European Union leaders agree on top officials who will be the face of world's largest trading bloc

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union leaders signed off on a trio of top appointments for their shared political institutions on Thursday, reinstalling German conservative Ursula von der Leyen as president of the European Commission for another five years. At the side of von der Leyen,...

Von der Leyen, Costa and Kallas have been approved for EU top jobs. Who are they? What do they do?

BRUSSELS (AP) — In the wake of the elections for EU Parliament, European Union leaders have agreed on the officials who will be the face of the world’s biggest trading bloc on the global stage in the coming years for issues ranging from anti-trust investigations to foreign policy. ...

European Union leaders agree on top officials who will be the face of trading bloc in coming years, EU presidency says.

Ethnic Greek imprisoned in Albania hopes his election to European Parliament will boost rule of law

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — An Albanian prison cell wouldn't rank high among choice spots to run a successful campaign for election to the European Parliament. Fredis Beleris, a member of Albania's ethnic Greek minority, had no choice. Last year, he was elected mayor of a town in...

Who is Keir Starmer, the Labour leader favored to win Britain’s July 4 election?

LONDON (AP) — Dutiful, managerial, a bit dull — Keir Starmer is no one’s idea of a firebrand politician. The Labour Party hopes that is just what Britain wants and needs after 14 turbulent years of Conservative rule. Starmer, the center-left party’s 61-year-old leader, is the...

Spain arrests four Colombians rescued from submarine suspected of transporting drugs

MADRID (AP) — Spanish authorities intercepted another submarine suspected of transporting drugs to Europe from South America and arrested four Colombian nationals who were crewing the vessel, officials said Thursday. Police rescued the occupants after they had scuttled the 20-meter...

Ukraine's leader urges EU leaders to make good on their arms promises as a security pact is signed

BRUSSELS (AP) — Ukraine’s president called on European Union leaders on Thursday to live up to their promises to provide military equipment to his war-ravaged country, as the bloc pledged to support the government in Kyiv long term. “Fulfilment of every promise is important,...

Mark Rutte is named NATO chief. He'll need all his consensus-building skills from Dutch politics

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Over the course of more than a dozen years at the top of Dutch politics, Mark Rutte got to know a thing or two about finding consensus among fractious coalition partners. Now he will bring the experience of leading four Dutch multiparty governments to the...

Thai banks are the top suppliers of financial services to Myanmar’s military, UN expert says

BANGKOK (AP) — Thai banks have become the main supplier of international financial services for Myanmar’s military government, enabling it to purchase goods and equipment to carry out its increasingly bloody war against pro-democracy resistance forces and armed ethnic minority groups, a U.N....

Gassy cows and pigs will face a carbon tax in Denmark, a world first

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark will tax livestock farmers for the greenhouse gases emitted by their cows, sheep and pigs from 2030, the first country to do so as it targets a major source of methane emissions, one of the most potent gases contributing to global warming. The...