AP-National

By DIDI TANG, ERIC TUCKER and FRANK BAJAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director Chris Wray has told House lawmakers that Chinese government hackers are busily targeting critical infrastructure inside the United States, including water treatment plants, the electrical grid and transportation systems. Wray appeared Wednesday before a House select committee focused on China.

PARIS (AP) — French Interior minister Gerald Darmanin said Wednesday that some 300,000 spectators will be able to attend the opening ceremony for the Paris Olympic Games, about half the size of what was originally planned. The giant show on the River Seine on July 26 will mark the first time that an opening ceremony

By YURI KAGEYAMA and STEPHEN WADE Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — A former Tokyo Olympic organizing committee member has appeared in a court and asserted he’s not guilty of taking bribes connected to the Tokyo Games. A former executive with the powerful Japanese advertising company Dentsu, Haruyuki Takahashi is charged with accepting around 198 million

By RAF CASERT Associated Press HALLE, Belgium (AP) — Farmers are blocking more traffic arteries across Belgium and France as they seek to disrupt trade at major ports and other economic lifelines. They are also moving toward Brussels on Wednesday on the eve of a major European Union summit in a continued push for better

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The United Nations’ top court has rejected large parts of a case filed by Ukraine alleging that Russia bankrolled separatist rebels in the country’s east a decade ago and has discriminated against Crimea’s multiethnic community since its annexation of the peninsula. The International Court of

By JON GAMBRELL, AAMER MADHANI and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States on Wednesday attributed the drone attack that killed three U.S. service members in Jordan to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias, as President Joe Biden weighs his options to respond to the strike. Iran

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean opposition leader who was stabbed in an attack earlier this month and underwent surgery has accused the country’s conservative president of promoting divisive politics and worsening an already toxic discourse in the nation. Lee Jae-myung spoke to reporters on Wednesday at his

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares were mixed on Thursday after Wall Street fell to its worst loss since September as the Federal Reserve indicated cuts to interest rates are not imminent. U.S. futures and oil prices rose. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced, but ceded much of its early gains.

By JEAN-YVES KAMALE Associated Press KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — A local official and a civil society group say militants killed at least 12 villagers in a spate of attacks in eastern Congo’s North Kivu province. The killings, which took place on Tuesday, came as Congo’s president ruled out dialogue with neighboring Rwanda over a related

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN Associated Press KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (AP) — Chinese warships sail in waters around Taiwan and warplanes fly toward the island almost every day before turning back. What if they suddenly attacked? Taiwan’s military is holding drills at sea and in the air on Wednesday to practice defending against such a surprise attack. Journalists

By EMMA BURROWS Associated Press U.K. lawmakers have expressed frustration that funds from the sale of the Chelsea soccer club have not yet gone to support Ukrainian war victims as was promised nearly two years ago by the former owner, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. Abramovich sold Chelsea in 2022 after being sanctioned by the British

By MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan has been found guilty of corruption and sentenced to 14 years. Wednesday’s ruling was yet another blow to the imprisoned populist leader days before his political movement attempts a return to power in parliamentary elections. It was his second conviction in

By DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — On the first day of Missouri’s new legislative session, Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden tried to cajole colleagues into congeniality with a rhetorical question: “Will we focus on principled progress or political pandemonium?” Progress was intended. But pandemonium ensued. Within days, a newly

BANGKOK (AP) — A Thai court has convicted a prominent political activist of defaming the country’s monarchy and sentenced her to a two-year suspended jail term under a controversial law that criminalizes any perceived criticism of the royal institution. Patsaravalee Tanakitvibulpon, better known by her nickname “Mind,” had pleaded not guilty to an offense under

By ZEN SOO AP Business Writer SINGAPORE (AP) — A survey of factory managers in China shows manufacturing contracted in January for a fourth straight month, reflecting weak demand and a faltering recovery in the world’s second-largest economy. The official purchasing managers index, or PMI, rose slightly to 49.2 in January from 49.0 the month

By MARK SCOLFORO Associated Press KUTZTOWN, Pa. (AP) — The spotlight returns to Gobbler’s Knob in western Pennsylvania this week, when handlers of a groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil will announce his verdict — six more weeks of winter or an early spring. Thousands are expected to attend the annual event that exploded in popularity after

By JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press BEREHOVE, Ukraine (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has long accused Ukraine’s government of violating the rights of an ethnic Hungarian community in western Ukraine. Orbán insists the Hungarian minority must be allowed to speak their native language in schools and public administration, and has threatened to block Ukraine’s

By JAMES POLLARD and BEN FINLEY Associated Press COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A grainy sonar image recorded by a private pilot has reinvigorated interest in one of the past century’s most alluring mysteries: What happened to Amelia Earhart when her plane vanished during her flight around the world in 1937? Numerous expeditions have turned up

By MARIA SHERMAN AP Music Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — The 66th annual Grammy Awards are on Sunday, airing live from Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena on CBS and Paramount+. So, what can viewers expect? Some new, some old. Executive producers Raj Kapoor, Ben Winston, and Jesse Collins are returning for their fourth year — evolving

By JILL COLVIN Associated Press MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Before launching his ill-fated campaign for the White House, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was a star. Again and again, Republican voters said they saw DeSantis as the future of the party. But after a bitter scorched-earth primary in which former President Donald Trump pounded DeSantis viciously