AP National News

By MELINA WALLING Associated Press The world is falling well short of the progress needed to meet the United Nations’ sustainable development goals by 2030 in areas ranging from poverty to clean energy to biodiversity. And there’s a growing gap between wealthy and developing nations, according to a report Tuesday from the nonprofit tracking the

By JOSH FUNK AP Business Writer ATLANTA (AP) — Federal regulators want first responders to a train derailment to know exactly what they are dealing with even before they reach the scene. That’s because dangerous chemicals trains carry might require a specialized response. A new rule proposed Wednesday would require all railroads to electronically push

PARIS (AP) — A strong explosion hit a building in Paris’ Left Bank on Wednesday, leaving at least 16 injured and igniting a fire that sent smoke soaring over city monuments and prompted the evacuation of surrounding buildings, police said. The cause of the blast was not immediately known. The facade of a building in

By KANIS LEUNG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — One of Hong Kong’s most reputable sources of public opinion data is limiting the scope of its surveys, including on sensitive topics such as Beijing’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square. The change, following a contact from a government agency, is likely to restrict

By JONEL ALECCIA and LAURA UNGAR Associated Press For the first time, U.S. regulators on Wednesday approved the sale of chicken made from animal cells, allowing two California companies to offer “lab-grown” meat to the nation’s restaurant tables and eventually, supermarket shelves. The Agriculture Department gave the green light to Upside Foods and Good Meat,

By PAN PYLAS and KIN CHEUNG Associated Press STONEHENGE, England (AP) — All hail the rising sun. Around 8,000 revelers gathered around a prehistoric stone circle on a plain in southern England to express their devotion to the sun, or to have some communal fun. Druids, pagans, hippies, local residents and tourists, many clad in

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO faces a series of dilemmas in its attempts to fight climate change while ensuring the effectiveness of its combat forces, as Europe’s biggest land war in decades ravages Ukraine, the head of the military alliance told The Associated Press in an interview on Wednesday. The world’s

By MARYCLAIRE DALE Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Two years after a former Gettysburg College student finally saw charges filed over her 2013 campus sexual assault, the man suspected of sending her a Facebook message that said, “ So I raped you,” remains on the run. Shannon Keeler, 28, and her attorneys question how Ian

By YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A court in Belarus on Wednesday has handed lengthy prison terms to 18 participants of mass anti-government protests that shook the country in 2020, the latest step in a brutal years-long effort to stifle all and any dissent. Sentences handed to the demonstrators on Wednesday ranged

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — With inflation in the United States still too high, most Federal Reserve officials expect to raise interest rates further this year, Chair Jerome Powell said in prepared testimony to be delivered to a House committee. “Inflation pressures continue to run high, and the process of getting

By THOMAS ADAMSON AP Fashion Writer PARIS (AP) — Unveiling a new chapter in its illustrious history, Louis Vuitton made an indelible mark on Paris Fashion Week’s men’s shows as they premiered the debut collection by musician-turned-designer Pharrell Williams. Appointed in February to fill the immense shoes left by the death of Virgil Abloh, Williams

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Some consider Yusef Salaam a folk hero as a member of the “Central Park Five,” the group of teenagers wrongly convicted of raping a white jogger in a brutal attack 34 years ago. Now he’s banking on his painful past to help win a seat

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN, RAF CASERT and LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union countries on Wednesday agreed on a new package of sanctions against Russia for its war against Ukraine aimed at countering sanctions circumvention through third countries and businesses. The EU had previously imposed 10 rounds of sanctions on Russia since President

By KRYSTA FAURIA Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Robert Downey Jr. knows he has amassed an impressive collection of classic cars — one he self-deprecatingly refers to as artifacts of his success. Despite his expectations of what the “accouterments are supposed to be” when one reaches a certain level of fame and wealth, trophies,

By HALELUYA HADERO The Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The Federal Trade Commission sued Amazon on Wednesday for what it called a years-long effort to enroll consumers without consent into its Prime program and making it difficult for them to cancel their subscriptions. In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the

By MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Biden administration is expected to propose new rules for protecting imperiled plants and animals that would reverse changes under former President Donald Trump that weakened the Endangered Species Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans to reinstate a decades-old regulation that mandates protections for

JERUSALEM (AP) — Hundreds of Israeli settlers have stormed into a Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank, setting fire to dozens of cars and homes to avenge the deaths of four Israelis killed by Palestinian gunmen the previous day. Residents say about 400 settlers stormed into the town of Turmus Ayya. The settler attack

By SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s executive arm says it will ask Hungary to provide explanations and details about the country’s role in the transfer to Hungary of 11 Ukrainian prisoners of war freed by Russia. The liberation of the POWs has created tensions between Ukraine and Hungary. The government

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s prime minister says he plans to visit Lithuania in July to attend a NATO leaders’ summit as his country steps up cooperation with the Western organization. Fumio Kishida’s announcement Wednesday ccomes amid China’s increasingly assertive military activity in the Indo-Pacific region. Japan has been strengthening ties

By MUNIR AHMED Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani authorities say they have arrested seven alleged key figures in a human trafficking ring following last week’s sinking of a vessel packed with migrants off Greece. More than 500 migrants are still missing, including Pakistanis. Police said Wednesday that arrests are part of a crackdown on