AP-National

By JONATHAN J. COOPER and ERIC TUCKER Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Republicans are responding to Hunter Biden’s conviction on federal gun charges with some version of, “That’s it?” Loyal to Donald Trump, they largely echoed the former president’s claim that the Justice Department has treated President Joe Biden’s son with kid gloves while zealously

By FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The House voted Wednesday to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over audio of President Joe Biden’s interview in his classified documents case, Republicans’ latest and strongest rebuke of the Justice Department as partisan conflict over the rule of law

By TERRY SPENCER Associated Press PARKLAND, Fla. (AP) — The demolition of the building where 17 people died in the 2018 Parkland school shooting is set to begin. Crews will begin tearing down the three-story building at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Friday. The work was supposed to begin Thursday, but heavy rain and

By FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Merrick Garland is at risk of becoming the third attorney general in U.S. history to be held in contempt of Congress. Republicans are moving to punish the Justice Department for refusing to turn over audio related to President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents. Contempt is among

By REGINA GARCIA CANO, GISELA SALOMON and ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ Associated Press HAVANA (AP) — A fleet of Russian warships reached Cuban waters on Wednesday ahead of planned military exercises in the Caribbean that some see as a projection of strength as tensions grow over Western support for Ukraine. The fleet, made up of a frigate,

NEW YORK (AP) — Bestselling author V.E. Schwab has a 7-figure book deal. Tor Books announced Wednesday that it has agreed to terms on a two-book, $2 million contract with the science fiction/fantasy novelist. The first book, “Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil,” is scheduled for June 2025. Schwab’s novel will span from 16th

By FLORENT BAJRAMI and LLAZAR SEMINI Associated Press PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo is celebrating what it considers a liberation day, marking the 25th anniversary of the withdrawal of Serb forces after a NATO bombing campaign. Thousands of ethnic Albanians had died under Serbian repression. Neighboring Serbia refuses to officially accept the independence of its

By PETER SMITH and HOLLY MEYER Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Southern Baptists narrowly rejected a proposal Wednesday to enshrine a ban on churches with women pastors in their constitution after opponents argued it was unnecessary because the denomination already has a way of ousting such churches. The measure received support from 61% of the

NEW DELHI (AP) — India says it has urged Russia to return Indian citizens recruited by Russia’s army after two were killed recently in the war in Ukraine. India previously said its authorities were in talks with Russia about the return of its citizens who it said had been duped into working for the Russian

By JEROME PUGMIRE and CIARÁN FAHEY AP Sports Writers BERLIN (AP) — A recent surge in violence around soccer games is contributing to concerns over security when Germany hosts the European Championship. Some 22,000 police officers will be on duty each day for the tournament. This is the largest deployment for the federal police. German

By HANNA ARHIROVA Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces fired missiles and drones at the Kyiv region and five other areas of Ukraine in a nighttime attack, officials said Wednesday, ahead of several days of intense diplomatic activity around the war that is now in its third year. Ukraine’s air force said it

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A Russian woman has been detained and questioned in Denmark for allegedly helping a foreign intelligence agency to operate in the country. The Scandinavian nation’s domestic security service said Wednesday that the woman, who has not been named, faces preliminary charges of enabling a foreign intelligence service to operate in Denmark,

LONDON (AP) — The British economy failed to grow in April in a blow to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who has made the return of growth a central pillar of the Conservative Party’s election campaign. The Office for National Statistics said Wednesday that wet weather dampened consumer spending and construction during the month. The flat

BERLIN (AP) — German energy company Uniper says a tribunal has awarded it more than 13 billion euros (nearly $14 billion) in damages for gas that Russia’s Gazprom hasn’t supplied since 2022. Uniper said Wednesday that the arbitration tribunal based in Stockholm also ruled on June 7 that it has the right to terminate long-term

By GREGORY GONDWE Associated Press BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — The Malawi government says Vice President Saulos Chilima will be honored with a state funeral after he was killed along with eight other people in a plane crash. President Lazarus Chakwera had already announced 21 days of national mourning on Tuesday, when the wreckage of the

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has moved to hike tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, escalating a trade dispute over Beijing’s subsidies for the exports that Brussels worries is hurting domestic automakers. The EU’s executive arm said on Wednesday that it planned to impose provisional tariffs that would result in automakers in China facing additional

By VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Lawmakers in the Polish parliament have observed a minute of silence to honor a young soldier who was stabbed at the Polish-Belarusian border. The attack occurred amid a migration crisis at the border that Poland says has been engineered by Russia and Belarus. The soldier was

By LEA SKENE and BRIAN WITTE Associated Press BALTIMORE (AP) — Authorities anticipate that commercial shipping traffic through the Port of Baltimore will soon return to normal levels after its main channel fully reopened earlier this week. The reopening followed a roughly $160 million cleanup after the massive bridge collapsed into the channel in March.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Authorities in Athens announced the closure of the Acropolis for five hours on Wednesday due to heat wave temperatures that also shut many schools. The ancient site in the Greek capital — which drew nearly 4 million visitors last year — was closed from midday till 5 p.m. as the temperature

By SYLVIE CORBET and BARBARA SURK Associated Press PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron defended his decision to call snap parlimentary elections after his party’s crushing defeat in the European parliamentary vote, insisting on Wednesday that voters will ultimately choose the “progressive bloc” over the far-right. In France, legislative elections decide the makeup of