AP-National

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian news reports say a deputy chief of the military general staff has been arrested on charges of large-scale bribery. The arrest of Lt. Gen. Vadim Shamarin reported Thursday was the latest in a series of bribery arrests of high-ranking military officials. Maj. Gen. Ivan Popov, a former top commander in Russia’s

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The top United Nations court has declined to issue an immediate order for Ecuador to protect Mexican diplomatic property following the storming of Mexico’s embassy in Quito to arrest a former vice president. International Court of Justice President Nawaf Salam said Thursday that pledges made

By NAPAT KONGSAWAD Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Constitutional Court has accepted a petition from members of the country’s outgoing Senate to consider suspending Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin from office over his appointment of a Cabinet member. If eventually found guilty, Srettha could be ousted from his position. The court ruled that Srettha’s appointment

By DAVID McHUGH and FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Ukraine’s allies are looking for ways to squeeze money out of frozen Russian assets and use it to help Kyiv fend off Moscow’s invasion. The Russian central bank holdings were kept outside the country, and Western countries quickly froze them after the February

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer Asian shares were mostly lower Friday after Wall Street retreated following strong economic reports that raised the possibility of interest rates staying painfully high. U.S. futures edged higher and oil prices also rose Japan’s Nikkei 225 index lost 1.2% to 38,623.78 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran interred late President Ebrahim Raisi at the holiest Shiite shrine in the nation on Thursday, days after a fatal helicopter crash killed him along with the country’s foreign minister and six others. Mourners lowered Raisi into a tomb at the Imam Reza Shrine

By GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO Associated Press MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Walk around multicultural metropolises like Paris or Marseille, or any small village in the French countryside, and signs of faith are everywhere. Many Muslim women wear headscarves and historical Catholic churches anchor nearly every neighborhood. But France’s principle of “laïcité,” loosely translated as “secularism,” means no

By HYUNG-JIN KIM Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Leaders of South Korea, China and Japan will meet next week in Seoul for their first trilateral talks since 2019. South Korea’s presidential office said Thursday that the meeting among South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio

By GIOVANNA DELL’ORTO Associated Press MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Brought into the international spotlight by the ban on hijabs for French athletes at the upcoming Paris Olympics, France’s unique approach to “laïcité” — loosely translated as “secularism” — has been increasingly stirring controversy from schools to sports fields across the country. The struggle cuts to

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations has approved a resolution establishing an annual day to commemorate the 1995 genocide of more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslims by Bosnian Serbs. The move Thursday was vehemently opposed by Serbs who fear it will brand them all as “genocidal” supporters of the

By RODRIQUE NGOWI Associated Press SPENCER, Mass. (AP) — If goat yoga is a trend, piglet yoga may not be far behind. Yoga classes in Massachusetts are selling out within hours and people come from far away to participate. Wilbur, Charlotte and Bluey came from a neighbor’s farm to play among people doing the downward

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press GREENBELT, Md. (AP) — A former Baltimore city prosecutor who achieved a national profile for charging police officers in a Black man’s death was spared prison time in her sentence Thursday for perjury and mortgage fraud. Democratic former State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s sentence includes 12 months of home confinement, 100

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer Travelers contended with big crowds and flight delays Friday, which was expected to be the busiest day of the Memorial Day weekend. More than 6,000 U.S. flights were delayed by early evening on the East Coast, continuing a trend that has tested the patience of travelers all week. Cancellations

By HANNAH FINGERHUT and MARGERY A. BECK Associated Press GREENFIELD, Iowa (AP) — For block after block through the small city of Greenfield, Iowa, the destructive power of a tornado that ripped apart more than 100 homes in just one minute is evident in the muddy, shattered mess left behind. All along the mile-long swath

By JESSE BEDAYN Associated Press/Report for America DENVER (AP) — The first attempts to regulate artificial intelligence programs that play a hidden role in hiring, housing and medical decisions for millions of Americans are facing pressure from all sides and floundering in statehouses nationwide. Only one of seven bills aimed at preventing AI’s penchant to

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Japanese electronics and entertainment company Sony says it’s focusing on creativity in movies, animation and video games, rather than old-fashioned gadgetry. Its chief executive, Kenichiro Yoshida, outlined the company’s strategy Thursday, saying Sony was helping creative professionals deliver what he called “kando,” or a moving experience.

