AP-National

By YVES LAURENT GOMA Associated Press LIBREVILLE, Gabon (AP) — Gabon’s president is seeking a third term in elections this weekend that could extend his family’s 55-year political dynasty. The capital of Libreville, meanwhile, is bracing for a repeat of the violence that has marred balloting in the past. The central African nation’s 800,000-plus eligible

LONDON (AP) — Staff at London Zoo got the measure of giant gorillas, plump penguins and skinny stick insects at the zoo’s annual animal weigh-in on Thursday. Zookeepers tempted squirrel monkeys onto scales with treats, totted up tarantulas and used a curry-scented measuring stick to coax Sumatran tigers to stretch out. Staff at the zoo,

By The Associated Press The passenger manifest of the plane that went down in Russia is essentially a who’s who of Wagner mercenaries, including its second-in-command, who baptized the group with his nom de guerre, as well as the logistics chief, a fighter wounded by U.S. airstrikes in Syria and at least one possible bodyguard.

NEW YORK (AP) — Fast fashion retailers Shein and Forever 21 are going into business together. Under a partnership agreement announced Thursday, the Chinese-founded Shein will acquire about one-third interest in Sparc Group, Forever 21’s operator. Sparc will also become a minority shareholder in Shein. The deal is expected to expand Forever 21’s distribution on

By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (AP) — “That’s where I got shot,” said Rashaad Woods, nodding toward a convenience store in Knoxville’s “gun zone.” There were bullet holes in a church’s walls. Nearby was a shuttered nightclub where some people were killed. “There was a point in time I wasn’t comfortable standing

By CARA ANNA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Scores of women and girls in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region were sexually assaulted, often by multiple men alleged to be combatants, after a peace agreement last year ended the conflict there, according to a new study of medical records released on Thursday. The youngest girl raped

By JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norway is rebuilding a dilapidated reindeer fence along its border with Russia in the Arctic to stop the animals from wandering into the neighboring country — costly strolls for which Oslo has to compensate Moscow over loss of grassland. Norwegian officials said Thursday that so

LONDON (AP) — King Charles III and Queen Camilla will visit France in September, after their planned state visit in March was postponed amid widespread demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron’s retirement age reforms. The couple had planned to tour Paris and Bordeaux in March as part of their international debut. But the trip was shelved

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron is vowing to make key economic, immigration and education reforms. That vow comes despite France’s divisions and political challenges that have included months of protests against pension changes and recent rioting over a teen killed by police. Macron says in a wide-ranging interview with Le Point magazine published

By DAVID BILLER Associated Press BELEM, Brazil (AP) — The Brazilian Amazon has long been home to small and mid-sized sustainable businesses that use forest nuts, fruits and other products, and it’s an incubator for new ones. Now there is a push to scale these up, and a new term, “bioeconomy,” was a buzzword at

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Uber raised the minimum age requirement for most of its new drivers in California to 25 on Thursday under rules the company said are necessary because of the rising costs of commercial auto insurance in the state. The new rule applies only to drivers signing up to transport passengers with Uber’s

By MARTÍN ADAMES ALCÁNTARA Associated Press SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Authorities in the Dominican Republic fanned out across the Caribbean country on Thursday to evaluate the damage Tropical Storm Franklin inflicted on crops and homes after causing heavy flooding that killed at least two people and left one missing. More than 670 homes

BEIRUT (AP) — Air traffic controllers at Lebanon’s only civilian airport say they are badly understaffed and are planning to go on strike next month. The announcement by the team of 13 air traffic controllers at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport on Thursday follows a report by the European Union’s aviation safety watchdog that raised

BERLIN (AP) — A German federal court says it has rejected an appeal by a military officer who posed as a Syrian asylum-seeker and was convicted last of year of plotting to attack prominent politicians. The officer was convicted by the Frankfurt state court in July 2022 of preparing a serious crime meant to endanger

By GRAHAM DUNBAR AP Sports Writer GENEVA (AP) — FIFA has opened a disciplinary case against the Spanish soccer official who kissed a player on the lips while celebrating the team’s victory in the Women’s World Cup final. FIFA says its disciplinary committee will examine if Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales brought the sport

By ANDREW DeMILLO, LYNNE SLADKY AND LAURA BARGFELD Associated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Rajee Narinesingh faced struggles throughout her life as a transgender woman, from workplace discrimination to the lasting effects of black market injections that scarred her face and caused chronic infections. In spite of the roadblocks, the 56-year-old Florida actress and

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — Switzerland’s financial markets authority says an in-depth review of more than 30 banks conducted this spring found that “a large number” failed to meet basic requirements for analyzing the risk of money laundering. The authority, known as FINMA, says the review was prompted by repeated signs of

By SUZAN FRASER Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s central bank has raised its key interest rate by an aggressive 7.5 percentage points, in a new sign of a return to more traditional economic policies. The bank hiked its policy rate to 25% on Thursday. The bank is backtracking from a rate-cutting course set

By SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Hospital care across England is coming to a standstill as senior doctors launch another 48-hour strike amid an ongoing dispute over pay. Thousands of hospital doctors are walking out and say they will only provide emergency care, and the National Health Service warned patients to expect major

By JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norwegian Prime Minister  Jonas Gahr Støre says his NATO-member country will donate F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. Speaking to Norwegian news agency NTB in the Ukrainian capital, Gahr Støre said Norway will probably donate less than 10 aircraft. The plan was reported by Norwegian broadcasters