVID RISING Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — A new mutual-defense pact signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un commits each country to come to the other’s aid if attacked. Just what the threshold for such assistance would be is currently unclear — maybe deliberately so, to deter other

By MELANIE LIDMAN Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The Israel Antiquities Authority says a company drilling for natural gas off the coast of northern Israel has discovered a 3,300-year-old ship and its cargo, one of the oldest known examples of a ship sailing far from land. The IAA said Thursday the discovery of

MOSCOW (AP) — The trial of a Russian American dual citizen whom Russia accuses of treason opened amid rising tensions between Washington and Moscow. The trial began behind closed doors on Thursday in Yekaterinburg, in the same court that next week is to begin hearing the case of Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter

BERLIN (AP) — Prosecutors say an Iraqi man who is accused of standing by to carry out attacks for the Islamic State group after he arrived in Germany in 2022 has been arrested. The suspect was arrested Wednesday in Esslingen, near Stuttgart in southwestern Germany. A judge ordered him to be kept in custody on

By JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A Swedish court on Thursday acquitted a former Syrian army general accused of playing a role in war crimes in his home country more than a decade ago. Brig. Gen Mohammed Hamo, who now lives in Sweden, was charged in February with aiding and abetting crimes against

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The Oakland Police Department says an Oakland Juneteenth celebration turned violent when several people were shot. Police say that the Lake Merritt event was largely peaceful, with as many as 5,000 in attendance, until a sideshow involving “motorbikes and vehicles” took place at Bellvue and Grand avenues at around 8:15 p.m. Tuesday

PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) — Police say an explosion in central Montenegro’s historical capital, Cetnje, has killed two people and seriously injured three others. Police sealed off the area around the town’s sports hall. They launched an investigation to find the type and cause of the explosion. The state RTCG television said it was a bomb

By TERESA MEDRANO and JAMES BROOKS Associated Press MADRID (AP) — Things are looking up for the Iberian lynx. Just over two decades ago, the pointy-eared wild cat was on the brink of extinction, but as of Thursday the International Union for Conservation of Nature says it’s no longer an endangered species. Successful conservation efforts

GENEVA (AP) — The Swiss National Bank says it has lowered its main policy rate by a quarter of a percentage point, citing a drop in “underlying inflationary pressure” despite an uptick in some costs like rents, tourism services and oil products. The central bank became the first among counterparts in major financial centers this

By ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia has resumed its aerial attacks on Ukraine’s power grid and Kyiv’s forces again targeted Russian oil storage depots with drone strikes across the border. With no major changes reported along the front line, where a recent push by the Kremlin’s forces in eastern and northeastern

By RYAN PEARSON AP Entertainment Writer INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Not content with merely taking a victory lap after winning his battle against fellow rap superstar Drake, Kendrick Lamar turned his Juneteenth “Pop Out” concert at the Forum into a cathartic livestreamed celebration of Los Angeles unity. Lamar curated a three-hour concert featuring a mix

LONDON (AP) — A senior Conservative Party lawmaker says it would be “reprehensible” for someone to use inside information to bet on the date of Britain’s national election amid growing allegations that politicians or people close to them used their positions to profit on the vote. Michael Gove was asked Thursday about reports that the

BERLIN (AP) — A state-owned Dutch company that is the biggest electricity grid operator in Germany says talks on selling its German business to the government in Berlin have been terminated due to the administration’s budget constraints. TenneT, one of four transmission network operators in Germany, announced plans for the talks in February 2023. The

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim rejects the notion that China’s dominance is to be feared. He called China a “true friend” at the end of Premier Li Qiang’s visit Thursday to mark 50 years of diplomatic ties between their countries. While the leaders raised some contentious bilateral issues, Anwar said

By ZELIPHA KIROBI Associated Press MWINGI, Kenya (AP) — Antivenom for snakebites can be hard to find in Kenya, where about 4,000 snakebite victims die every year. About 7,000 others experience paralysis or other health complications. Residents fear the problem is growing. As the forests around them shrink due to logging and agricultural expansion, snakes

By DITA ALANGKARA and EDNA TARIGAN Associated Press TANJUNGPINANG, Indonesia (AP) — Hundreds of refugees are living in community housing on an island in northwestern Indonesia while waiting for resettlement in a third country. Hotel Kolekta, a former tourist hotel there, was converted in 2015 into a temporary shelter that today houses 228 refugees from

