Top General News

Jury selection in Trump hush money trial faces pivotal stretch as former president returns to court

Apr. 18, 2024 00:11 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jury selection in the hush money trial of Donald Trump enters a pivotal and potentially final stretch Thursday as lawyers look to round out the panel of New Yorkers that will decide the first-ever criminal case against a former president. Seven jurors have been...

The Latest | Netanyahu says Israel will decide how to respond as Iran warns against retaliation

Apr. 17, 2024 23:05 PM EDT

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would decide whether and how to respond to Iran’s major air assault earlier this week, brushing off calls for restraint from close allies. Israel has vowed to respond to Iran’s unprecedented attack, leaving the region bracing for...

Israelis grapple with how to celebrate Passover, a holiday about freedom, while many remain captive

Apr. 18, 2024 00:29 AM EDT

JERUSALEM (AP) — Every year, Alon Gat’s mother led the family's Passover celebration of the liberation of the ancient Israelites from Egypt thousands of years ago. But this year, Gat is struggling with how to reconcile a holiday commemorating freedom after his mother was slain and other family...

Once a fringe Indian ideology, Hindu nationalism is now mainstream, thanks to Modi's decade in power

Apr. 18, 2024 00:24 AM EDT

AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — Hindu nationalism, once a fringe ideology in India, is now mainstream. Nobody has done more to advance this cause than Prime Minister Narendra Modi, one of India’s most beloved and polarizing political leaders. And no entity has had more influence on his...

Climate change concerns grow, but few think Biden's climate law will help, AP-NORC poll finds

Apr. 18, 2024 00:04 AM EDT

Like many Americans, Ron Theusch is getting more worried about climate change. A resident of Alden, Minnesota, Theusch has noticed increasingly dry and mild winters punctuated by short periods of severe cold — symptoms of a warming planet. As he thinks about that,...

United Arab Emirates struggles to recover after heaviest recorded rainfall ever hits desert nation

Apr. 18, 2024 02:13 AM EDT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates struggled Thursday to recover from the heaviest recorded rainfall ever to hit the desert nation, as its main airport worked to restore normal operations even as floodwater still covered portions of major highways and roads. ...

Hard right makes hay with European farmers' anger ahead of June elections

Apr. 18, 2024 03:19 AM EDT

ANDEREN, Netherlands (AP) — Inside the barn on the flat fields of the northern Netherlands, Jos Ubels cradles a newborn Blonde d'Aquitaine calf, the latest addition to his herd of over 300 dairy cattle. Little could be more idyllic. Little, says Ubels, could be...

Lawyers for Nassar assault survivors have reached $100M deal with Justice Department, AP source says

Apr. 17, 2024 19:02 PM EDT

The U.S. Justice Department has agreed to pay approximately $100 million to settle claims with about 100 people who say they were sexually assaulted by sports doctor Larry Nassar, a source with direct knowledge of the negotiations told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The deal has...

Democrats clear path to bring proposed repeal of Arizona’s near-total abortion ban to a vote

Apr. 17, 2024 19:53 PM EDT

PHOENIX (AP) — Democrats in the Arizona Senate cleared a path to bring a proposed repeal of the state’s near-total ban on abortions to a vote after the state’s highest court concluded the law can be enforced and the state House blocked efforts to undo the long-dormant statute. ...

25 years after Columbine, trauma shadows survivors of the school shooting

Apr. 17, 2024 22:56 PM EDT

DENVER (AP) — Hours after she escaped the Columbine High School shooting, 14-year-old Missy Mendo slept between her parents in bed, still wearing the shoes she had on when she fled her math class. She wanted to be ready to run. Twenty-five years later, and with Mendo now a mother...

Latest General News

Sydney teen accused of stabbing 2 clerics showed no signs of radicalization, Muslim leader says

Apr. 18, 2024 04:55 AM EDT

SYDNEY (AP) — A 16-year-old boy accused of stabbing two Christian clerics during a Sydney church service might have “anger management and behavioral issues” and a “short fuse” but had shown no signs of being radicalized, a community leader said on Thursday, after authorities declared the...

Indonesians leave homes near erupting volcano and airport closes due to ash danger

Apr. 18, 2024 04:51 AM EDT

MANADO, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian authorities closed an airport and residents left homes near an erupting volcano Thursday due to the dangers of spreading ash, falling rocks, hot volcanic clouds and the possibility of a tsunami. Mount Ruang on the northern side of Sulawesi Island...

China and Indonesia call for cease-fire in Gaza

Apr. 18, 2024 04:34 AM EDT

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The Chinese and Indonesian foreign ministers called for an immediate and lasting cease-fire in Gaza after a meeting in Jakarta on Thursday, condemning the humanitarian costs of Israel's ongoing war against Hamas. Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs...

Germany arrests 2 for allegedly spying for Russia, plotting sabotage to undermine Ukraine aid

Apr. 18, 2024 04:25 AM EDT

BERLIN (AP) — Two German-Russian men have been arrested in Germany on suspicion of espionage, one of them accused of agreeing to carry out attacks on potential targets including U.S. military facilities in hopes of sabotaging aid for Ukraine, prosecutors said Thursday. The two,...

Stock market today: Asian shares gain despite Wall Street's tech-led retreat

Apr. 18, 2024 04:19 AM EDT

Asian shares advanced on Thursday even after sinking technology stocks sent Wall Street lower in the S&P 500's worse losing streak since the start of the year. U.S. futures were lower, while oil prices gained. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 climbed 0.3% to 38,079.70 and the...

US envoy to the UN vows support for families of Japanese who were abducted and taken to North Korea

Apr. 18, 2024 04:17 AM EDT

TOKYO (AP) — The United States ambassador to the United Nations said Thursday that America will stand with Japan until all the Japanese abducted by North Korea decades ago return home to end their painful separation. Linda Thomas-Greenfield made the comments on Thursday as she...

Lebanon says Israeli agents likely killed Hezbollah-linked currency exchanger near Beirut

Apr. 18, 2024 04:05 AM EDT

BEIT MERI, Lebanon (AP) — Lebanon’s interior minister alleged Wednesday that the mysterious abduction and killing of a Hezbollah-linked Lebanese currency exchanger in a villa on the edge of a quiet mountain resort town earlier this month was likely the work of Israeli intelligence operatives. ...

Prominent figure in German far-right party stands trial over alleged use of Nazi slogan

Apr. 18, 2024 03:55 AM EDT

HALLE, Germany (AP) — One of the most prominent figures in the far-right Alternative for Germany party arrived in court Thursday for his trial on charges of using a Nazi slogan, months before a regional election in which he is running to become his state's governor. Björn Höcke,...

Europe wants 2 things from China. It may not get far on either of them.

Apr. 18, 2024 03:54 AM EDT

BEIJING (AP) — Europe wants two things from China: First, a shift in its relatively pro-Russia position on the war in Ukraine. Second, a reduction in the trade imbalance — Chinese goods exports to the EU exceeded its imports from the 27-nation bloc by 291 billion euros ($310 billion) last year....

Hard right makes hay with European farmers' anger ahead of June elections

Apr. 18, 2024 03:19 AM EDT

ANDEREN, Netherlands (AP) — Inside the barn on the flat fields of the northern Netherlands, Jos Ubels cradles a newborn Blonde d'Aquitaine calf, the latest addition to his herd of over 300 dairy cattle. Little could be more idyllic. Little, says Ubels, could be...