AP-National

By JUWON PARK Associated Press SEOUL (AP) — South Korean young people are increasingly drawn to Buddhism due to social media-savvy influencers, including a monk who went viral on Instagram and a comedian who also DJs dressed like a Buddhist monk. Religious belief has been steadily declining in South Korea for years, especially among young

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — A fire at a marina in Croatia has destroyed 22 boats and caused huge damage but no injuries. An investigation is underway to determine what caused the fire early Wednesday at the marina in Medulin, a small town on the Istrian peninsula that’s popular with tourists in the northern Adriatic. Photos

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Rescuers in southern Poland have recovered the body of a third miner a day after a cave-in in which 12 other workers were hurt. A spokesperson for the Polish Mining Group says the miner was declared dead Wednesday and the rescue operation finished as investigators look into the cause of the

PARIS (AP) — Please disregard AS–New Caledonia-Unrest, published at 8:50 EST on May 16, 2024, and datelined in PARIS. The story already moved in a previous cycle.

By TIA GOLDENBERG, WAFAA SHURAFA and ABBY SEWELL Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday fended off criticism that he is not planning for a postwar reality in the Gaza Strip, saying it was impossible to prepare for any scenario in the embattled Palestinian enclave until Hamas is defeated. Netanyahu

By RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Anti-Islam firebrand Geert Wilders and three other Dutch party leaders say they have brokered a provisional government deal. The move brings closer a government driven by the hard right in yet another European Union nation. The party leaders said Wednesday that they will put the text to

By MATTHEW LEE and ILLIA NOVIKOV Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian forces withdrew from some parts of the country’s northeast and battled Russian troops in other areas Wednesday, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s decision to postpone all his upcoming foreign trips underscored the seriousness of the threat his soldiers face. Against that grim backdrop,

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Hopes that inflation is finally heading back in the right direction swept through Wall Street Wednesday and ignited a record-setting rally for U.S. stocks. The S&P 500 jumped 1.2% to top its prior high set a month and a half ago. The Nasdaq composite added

By KASPARMAN PILIANG and NINIEK KARMINI Associated Press TANAH DATAR, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian authorities have seeded clouds in a bid to prevent further rainfall after flash floods that hit the country’s Sumatra Island over the weekend left at least 67 people dead. Another 20 are missing. A landslide of mud and cold lava from

By SHEIKH SAALIQ and KRUTIKA PATHI Associated Press MALAPPURAM, India (AP) — Preventing Muslim migrants from gaining citizenship. Revoking the semi-autonomy of the country’s only Muslim-majority region. Building a Hindu temple where a violent mob razed a mosque. These were political triumphs for Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the past decade, burnishing his reputation as

By LARRY NEUMEISTER and MIKE CATALINI Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A lawyer for U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez is blaming the politician’s wife for his legal problems. Avi Weitzman told a jury at the start of Menendez’s corruption trial on Wednesday that the Democrat wasn’t aware his spouse had taken gifts from a trio

By SAM METZ Associated Press TANGIERS, Morocco (AP) — Morocco has grown its automotive industry from virtually non-existent to Africa’s largest in less than two decades. The North African kingdom supplies more cars to Europe than China, India or Japan, and has the capacity to produce 700,000 vehicles a year. Moroccan officials are determined to

By DEEPTI HAJELA Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Some social media users are calling out celebrities for what they say is inaction in the face of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza — and they’ve taken to a “blockout” to pressure the stars to take a stand. For the blockout, users put a block on

By GERALD IMRAY Associated Press CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — After 30 years of dominating South African politics, the ruling African National Congress will face its toughest election this month as most opinion polls predict it will lose its parliamentary majority for the first time. Once admired under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, and

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press GENEVA (AP) — Eight watches belonging to auto racing icon Michael Schumacher sold Tuesday for nearly 4 million Swiss francs ($4.4 million) at a Geneva auction. The top piece in the sale was a watch given to the German superstar by former Ferrari CEO Jean Todt as a Christmas present

By MIKE SCHNEIDER and TERRY SPENCER Associated Press OCALA, Fla. (AP) — A man with a long record of dangerous driving told investigators he smoked marijuana oil and took prescription drugs hours before he sideswiped a bus, killing eight Mexican farmworkers and injuring dozens more, according to an arrest report unsealed Wednesday. Bryan Maclean Howard,

By ZEN SOO AP Technology Writer HONG KONG (AP) — YouTube has blocked access to videos of a protest song in Hong Kong, days after court approved an injunction banning the song in the city. “Glory to Hong Kong” was an anthem of anti-government protests in 2019. YouTube said that it would comply with a

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — A first-year U.S. Naval Academy student has stood victorious on classmates’ shoulders and placed an upperclassman’s cap atop the Herndon Monument after a grueling, slippery struggle. The Class of 2027 worked together Wednesday to scale the 21-foot obelisk covered in vegetable shortening to replace a white plebe “Dixie cup hat” with

By JULIA DIAS CARNEIRO and DIARLEI RODRIGUES Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — It all started with nifty leg movements, strong steps backwards and forwards, paced to Brazilian funk music. Then it adopted moves from break dancing, samba, capoeira, frevo — whatever was around. The passinho, a dance style created in the 2000s by

By ANNIE MA AP Education Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Seventy years ago this week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled separating children in schools by race was unconstitutional. On paper, that decision — the fabled Brown v. Board of Education, taught in most every American classroom — still stands. But for decades, American schools have been