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Associated Press LONDON (AP) — As gray seals go, Sheba is grayer than most. The grand dame of the Cornish Seal Sanctuary in England was celebrated Saturday for her 50th birthday, far surpassing the lifespan of a seal in the wild and possibly being the oldest in captivity. Things weren’t looking bright for the young

Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Rescue workers are searching for at least six people missing after heavy rain pounded Japan’s northcentral region of Noto, triggering landslides and floods and leaving one person dead in a region still recovering from a deadly Jan. 1 earthquake. The Japan Meteorological Agency on Saturday issued the highest alert level

Associated Press MUNICH (AP) — Oktoberfest is open. Mayor Dieter Reiter officially started Oktoberfest at noon Saturday when he inserted the tap into the first beer keg, signaling the 189th start of the festival. Thousands of beer lovers celebrated in the Munich fairground as the first to clink their mugs during the world’s largest folk

Associated Press COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Women make up more than half of the voters in Sri Lanka, but in Saturday’s presidential election, not even one will be on the ballot. Sri Lanka is voting for a president to take its economy forward after it went through an unprecedented financial crisis in 2022 that

Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A New Zealand pilot held hostage for more than a year in the restive Papua region of Indonesia has been freed by separatist rebels. Phillip Mark Mehrtens, a 38-year-old pilot from Christchurch, was working for Indonesian aviation company Susi Air when he was abducted by rebels from a remote

Associated Press AVIGNON, France (AP) — The trial of dozens of men accused of raping an unconscious woman whose husband repeatedly drugged her has highlighted the difficulties that sexual violence victims can face in France. Seventy-one-year-old Dominique Pelicot and his 50 co-defendants each face up to 20 years in prison if they’re convicted at a

Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Fall is back, and bringing with it jack-o’-lanterns, football, pumpkin spice everything and — in some parts of the country — especially vibrant foliage. Leaves around the northern U.S. are starting to turn orange, yellow and red, inspiring legions of leaf lovers to hop in their cars and travel

Associated Press WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) — Donald Trump returned to North Carolina on Saturday, stumping in the southern battleground state with direct appeals to women, claiming he would be a better champion for them than Vice President Kamala Harris, who is vying to become the first female president. Trump campaigned in Wilmington, along the state’s

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is taking a more hands-off approach than usual during a week of dramatic escalation between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, with top U.S. officials holding back from full-on crisis diplomacy for fear of making matters worse. The public restraint follows explosions of the militant group’s pagers

Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — With the 2024 election looming, the first since the mass popularization of generative artificial intelligence, experts feared the worst: social media flooded with AI-generated deepfakes that were so realistic, baffled voters wouldn’t know what to believe. So far, that hasn’t happened. Instead, what voters are seeing is far more absurd:

Associated Press/Report for America PHOENIX (AP) — Voters will decide ballot measures on abortion and immigration in Arizona, a key battleground state where Republicans are looking to capitalize on concerns about illegal border crossings to counter an expected increase in turnout by people determined to restore and protect abortion rights. And while the abortion initiative

Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations human rights chief says weaponizing ordinary communication devices represents a new development in warfare. He also says that targeting thousands of Lebanese people using pagers, two-way radios and electronic equipment without their knowledge is a violation of international human rights law. Volker Türk told an emergency

Associated Press/Report for America SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a law making it illegal for social media platforms to knowingly provide addictive feeds to children without parental consent. The legislation will take effect in 2027. The policies are part of a growing push in states across the country to try