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron is joining African leaders to kick off a planned $1 billion project to accelerate the rollout of vaccines in Africa. The effort comes after the coronavirus pandemic exposed gaping inequalities in access to vaccines globally. The African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator will provide financial incentives to vaccine manufacturers. Many

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Human-caused climate change dialed up the thermostat and turbocharged the odds of this month’s killer heat that has been baking the Southwestern United States, Mexico and Central America, a new flash study found. Sizzling daytime temperatures that triggered cases of heat stroke in parts of the

By KEIRAN SMITH Associated Press NEWCASTLE, Australia (AP) — The Australian Government announced it will provide a further two million Australian dollars ($1.3 million) to support reconstruction efforts in the region of last month’s major landslide in Papua New Guinea’s mountainous interior.  The support comes as PNG continues to grapple with the aftermath of the

By LORI HINNANT, VASILISA STEPANENKO and HANNA ARHIROVA Associated Press KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) — The first shock wave shattered aisles stacked almost to the ceiling with home improvement products. The next Russian bomb streaked down like a comet seconds later, unleashing flames that left the megastore an ashen shell. A third bomb failed to detonate

LONDON (AP) — Any hopes the governing Conservative Party may have of the Bank of England cutting its main interest rate from a 16-year high of 5.25% are expected to be dashed. That’s the case even though inflation in the U.K. has fallen back to its target rate for the first time in nearly three

NEW DELHI (AP) — Officials say at least 29 people have died and dozens are hospitalized after drinking illegally brewed liquor in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. A local official told the Press Trust of India news agency Thursday the deaths occurred in the state’s Kallakurichi district, where more than 100 people are

By ZIMO ZHONG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stocks mostly fell Thursday in thin trading after U.S. markets were closed Wednesday in observance of Juneteenth. U.S. futures and oil prices were mixed. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index edged 0.1% higher to 38,324.10. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong shed 0.5% to 18,336.76. The Hang

By ALFREDO PEÑA and MARIANA MARTÍNEZ BARBA Associated Press TAMPICO, Mexico (AP) — Tropical Storm Alberto rumbled toward northeast Mexico early Thursday as the first named storm of the season, carrying heavy rains that left three people dead but also brought hope to a region suffering under a prolonged, severe drought. Mexican authorities downplayed the

By CHARLOTTE GRAHAM-McLAY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Much of the northernmost part of New Zealand is without power after a transmission tower toppled over in a rural area. Most of the region’s 195,000 people are without electricity, and there is no indication when power will be fully restored to the area. Power

By JEFF McMILLAN Associated Press Marissa Lasoff-Santos and the person she would marry quickly fell head over heels in love. Lasoff-Santos was a gay woman. Her girlfriend was a bisexual woman — or so they thought. Now her partner has become her husband, and they both identify as queer. And things are better than ever.

By TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The fate of the proposed cease-fire deal for Gaza hinges in many ways on two men: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas’ leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar. Each leader faces significant political and personal pressures that may be influencing their decision-making. And neither seems

By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL Associated Press HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin is in Vietnam to strengthen ties with its longtime partner in Southeast Asia at a time when Moscow is facing growing international isolation because of its military actions in Ukraine. He arrived early Thursday in Hanoi after concluding his trip to North

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A new agreement between Russia and North Korea reached by their leaders requires the countries to use all available means to provide immediate military assistance in the event of war, North Korean state media said. The North’s official Korean Central News Agency on Thursday reported

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Ten men have been convicted in Peru for raping nine teenagers while serving in the military during the country’s armed conflict decades ago. Judge Marco Angulo, of Peru’s First Superior Criminal Court, on Wednesday ordered the former soldiers to serve time in prison, with sentences ranging between six and 12 years.

