News

By JAN M. OLSEN Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The leader of Norway’s Labor Party will start talks in an attempt to build a coalition after the center-left bloc beat the incumbent Conservatives and won Norway’s general election. The Labor Party and its two left-leaning allies the Socialist Left and the euroskeptic Center Party

MADRID (AP) — Rain has helped to bring under control a major wildfire that ravaged 7,800 hectares (19,200 acres) of southern Spain despite more than five days of intense firefighting work by land and air. But officials say that the blaze in Sierra Bermeja is not over and that work to completely extinguish the flames

By NICOLE WINFIELD and KAREL JANICEK Associated Press KOSICE, Slovakia (AP) — Pope Francis is urging Slovakia’s Roma to integrate better into the mainstream as he meets with the country’s most socially excluded minority group, who have long suffered discrimination, marginalization and poverty. But Francis’ visit Tuesday to the Lunik IX settlement in Kosice brought

By BOUBACAR DIALLO and KRISTA LARSON Associated Press CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Guinea’s opposition leaders say the country’s ousted president is to blame for the military coup in the West African nation a little over a week ago. They have asked the international community to support the political transition led by the ruling junta as

BERLIN (AP) — German authorities have compensated nearly 250 people who were prosecuted or investigated under a Nazi-era law criminalizing homosexuality that continued to be enforced enthusiastically after World War II. The Federal Office of Justice said Monday that, up to the end of August, 317 people had applied for compensation and it had been

By JOCELYN NOVECK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — There were enough tennis stars inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art at Monday’s Met Gala, it seemed, to play a tournament. But then, the museum was filled with screen and TV stars, too. And musicians, and luminaries of business and politics. In fact, an evening that

By AIJAZ HUSSAIN Associated Press SRINAGAR, India (AP) — India’s leaders are anxiously watching the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, fearing that it will benefit their bitter rival Pakistan and feed a long-simmering insurgency in the disputed region of Kashmir, where militants already have a foothold. Lt. Gen. Deependra Singh Hooda, former military commander for northern

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s competition watchdog says it plans to fine Google at least 207.4 billion won ($177 million) for allegedly blocking smartphone makers like Samsung from using other operating systems. Google said it plans to challenge the ruling. The announcement came as South Korea began enforcing

By JOSEPH PISANI AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Your palm could soon be your ticket into a concert. Amazon says it is bringing its palm-recognition technology to the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver and it will be available at other venues in the coming months. It’s the first time the technology, called Amazon

LONDON (AP) — Painter Charlotte Johnson Wahl, the mother of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, has died aged 79. Wahl died “suddenly and peacefully” at a London hospital on Monday, according to a death notice in The Times of London. Boris Johnson once described his mother as the “supreme authority” in his large, close-knit family.

By DARIA LITVINOVA Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — In the months before Sunday’s parliamentary election in Russia, authorities unleashed an unprecedented crackdown on the opposition, making sure the best-known and loudest Kremlin critics didn’t run. Some were barred from seeking public office under new, repressive laws. Some were forced to leave the country after threats

By DARIA LITVINOVA Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his embattled allies won’t be running in the Sept. 19 parliamentary election, but they still hope to challenge the ruling United Russia party with their strategy known as Smart Voting. The project, thought up by Navalny, is designed to promote

By BARRY WILNER AP Pro Football Writer A decade ago, Scotty McCreery won “American Idol.” At age 17. So the country music star and huge NFL fan knows all about the pressure players face. Maybe even more so:  Remember, as well as he might have performed on stage, fans across the country were casting votes

By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press SURFSIDE BEACH, Texas (AP) — Tropical Storm Nicholas has weakened to a tropical depression as it slowed to a crawl over southeastern Texas and southwestern Louisiana as its heavy rains continued to drench the area, maintaining a flood threat. The National Hurricane Center downgraded Nicholas as night approached Tuesday,