AP-National

By HYUNG-JIN KIM and KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Mammoth South Korean loudspeakers blaring BTS music. Large North Korean balloons carrying manure, cigarette butts and waste batteries. Small South Korean civilian leaflets slamming North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Day after day, the Cold War-style yet bizarre campaigns continue at the

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The U.S. has lifted a ban on providing American weapons and training to a controversial Ukrainian military unit that was key to the defense of the major port city of Mariupol, the State Department said on Tuesday. The Azov Brigade is among Ukraine’s most effective and popular fighting units but it

By CIARÁN FAHEY AP Sports Writer BERLIN (AP) — When Germany hosted the 2006 World Cup, it unleashed an unexpected burst of national pride across the country. For many Germans, it was the first time they felt they could wave the flag unburdened by the country’s dark past. As Germany gets ready to host another

By GREGORY GONDWE and GERALD IMRAY Associated Press BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima and nine other people died when the small military plane they were traveling in crashed in bad weather in a mountainous region in the north of the country, the president said Tuesday. Chilima was 51. President Lazarus Chakwera

BEIJING (AP) — The Chinese government says a Chinese man who sailed a small boat into a strategic river mouth in Taiwan was acting on his own and would be punished after his return to China. Taiwan’s official news agency says the man has been identified as a 60-year-old former Chinese naval officer. His reported

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mostly lower Wednesday in Asia ahead of a decision by the Federal Reserve on interest rates. In Japan, higher inflation and falling wages raised questions about how the central bank can navigate away from near-zero interest rates. The Bank of Japan will issue a

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Chinese Premier Li Qiang will visit New Zealand, Australia and Malaysia starting Thursday. A Chinese Foreign Ministry statement on Tuesday said Li will visit the three countries from June 13 to 20. Australia earlier announced Li will land in the Australian city of Adelaide on June

BANGKOK (AP) — Hundreds of caged animals died after a fire struck Chatuchak Weekend Market, one of the most famous markets in Thailand’s capital. The fire was reported in the early morning of Tuesday and quickly swept across more than 100 shops in the pet zone of the market, according to Bangkok’s government. Officials said

By TERRY TANG Associated Press In the Philippines — where Spanish and later U.S. colonial rule persisted for nearly four centuries — June 12 is the real Independence Day. That date in 1898 was the pivotal moment when the island nation first made a bold move for autonomy. Ahead of this year’s holiday in Manila,

By CHARLOTTE GRAHAM-McLAY Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Police in New Zealand offered an 80,000 New Zealand dollar reward and immunity from prosecution on Tuesday to anyone who could help them secure the safe return of three children missing since December 2021. Their father, Tom Phillips, disappeared into the wilderness with them two

By LAURIE KELLMAN Associated Press LONDON (AP) — He has no political experience. No high-profile endorsements. No party affiliation. What Fidias Panayiotou does have are 2.6 million followers on YouTube and more on TikTok. And now he has won a seat in the European Parliament representing Cyprus, one of several unusual candidates who launched improbable

By SUDHIN THANAWALA Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — The king and queen of the Netherlands have begun a four-day tour of the U.S. in Atlanta. During multiple stops in the city on Monday, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima paid tribute to the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and learned about the history of the

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday implored British voters, and his own party, to throw him a lifeline in the U.K.’s election, pledging to cut taxes and reduce immigration if his Conservative Party is reelected on July 4. With the Conservatives trailing the left-of-center Labour Party in

By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has defended his record against a primary challenger in debate after the GOP incumbent was recently booed by Republican convention delegates who argued he is too moderate. Candidates for the state’s open attorney general position debated earlier Tuesday. The incumbent governor

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A new attraction starring the first Black Disney princess is opening at the company’s U.S. theme park resorts, and some Disney followers see it as a fitting replacement to a former ride based on a movie that contained racist tropes. The new theme park attraction updates

By MICHAEL GOLDBERG Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minneapolis police officer who was killed by a man he was trying to help at the site of a shooting is being memorialized as someone who exemplified the type of public servant the city’s police force has been trying to recruit amid years of tumult. Minneapolis

By GEIR MOULSON and HANNA ARHIROVA Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appealed for short-term help in repairing his country’s electricity network and long-term investment in its energy system. He spoke at a conference in Berlin on Tuesday to gather support for Ukraine’s recovery from the destruction wreaked by Russia’s war.

By PAOLA FLORES Associated Press TRINIDAD PAMPA, Bolivia (AP) — Buzz is building around a new star beverage in Bolivia, where the coca leaf has long been legal despite the U.N.’s blanket prohibition due to the plant’s association with cocaine. It remains questionable whether Bolivia will be able to convince the world to accept the

By KEN MORITSUGU and DIDI TANG Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — U.S. officials worked Tuesday to bring home four injured instructors from Iowa’s Cornell College who were stabbed in the northeast Chinese city of Jilin, where they were teaching. Jilin city police said a 55-year-old man surnamed Cui was walking in a public park on

By TRISHA THOMAS Associated Press LECCE, Italy (AP) — Puglia is known for its olive groves, white-washed houses and spectacular coastlines that will provide the backdrop when Premier Giorgia Meloni hosts Group of Seven leaders for their annual summit this week. But the region is also home to the Sacra Corona Unita, Italy’s fourth main