AP National News

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China announced more military drills around Taiwan as the island’s president met with members of a new U.S. congressional delegation on Monday, in a further sign of support among American lawmakers for the self-governing island Beijing claims as its own. Taiwanese media showed the delegation arriving for the talks, but details

By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Manila’s ambassador to Washington says Philippine officials are considering a U.S. offer to provide heavy-lift helicopters after Manila scrapped a deal to buy some from Russia due to fears of Western sanctions. Ambassador Jose Romualdez said Monday that the Philippine government was concerned about it could

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Iranian government official denied on Monday that Tehran was involved in the assault on author Salman Rushdie, in remarks that were the country’s first public comments on the attack. The comments by Nasser Kanaani, the spokesman of Iran’s Foreign Ministry, come more than

By JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press SLOVIANSK, Ukraine (AP) — Anastasiia Aleksandrova doesn’t even look up from her phone when the thunder of nearby artillery booms through the modest home the 12-year-old shares with her grandparents on the outskirts of Sloviansk in eastern Ukraine. With no one her age left in her neighborhood and classes only

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police have shot and killed a Palestinian man, claiming he had attempted to stab officers during a raid in east Jerusalem. Police said the officers were conducting a search for illegal weapons in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Kafr Aqab on Monday. Police claimed a suspect attempted to stab officers when

By ASHOK SHARMA Associated Press NEW DELHI (AP) — Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to raise millions out of poverty and turn India into a developed country in the next quarter-century as he marked 75 years since independence from British rule. Wearing a flowing, cream-colored turban printed with small stripes of orange, white and green,

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban’s state-run news agency says heavy rains have set off flash floods that killed at least 31 people in Afghanistan. The Bakhtar News Agency says the flooding took place on Sunday in northern Parwan province. The agency says women and children were among the dead and 17 people were reported injured.

By YURI KAGEYAMA AP Business Writer TOKYO (AP) — Japan has reported its economy grew at an annual rate of 2.2% in the last quarter as consumer spending rebounded with an easing of pandemic precautions. The of a nation’s products and services, expanded 0.5% from January-March, during which the economy had stayed flat, according to

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mixed in Asia on Monday after China’s central bank cut a key interest rate and Japan reported its economy picked up momentum in the last quarter. Tokyo and Sydney advanced while Hong Kong, Shanghai and Bangkok fell. U.S. futures edged lower early Monday, while

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WHANGANUI, New Zealand (AP) — Five years ago, the Whanganui River was recognized as a living person in a groundbreaking New Zealand law. For many who live along its banks, the official recognition validated the deep spiritual connection they feel with the river. They continue to feel the draw of

By HANNAH FINGERHUT and NUHA DOLBY Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans are less concerned now about how climate change might impact them personally — and about how their personal choices affect the climate — than they were three years ago, a new poll shows, even as a wide majority still believe climate change is

By JENNIFER McDERMOTT Associated Press PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Vermont farmer Brian Kemp is used to seeing the pastures at Mountain Meadows Farm grow slower in the hot, late summer, but this year the grass is at a standstill. That’s “very nerve-wracking” when you’re grazing 600 to 700 cattle, said Kemp, who manages an organic

By WILL WEISSERT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Elections in Wyoming and Alaska on Tuesday could relaunch the political career of a former Republican star and effectively end the career of another — at least for now. Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney is the vice chair of a U.S. House committee seeking to expose the truth

By MICHAEL TARM AP Legal Affairs Writer CHICAGO (AP) — Jury selection begins Monday at R. Kelly’s federal trial in his hometown of Chicago, where the R&B singer faces charges that he rigged his 2008 state child pornography trial by threatening and paying off a girl who he allegedly filmed himself having sex with when

By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — They hail from their states’ most prominent Republican families. They have been among the GOP’s sharpest critics of former President Donald Trump. And after the Jan. 6 insurrection, they supported his impeachment. But for all their similarities, the political fortunes of U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of

By NICK PERRY Associated Press WHANGANUI, New Zealand (AP) — The Whanganui River is surging into the ocean, fattened from days of winter rain and yellowed from the earth and clay that has collapsed into its sides. Logs and debris hurtle past as dusk looms. Sixty-one-year-old Tahi Nepia is calmly paddling his outrigger canoe, called

By REGINA GARCIA CANO Associated Press CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Public school teachers across Venezuela had planned to use their annual vacation bonus to buy uniforms for their children, waterproof leaky roofs and get new prescription glasses. But a few days into their long break, teachers have been marching by the thousands around the country,