AP-National

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s Cabinet has approved a plan to liberalize rules on cannabis, setting the scene for the European Union’s most populous nation to decriminalize possession of limited amounts and allow members of “cannabis clubs” to buy the substance for recreational purposes. The legislation is billed as the first

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writers BEIJING (AP) — Asian stocks followed Wall Street lower Thursday after notes from a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting dented hopes interest rate hikes are finished. Hong Kong and Tokyo lost more than 1%. Shanghai, Seoul and Sydney also retreated. Oil prices declined. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 lost 0.8%

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese and Indian military commanders have pledged to “maintain the peace and tranquility” along their disputed border in an apparent effort to stabilize the situation following a rise in tensions. China’s Defense Ministry issued a joint press release on social media late Tuesday saying the 19th round of commander-level talks between the

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Two years after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the United States has begun easing rules that could allow commercial airlines to fly over the country in routes that cuts time and fuel consumption for East-West travel. But those flights shortening routes for India and

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN, JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER and CHRISTOPHER WEBER Associated Press LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Public schools on Maui are starting the process of reopening and vehicle traffic is moving again in signs of recovery a week after wildfires demolished a historic town and killed at least 110 people. Meanwhile, additional cadaver dogs arrived

HAMBURG, Calif. (AP) — Rural areas near California’s border with Oregon are under evacuation orders after gusty winds from a thunderstorm sent a lightning-sparked wildfire racing through national forest lands. The blaze in Siskiyou County was dubbed the Head Fire. It’s one of at least 20 fires that erupted in the Klamath National Forest. Most

By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press/Report for America RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Transgender youth in North Carolina lost access Wednesday to gender-affirming medical treatments after the Republican-led General Assembly overrode the governor’s vetoes of that legislation and other bills touching on gender in sports and LGBTQ+ instruction in the classroom. GOP supermajorities in the House and

By NICK EL HAJJ Associated Press AL-MADAM, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Nestled in sand dunes an hour’s drive from the skyscrapers of Dubai, a desert village abandoned in the 1990s stands as an eerie relic of the rapid urbanization of the United Arab Emirates. Built in the 1970s to house semi-nomadic Bedouin, the village

By TRAVIS LOLLER, MATT O’BRIEN and BRUCE SCHREINER Associated Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The company behind a disastrous change to a Kentucky city’s school bus routes that resulted in more than a week of canceled classes had similar problems in two cities in neighboring Ohio last year. Touting its connections to the Massachusetts Institute

By ARIANA CUBILLOS and JUAN PABLO ARRÁEZ Associated Press MARACAIBO, Venezuela (AP) — The fishermen of Lake Maracaibo say they face their worst nightmare everyday as fish stocks decline and pollution degrades the health of this great freshwater lake, one of the oldest — and largest — in the world. Lake Maracaibo, which once was

By LISA RATHKE Associated Press WATERBURY, Vt. (AP) — As some states ban or restrict certain books in schools and libraries, Vermont’s lieutenant governor is on a statewide banned book reading tour, highlighting what he calls the importance of representation, free speech, open dialogue and exchange of ideas. According to the American Library Association, attempted

By JILL COLVIN and LINLEY SANDERS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — After every new indictment, Donald Trump has boasted that his standing among Republicans only improves — and he has a point. Nearly two-thirds of Republicans — 63% — now say they want the former president to run again, according to new polling from

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The International Criminal Court should prosecute Taliban leaders for a crime against humanity for denying education and employment to Afghan girls and women, the U.N. special envoy for global education said. Gordon Brown told a virtual U.N. press conference on the second anniversary of the

By MORGAN LEE Associated Press SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Prosecutors have received a second expert analysis of the revolver fired in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on the set of a Western film in New Mexico, as they weigh whether to refile charges against the actor. Baldwin has said the

By DAVID HAMILTON AP Business Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Almost a week after the Apple faithful collectively gasped at the first evidence that the iPhone’s red “end call” button might soon be vacating its center position to take up residence one column to the right, it looks like it might have been mostly a

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press A Florida judge should rule without trial against Disney as the company fights Gov. Ron DeSantis’ takeover of a board that oversees Walt Disney World, the Republican governor’s appointees said in a Tuesday court filing. Members of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District asked the state judge in Orlando for

MERIDEN, Conn. (AP) — Police who were examining a stolen car for evidence made a surprising find: a kitten. Now they are looking for his owner. The Meriden Police Department said on its Facebook page Monday that the gray-and-white male cat was perched under a seat in the stolen vehicle. The car collided with a

By JOHN FLESHER AP Environmental Writer TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — The Biden administration is rejecting a plea from environmentalists to toughen regulation of large livestock farms that release manure and other pollutants into waterways. The Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday that it needs to further study the biggest U.S. animal operations, which hold thousands

ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay (AP) — President Santiago Peña said Paraguay and Taiwan are “not just allies, but also brothers” when he was sworn in as the South American country’s new president on Tuesday. Peña took the presidential oath outside the government palace in the capital of Asunción in a ceremony attended by several regional leaders and

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s Navy says its personnel seized an open boat carrying three tons of cocaine, about 200 nautical miles (360 kms) off the Pacific coast. The Navy said Tuesday that three suspects were detained aboard the craft. The boat was carrying 80 sacks that contained 6,130 pounds (2,800 kilograms) of cocaine. The