By MICHELLE L. PRICE and JILL COLVIN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Ex-President Donald Trump has campaigned in one of the most Democratic counties in the nation, holding a rally in the South Bronx. The Republican was hoping to woo New York minority voters by appearing in one of the most diverse and impoverished

By FABIOLA SÁNCHEZ Associated Press TEPATEPEC, Mexico (AP) — She sold snacks in a small town in central Mexico as a girl. She rose to national politics with a biography that could help take her to the heights of power. But polls show Xóchitl Gálvez trailing the ruling party’s candidate ahead of Mexico’s June 2

By KRISTIN M. HALL Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tennessee (AP) — The smell of wood fire wafting on the breeze is the first sense that gets triggered at the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest in Memphis, where smoke is as essential an ingredient as salt. For the teams that annually compete at the so-called Super Bowl

By ANNIE MA and COLLIN BINKLEY AP Education Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The presidents of Northwestern and Rutgers universities defended their decisions to end pro-Palestinian encampments through negotiations rather than police force, telling a House committee on Thursday that they defused the danger without ceding ground to protesters. “We had to get the encampment down,”

By FRANKLIN BRICEÑO Associated Press LIMA, Peru (AP) — The crack of bat on ball and the sight of Venezuelan children running the bases on the soccer field turned baseball diamond on the outskirts of Peru’s capital are watched with confusion by locals accustomed to soccer. The questioning looks don’t deter the young Venezuelans for

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — If there are bragging rights associated with Donald Trump praising your legal acumen when he speaks after a day’s testimony at his criminal trial, Fox News analyst Andy McCarthy has already been cited at least a dozen times. The former president and current presidential candidate

By MAKIYA SEMINERA Associated Press RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s public university system could soon see its existing diversity programs and jobs drastically cut if its governing board votes as expected to repeal its current diversity policy. The old policy outlines various diversity-related jobs in the University of North Carolina system and the proposed

By CHRISTINE FERNANDO and GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Republican state lawmakers across the U.S. have been knocking down efforts by Democrats to ensure access to various forms of birth control. Former President Donald Trump put contraception in the election year spotlight this week when he said he was open to restrictions on

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A U.N. independent investigator says thousands of journalists have fled their home countries in recent years to escape political repression, save their lives and escape conflict. But Irene Khan said that in exile they are often vulnerable to physical, digital and legal threats. She said

By ALBERTO MENDOZA Associated Press SAN PEDRO GARZA GARCIA, Mexico (AP) — The collapse of a stage in heavy winds at a campaign rally in northern Mexico has killed at least nine people, including a child, and injured 121, the governor of Nuevo Leon state said Thursday. The collapse occurred during an event Wednesday evening

By ISABEL DEBRE Associated Press BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — A book presentation about neoclassical economic theory may not sound like a crowd-pleaser. But on Wednesday in Buenos Aires mobs of star-struck fans packed a giant auditorium to hear Argentina’s president, the libertarian economist Javier Milei, lecture on the importance of freeing capital from the

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan says it has scrambled jets and put missile, naval and land units on alert over drills China has announced around the self-governing island democracy. The Defense Ministry said China’s “irrational provocation has jeopardized regional peace and stability.” China’s military said it started two-day exercises surrounding

BEIJING (AP) — State media say an explosion at an apartment building in Harbin, a city in northeastern China, has killed one person and injured three others. Videos on social media showed that parts of a five-story apartment building were damaged, with one apartment’s balcony completely blown off. A local media outlet reported that a

By CARLOS MUREITHI, LUCA BRUNO and SARA LEMLEM Associated Press TRENTO, Italy (AP) — An Italian science museum has created a butterfly forest inside a tropical mountain greenhouse in the city of Trento. The forest is modeled on Udzungwa Mountains National Park in south-central Tanzania. The park is one of the world’s most important biodiversity hotspots. The purpose of the