AP National News

By BOB CHRISTIE Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona voters who overwhelmingly cast their ballots by mail have rejected a measure that would have required them to add more information to the simple signature and date they now put on the back of the return envelope. Proposition 309 also would have eliminated the ability of

By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA Associated Press BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s army says firefighters have put out a fire in Baghdad airport for a second time this week. The flames broke out at dawn on Thursday on the ground floor of the airport’s VIP hall and caused some material damage but no human losses. Sixteen civil defense

By MARK LONG AP Pro Football Writer Aaron Rodgers and his peers around the NFL are calling for teams to tear up their turf playing surfaces and replace them with grass. The outpouring comes a week after NFL Players Association President JC Tretter called on six venues to immediately change their field types, saying the

By DEE-ANN DURBIN AP Business Writer Starbucks workers at more than 100 U.S. stores say they’re going on strike Thursday. It’s largest labor action since a campaign to unionize Starbucks’ stores began late last year. The walkouts are scheduled to coincide with Starbucks’ annual Red Cup Day, when the company gives free reusable cups to

By FOSTER KLUG Associated Press NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AP) — China and India, after months of refusing to condemn Russia’s war in Ukraine, did not stand in the way of the release this week of a statement by the world’s leading economies that strongly criticizes Moscow. Could this, at last, signal a bold new policy

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese spokesperson has accused Canada of acting in a “condescending manner” following a testy exchange between President Xi Jinping and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that underscores the depths to which the bilateral relationship has fallen. The comments by a Foreign Ministry spokesperson came after Xi chastised Trudeau at the Group

By ZEN SOO Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — American game developer Blizzard Entertainment says it will suspend most of its game services in mainland China after current licensing agreements end with Chinese games company NetEase. The news sent NetEase’s shares tumbling Thursday. Blizzard had partnered with NetEase in 2008 to offer popular games like

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian airstrikes inflicted more damage on Ukraine on Thursday, with the latest barrage smashing into energy infrastructure, apartment buildings and an industrial site. At least four people were killed and 11 others wounded in drone and missile strikes around the country, authorities said. Separately, U.N. Secretary-General

By STEPHEN McGRATH and CRISTIAN JARDAN Associated Press CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Massive blackouts that temporarily hit more than a half-dozen cities across Moldova this week have highlighted the impact Russia’s war in Ukraine is having on Europe’s poorest country. The power outages happened Tuesday as the Russian military pounded infrastructure targets across the border

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Global shares mostly declined Thursday amid concerns about the impact of China’s “zero-COVID” strategy mixed with hopes for economic activity and tourism returning to normal. France’s CAC 40 added 0.4% in early trading to 6,631.06. Germany’s DAX rose 0.9% to 14,367.89. Britain’s FTSE 100 sank 0.3%

By DANICA KIRKA and SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — So many demands. So little money. Just three weeks after taking office, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faces the challenge of balancing the nation’s budget while helping millions of people slammed by a cost-of-living crisis as Russia’s war in Ukraine pushes up energy prices

By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian strikes hit Ukraine’s southern Odesa region and the city of Dnipro for the first time in weeks on Thursday morning, and air raid sirens sounded all across the country amid fears that Moscow unleashed another large-scale missile attack. An infrastructure target was hit on the

By BHARATHA MALLAWARACHI Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — The Sri Lankan government is being urged to drop charges against two protest leaders detained for more than three months following the anti-government demonstrations that engulfed the island nation earlier this year. Amnesty International also renewed its call for Sri Lanka to repeal the harsh,

By SAM McNEIL Associated Press KONOMIE ISLAND, Australia (AP) — Below the turquoise waters off the coast of Australia is one of the world’s natural wonders, an underwater rainbow jungle teeming with life that scientists say is showing some of the clearest signs yet of climate change. The Great Barrier Reef, battered but not broken

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s state-run news agency says security forces have detained a suspect wanted in connection with the deadly bombing in Istanbul. The operation was carried out in a Turkish-controlled area in northwestern Syria. Other suspects detained following the bombing will appear before court officials on Thursday to face possible charges or be

By ABBY SEWELL Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — Syria’s largest Palestinian camp was once bustling with activity: It was crowded with mini-buses and packed with shops hawking falafel, shawarma and knafeh nabulsieh — a sweet concoction of cheese and phyllo dough. Kids played soccer and brandished plastic guns until men with real guns came in

By EVELYNE MUSAMBI Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Authorities say two people have died after a multi-story building under construction collapsed on a neighbor’s home on the outskirts of Kenyan capital Nairobi. Three other people have been rescued alive from the family home that was next to the collapsed building located in Ruaka suburb.

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — Men usually outnumber and outrank women negotiators in climate talks, except when it comes to global warming’s thorniest diplomatic issue this year — reparations for climate disasters. The issue of polluting nations paying vulnerable countries is handed over to women, who got the issue

By SEAN MURPHY Associated Press Writer OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma is preparing to execute a man for the torture killing of his girlfriend’s 3-year-old son in 1993. Richard Stephen Fairchild is scheduled to receive a lethal injection Thursday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. Attorneys for the 63-year-old argued that Fairchild was abused

By GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The largest dam demolition and river restoration plan in the world could become reality as U.S. regulators vote on whether to approve the removal of four aging structures, reopening hundreds of miles of California river to imperiled salmon. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission vote Thursday on