AP-National

By JOHNSON LAI and KEN MORITSUGU Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A U.S. congressional delegation met Taiwan’s new leader on Monday in a show of support days after China held drills around the self-governing island in response to his inauguration. Rep. Andy Barr, the co-chair of the Taiwan caucus in the U.S. Congress, said

By JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — A Thai court has sentenced a lawmaker from a progressive opposition party to two years in prison after finding her guilty of defaming the monarchy in a speech she made during a protest rally three years ago. Charges against Chonthicha Jangrew of the Move Forward Party stemmed

By STEPHEN WADE AP Sports Writer TOKYO (AP) — Reports in Japan are saying vehicle manufacturer Toyota will end its massive sponsorship deal with the International Olympic Committee after this year’s Paris Olympics. Toyota has a contract through the 2024 Paris Games, which was reported to be valued at $835 million when it was announced

By KEMO CHAM Associated Press FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — In Sierra Leone, a cheap, synthetic drug is ravaging youth. Trash-strewn alleys are lined with boys and young men slumped in addiction. Healthcare services are severely limited. One frustrated community has set up what it calls a treatment center, run by volunteers. But harsh measures

By GERALD IMRAY Associated Press CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South Africans will vote Wednesday to decide whether their country takes its most significant political step since it brought down apartheid and achieved democracy 30 years ago. This national election will not be as momentous as the one South Africa held in 1994. Then,

By JOSH FUNK Associated Press OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. (AP) — Generations of American families have grown up not knowing exactly what happened to their loved ones who died while serving their country in World War II and other conflicts. But a federal lab tucked away above the bowling alley at Offutt Air Force

By BRUCE SCHREINER and JULIO CORTEZ Associated Press A series of powerful storms swept over the central and southern U.S. over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, killing at least 22 people and leaving a wide trail of destroyed homes, businesses and power outages. The destructive storms caused deaths in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Kentucky and

By MEGAN JANETSKY Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — Some 2.5 million Mexicans — mostly women — are domestic workers, a profession that has come to encapsulate gender and class divisions long permeating Mexico. These women play a fundamental role in Mexican society, picking up the burden of domestic labor as a growing number of

By DIDI TANG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Business is good at “the firm.” The eight-person team at the State Department is leading Washington’s efforts to ease the economic blowback for countries targeted by China. It emerged in the scramble to help Lithuania during a spat with China over Taiwan two years ago. Today, “the

By DANICA COTO Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — For 12-year-old Juliana St. Vil, life begins every afternoon. She bounds out of the crowded shelter where she’s been sleeping on the concrete floor for 10 months, a smile on her face despite harsh surroundings. Not yet a teenager, Juliana must navigate a Haiti oppressed by

By MEGAN JANETSKY Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — Concepción Alejo is used to being invisible. Alejo, 43, touches her face up with makeup on a Tuesday morning, and steps out of her tiny apartment on the fringes of Mexico City. She walks until the cracked gravel outside her home turns into cobblestones, and the

By LORI HINNANT and VASILISA STEPANENKO Associated Press FAR WESTERN UKRAINE (AP) — Precious few choices are available to Alexander, a 26-year-old Russian soldier, since his capture: Clothes, meals and the hours of his day are rigidly accounted for in the camp for prisoners of war. But Ukraine allows Alexander to call home to his

By The Associated Press This week’s new streaming entertainment releases include a new album from Willie Nelson, Benedict Cumberbatch playing a curmudgeon puppeteer in “Eric” on Netflix and home improvement gurus Chip and Joanna Gaines fix up a mid-century modern lake house on HGTV. There’s also a documentary about Muppet creator Jim Henson, George Clooney’s

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer Shares advanced in Europe and Asia ahead of Monday’s Memorial Day holiday in the United States. Oil prices also rose. European shares saw modest gains after the opening while Asian benchmarks gained upward momentum as the day wore on. Germany’s DAX edged 0.1% higher to 18,713.43 and the CAC

