Month: May 2024

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Lithuanians are returning to the polls for the second round of the Baltic country’s presidential election as incumbent President Gitanas Nausėda seeks to hold off Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė and win another five-year term. On Sunday, voters will decide whether the banker-turned-politician, who won the first round, will hold the Baltic country’s top

By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA Associated Press KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — A Nepali official says it isn’t possible to search for a British climber and his Sherpa guide who went missing after reaching the top of Mount Everest six days ago because both fell on their way down from “a very high altitude” on the Chinese side

NEW DELHI (AP) — Bangladesh has evacuated nearly 800,000 people from vulnerable areas as the country and neighboring India await the arrival of a severe cyclone that has formed over the Bay of Bengal. Three airports have also been closed. The cyclone is expected to cross Bangladesh and India’s West Bengal coasts around midnight Sunday.

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB and OMAR ALBAM Associated Press BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — Living in a tent in rebel-held northwestern Syria, Rudaina al-Salim and her family struggle to find enough water for drinking and other basic needs such as cooking and washing. Their encampment north of the city of Idlib hasn’t seen any aid in six

By FARAI MUTSAKA Associated Press HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe introduced the world’s newest currency in April with public rallies and commercial jingles. The ZiG is short for Zimbabwe Gold. It’s the African nation’s sixth national currency in 15 years. The ZiG is the latest attempt to replace the Zimbabwe dollar which had been battered

By BEN NUCKOLS Associated Press When Balu Natarajan became the first Indian American champion of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 1985, a headline on an Associated Press article read, “Immigrants’ son wins National Spelling Bee,” with the first paragraph noting the champion “speaks his parents’ native Indian language at home.” Those details would hardly

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A 60-year-old woman saw her dreams of becoming the oldest Miss Universe contestant in history melt away in a haze of sequins and selfies Saturday at Argentina’s annual beauty pageant. Alejandra Marisa Rodríguez, a hopital legal adviser whose entry into the competition had been cheered

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The International Organization for Migration on Sunday increased its estimate of the death toll from a massive landslide in Papua New Guinea to more than 670 as emergency responders and traumatized relatives gave up hope that any survivors will now be found. Serhan Aktoprak, the chief

By JOHN O’CONNOR AP Political Writer SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is once again under the spotlight after a manager failed to consult a collections committee before purchasing a 21-star flag whose description as a rare banner marking Illinois’ 1818 admission to the Union is disputed. The flag’s acquisition

By ERIN HOOLEY Associated Press LISLE, Ill. (AP) — It was late morning when The Morton Arboretum’s Senior Horticulturist Kate Myroup arrived at the Children’s Garden with a special guest: a rare, blue-eyed female Magicicada cassini cicada, spotted earlier in the day by a visitor. A lucky few saw the cicada Friday at the arboretum

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The Japanese and South Korean leaders have raised sensitive topics like Taiwan, North Korea and the South China Sea as well as ways to boost cooperation, when they individually met China’s premier. It was unclear how serious discussions the three leaders had on those thorny

NEW DELHI (AP) — A fire broke out in a baby care center in India’s capital and killed seven infants. Fire officer Suresh Kumar says five newborns survived the blaze on Saturday night and are being treated for smoke inhalation in a nearby hospital in Vivek Vihar district in east Delhi. The fire on the

By PATRICIA LUNA Associated Press SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — A Chilean judge on Saturday ordered a volunteer firefighter and a former forestry official detained for allegedly planning and causing a mammoth forest fire in the Valparaiso region that caused 137 deaths and made 16,000 people homeless in February. The court in Valparaiso ruled the two

By MAKIYA SEMINERA Associated Press North Carolina’s Republican candidate for governor Mark Robinson delivered a speech focused on the economy and education at the NCGOP Convention’s Old North State Dinner in Greensboro Saturday. The 55-year-old Republican and current lieutenant governor is involved in one of the most-watched 2024 gubernatorial races against his Democratic opponent and

By YESICA FISCH Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Scuffles between Israeli police and protesters erupted in Tel Aviv on Saturday after thousands gathered to demonstrate against the government and demand that it bring back the hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza. Meanwhile, a small U.S. military vessel and what appeared to be a strip

By ROD McGUIRK Associted Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A strong earthquake has struck the South Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu but there are no tsunami warnings or immediate reports of damage. The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.3 when it hit Sunday morning. Its epicenter was 52 miles

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top assassin for the Sinaloa drug cartel who was arrested by Mexican authorities last fall has been extradited to the U.S. to face drug, gun and witness retaliation charges, the Justice Department said Saturday. Néstor Isidro Pérez Salas, also known as “El Nini,” is a leader and commander of a group

By The Associated Press Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker has no regrets about expressing his beliefs in a recent commencement speech and he said he has received support as well as “a shocking level of hate” from others. Butker spoke Friday night at the Regina Caeli Academy Courage Under Fire Gala in Nashville, Tennessee.

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Richard M. Sherman, one half of the prolific, award-winning pair of brothers who helped form millions of childhoods by penning the instantly memorable songs for “Mary Poppins,” “The Jungle Book” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” — as well as the most-played tune on Earth, “It’s

By MARK BANCHEREAU Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The military junta ruling Burkina Faso has announced a five-year extension to its transition term after national consultations in the capital Ouagadougou. On Saturday, civil society representatives, the security and defense forces and lawmakers in the transitional assembly participated in a conference to discuss a path

NEW YORK (AP) — Three peregrine falcon chicks have hatched in a nest built at the top of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in New York City. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority Bridges and Tunnels announced Friday that the chicks had hatched. The agency set up a nesting box atop a 693-foot-tall tower on the bridge that connects

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho (AP) — A jury has awarded more than $1.1 million to an Idaho drag performer who accused a far-right blogger of defaming him when she falsely claimed that he exposed himself to a crowd, including children, in 2022. The Kootenai County District Court jury unanimously found that Summer Bushnell defamed Post Falls

By BARBARA SURK Associated Press NICE, France (AP) — The leader of a pro-independence party in New Caledonia has called on supporters to “remain mobilized” across the French Pacific archipelago against the Paris government’s efforts to impose electoral reforms. The Indigenous Kanak people fear the electoral reforms would further marginalize them. The leader of the

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Hundreds of clowns have gathered in the streets of Peru’s capital to mark Clown Day, a holiday for which they have sought for years to gain official recognition. Saturday’s colorful parade in Lima included awards for the best costumes, makeup, routine and improvisation. Marcos Chininín performs as the clown “Chalupa.” He