AP-National

By JIM GOMEZ and AARON FAVILA Associated Press ABOARD BRP CABRA (AP) — As a United States Navy plane circled overhead, two Philippine boats breached a Chinese coast guard blockade in a dangerous confrontation Tuesday in the disputed South China Sea to deliver food and other supplies to Filipino forces guarding a contested shoal. Two

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA Associated Press BULIISA, Uganda (AP) — Alex Wakitinti is worried about the sacred natural sites he tends in the large swath of bushy grassland near Lake Albert. It’s the same slice of his homeland that oil companies are developing in order for Uganda to become an oil producer by 2026. But French

By AUDREY McAVOY, GENE JOHNSON and JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER Associated Press LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Authorities in Hawaii are pleading with relatives of those missing after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century to come forward and give DNA samples. Officials said Tuesday that the low number provided so far threatens to hinder

By KAREEM CHEHAYEB Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Four years into its historic economic meltdown, Lebanon’s political elites, masters at survival, are pushing for a recovery that would sidestep tough reforms demanded by the International Monetary Fund. Economic experts and former officials involved in designing Lebanon’s original IMF-approved recovery plan in 2020 say the political

By FARAI MUTSAKA Associated Press HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Delays of up to 10 hours in mostly opposition strongholds have forced electoral officials to extend voting till Thursday in Zimbabwe as President Emmerson Mnangagwa seeks a second and final term. The country has a history of violent and disputed elections. This is the second general

By JOCELYN GECKER AP Education Writer Ron DeSantis ’ path to national prominence started in Florida’s classrooms, where he harnessed culture war passions and deployed them in education policies. In the name of “parental rights,” the Republican governor has banned instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity and limited what Florida schools can teach about

By REBECCA BOONE, HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH, CLAUDIA LAUER and CHRISTOPHER L. KELLER Associated Press As flames tore through a West Maui neighborhood, fleeing residents headed for the only paved road out of town in a dash for safety. Many were turned back toward the rapidly spreading fire by a barricade blocking access to Highway 30. But

By HUIZHONG WU Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has renewed her pledge to strengthen Taiwan’s self-defense as she visited a war memorial from the last time Taiwan and China battled. Tsai, visiting the outlying islands of Kinmen where the conflict was fought, commemorated those who had died in the conflict.

By MARTÍN ADAMES ALCÁNTARA and DÁNICA COTO Associated Press SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Tropical Storm Franklin unleashed heavy floods and landslides in the Dominican Republic on Wednesday after making landfall in the country’s southern region, killing at least one person and leaving two others missing. The storm began to slowly spin away late

By GARY FIELDS Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The last part of the speech took less time to deliver than it takes to boil an egg, but “I Have A Dream” is one of American history’s most famous orations and most inspiring. On Aug. 28, 1963, from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, Martin Luther King

By JOHN FLESHER and ED WHITE Associated Press BELLAIRE, Mich. (AP) — A prosecutor says three men accused in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wanted to start a civil war. Eric Molitor and twin brothers William Null and Michael Null went on trial Wednesday in Antrim County, Michigan. They are charged with

By AARON MORRISON AP National Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Sixty years ago, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. issued his resounding call for racial harmony that set off decades of push and pull toward progress. The historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom remains a marker by which progress is measured. But that progress

By AARON MORRISON AP National Writer Sixty years ago, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. issued his resounding call for racial harmony that set off decades of push and pull toward progress. The historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom remains a marker by which progress is measured. But that progress — namely civil

By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN and SONIA PÉREZ D. Associated Press GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Bernardo Arévalo’s experience in peacebuilding and diplomacy eminently qualify him to lead Guatemala as the conflict-riven country’s next president, those who know him say. But first he will have to overcome forces that could keep him from taking power. Guatemalans voted for

By STEVE PEOPLES AP National Political Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Eight presidential candidates will meet on the debate stage for the first time in what may be the biggest moment in the GOP’s 2024 presidential primary so far. Former President Donald Trump won’t participate Wednesday night. But Trump’s absence offers the other candidates opportunity.

By SARA BURNETT, JILL COLVIN and JONATHAN J. COOPER Associated Press MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Republican presidential candidates vying to be the leading alternative to front-runner Donald Trump fought — sometimes bitterly – over abortion rights, U.S. support for Ukraine and the future of the party during the first primary debate of the 2024 campaign. But on

By JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s divisive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been transferred from prison to a hospital less than a day after he returned from 15 years of exile and started serving an 8-year sentence. He returned to Thailand on the same day that a party linked to him

By FRANKLIN BRICEÑO Associated Press CHANCAY, Peru (AP) — Dozens of cranes lift blocks weighing several tons and drop them to compact the soil of a roughly one-square-mile area on Peru’s Pacific coast, part of China’s most ambitious port project in Latin America designed to facilitate trade between the regions.  The port of Chancay, 60

By SAM MEDNICK Associated Press NIAMEY, Niger (AP) — After three months of crossing the desert and then watching other migrants die at sea in his failed attempt to reach Europe, Sahr John Yambasu gave up on getting across the Mediterranean and decided to go back home. The 29-year-old from Sierra Leone reached Niger in

By SUSIE BLANN Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine traded drone attacks early Wednesday, officials said, with Kyiv apparently targeting Moscow again and the Kremlin’s forces launching another bombardment of Ukrainian grain storage depots in what have recently become signature tactics in the almost 18-month war. Later Wednesday, the Ukrainian intelligence agency