AP-National

By DORANY PINEDA and TERRY CHEA Associated Press PIXLEY, Calif. (AP) — The stench of cow feces, urine and ammonia forces residents to keep windows and doors closed in parts of California’s farming country. Some people constantly run air purifiers at home to counter the smell and, they say, fight off air-related ailments. “We have

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The U.K. general election campaign has now passed the halfway mark. The main political parties finally have published their plans for government should they win on July 4. Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and main opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer tussled over tax. Starmer is predicted

By BARBARA SURK and NICOLAS GARRIGA Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Leaders of France’s new leftist alliance have warned that the far right is “at the door of power.” Allied in a coalition known as the New Popular Front, they outlined their plan to prevent the surging far right from taking power at upcoming national

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer RIVERWOODS, Ill. (AP) — The ground had seemed to undulate at night, alive with bugs. Crawling cicada nymphs, striving to get higher after 17 years underground, marched en masse toward and up trees, pausing to shed their skin and emerge as adults. And then the fun began. Cicada chaos

BY SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer WHEATON, Ill. (AP) — The most noticeable part of the cicada invasion blanketing the central United States is the sound — an eerie, amazingly loud song that gets in a person’s ears and won’t let much else in. “It’s beautiful chaos,” said Rebecca Schmidt, a U.S. Department of Agriculture

By GIADA ZAMPANO Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — Before flying to Italy’s southern Puglia region to meet world leaders at the Group of Seven summit, Pope Francis hosted a very different audience at the Vatican celebrating the importance of humor. The pontiff welcomed more than 100 comedians from 15 nations, including U.S. celebrities Whoopi

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO defense ministers have approved a plan to provide reliable long-term security aid and military training for Ukraine. Recent delays in Western deliveries of arms and ammunition have helped invading Russian forces to seize the initiative. So far, Kyiv’s Western backers have concentrated their efforts through the

By JAMES POLLARD Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — In early May, Florida A&M University announced a stunning $237 million gift from a 30-year-old donor who cast himself as Texas’ “youngest African American industrial hemp producer.” The donation, which would have been the largest-ever private gift to a historically Black college or university, was announced

By NAPAT KONGSAWAD Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Buddhist monks in Thailand have blessed twin baby elephants, one male and the other female, a week after their rare birth came close to being a tragedy. Their mother, Chamchuri, gave birth to the pair on the night of June 7 at a camp in Thailand’s ancient

By JAMES POLLARD Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — It would have been the largest-ever private gift to a historically Black college or university. $237 million — far beyond the recipient’s endowment. The money was promised by a 30-year-old who had recounted his rise from a childhood in foster care to becoming, as he put

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) — Authorities say a woman died after being struck by a police truck on a South Carolina beach. Lance Cpl. Lena Butler of the South Carolina Highway Patrol says a pickup truck was headed north in the Myrtle Beach area just after 1 p.m. Thursday when it hit the beachgoer, who

By LEAH ASKARINAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — House Freedom Caucus chair Bob Good faces a challenge from another Republican in the 5th Congressional District in Virginia. If Good loses Tuesday, he would be the first House incumbent to go down to a primary challenge this year, with the exception of one race in which two

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — The World Bank has approved a $2.25 billion loan for Nigeria to shore up revenue and back economic reforms that have contributed to the worst cost-of-living crisis in many years for Africa’s most populous country. The bank said late Thursday that the loan will help bolster

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Sweden’s Foreign Ministry says officials have summoned the Iraqi chargé d’affaires to protest against death sentences handed down to Swedes in Iraq. Swedish media reported in recent days that two Swedes have been sentenced to death in Iraq after being convicted of killing a member of criminal gang there. On Friday,

By GRAHAM LEE BREWER Associated Press A report published this week by a Native American-led nonprofit examines in detail the dispossession of $1.7 trillion worth of Indigenous homelands in Colorado by the state and the U.S. and the more than $546 million the state has reaped in mineral extraction from them. The report, shared first

By MAYA SWEEDLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters will decide almost 60 contested primaries for the U.S. House of Representatives and both chambers of the Oklahoma state legislature. The race to watch Tuesday is the Republican primary in the state’s 4th Congressional District, where 10-term incumbent Tom Cole has drawn a deep-pocketed challenger self-funding

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s defense chief says Japanese and American V-22 Ospreys are being safely operated in the country. Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said Friday that he has no plans to request a flight suspension despite restrictions in the U.S. Kihara was responding to a question about a remark U.S.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The United Nations’ refugee and migration agencies are criticizing Greece’s failure over the past year to shed light on one of the worst migrant shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea that left hundreds dead. UNHCR and IOM stressed the “critical” importance of a “comprehensive and conclusive” probe in a joint statement on

By ROBERT YOON Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A southwest Georgia Republican who went to prison for his actions inside the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, may come a step closer to serving in Congress when the state holds primary runoff elections in some U.S. House and state legislative races. Tuesday’s contests will determine

By DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press Russian President Vladimir Putin promised Friday to “immediately” order a cease-fire in Ukraine and start negotiations if Kyiv began withdrawing troops from the four regions annexed by Moscow in 2022 and renounced plans to join NATO. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected what he called an ultimatum by Putin to surrender

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press ABOARD THE USS LABOON IN THE RED SEA (AP) — The U.S. Navy prepared for decades to potentially fight the Soviet Union, then later Russia and China, on the world’s waterways. But instead of a global power, the Navy finds itself locked in combat with a shadowy, Iran-backed rebel group

BERLIN (AP) — Authorities say two people have been found dead after explosions in an underground parking garage at an apartment building in northern Switzerland and 11 others sustained minor injuries. The explosions Thursday evening rocked the Nussbaumen neighborhood of the small town of Obersiggenthal, northwest of Zurich. Police said Friday that the explosions appeared

By MONIKA PRONCZUK Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The highest court in Niger lifted the immunity of the country’s democratically elected president Mohamed Bazoum. Bazoum’s lawyer Reed Brody made the announcement on Frida nearly a year after he was overthrown by mutinous soldiers in a military coup. The ruling has opened the door for

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is tweaking his Cabinet with a focus on cost-of-living and labor policies after his center-right party’s victory in last week’s European parliamentary elections. The pandemic and Russia’s war on Ukraine have contributed to rising prices in the southern European country. Despite a recent dip in inflation,

By JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Swedish accident investigators say the country’s oldest amusement park did not properly test new parts for a roller coaster that derailed last year. Some passengers plunged to the ground with one person killed and nine others injured including one seriously. They say the derailment at

BEIJING (AP) — Supporters say a a Chinese journalist who promoted women’s rights as part of the country’s nascent #MeToo movement has been sentenced to five years in prison on charges of undermining state security. The verdict provided to The Associated Press stated that Huang Xueqin would also face a fine of 100,000 yuan ($14,000)

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran has started up new cascades of advanced centrifuges and plans to install others in the coming weeks after facing criticism over its nuclear program. That’s according to a statement from the United Nations’ atomic watchdog on Friday. It said its inspectors verified Monday

By GERALD IMRAY and MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has been reelected by lawmakers for a second term after his African National Congress party struck a dramatic late coalition deal with the main opposition and other parties. Ramaphosa won convincingly in a vote late Friday

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair says his country looks on track to meet NATO’s military spending guideline by 2030. He says Canada notably plans to invest in the high Arctic near its shared border with Russia as the region warms quickly because of climate change. NATO allies

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A comet must have landed at the 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The members of R.E.M. had joked only hours before it would take “a comet” to get the band to perform together one last time. Yet there they were, reunited during the