AP-National

By GIADA ZAMPANO and ANTONIO CALANNI Associated Press SUVIANA, Italy (AP) — Search and rescue operations continue at a hydroelectric plant close to the northern Italian city of Bologna a day after a devastating blast killed at least three workers, injured five and left four missing. A spokesperson for firefighters says there are few hopes

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — China’s Finance Ministry has denounced a report by Fitch Ratings that kept its sovereign debt rated at A+ but downgraded its outlook to negative. The ministry said in a statement that China’s deficit is at a moderate and reasonable level and risks are under control as

By TIA GOLDENBERG, KAREEM CHEHAYEB and WAFAA SHURAFA Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israeli aircraft killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate cease-fire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren

By COLLEEN BARRY Associated Press FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — Amanda Knox was back on trial for slander Wednesday for wrongly accusing a Congolese man of murdering her roommate while the young women were exchange students in Italy. Knox herself was convicted of the slaying before being exonerated in a case that grabbed the global spotlight.

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares were mixed Thursday after U.S. stocks fell on worries that what had seemed like a blip in the battle to bring down inflation may be a troubling trend. Oil prices edged higher and U.S. futures were flat. South Korean shares were little changed after

By ANDREI POPOVICIU Associated Press PIKINE, Senegal (AP) — Mouhamed Sall stepped to the chalkboard with a glance and quick question in sign language to an assistant. Then he solved the exercise to the silent approval of his classmates, who waved their hands in a display of appreciation. Sall and three other students are part

By JACK JEFFERY Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s foreign minister threatened Wednesday that his country’s forces would strike Iran directly if the Islamic Republic launched an attack from its territory against Israel. His comments came amid heightened tensions between the rival powers following the killings of Iranian generals in a blast at the Iranian

By JOVANA GEC Associated Press LAPOVO, Serbia (AP) — Zeljko Ilicic saved his first horse from certain death 12 years ago and found his calling. The Serbian, now 43, set up the Balkan country’s only horse sanctuary in 2015 on a small piece of land in Lapovo in Central Serbia. Around 80 horses have since

By MARGERY A. BECK Associated Press OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Conservative activist Charlie Kirk is calling on Nebraska Republicans to put pressure on state lawmakers to adopt a “winner-take-all” system of awarding Electoral College votes. About 900 people turned out Tuesday night for a rally sponsored by the Nebraska Republican Party. Former President Donald Trump

By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The International Olympic Committee was effusive Wednesday in its support for a decadeslong effort to bring back the Winter Games to Utah’s capital city in 2034. Unlike so many other past hosts that have decided bringing back the Games isn’t worth the time, money or

By MICHAEL GOLDBERG Associated Press/Report for America BRANDON, Miss. (AP) — Already sentenced to many years in federal prison, six white former Mississippi law enforcement officers who pleaded guilty to a long list of state and federal charges for torturing two Black men were sentenced Wednesday in state court. The state sentences did not add

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A self-published doomsday fiction author is on trial in Idaho in the deaths of his wife and his new girlfriend’s two children. It’s a complex triple-murder trial that investigators say involves unusual claims that the victims were possessed by evil spirits — and more typical claims

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho man charged with three murders in an unusual doomsday-focused case crafted an alternate reality so that he could fulfill “his desire for sex, money and power,” a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday morning. “When he had a chance at what he considered his rightful destiny,

By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Allen Weisselberg, a retired executive in Donald Trump’s real estate empire, was sentenced on Wednesday to five months in jail for lying under oath during his testimony in the civil fraud lawsuit brought against the former president by New York’s attorney general. Weisselberg, 76, pleaded

By ANDREW WILKS and NINIEK KARMINI Associated Press ISTANBUL (AP) — Muslims around the world celebrated the Eid al-Fitr holiday Wednesday, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. But events were overshadowed by the worsening crisis in Gaza and Israel’s expected military offensive in Rafah city after six months of war. “We should

By JANIE McCAULEY AP Sports Writer STANFORD, Calif. (AP) — Tara VanDerveer gave her time and energy to a young Dawn Staley behind the scenes years before the South Carolina coach started winning championships or delivering an improbable undefeated season. The Hall of Fame Stanford coach did the same for her Pac-12 rivals. For Cori

SEATTLE (AP) — Court documents show a University of Washington football player has been arrested and charged with raping two women in Seattle. KING-TV reports Seattle police officers arrested 18-year-old Tylin “Tybo” Rogers last Friday and booked him into King County Jail. He was charged Tuesday with second-degree rape and third-degree rape. Court documents say

HONG KONG (AP) — A fire in a large, mostly residential building in Hong Kong has killed at least five people and left another 36 injured. Some 250 residents were rescued from the New Lucky House in Hong Kong’s Jordan neighborhood and the fire was extinguished later Wednesday. The fire services department said that the

By JACQUES BILLEAUD and MORGAN LEE Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Supreme Court has delivered a landmark decision in giving the go-ahead to enforce a long-dormant law that bans nearly all abortions. The law revived Tuesday drastically alters the legal landscape for terminating pregnancies. It also places the politics of abortion access front