AP-National

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia’s president says she is postponing the appointment of a new Cabinet following last month’s parliamentary election because she cannot accept the nomination of a climate change skeptic as environment minister. Liberal President Zuzana Caputova says Rudolf Huliak, who was nominated by the ultranationalist and pro-Russian Slovak National Party, could not

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan and Australia have agreed to further expand defense ties including with joint military exercises. The defense ties come under an upgraded security pact that took effect two months ago amid their mutual concern about increasingly assertive China. The two countries have rapidly developed close defense ties

By TARA COPP and LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A Pentagon report on China’s military power says Beijing is on track to significantly increase its nuclear weapons arsenal by 2030 and is “almost certainly” learning lessons from Russia’s war in Ukraine about what a conflict over Taiwan might look like. The annual

By JIM SALTER Associated Press ST. LOUIS (AP) — Federal authorities say that thousands of information technology workers contracting with U.S. companies secretly sent millions of dollars of their wages to North Korea for use in its ballistic missile program. Court documents allege that North Korea’s government dispatched skilled IT workers to live primarily in

By ANDREW DALTON AP Entertainment Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Film and TV actors are still on strike in what has become the longest walk-off in their history. The strike by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists hit its 100th day on Saturday, while writers are busy back at work after

PARIS (AP) — Organizers of next year’s Paris Olympics say their headquarters have again been visited by French financial prosecutors who are investigating suspicions of favoritism, conflicts of interest and misuse of funds in the awarding of contracts. The Paris organizing committee says the national financial prosecution service visited its north Paris offices on Wednesday

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — Slovenia says it will introduce border checks with neighboring Hungary and Croatia following Italy’s decision to do the same with Slovenia because of security concerns due to violence in the Middle East. The government on Thursday said border controls will be introduced on Saturday and last for at least 10 days.

By DANIEL POLITI Associated Press BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Once an activist in a left-leaning youth movement, Rubén Dávalos is now among the millions of disaffected voters in Argentina planning to cast their ballots for right-wing populist and self-described anarcho-capitalist, Javier Milei. “In this country, you can’t plan for the future,” said the 30-year-old

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — Authorities say a passenger in a vehicle stopped in a hit-and-run investigation and sheriff’s deputies exchanged gunfire in southern California, wounding a deputy and the passenger. Both were in stable condition at a hospital Thursday morning. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office says the shooting happened when deputies stopped a vehicle in

By MARC LEVY Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Liberal discontent over rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority is playing a role in Pennsylvania’s top-of-the-ballot election this fall. Democrat Dan McCaffery portrays his candidacy for an open Pennsylvania Supreme Court seat as a bulwark against a U.S. Supreme Court majority he says is

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Abdesalem Lassoued had been denied residency in four European countries by the time he shot three Swedish men this week, killing two of them. The 45-year-old Tunisian arrived on the Italian island of Lampedusa in a smuggler’s boat in 2011. He spent jail time in Sweden and

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer Applications for unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level in eight months last week as businesses continue to retain workers despite elevated interest rates meant to cool the economy and labor market. The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claim applications fell by 13,000 to 198,000 for the week

By KELVIN CHAN AP Business Writer LONDON (AP) — The European Union has demanded Meta and TikTok detail their efforts to curb illegal content and disinformation during the Israel-Hamas war. The 27-nation bloc’s executive branch on Thursday formally requested that the social media companies provide information on how they’re complying with pioneering new digital rules

LONDON (AP) — A bottle of what Sotheby’s is calling “the most sought-after Scotch whisky” is set to go up for auction next month, with an estimated price of up to 1.2 million pounds ($1.4 million), the auction house said Thursday. It said the 96-year-old bottle of single malt from distiller Macallan — The Macallan

LONDON (AP) — The Guardian newspaper has fired longtime editorial cartoonist Steve Bell after refusing to run a caricature of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that critics said drew on antisemitic imagery. Bell has contributed to The Guardian since 1983. The decision comes after Bell depicted Netanyahu holding a scalpel and preparing to cut a

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — With the growing popularity of disposable e-cigarettes, communities across the U.S. are confronting a new vaping problem: how to safely get rid of millions of small, battery-powered devices that are considered hazardous waste. For years, the debate surrounding vaping largely centered on its risks for high

By NICOLAS GARRIGA and JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press ARRAS, France (AP) — Loved ones and colleagues have mourned and celebrated the life of a French-language teacher stabbed to death in a school attack blamed on a suspected Islamic extremist. Dominique Bernard was remembered at his funeral service Thursday as a sensitive, crowd-shy man who loved

By MOLLY QUELL Associated Press THE HAGUE, Nethlerlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court is dropping about 20 charges of murder, extermination, deportation, torture and persecution against a former government minister from the Central African Republic. The court cited a lack of evidence and available witnesses. The court’s chief prosecutor issued a statement saying he

By SYLVIA HUI and JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Hundreds of people are being evacuated from their homes and schools have closed in parts of Scotland, as much of northern Europe braces for stormy weather, heavy rain and gale-force winds from the east. The U.K.’s weather forecaster, the Met Office, issued a