News

By COLLEEN BARRY Associated Press MILAN (AP) — Since she arrived in 2015, the German director of Florence’s Accademia Gallery has succeeded in drawing visitors’ attention to masterpieces beyond Michelangelo’s towering David, while winning landmark court cases to protect the familiar image of the marble masterpiece against misuse. But even as Cecilie Hollberg highlights her

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares were mostly higher on Wednesday after a rally on Wall Street fueled by the frenzy around artificial intelligence. U.S. futures were little changed and oil prices fell. The Asian Development Bank issued an update on regional economies noting that exports have weakened as growth

By RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union says the American candidate to become one of the bloc’s chief economists will now not take up the position because of the political controversy it has stirred. In a letter to the EU’s executive Commission released early on Wednesday, Yale economics professor Fiona Scott

By ANNE M. PETERSON AP Soccer Writer FIFA President Gianni Infantino could make no guarantee Wednesday that the member federations will distribute the $30,000 payments promised to every player at the Women’s World Cup. He said at a news conference ahead of the tournament opener that he’s engaging with member federations on the issue. The

By PAN PYLAS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Inflation in the U.K. has fallen by more than anticipated to a 15-month low a development that may ease the pressure for the Bank of England to raise interest rates sharply over the coming months, to the potential relief of struggling households. The Office for National Statistics

By TAIWO ADEBAYO Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Abubakar Salisu was terrified when he discovered arid sand in the middle of his farmland, rendering a broad strip unfit for crops. Now, extreme heat is killing his wheat before it is ready for cultivation. Wheat normally requires heat, but in the last three years, farmers

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Police and rescue officials say 11 workers were killed after a wall collapsed near an under-construction bridge on the outskirts of Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. The wall fell while the workers sat inside their roadside tents at the construction site early Wednesday. Local police official Mohammad Akram and Emergency Service Rescue 1122  said

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party faces a trio of unwanted verdicts from voters this week. The U.K. is holding three special elections for House of Commons seats, part of shockwaves from the turbulent term of ex-leader Boris Johnson. He quit as a lawmaker last month

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press PRAGUE (AP) — The head of Britain’s MI6 intelligence agency says. artificial intelligence will never replace the need for human spies. Richard Moore will use a speech Wednesday in Prague to highlight evolving threats to the West from Russia and Iran, and argue that the “human factor” will remain crucial

By JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — After seeing his Socialists take a drubbing in local and regional elections in May, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez stunned his buoyant rivals by bringing forward general elections from December to this Sunday. Most polling indicates the conservative Popular Party is set to win the ballot

By ABDULRAHMAN ZEYAD and DAWOOD SALMAN Associated Press BASRA, Iraq (AP) — For three centuries, the al-Siraji Mosque, with its minaret inlaid with blue ceramic tiles, was a distinctive feature of the city of Basra in southern Iraq. But in recent days, bulldozers razed the historic minaret to the ground on orders from the local

By MARÍA VERZA Associated Press MANZANILLO, Mexico (AP) — Lost at sea for months on a disabled catamaran, with no way to cook and no source of fresh water but the rain, Australian Timothy Shaddock said he expected to die. There was a lot to like about the experience, he said. Like when he would

By GRANT PECK and JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Constitutional Court has agreed to suspend Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat, a candidate to become prime minister, from his duties as a member of Parliament pending its ruling on whether he violated election law. The court’s announcement Wednesday came ahead of a

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Mega Millions jackpot has risen to an estimated $720 million after no winning ticket was sold — again. It’s now one of two national lotteries with enormous jackpots but equally enormous odds against winning them. No ticket for Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing matched the white balls 19, 22, 31, 37,