EAST BRUNSWICK, N.J, (AP) — An investigation into how and why a Jewish student group was erased from a New Jersey high school yearbook has found the omission was caused by negligence and carelessness, but was not done on purpose or out of malice. East Brunswick Public Schools hired a law firm to investigate after

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Police say seven people have been wounded in a shooting in Philadelphia. It happened just before 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in North Philadelphia. The victims ranged in age from 16 to 47 years old. Police say they are all in stable condition. Authorities say investigators are still working to gather additional details. Police

By ELÉONORE HUGHES RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The head of Brazil’s state-run oil giant Petrobras, Magda Chambriard, has been sworn in as market concerns of increased government intervention in the company mount. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva — who nominated Chambriard — attended the ceremony Wednesday at a Petrobras research center in Rio

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Libyans from rival regions and all walks of life are fed up with the country’s divisions and want political players to end their years-long impasse and agree to hold national elections, a key step to peace in the oil-rich north African country, the U.N. deputy

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — A failure in an energy transmission line has produced an blackout throughout Ecuador, the government reported, days after announcing that there would be new power outages in the country due to production problems. Ecuador’s Minister of Energy Roberto Luque explained in a message posted on X, formerly Twitter, that the failure

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Snapchat Inc. will pay $15 million to settle a lawsuit brought by California’s civil rights agency. The California Civil Rights Department accused the company of discriminating against female employees, failing to prevent workplace sexual harassment and retaliating against women who complained. The department announced Wednesday

TORONTO (AP) — The gunman in a fatal Toronto shooting earlier this week believed the two victims had defrauded his family, his wife is saying as court records indicate the family was suing the pair after losing more than $1 million in an alleged investment scam. A man and woman were shot to death and

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — One of the defendants in the Vatican’s big financial trial has formally complained to the United Nations about the trial. The filing by the financier Raffaele Mincione accuses Pope Francis of violating his human rights by authorizing wide-ranging surveillance during the investigation.The filing to the U.N.

By EVENS SANON and CORAL MURPHY MARCOS Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A new report from the U.N. migration agency says that surging violence in Haiti from clashes with armed gangs has displaced nearly 580,000 people since March. The Caribbean nation has long faced unrest but at the end of February, gangs unleashed coordinated

By FATMA KHALED Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — South Darfur has seen a slight increase in critical aid since the UN’s World Food Program delivered life-saving food and nutrition to some families across the violence-riddled western Sudanese state. But more assistance is needed, humanitarian organizations say. The WFP mission in Sudan said Tuesday that more

MIAMI (AP) — Recreational boaters found $1 million worth of cocaine floating in the ocean off the Florida Keys. Samuel Briggs II, the acting chief patrol agent of the U.S. Border Patrol, wrote about the find in a social media post on X. Briggs posted video Monday night showing the wrapped packages of cocaine being

By MARTHA BELLISLE Associated Press More than 3,000 nurses at six Oregon hospitals have spent a second day on the picket lines as they continued to demand fair wages and better nurse-to-patient ratios. Hundreds of nurses carrying signs walked the lines Wednesday at six Providence medical centers across the state. The Oregon Nurses Association says

By LAURAN NEERGAARD AP Medical Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Scientists studying a Colombian family plagued by early-in-life Alzheimer’s have found a rare gene variant that seems to delay initial symptoms by about five years. The first clue came from a woman who escaped her family’s genetic fate, apparently because she also had two copies of

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Thousands of surnames grace the towering monument, representing the more than 4 million enslaved people who were freed after the Civil War. The Equal Justice Initiative, a criminal justice reform nonprofit, invoked the Juneteenth holiday — the day that commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. — on Wednesday as

By JOSEPH FEDERMAN and ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli army’s chief spokesman is apparently questioning the stated goal of destroying the Hamas militant group in Gaza in a rare public rift between the country’s political and military leadership. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that Israel will pursue the fight against

NEW YORK (AP) — Police officials say residents of a New York City community enabled the arrest of a 25-year-old Ecuadorian man in the rape of a 13-year-old girl, a crime that shocked the city. Christian Geovanny Inga-Landi is awaiting a court appearance after his arrest early Tuesday outside a deli in Corona, Queens. He

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch got his up-close look at how crazed the city is about his team’s playoff run when a mix-up with his keys caused him to walk home through the crowd after clinching a spot in the Stanley Cup Final. That fever

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer The Detroit Pistons have fired coach Monty Williams after just one season that ended with an NBA-worst 14-68 record. Last season was the first in what was a six-year, $78.5 million contract for Williams — one that, at the time, was the richest ever given to an NBA coach.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa man accused of killing four people with a metal pipe earlier this month has filed a written plea of not guilty to four first-degree murder charges. Luke Wade Truesdell filed his not guilty plea Tuesday. The 34-year-old is scheduled to return to court next Tuesday for an arraignment.

