Top General News

South Africans begin voting in an election seen as their country's most important in 30 years

May. 29, 2024 03:37 AM EDT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africans began voting Wednesday at schools, community centers and in large white tents set up in open fields in an election seen as their country’s most important in 30 years. It could put the young democracy in unknown territory. At stake is the...

Netanyahu frequently makes claims of antisemitism. Critics say he's deflecting from his own problems

May. 29, 2024 00:03 AM EDT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — After the International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor sought arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his defense minister and top Hamas officials, the Israeli leader accused him of being one of “the great antisemites in modern times.” ...

Israeli strikes kill at least 37 Palestinians, most in tents, near Gaza's Rafah as offensive expands

May. 28, 2024 21:59 PM EDT

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli shelling and airstrikes killed at least 37 people, most of them sheltering in tents, outside the southern Gaza city of Rafah overnight and on Tuesday — pummeling the same area where strikes triggered a deadly fire days earlier in a camp for displaced...

Jury in Trump's hush money case to begin deliberations after hearing instructions from judge

May. 29, 2024 00:07 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Jurors in Donald Trump's hush money trial are expected to begin deliberations Wednesday after receiving instructions from the judge on the law and the factors they may consider as they strive to reach a verdict in the first criminal case against a former American president. ...

Rallies and debates used to define campaigns. Now they're about juries and trials

May. 29, 2024 00:11 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has been sitting for hours a day in a Manhattan courtroom, where his hush-money trial is nearing its end. On Monday, a trial is set to begin in Wilmington, Delaware, for President Joe Biden's son Hunter, who is accused of lying on a...

Mexico's next president is likely a woman. But in some Indigenous villages, men have all the power

May. 29, 2024 00:13 AM EDT

PLAN DE AYALA, Mexico (AP) — At 4:30 a.m., the girls and women begin to appear in the dark streets of this rural village of Tojolabal people in southern Mexico. They walk in silence. Some are headed to grind corn to make their family’s tortillas. Others fetch firewood to carry home, on their...

Transitional council in Haiti selects new prime minister for a country under siege by gangs

May. 28, 2024 21:52 PM EDT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — U.N. development specialist Garry Conille was named Haiti’s new prime minister Tuesday evening, nearly a month after a coalition within a fractured transitional council sought to choose someone else for the position. The long-awaited move comes as...

The toll of Beijing's security law on Hong Kong's activists

May. 28, 2024 22:06 PM EDT

HONG KONG (AP) — Activist Chan Po-ying is permitted only 15-minute daily visits to see her husband, Leung Kwok-hung, separated by a plexiglass barrier in a highly guarded Hong Kong jail. Leung, 68, is one of 47 activists who were prosecuted in the largest national security law...

Storm-weary Texas battered again as powerful storm, strong winds kill 1, cause widespread damage

May. 29, 2024 00:13 AM EDT

HOUSTON (AP) — Power outages remained widespread in storm-weary Texas after another burst of severe weather flooded streets, uprooted trees and ripped off roofs. Authorities said a teenager was killed at a construction site while working on a home that collapsed. The severe weather...

Washington Post said it had the Alito flag story 3 years ago and chose not to publish

May. 29, 2024 00:11 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Nine days after The New York Times reported about the political symbolism of an upside-down American flag that flew at U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's home, the Washington Post acknowledged it had the same story more than three years ago and decided not to publish it. ...

Latest General News

Sweden will donate $1.23 billion in military aid to Ukraine

May. 29, 2024 03:56 AM EDT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The Swedish government said Wednesday that it will donate military aid to Ukraine worth 13 billion kronor ($1.23 billion) in the largest help package Sweden has so far donated. “It consists of equipment that is at the top of Ukraine’s priority...

A bus falls into a ravine in southwest Pakistan, killing at least 28 people and injuring 20

May. 29, 2024 03:54 AM EDT

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A speeding passenger bus fell from a highway into a rocky ravine in southwest Pakistan early Wednesday, killing at least 28 people and injuring 20 others, officials said. Local police officer Asghar Ali said the driver lost control suddenly in Washuk town as...

How a primary election led to activists being arrested in Hong Kong's biggest national security case

May. 29, 2024 03:53 AM EDT

HONG KONG (AP) — Verdicts in Hong Kong’s largest national security case to date, involving some of the city's best-known pro-democracy activists, will be delivered on Thursday, more than three years after the defendants' arrest. In 2021, 47 pro-democracy activists were charged...

South Africans begin voting in an election seen as their country's most important in 30 years

May. 29, 2024 03:37 AM EDT

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africans began voting Wednesday at schools, community centers and in large white tents set up in open fields in an election seen as their country’s most important in 30 years. It could put the young democracy in unknown territory. At stake is the...

US Treasury official visits Ukraine to discuss sanctions on Russia and seizing Russian assets

May. 29, 2024 03:35 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior U.S. Treasury official is in Kyiv this week to talk with government officials about U.S. financial support for Ukraine, efforts to tighten sanctions on Russia and plans to use immobilized Russian sovereign assets for the benefit of Ukraine as it fends off Russian...

IMF upgrades its forecast for China's economy, but says reforms are needed to support growth

May. 29, 2024 03:27 AM EDT

The International Monetary Fund has upgraded its forecast for China’s economy, while warning that consumer-friendly reforms are needed to sustain strong, high-quality growth. The IMF's report, issued late Tuesday, said the world's second-largest economy will likely expand at a 5%...

AP PHOTOS: Weeks of sweltering heat scorch northern India

May. 29, 2024 03:09 AM EDT

BIKANER, India (AP) — People in northern India have been struggling with an unrelenting, weekslong heat wave that has forced schools to close in some places and raised the risk of heatstrokes for laborers working outdoors. India’s weather department expects the high temperatures...

Colombia's congress votes to ban bullfights, dealing a blow to the centuries-old tradition

May. 29, 2024 02:40 AM EDT

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia’s congress voted Tuesday to ban bullfights in the South American nation, delivering a serious blow to a centuries-old tradition that has inspired famous songs and novels but has become increasingly controversial in the countries where it is still practiced. ...

Stock market today: Asian shares decline after a mixed post-holiday session on Wall Street

May. 29, 2024 02:36 AM EDT

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares were mostly lower Wednesday after a mixed session on Wall Street following a three-day holiday weekend. Shares fell in Tokyo, Seoul, Sydney, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Oil prices rose. The International Monetary Fund raised its forecast for...

Sweden seeks to answer worried students' questions about NATO and war after its neutrality ends

May. 29, 2024 02:34 AM EDT

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — The teacher's opening question to students in Stockholm is blunt: “Has joining NATO increased the threat to Sweden?” Sweden became the Western military alliance's 32nd member in March. The abrupt end to the Scandinavian country’s 200 years of...