AP-National

By DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press Russian President Vladimir Putin promised Friday to “immediately” order a cease-fire in Ukraine and start negotiations if Kyiv began withdrawing troops from the four regions annexed by Moscow in 2022 and renounced plans to join NATO. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected what he called an ultimatum by Putin to surrender

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press ABOARD THE USS LABOON IN THE RED SEA (AP) — The U.S. Navy prepared for decades to potentially fight the Soviet Union, then later Russia and China, on the world’s waterways. But instead of a global power, the Navy finds itself locked in combat with a shadowy, Iran-backed rebel group

BERLIN (AP) — Authorities say two people have been found dead after explosions in an underground parking garage at an apartment building in northern Switzerland and 11 others sustained minor injuries. The explosions Thursday evening rocked the Nussbaumen neighborhood of the small town of Obersiggenthal, northwest of Zurich. Police said Friday that the explosions appeared

By ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press BARI, Italy (AP) — The Group of Seven leading industrialized nations turned their attention to migration, artificial intelligence, economic security and the Indo-Pacific region on Friday, the second and final day of their summit in Italy. The G7 leaders stressed their determination to meet global challenges “at a crucial moment

By MONIKA PRONCZUK Associated Press DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — The highest court in Niger lifted the immunity of the country’s democratically elected president Mohamed Bazoum. Bazoum’s lawyer Reed Brody made the announcement on Frida nearly a year after he was overthrown by mutinous soldiers in a military coup. The ruling has opened the door for

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is tweaking his Cabinet with a focus on cost-of-living and labor policies after his center-right party’s victory in last week’s European parliamentary elections. The pandemic and Russia’s war on Ukraine have contributed to rising prices in the southern European country. Despite a recent dip in inflation,

By JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Swedish accident investigators say the country’s oldest amusement park did not properly test new parts for a roller coaster that derailed last year. Some passengers plunged to the ground with one person killed and nine others injured including one seriously. They say the derailment at

BEIJING (AP) — Supporters say a a Chinese journalist who promoted women’s rights as part of the country’s nascent #MeToo movement has been sentenced to five years in prison on charges of undermining state security. The verdict provided to The Associated Press stated that Huang Xueqin would also face a fine of 100,000 yuan ($14,000)

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran has started up new cascades of advanced centrifuges and plans to install others in the coming weeks after facing criticism over its nuclear program. That’s according to a statement from the United Nations’ atomic watchdog on Friday. It said its inspectors verified Monday

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The fluttering of 64 kilometers (40 miles) of orange bunting and a hammer driving a nail into a wall to hold up an orange tarp are the sounds of a Dutch summer of soccer in a normally drab suburban street in The Hague. The Marktweg

By GERALD IMRAY and MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has been reelected by lawmakers for a second term after his African National Congress party struck a dramatic late coalition deal with the main opposition and other parties. Ramaphosa won convincingly in a vote late Friday

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair says his country looks on track to meet NATO’s military spending guideline by 2030. He says Canada notably plans to invest in the high Arctic near its shared border with Russia as the region warms quickly because of climate change. NATO allies

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer NEW YORK (AP) — A comet must have landed at the 2024 Songwriters Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The members of R.E.M. had joked only hours before it would take “a comet” to get the band to perform together one last time. Yet there they were, reunited during the

By MATT O’BRIEN and SARAH PARVINI AP Technology Writers The artificial intelligence startup Perplexity AI has raised tens of millions of dollars from the likes of Jeff Bezos and other prominent tech investors for its mission to rival Google in the business of searching for information. But its AI-driven search chatbot is already facing challenges

By FU TING Associated Press Chinese soccer fans have poured their love — and money — into a Singaporean goalkeeper’s food stall after his performance in a game this week indirectly helped China advance to the third qualifying round for the World Cup in 2026. Hassan Sunny, a 40-year-old goalkeeper on the national team, became

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks hung around their record levels on Friday as Wall Street remained relatively quiet following another slide in Europe. The S&P 500 edged down by less than 0.1%, marking the first time this week where it did not set an all-time high. The Dow

By MOUSTAPHA DIALLO Associated Press SAN, Mali (AP) — For hundreds of years, people have gathered in the southern Mali town of San for a collective fishing rite in June that begins with animal sacrifices and offerings to the water spirits of Sanké pond. The rite is on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage. The

By ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ and CRISTIANA MESQUITA Associated Press HAVANA (AP) — He was the poetic voice of the Cuban Revolution, an inspiration for millions of Latin Americans living under dictatorships throughout the 1960s and 1970s who dreamt of the ideal Cuba that he — and his guitar — helped evoke. Troubadour Silvio Rodríguez, one of

SYDNEY (AP) — A 16-year-old boy accused of committing a terrorist act by stabbing a bishop in a Sydney church in April faces two additional charges. The boy was arrested at the scene of the stabbing on April 15 in an Assyrian Orthodox church as a service was being streamed online. A prosecutor told the

By R.J. RICO and JESSE BEDAYN Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — In a dreary part of downtown Atlanta, shipping containers have been transformed into an oasis for dozens of previously unsheltered people who now proudly call a former parking lot home. The gated micro community known as “The Melody” doesn’t look like a parking lot