By DEBORA REY Associated Press BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — It’s sad but true, Copa America could mark Lionel Messi’s final chapter with Argentina’s national soccer team. The World Cup winner will turn 37 during the tournament in the United States, which kicks off Thursday. He’s clearly past his peak at Inter Miami after two

By JOHN HANNA Associated Press TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, says an economic ‘border war’ between his state and Kansas has restarted. Mayor Quinton Lucas blames a plan approved by the Kansas Legislature that’s aimed at luring his city’s two major-league sports franchises from Missouri. It would allow Kansas to

By SARA CLINE Associated Press BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana has become the first state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed the bill mandating the display on Wednesday. The GOP-drafted legislation mandates that a poster-sized display of the Ten Commandments in “large,

By MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press Relatives and friends of seven motorcyclists who died in a 2019 crash urged New Hampshire officials not to allow the trucker involved back on the state’s roads. A jury in 2022 found Volodymyr Zhukovskyy not guilty of multiple manslaughter and negligent homicide counts stemming from a collision in Randolph that

LONDON (AP) — One of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s police bodyguards has been arrested over alleged bets on the date of Britain’s national election made before it was announced. The Metropolitan Police force said Wednesday that a constable in the Royalty and Specialist Protection Command was arrested Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB and ABBY SEWELL Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group says it has new weapons and intelligence capabilities that could help it target more critical positions deeper inside Israel in case of an all-out war. Hassan Nasrallah’s comments on Wednesday come as the cross-border conflict simmering between

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan and New Zealand have agreed in principle on an intelligence sharing pact as their leaders shared concern about the increasingly challenging security environment in the region, including closer ties between Russia and North Korea. In a joint statement, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his New Zealand

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say an attempted robbery at a highway rest area in eastern Nebraska left a 72-year-old man dead and a 71-year-old woman critically injured in a knife attack. The Hall County Sheriff’s office said the attack happened Wednesday morning. The man from Eureka, Missouri, died at a Grand Island hospital.

By MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — State officials say a firewall aimed at thwarting hackers is to blame for a 911 outage in Massachusetts. The 911 system was out for about two hours on Tuesday afternoon. Authorities advised residents to either pull a fire box or call a police department directly for emergency

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York moms returning to work after giving birth will now get paid break time when they need to pump breast milk at their jobs, under a new law. Gov. Kathy Hochul says the law requires employers in the state to provide a half hour of paid break time to workers

PRAGUE (AP) — Czech police say they have arrested a man who wounded a motorcyclist in the neck with a knife in Prague. Two other people were injured. Police said Wednesday the the motive for the attack wasn’t immediately clear but they ruled out terrorism. Police say the 52-year-old suspect was drunk and had a

PRAGUE (AP) — The U.S. chipmaker onsemi is planning a multi-year investment of up $2 billion in its production facility in the Czech Republic. The government said the money will be invested in the company’s existing production facility in the eastern Czech town of Roznov. It’s the biggest single foreign investment in the country since

By The Associated Press Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un say the strategic partnership they have signed is a breakthrough. But neither side has released the text of the agreement that resulted from Putin’s visit to Pyongyang, and its consequences for the near and long terms are uncertain. Relations

By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte has resigned from her posts of education secretary and head of an anti-insurgency body as her whirlwind alliance with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. unraveled over key differences. The communications secretary said Wednesday that Duterte would remain the vice president. Her resignation

MIAMI (AP) — Tropical Storm Alberto has formed in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, the first named storm of what is forecast to be a busy hurricane season. The National Hurricane Center says Alberto was located 185 miles east of Tampico, Mexico, on Wednesday morning with top sustained winds of 40 mph. A tropical storm

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — A new report says there is mounting evidence that jihadi fighters who had long operated in Africa’s volatile Sahel region have settled in northwestern Nigeria after crossing from neighboring Benin. The report by the Clingendael Institute think tank says the militants have been moving to wealthier

MILAN (AP) — The Italian Coast Guard is searching by sea and from the air for dozens of people missing when a boat capsized and partially sank in the perilous central Mediterranean, off the Calabrian coast. The partially submerged boat was still in view on Wednesday but the commander of the search operation said no

