AP National News

By DAVID BRANDT AP Baseball Writer PHOENIX (AP) — The percentage of Black players in Major League Baseball has been on the decline for decades, but prospects at MLB’s Draft Combine this week think that may soon change. Several highly touted Black players are hoping to become the next Aaron Judge, Mookie Betts or Andrew

By The Associated Press All but one of the 30 of the Major League Baseball teams are hosting Pride Nights this season, most during Pride Month, which celebrates and supports LGBTQ+ culture and rights. The Texas Rangers are the only team without a Pride Night. They say they are committed to making everyone feel welcome

By LAURA UNGAR AP Science Writer Dr. Kylie Cooper chokes up thinking about the patients she left behind in Idaho. One who often comes to mind is Kayla Smith. Smith said she chose to end a desperately wanted pregnancy last year after discovering her fetus had potentially deadly heart defects and other problems. But Idaho

By DÁNICA COTO Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A gang rampaged through the Cite Soleil slum, killing and raping and setting fire to hundreds of wood-and-tin homes. Forced out of the neighborhood, one family of four lived on the streets of Port-au-Prince until they were struck by a truck as they slept. Two brothers,

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Shares slipped in Europe and Asia on Friday, a day after several central banks around the world cranked interest rates higher in their fight against inflation. Benchmarks fell in most major markets though Shanghai was closed for a holiday. U.S. futures and oil prices also were

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A suspected Russian diplomat is apparently squatting on the site of Moscow’s proposed new embassy in Canberra after the Australian government vetoed the plan on security grounds and passed legislation that Russia will try to overturn in Australia’s highest court. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dismissed the

BANGKOK (AP) — A fire extinguisher exploded during a high school’s annual fire drill Friday in Thailand’s capital, killing one student and injuring five others, a rescuer said. The CO2-type fire extinguisher may have become defective from sun or heat exposure, said Anyawut Phoampai of the Ruam Katanyu Foundation, one of Thailand’s biggest rescue organizations,

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — When Berlin Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal first talked about his dream of building Germany’s biggest Jewish educational and cultural complex since the Holocaust, most people who heard about the plan were skeptical. But five years after the groundbreaking, Teichtal, a Berlin rabbi and head of the local Chabad

BERLIN (AP) — The German parliament has approved the construction of a memorial in Berlin to the Jehovah’s Witnesses persecuted under the Nazis. The country’s culture minister hopes the plan will help end their status as “forgotten victims.” On Thursday evening, lawmakers backed a motion formally calling on the government to support construction of the

By DÁNICA COTO Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Tropical Storm Bret is bringing winds and heavy rain to islands in the eastern Caribbean that shut down to prepare for potential landslides and flooding. The storm’s center was west of St. Vincent early Friday and moving west. Its maximum sustained winds were 60

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares sank sharply Friday after several central banks around the world cranked interest rates higher in their fight against inflation. Hong Kong and Tokyo shed nearly 2% and most other regional markets declined. U.S. futures and oil prices also were lower. Japan reported its inflation

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A suspected lone Russian diplomat is apparently squatting on the site of Moscow’s proposed embassy that the Australian government has vetoed. Russia is expected to try to overturn that legislation in Australia’s highest court. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dismissed the Russian act of defiance in occupying

By WASBIR HUSSAIN Associated Press GUWAHATI, India (AP) — Tens of thousands of people have taken shelter in government-run relief camps as heavy monsoon rains batter villages in India’s northeast. One person has died in the floodwaters. An Assam state government relief agency said Friday that the state is on red alert and bracing for

BANGKOK (AP) — A rescuer says a fire extinguisher exploded during a high school’s annual fire drill in Bangkok, killing one student and injuring five others. Anyawut Phoampai of one of Thailand’s biggest rescue organizations confirmed the death and injuries from the incident at Rajavinit Mathayom School in the Thai capital. He said the canister

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Four Thai nationals have been charged with human trafficking in a Malaysian court over the 2015 discovery of mass graves and human trafficking camps at the country’s border with Thailand. Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution said in a statement that the four were among 10 Thai citizens the government had sought

BERLIN (AP) — Storms and heavy rain across a large swath of Germany have flooded roads and forced the closure of some major railway routes, but there is no immediate word of any injuries. Germany’s national weather service had warned earlier this week of severe storms with significant amounts of rainfall, which hit on Thursday.

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — A powerful animal sedative in the illicit drug supply is complicating the U.S. response to the opioid crisis. It’s called xylazine (pronounced ZY’-lah-zeen). It’s not intended for human use and can cause severe skin wounds in people who inject it. But whether it is leading to

By DEREK GATOPOULOS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greeks heading to the polls Sunday for a second general election in five weeks, with conservative leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis expected to win reelection by a large margin. Opinion polls suggest the 55-year-old Mitsotakis and his center-right New Democracy party maintain a strong lead, unaffected by a

By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A man scheduled to be executed in September for the 1996 killing of a University of Oklahoma dance student plans to reject his chance for a clemency hearing, saying there is little hope the state’s Republican governor would spare his life. Anthony Sanchez, 44, said in