AP-National

By MAKIYA SEMINERA Associated Press OXFORD, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina is one of a handful of tightly contested states that could determine this year’s presidential election. Democrats are outpacing Republicans on advertising spending in North Carolina, hoping to make up for Joe Biden’s losing the state in 2020. Both parties also face the challenge

By MAKIYA SEMINERA Associated Press OXFORD, N.C. (AP) — Granville County is one of only six counties in North Carolina that voted for Barack Obama, and then pivoted to Donald Trump. This presidential election year, Democrats are trying to win back the rural county and those efforts could be an indicator of how it may

BERLIN (AP) — German police said Sunday they shot and wounded a man who was threatening them with a pick hammer and a Molotov cocktail in the northern city of Hamburg, hours before it hosted a match in the European Championship soccer tournament. Police officers opened fire after the man, a 39-year-old German, refused to

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — With Pride Month in full gear, U.S. shoppers can find the usual merchandise many stores stock for the June celebration of LGBTQ+ culture and rights. But analysts and advocates say the marketing is toned down compared to previous years, and at some chains, there’s no

By CHRISTINE FERNANDO Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Reeling from a string of defeats, anti-abortion groups and their Republican allies in state governments are using an array of strategies to counter proposed ballot initiatives intended to protect reproductive rights or prevent voters from having a say in the fall elections. The tactics include attempts to

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press OBBÜRGEN, Switzerland (AP) — Nearly 80 countries called Sunday for the “territorial integrity” of Ukraine to be the basis for any peace agreement to end Russia’s two-year war, though some key developing nations at a Swiss conference did not join in. The way forward for diplomacy remains unclear. The joint

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A Cyprus health official says a second elderly person has died from heatstroke after a weeklong heatwave that baked the east Mediterranean island nation with reportedly record temperatures for the month of June. An 84 year-old woman died a day after her admission to a hospital on Friday. A State Health

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Renowned Japanese author Haruki Murakami expressed joy with how several of his short stories were adapted in American director Pierre Földes’ animated film “Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman”, adding he wanted to see future interpretations of his work with filmmakers’ own spin. The Japanese language version of the

ROUND ROCK, Texas (AP) — A weekend shooting in a Texas park left two people dead and six wounded, including two children, authorities said. The victims were shot shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday during a Juneteenth celebration at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock, about 19 miles (30 kilometers) north of Austin. An altercation began

By DEREK GATOPOULOS and ALEX BABENKO Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Several hundred LGBTQ Ukrainian servicemen and their supporters marched in central Kyiv Sunday to demand more rights and highlight their service to their country in its war with Russia. The servicemembers — many wearing rainbow and unicorn patches on their uniforms — called

BEIJING (AP) — China is being buffeted by two extremes of severe weather, with heavy rain and flooding in parts of the south and a heat wave and drought conditions in the north. State broadcaster CCTV said the body of a student who fell into a swollen river in the southern city of Guilin was

PARIS (AP) — The French Pacific territory of New Caledonia is shortening its overnight curfew and reopening its international airport that was closed to commercial flights for more than a month because of deadly violence that wracked the archipelago where pro-independence Indigenous Kanaks want to break from France. La Tontouta airport that links New Caledonia’s

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s state-funded news channel RT has reported that security forces have stormed a detention center in the southern part of the country and killed inmates who had taken two staff members hostage. Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service said in a statement Sunday that the hostages at the pretrial detention center in Rostov-on-Don were

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press BUSHBUCKRIDGE, South Africa (AP) — The walls of Shadrack Mashabane’s hut in the rural South African town of Bushbuckridge are covered with traditional fabrics, with a small window the only source of light. What stands out among the herbs and medicines in glass bottles is a white box containing an

by MONIKA PRONCZUK Associated Press THIAROYE-SUR-MER, Senegal (AP) — The upcoming holiday of Eid al-Adha should have been a joyful occasion for millions of Muslims in Senegal. But skyrocketing prices, record unemployment and growing inequalities have turned Tabaski — as the holiday is locally known — into a source of anguish for many in this

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — “The Outsiders,” a gritty adaptation of the classic young adult novel, became the essence of a Broadway insider on Sunday, winning the Tony Award for best new musical on a night when women made strides. The musical based on the beloved S. E. Hinton book

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press MINA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Masses of pilgrims on Sunday embarked on a symbolic stoning of the devil in Saudi Arabia under the soaring summer heat. The ritual marks the final days of the Hajj, or Islamic pilgrimage, and the start of the Eid al-Adha celebrations for Muslims around the

By AUDREY McAVOY Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — Honolulu police have recently received some attention on social media for recommending that beachgoers not leave their valuables unattended and instead put them in a waterproof bag when they get in the water. But the police and a Hawaii nonprofit organization that helps tourists who become victims

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A cleanup was underway after an oil spill caused by a dredger boat hitting a stationary cargo tanker blackened part of Singapore’s southern coastline. The Netherlands-flagged dredger Vox Maxima struck the Singapore fuel supply ship Marine Honor on Friday. It damaged the cargo tank on Marine Honor, which leaked oil

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Toyota’s chairman Akio Toyoda will be facing some disgruntled shareholders this week, as two major proxy groups demand a vote against keeping the grandson of the founder on its board. The vote expected at the June 18 annual shareholders meeting comes after Toyota apologized recently over

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Sunday promised a new pair of giant pandas to a zoo and urged Australia to set aside its differences with Beijing at the outset of the first visit to the country by China’s second-highest ranking leader in seven years. China’s most

By RYAN SUN Associated Press GORMAN, Calif. (AP) — Strong winds pushed flames through dry brush in mountains along Interstate 5 north of Los Angeles on Sunday, and officials warned residents in the wildfire’s path to be prepared to leave if it explodes in size again. Los Angeles County’s first major wildfire of the year

By WILL WEISSERT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump on Saturday night suggested President Joe Biden “should have to take a cognitive test,” only to confuse who administered the test to him in the next sentence. The former president and presumptive Republican nominee referred to Texas Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson, who was the White

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. (AP) — Nine people were injured, including two young children and their mother, after a shooter opened fire at a splash pad in a Detroit suburb where families gathered to escape the summer heat Saturday. Police tracked the shooter to a home, where the man apparently shot himself to death, authorities said.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — An American tourist was killed and his wife hospitalized after being electrocuted in a hot tub in a Mexican beach town earlier this week, an incident that prompted the family to sue the resort for wrongful death and negligence, their lawyers said Saturday. The seriously injured woman, 35-year-old Lizette Zambrano, filed

By ELÉONORE HUGHES and GABRIELA SÁ PESSOA Associated Press SAO PAULO (AP) — Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Sao Paulo on Saturday as protests sweep across Brazil in opposition to a bill that would further criminalize abortions. If passed, the law would equate the termination of a pregnancy after 22 weeks with

NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “ Diddy ” Combs has returned his key to New York City after a request from Mayor Eric Adams in response to the release of a video showing the music mogul attacking R&B singer Cassie, officials said Saturday. The mayor’s office said Combs returned the key after Adams sent letters

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say they have identified a homicide victim whose remains were first found in a Southern California city 41 years ago. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department says the victim was a Panamanian native named Maritza Glean Grimmett who was 20 years old at the time of her disappearance. Children first

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — The president of Honduras has announced the creation of a new 20,000-capacity “megaprison.” The plan is part of the government’s larger crackdown on a wave of gang violence. President Xiomara Castro unveiled a series of emergency measures in a midnight nationally televised address early Saturday. It includes plans to strengthen the