By MARY CLARE JALONICK, LISA MASCARO, STEPHEN GROVES and FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Work requirements for federal food aid recipients have emerged as a final sticking point in negotiations over the looming debt crisis, even as President Joe Biden said a deal is “very close.” Biden’s optimism, in comments to reporters as
Continue Reading HONG KONG (AP) — One of the few remaining pro-democracy parties in Hong Kong has voted to dissolve itself, joining a growing list of organizations that have disbanded as authorities crack down on dissent. Civic Party chairman Alan Leong told reporters that the dissolution of the party was a “writing on the wall” as there
Continue Reading By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Sudanese and U.N. officials say the United Nations secretary-general was “shocked” by a letter from Sudan’s army chief demanding the removal of the U.N. envoy to the country. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres received the letter Friday from Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, Sudan’s top military official and head of the
Continue Reading By SUSIE BLANN Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s military intelligence has claimed, without offering evidence, that Russia is plotting a “large-scale provocation” at a nuclear power plant it occupies in the southeast of the country with the aim of disrupting a looming Ukrainian counteroffensive. A statement released Friday by the intelligence directorate of
Continue Reading By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has been at the forefront of the fight against climate change and the protection of nature for years. But it now finds itself under pressure from within to pause new environmental efforts amid fears they will hurt the economy. With the next European Parliament
Continue Reading By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Taliban and Iran exchanged heavy gunfire Saturday on the Islamic Republic’s border with Afghanistan, killing and wounding troops while sharply escalating rising tensions between the two countries amid a dispute over water rights. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency quoted the country’s deputy police
Continue Reading WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Aides to Poland’s President Andrzej Duda say that his experts have begun analyzing a highly contentious law on Russia’s alleged influence in Poland before he decides whether to sign it. The parliament on Friday approved the law proposed by the ruling party that targets the opposition and its leader, Donald Tusk,
Continue Reading By BRIAN P. D. HANNON Associated Press Former diplomat and presidential adviser Henry Kissinger marks his 100th birthday on Saturday, outlasting many of his political contemporaries who guided the United States through one of its most tumultuous periods including the presidency of Richard Nixon and the Vietnam War. Born in Germany on May 27, 1923,
Continue Reading By GABE STERN Associated Press/Report for America CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — The Oakland Athletics are asking Nevada for $380 million for a 30,000-seat, $1.5 billion retractable roof stadium on the Las Vegas Strip. A bill introduced Friday in the Nevada Legislature details the long-awaited financing plan. Lawmakers have a little more than a week
Continue Reading LONDON (AP) — A man who was taken into custody after his car crashed into the gates of the British prime minister’s residence in central London was released in that case — but then immediately rearrested on charges of making indecent images of children, police said Saturday. The 43-year-old suspect was arrested for the unrelated
Continue Reading By PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Fishermen in the U.S.’s only commercial-scale fishing industry for valuable baby eels once again had a productive season searching for the tiny fish. Baby eels, called elvers, are often worth more than $2,000 per pound because of how valuable they are to Asian aquaculture companies. They’re
Continue Reading BEIJING (AP) — Taiwan’s Defense Ministry says it detected three Chinese warships, including the Shandong aircraft carrier, passing through the Taiwan Strait, as Beijing keeps up pressure on the self-ruled island. The ministry says it’s monitoring the movements of the ships and will respond accordingly. It says the three vessels were headed north along the
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By Rebekah Riess and Sara Smart, CNN (CNN) — One firefighter died and six others were injured fighting a blaze in Columbia, South Carolina, on Friday, authorities say. Crews from the Irmo and Columbia-Richland fire departments responded to a fire at an apartment complex around 4:15 p.m., according to a Facebook post from the Columbia-Richland
Continue Reading CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian antiquities authorities have unveiled ancient workshops and tombs they say were discovered recently at a Pharaonic necropolis just outside the capital Cairo. The spaces were found in the sprawling necropolis of Saqqara, which is a part of Egypt’s ancient capital of Memphis, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The workshops had been
Continue Reading By DUSAN STOJANOVIC Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia has condemned NATO-led peacekeepers stationed in neighboring Kosovo for their alleged failure to stop “brutal actions” by Kosovo police against ethnic Serbs. It said that its armed forces stationed near the border will remain on the highest state of alert until further notice. Serbia’s top
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COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) A little over 37 million people are expected to be traveling by vehicle for Memorial Day Weekend, and AAA says those travelers can expect to see a slight decline in fuel prices. AAA also says more people are taking other modes of transportation this holiday, like buses and trains. These travelers are expected to total nearly two
Continue Reading By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Russia will start expelling German diplomats, teachers and employees of German cultural institutions next month. The move will further enhance tensions between the two countries that have already had very fraught ties since Russia invaded Ukraine early last year. The German foreign ministry sharply criticized Russia’s move
Continue Reading By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Taliban and Iran reportedly have exchanged gunfire on the Islamic Republic’s border with Afghanistan. That’s according to the HalVash advocacy group’s report Saturday as tensions rise over water rights between the two nations. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency acknowledged the fighting on the
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TODAY: Mostly sunny and mild to start the holiday weekend with highs near 80 degrees. TOMORROW: Temperatures slowly rise due to repeated sunny days, and Sunday pushes further into the 80s in the afternoon. Humidity stays lower, keeping the feels-like near the air temperature. EXTENDED: We’ll reach the upper 80s by Memorial Day, and moisture
Continue Reading By KAREEM CHEHAYEB Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s Sursock Museum has reopened to the public, three years after a deadly explosion in the nearby Beirut port reduced many of its treasured paintings and collections to ashes. Friday’s reopening offered Beirut residents a bright spot in a country reeling from a crippling economic crisis that
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