AP National News

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Taiwan’s foreign minister says he doesn’t know what countries might help it in the event of a war with China. Beijing claims Taiwan as its own territory, to brought under its control by force if necessary, and concerns are rising about a possible armed conflict. In an interview with Sky News

By JIM GOMEZ, AARON FAVILA and JOEAL CALUPITAN Associated Press ABOARD BRP MALABRIGO (AP) — When two Philippine coast guard vessels set out to patrol the volatile South China Sea recently, they had to face more than China’s growing territorial ambitions. The Associated Press and three other news agencies were invited by the Philippine coast

By AMANDA SEITZ Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Widespread loneliness in the U.S. poses health risks as deadly as smoking up to 15 cigarettes daily, costing the health industry billions of dollars annually, the U.S. surgeon general said Tuesday in declaring the latest public health epidemic. About half of U.S. adults say they’ve experienced loneliness,

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe’s painful inflation inched higher last month, extending the squeeze on households and keeping pressure on the European Central Bank to unleash another large interest rate increase. The European Union statistics agency Eurostat said Tuesday that consumer prices jumped 7% in April from a year earlier. That’s just down from the

BY SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Sudanese fleeing the fighting between rival generals in their capital city are flooding an already overwhelmed city on the Red Sea and Sudan’s northern borders with Egypt. The fighting, now in its third week, has turned Khartoum and its neighboring city of Omdurman into a battlefield with

By KANIS LEUNG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s leader on Tuesday stepped up a campaign to shut down further democratic challenges by unveiling plans to eliminate most directly elected seats on local district councils, the last major political representative bodies chosen by the public. Chief Executive John Lee said the proposed overhaul

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA Associated Press The Ugandan army says a bodyguard and shot and killed a government minister in an apparent private dispute. The victim, Charles Engola, served in the government of President Yoweri Museveni as the junior minister in charge of labor. He was a retired army colonel. The attacker, who has not been

TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albanian law enforcement authorities have charged an Albanian man with supporting terror attacks in Western Europe on social media. A statement from the special prosecutor’s office against corruption and organized crime on Tuesday accused Bledar Zeneli of promoting and urging terror attacks, falsifying documents and weapon possession. Using a false profile

BEIJING (AP) — China’s foreign minister has called for stability along the country’s border with Myanmar and a crackdown on cross-border criminal activity during a rare visit to the volatile region. Qin Gang said local Communist Party and government departments, the People’s Liberation Army, police and civilian bodies should join in strengthening the border defense

By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press BERLIN (AP) — Environmental campaigners urged climate envoys from dozens of nations gathering Tuesday in Berlin to discuss a global deadline for phasing out fossil fuels and ways of increasing aid to poor countries hit by global warming. About 40 countries, including the United States, China, India and Brazil, are

TORONTO (AP) — Gordon Lightfoot, the legendary folk singer-songwriter known for “If You Could Read My Mind” and “Sundown” and for songs that told tales of Canadian identity, died Monday. He was 84. Representative Victoria Lord said the musician died at a Toronto hospital. His cause of death was not immediately available. Considered one of

By SUZAN FRASER Associated Press ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The main challenger trying to unseat Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in this month’s presidential election cuts a starkly different figure than the incumbent who has led the country for two decades. Where Erdogan is a mesmerizing orator, the unassuming Kemal Kilicdaroglu is soft spoken. Erdogan

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s central bank has surprised markets by increasing its benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 3.85% despite pausing its climb last month and new evidence that inflation is slowing. The Reserve Bank of Australia’s meeting on April 4 was the first in a

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he is arranging a trip to South Korea for talks with President Yoon Suk Yeol in return for his March visit to Tokyo. The visit planned for  May 7-8 aims to further deepen ties before the upcoming Group of Seven summit

By ADAM BEAM Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California officials are suing a local government for not approving an apartment complex for people experiencing homelessness. California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration say state law requires the city of Elk Grove to approve the project. But Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen says the

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Bondi, an 8-month-old toy poodle, had just returned from a walk when he began stumbling. His head wobbled and soon he could barely stand, so his owner, Colleen Briggs, rushed him to the vet. The good doctor quickly made a diagnosis: Bondi was stoned. On