By GRANT PECK Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Supporters of Myanmar’s imprisoned ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi have carried out peaceful flower-themed protests marking her 79th birthday. Some of Suu Kyi’s backers took to the streets in defiance of the military government’s repression. Suu Kyi led a decades-long struggle against military rule. She was

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s Emperor Naruhito says he is delighted to finally be able to visit Britain after the trip was delayed by several years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The royal said he looks forward to rekindling his friendship with the British royal family and exploring Oxford, where he

PARIS (AP) — French authorities say two adolescent boys have been given preliminary charges of raping a 12-year-old girl and religion-motivated violence. French media reported that the girl is Jewish. The regional prosecutor’s office said three boys aged 12 and 13 were detained after the girl reported a rape in the Paris suburb of Courbevoie.

By LEANNE ITALIE AP Lifestyles Writer NEW YORK (AP) — There’s a new twist on the guestbook at a wedding or other event. With audio guestbooks, you use old-fashioned phones to capture recorded messages for the bride and groom. Couples who have embraced them say guests had a ball returning to the phones again and

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr. AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Swizz Beatz and Timbaland are bringing the “Verzuz” series back with a new major platform for viewers to watch musicians face off in a song-against-song battle. The legendary producers announced Wednesday that Verzuz cemented an exclusive partnership for independent distribution with X, the site

By ALBERT STUMM Associated Press It’s been years since scientists established that the Mediterranean diet really is good for you. But nutrition experts say you can improve your health anywhere by mimicking at least one aspect of the diet — eat whatever fruits and vegetables are in season. That injects more variety into your diet

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker has been hailed as one of the preeminent voices of her generation, but the movies have long lingered in her mind and in her work. Now, Baker, 43, has made her first film: “Janet Planet,” a mother-daughter tale set

By BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Two climate protesters have been arrested for spraying orange paint on the ancient Stonehenge monument in southern England. Wiltshire Police said the pair was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of damaging one of the world’s most famous prehistoric monuments and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Prime Minister Rishi

By JOSH DUBOW AP Sports Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Long after “The Catch” and his 660 home runs, and the daring sprints around the bases with his hat falling off, Willie Mays could still command a room like no other. Mays was a frequent visitor to the downtown ballpark in San Francisco at 24

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer LISLE, Illinois (AP) — With their bulging red eyes and their alien-like mating sound, periodical cicadas can seem scary and weird enough. But some of them really are sex-crazed zombies on speed, hijacked by a super-sized fungus. West Virginia University mycology professor Matt Kasson, his 9-year-old son Oliver, and

By JOHN PYE AP Sports Writer A breast cancer diagnosis, surgery and months of follow-up treatment didn’t shake Raquel Kochhann’s desire to return to rugby sevens and have a shot at a third Olympics. The 31-year-old Brazilian says the most difficult person to convince she’d be ready for a return in time for the Paris

By DARREN SANDS Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — It was the middle of the night in the summer of 2021 when I finally found the missing piece of my family history. My great-great-great-great grandfather Hewlett Sands, born into slavery in Oyster Bay, New York in 1820, was one of the more than 200,000 names listed

By NICOLAS GARRIGA and ELISE MORTON Associated Press VILLEPINTE, France (AP) — The far-right leader angling to become France’s prime minister after the country’s upcoming parliamentary election has backtracked Wednesday on the party’s previous promise to pull out of NATO’s strategic military command. National Rally president Jordan Bardella said Wednesday that “France mustn’t leave NATO’s

By ADITHI RAMAKRISHNAN AP Science Writer DALLAS (AP) — Summer kicks off in the Northern Hemisphere with the summer solstice on Thursday. The Earth spins on a tilt as it revolves around the sun. A summer solstice occurs for Earth’s upper half when the Northern Hemisphere is angled most closely toward the sun. The summer

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Hundreds of people have died during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia as the faithful faced intense high temperatures at Islamic holy sites in the desert kingdom. Saudi Arabia has not commented on the death toll amid the heat during the pilgrimage, required of

