AP National News

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russia will no longer give the U.S. advance notice about its missile tests, a senior Moscow diplomat said Wednesday, as its military deployed mobile launchers in Siberia in a show of the country’s massive nuclear capability amid fighting in Ukraine. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told Russian

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A Swedish court has found 35-year-old woman guilty of war crimes for posting photos of herself with severed heads that were on display in a Syrian city in 2014. Fatosh Ibrahim who pleaded not guilty, was sentenced to three months in prison. Ibrahim used her cell phone to take photos on

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South African police have launched a manhunt for convicted rapist and murderer Thabo Bester who escaped from a privately-run maximum security prison in the Free State province under bizarre circumstances. Bester, known as the “Facebook rapist,” was found guilty in 2012 of raping two women and killing

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Commission says a top EU transport official who accepted free flights and accommodation in Qatar has been transferred to another post at his own request.  Commission transport department head Henrik Hololei traveled for free with Qatar Airways nine times between 2015 and 2021. The trips were made when the department

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An oil tanker owned by a major U.S.-traded transportation company appears to be taking on Iranian crude oil in a key Asian maritime strait in violation of American sanctions, an advocacy group alleges. The firm allegedly involved, Euronav, said Wednesday it will “take appropriate

By ELENA BECATOROS Associated Press DNIPRO, Ukraine (AP) — The head of the U.N.’s atomic energy watchdog has returned to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine. International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi crossed the war’s front lines for a second time to reach the Russian-occupied plant. Grossi told The Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — The Russian military conducted drills of its strategic missile forces Wednesday, deploying mobile launchers in Siberia in a show of the country’s massive nuclear capability amid the fighting in Ukraine. As part of the drills, the Yars mobile missile launchers will maneuver across three regions of Siberia, Russia’s Defense Ministry said. The

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Global stocks rose Wednesday as anxiety about the global financial system began to fade following three high-profile bank failures. London, Tokyo, Frankfurt and Wall Street futures advanced. Shanghai declined. Oil prices gained. Fears global banks might be cracking under the strain of interest rate hikes to

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Entertainer Paul O’Grady, who achieved fame as drag queen Lily Savage before becoming a much-loved comedian and host on British television, has died. He was 67. O’Grady’s partner Andre Portasio said he died “unexpectedly but peacefully” on Tuesday evening. Born in Birkenhead, near Liverpool, in 1955, O’Grady

BEIJING (AP) — China threatened “resolute countermeasures” over a planned meeting between Taiwan’s president and the United States House speaker during an upcoming trip through Los Angeles. Diplomatic pressure against Taiwan has ramped up recently, with Beijing poaching Taipei’s dwindling number of diplomatic allies while also sending military fighter jets flying toward the island on

By THOMAS ADAMSON Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Sanitation workers in Paris are set to return to work Wednesday amid heaps of trash that piled up over their weekslong strike as protests against French President Emmanuel Marcon’s controversial pension bill appeared to be winding down. Trash mounds of up to 10,000 tons along the French

By DAVID A. LIEB Associated Press Public outrage is swift following mass shootings, such as the killing of six people at a Christian elementary school in Nashville. Sorrow and sympathy are widespread. But what comes next from policymakers is likely to depend on which political party is in charge of a state. Don’t expect new

By KRISHAN FRANCIS Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Sri Lanka’s government has announced significant cuts in fuel prices, providing welcome relief for many after a year of shortages and skyrocketing prices amid the country’s worst economic crisis. Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekara told reporters different categories of petrol and diesel will

STRASBOURG, France (AP) — Swiss pensioners are taking their government to a top European court over what they claim is its failure to take stronger action on climate change. Lawyers and members of the group Senior Women for Climate Protection appeared Wednesday before the European Court of Human Rights for a rare public hearing that

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A top US diplomat says the Taliban must free detained Afghanistan activists, following the arrest of a girls’ education advocate. Matiuallah Wesa, the founder and president of Pen Path, a local nongovernmental group that travels across the country with a mobile school and library, was arrested Monday. The US charge d’affaires for

GENEVA (AP) — UBS says it’s bringing back former CEO Sergio Ermotti to head the Swiss bank as it moves forward on a government-orchestrated plan to take over struggling rival Credit Suisse. The bank said Wednesday Ermotti’s appointment takes effect in a week’s time. Ermotti, who was the bank’s top executive for nine years, will

By JOSEF FEDERMAN Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s prime minister has brushed aside criticism of his judicial overhaul plan from President Joe Biden. Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that the matter was an internal Israeli issue and would not be influenced by outside pressure. It marks a rare bout of public disagreement between the

By JENNIFER O’MAHONY Associated Press MADRID (AP) — Renewable energy investors who lost subsidies promised by Spain are heading to a London court to try to claw back $125 million from the government — a decadelong dispute with ramifications for clean energy financing across the European Union. The outcome will be closely watched by investors

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain’s new king will make his debut on the world stage Wednesday, three days later and 550 miles (885 kilometers) northeast of where he had intended. Although King Charles III will be greeted with a hearty “willkommen” in Berlin rather than “bienvenue” in Paris, his goals remain

By CHRIS MEGERIAN and FRANCIS KOKUTSE Associated Press ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — During her visit to Ghana, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has announced more than $1 billion in public and private money for women’s economic empowerment in Africa. Harris made the announcement Wednesday during a meeting with female entrepreneurs. The money is intended to