Month: May 2024

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa’s president has signed into law a bill that aims to overhaul the healthcare system to address deep inequality, but it faces legal challenges from critics. The law introduces what is known as National Health Insurance, which will provide funds for all South Africans to access

By JAKE COYLE AP Film Writer CANNES, France (AP) — Only recently has George Miller realized just how influential his medical education was to the world of “Mad Max.” Miller was briefly a doctor before finding filmmaking and his twin brother, whom he attended university with, remained one. As a resident at St. Vincent’s Hospital

By VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A weekend fire in a shopping center in Warsaw dealt tragedy to many members of Poland’s Vietnamese community. People lost entire livelihoods and say they don’t know how they will manage to make a living. The fire destroyed the Marywilska 44 shopping center, home to some

By MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS Associated Press NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Chances of restarting formal talks to mend Cyprus’ decades-long ethnic division appeared dimmer as the leader of the breakaway Turkish Cypriots told a U.N. envoy that he saw no common ground with Greek Cypriots for a return to negotiations. Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar said Wednesday

By DIDI TANG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration says the White House is sending an unofficial delegation to Taiwan this weekend for the inauguration of the island’s democratically elected president. The move is certain to upset China but unlikely to draw excessive responses from Beijing as the two countries try to stabilize

By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The number of U.S. fatal overdoses fell last year, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data posted Wednesday. Agency officials noted the data is provisional and could change after more analysis, but that they still expect a drop when the final counts are

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A radical Sunni scholar whose criticisms of Saudi Arabia’s government and the West drew praise from the late al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden should be immediately tried or released from a yearslong arbitrary detention by the kingdom. That’s according to a statement Wednesday by

JOHNSTON, Iowa (AP) — Officials say a woman who worked at an Iowa center that provides services for troubled youths has died days after she was assaulted by a juvenile there. The Des Moines Register reported that 50-year-old Kathleen Galloway-Menke was assaulted May 8 by a 15-year-old resident at Ellipsis Iowa in the town of

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Sports Writer BALTIMORE (AP) — Preakness favorite Muth has been ruled out of the second leg of the Triple Crown after spiking a fever. The Maryland Jockey Club announced Muth’s status change Wednesday morning, roughly 12 hours after the horse arrived at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. Muth was set to

By ALEXA ST. JOHN and MELINA WALLING Associated Press DANVILLE, Illinois (AP) — On the south side of Chicago, students learn to work on Rivian electric pickup trucks and SUVs through a new technician program at Olive-Harvey College. About 150 miles (240 kilometers) south, students at Danville Area Community College in Illinois are taught to

By COLLEEN LONG Associated Press A gag order. Legal wrangling over witness testimony. Angry denouncements of the judge overseeing the case. Some of the most explosive moments in Donald Trump’s hush money trial have played out for most of the world to see – except for the people who are actually deciding his fate: The

By DAVID CRARY, HOLLY MEYER and PETER SMITH Associated Press Twenty years ago, Beth Stroud was defrocked from her beloved job as a United Methodist pastor in Philadelphia. In a church trial, she was found guilty of violating “Christian teaching” because she had acknowledged living in a committed relationship with another woman. Earlier this month,

By JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungary will vote against a United Nations resolution commemorating the 1995 genocide of Bosnian Muslims at Srebrenica. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó argued it would inflame tensions in the Balkan country and the surrounding region. On Wednesday he received Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik, and accused

By ALBERT STUMM Associated Press If you’ve tried meditating but can’t sit still, you’re not alone. Experts say many people try it only once because they are antsy and feel they’re doing it wrong. The key is to relax and focus on something in the present moment. Feel your breath go in and out, listen

By ZEKE MILLER, JILL COLVIN and JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have agreed to hold two campaign debates, on June 27 hosted by CNN and on Sept. 10 hosted by ABC. CNN says its debate will be held in its Atlanta studios with no audience

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — At least 24 worshippers, including four children, were injured in northern Nigeria’s Kano state after a man attacked the mosque where they were praying early Wednesday morning, resulting in an explosion, the police said. The suspect, a 38-year-old resident of the area, confessed that he attacked

By EMILY WANG FUJIYAMA and HUIZHONG WU Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping reaffirmed their “no-limits” partnership that has deepened as both countries face rising tensions with the West. They criticized U.S. military alliances in Asia and the Pacific region. Putin on Thursday thanked China’s proposals for

CANNES, France (AP) — “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” rolled into the Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday, returning George Miller’s dystopia-on-wheels to the French Riviera festival and lending Anya Taylor-Joy a fairy tale moment on the Cannes red carpet. Taylor-Joy brought classical movie-star glamour to one of the most anticipated premieres of the festival. Wearing

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A welding operation sparked a huge fire in February at a water park that was under construction at one of Sweden’s biggest amusement centers, causing the death of one person. A local daily quoting a police report, said Wednesday that when carrying out welding on the water slide “a fire started

MADRID (AP) — Organizers of Spain’s Princess of Asturias Awards have awarded the prize for the social sciences to Canadian historian and writer Michael Ignatieff. The jury said Wednesday that Ignatieff’s collected works form “critical reflections on the major conflicts of our time.” His books cover a range of topics including human rights, foreign policy,

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s military says it has successfully test-fired an indigenously developed rocket system with a range of 400 kilometers, or about 240 miles. A military statement says the rocket launched on Wednesday has a state-of-the-art navigation system, unique trajectory and maneuverable features. The Fatah-II rocket system can engage targets with high precision and

GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization has authorized a second dengue vaccine, a move that could provide protection for millions worldwide against the mosquito-borne disease that has already sparked numerous outbreaks across the Americas this year. The U.N. health agency said it had approved the dengue vaccine made by the Japanese pharmaceutical Takeda, recommending

PARIS (AP) — Paris garbage collectors have lifted the strike notice that threatened to leave the French capital facing piles of rubbish during the Olympic Games. Paris City Hall said in a statement on Wednesday it had sealed a deal with the workers and that the strike notice covering several days in May and a