By MARC LEVY Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Abortion rights have found an unlikely champion in swing state Pennsylvania. Sen. Bob Casey will appear on November’s ballot and is attacking Republican challenger David McCormick over opposing abortion rights. That’s quite a reframing for Casey, who once called himself a “pro-life Democrat.” Casey’s father was

By DEREK GATOPOULOS Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A senior prosecutor in Ukraine says authorities have created a national registry to document cases of sexual violence allegedly committed by Russian forces. Viktoriia Litvinova, the country’s deputy prosecutor general, told The Associated Press that the registry was created out of a pilot project that has

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities have urged residents to evacuate an area on the fringes of Athens where a large wildfire is fanned by strong winds. The fire service said Wednesday that more than 40 firefighters assisted by six water-dropping aircraft are trying to control the blaze near Vari, some 18 miles south of

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norway’s government says it has tightened controls over adoptions from abroad but will allow the practice to continue as it conducts an investigation into the legality and ethics of past adoptions. The move to allow international adoptions to continue contradicted Norway’s top regulatory body, which in January recommended a pause while

By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine military chief has demanded that China return several rifles and equipment seized by the Chinese coast guard in a disputed shoal and pay for damage in an assault he likened to an act of piracy in the South China Sea. Chinese personnel on board

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Cyril Ramaphosa has been sworn in for a second term as South Africa’s president in a ceremony in the administrative capital, Pretoria. Ramaphosa is now set to appoint a Cabinet in a new coalition government after his African National Congress party lost its parliamentary majority in an

By LOLITA C. BALDOR and JON GAMBRELL Associated Press ABOARD THE USS DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER IN THE RED SEA (AP) — The combat markings emblazoned on the F/A-18 fighter jet tell the story: 15 missiles and six drones, painted in black just below the cockpit windshield. As the jet sits on the deck of the

PARIS (AP) — French police say an officer in the northern suburbs of Paris has opened fire and killed an attacker who assaulted a cleaning worker with a screwdriver and also injured another police officer. Police said the cleaning worker suffered “several blows” in the attack Wednesday morning with the screwdriver but the extent of

By The Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Narges Mohammadi, has been sentenced to another year in prison over her activism. Mostafa Nili, Mohammadi’s lawyer, says his client was convicted on a charge of making propaganda against the system. Nili said Wednesday that the sentence came after

By ALANIS THAMES AP Sports Writer BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Rickwood Field will host an MLB game between the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants on Thursday. It’s the oldest professional ballpark in the U.S. and former home to baseball Hall of Famer Willie Mays and the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s executive arm is criticizing France for running up excessive debt, a stinging rebuke at the height of the election campaign where President Emmanuel Macron is fighting off challenges of the extreme right and the left. France was among seven nations that were warranted by the EU Commission to face

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The father of a Malaysian man who attacked a police station and killed two police officers last month has been charged with inciting terrorism. His Singaporean wife and three other children were also brought to court to face charges. Radin Imran Radin Mohd Yassin, 62, faces four charges including promoting

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Most politicians try to avoid slips, stumbles and undignified photos. Not Ed Davey. The leader of Britain’s centrist Liberal Democrats has turned the country’s general election campaign into a showreel of self-deprecating fun. Davey has tumbled off a paddleboard into England’s biggest lake, screamed atop a rollercoaster,

PARIS (AP) — Police in the restive French Pacific territory of New Caledonia have rounded up eight people, including an independence leader. They have been detained on suspicion of having a role in deadly violence that wracked the archipelago where Indigenous Kanak people have long sought to break free from France. New Caledonia’s prosecutor said

By FOSTER KLUG and KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Don’t believe the name: The Demilitarized Zone between the two rival Koreas might be the most heavily armed place on earth. Two million mines, barbed wire fences, tank traps and tens of thousands of troops from both countries patrol a divided swath

By THOMAS ADAMSON AP Fashion Writer PARIS (AP) — In the run-up to the Paris Olympics, Louis Vuitton celebrated the beauty of humans and their skin in a star-studded menswear showcase at the headquarters of the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO in Paris. Models wearing garb in all the hues of human flesh paraded around a

By ZIMO ZHONG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stocks were mixed on Wednesday after U.S. benchmarks ticked to more records following the latest signs that the U.S. economy may be slowing without falling into recession. U.S. futures were mixed and oil prices fell. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index climbed 0.2% to 38,570.86 as Japan’s