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A Papua New Guinea government official has told the United Nations that more than 2,000 people are believed to have been buried alive by a landslide Friday. The official formally asked for international help. The government figure is roughly triple a U.N. estimate of 670 killed

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Libertarian Party has nominated party activist Chase Oliver for president. The third party rejected former President Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after they each spoke at the party’s convention. Third parties have rarely been competitive in U.S. presidential elections and the Libertarian candidate four years ago won 1% of

By TAIWO ADEBAYO Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria’s government is cracking down on illegal mining, making dozens of arrests of unlicensed miners since April for allegedly stealing the country’s lithium, a critical mineral used in batteries for electric vehicles, smartphones and power systems. The recent arrests come as Nigeria seeks to regulate its

By JULHAS ALAM Associated Press DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — The weakening tropical storm Remal has flooded dozens of coastal villages and left nearly 30 million people without power in southern Bangladesh and eastern India. At least 10 people died in Bangladesh.  Changing climate patterns have increased storms’ intensity, making preparations more urgent. The Bangladesh government

By JESSE BEDAYN Associated Press/Report for America DENVER (AP) — A lightning strike killed a Colorado rancher and 34 head of cattle over the weekend, officials said Sunday. Mike Morgan, 51, was feeding his cattle from a trailer when he was struck and died on the scene despite life-saving efforts, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Former “General Hospital” actor Johnny Wactor was shot and killed when he interrupted thieves stealing the catalytic converter from his car in Los Angeles. Police say the shooting occurred around 3 a.m. Saturday when the victim approached three men in downtown LA. His mother, Scarlett Wactor, tells ABC 7 that her

By HYUNG-JIN KIM and HUIZHONG WU Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — China’s premier agreed Monday to revive three-way cooperation with South Korea and Japan in the face of shared challenges, but issued a veiled rebuke against the two countries’ expanding security cooperation with the United States. Chinese Premier Li Qiang met South Korean

SAN FERNANDO, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say a 61-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of shooting and wounding five people at a Los Angeles area home and then firing at a police helicopter. Police say responding officers found four gunshot victims at the residence in San Fernando on Saturday. A fifth victim was later found

SYLVIE CORBET and BARBARA SURK Associated Press PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron has decided to lift the state of emergency in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia. Macron’s office said the move is meant to allow political dialogue following the unrest that left seven people dead and a trail of destruction. The

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A strong earthquake has struck the South Pacific Island nation of Tonga but there are no tsunami warnings or immediate reports of damage. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.6 when it hit at 9:47 a.m. local time Monday. Its epicenter was 198 kilometers (123

By HYUNG-JIN KIM and MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has announced plans to launch a rocket apparently carrying its second military spy satellite in the coming days. The notification of the banned launch drew quick, strong rebukes from its neighbors. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Rescuers who searched deep into the night for casualties after part of a six-story parking garage collapsed at a Dutch hospital say they believe nobody was injured. The regional security service said a series of ramps used by cars to drive between floors in the parking garage at the Sint

By DÁNICA COTO and JIM SALTER Associated Press A spokesperson for the families of a young missionary couple from the U.S. says their bodies are going to be transported to Missouri this week. The couple and a Haitian man who led a religious organization were fatally shot by criminal gang members in Haiti’s capital. Davy

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer PARIS (AP) — Stan Wawrinka repeatedly used his trademark one-handed backhand to get the better of Andy Murray at the French Open once again. Wawrinka won 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 on Sunday night in what might have been Murray’s last singles match at Roland Garros. Wawrinka, at 39, is just

OCEAN GROVE, N.J. (AP) — Beachgoers were out on the sand of one New Jersey shore community on a Sunday morning before Memorial day for the first time in generations amid a battle over a Christian religious group’s Sunday morning beach closures. The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, a Methodist group that established a Christian

By SEAN MURPHY and JULIO CORTEZ Associated Press VALLEY VIEW, Texas (AP) — The dazed residents of a north Texas county sifted through their mangled homes on Sunday after seven people there were killed when a tornado ripped through the remote region near the tiny community of Valley View. Cooke County Sheriff Ray Sappington said