Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Thousands of giant panda sculptures will greet residents and tourists starting Saturday in Hong Kong, where enthusiasm for the bears has grown since two cubs were born in a local theme park. The 2,500 exhibits were showcased in a launch ceremony of PANDA GO! FEST HK, the city’s largest
Continue ReadingGENEVA (AP) — For the first time in Switzerland, a multinational company faces a criminal trial on charges of bribing a foreign public official, with alleged payments totaling about $5 million, to win lucrative oil industry contracts in Angola. Commodities trader Trafigura Group said it intended to defend itself against allegations that its former parent
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — It is the world’s rarest whale, with only seven of its kind ever spotted. Almost nothing is known about the enigmatic species. But on Monday a small group of scientists and cultural experts in New Zealand clustered around a near-perfectly preserved spade-toothed whale hoping to decode decades of
Continue ReadingAssociated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers are set to consider a bill that would require the state’s public universities to give admission priority to the descendants of slaves. The bill introduced Monday by Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, a Democrat who represents parts of Los Angeles, comes as conservative officials throughout the country try to impose
Continue ReadingAssociated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The top United Nations court has taken up the largest case in its history, hearing the plight of several small island nations helpless in combating the devastating impact of climate change. They demand that major polluting nations be held to account. After years of lobbying by island nations
Continue ReadingAssociated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Ukraine for the first time in more than two years Monday and vowed to keep supporting Kyiv in the war, just weeks after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rebuked him for having a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The conflict is approaching a
Continue ReadingPESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani officials say authorities with help from community leaders brokered a second ceasefire between warring minority Shiites and Sunni Muslims in a troubled northwestern region bordering Afghanistan following a deadly sectarian violence that left dozens of people dead. The violence in Kurram, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, erupted after gunmen
Continue ReadingAssociated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Positioned along the seismically active Ring of Fire, Indonesia and the Philippines have the second and third highest installed geothermal energy capacity in the world, after the United States. Both Southeast Asian island nations are tapping into only a small fraction of their geothermal potential, however, due to financial
Continue ReadingCONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Chaos erupted at a soccer game in Guinea after fans protested a referee’s call and thousands of panicked spectators tried to flee the stadium, leaving at least 56 people dead in the West African nation, officials and witnesses said Monday. Amid the confusion, security forces used tear gas, local news website
Continue ReadingAP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Technology stocks pulled Wall Street to another record amid a mixed Monday of trading. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% from its all-time high set on Friday to post a record for the 54th time this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 128 points, or 0.3%, while the
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A majority of Supreme Court justices didn’t seem convinced Monday that federal regulators misled companies before refusing to allow them to sell sweet flavored vaping products following a surge in teen e-cigarette use. The court did raise questions about an FDA crackdown that included denials on sales of more than
Continue ReadingAssociated Press SAINT-MALO, France (AP) — Had he continued working aboard fuel-powered cargo ships, Yann Jourdan reckons he’d be earning perhaps four times what he now gets as captain of a sailboat that instead uses the wind’s clean energy to transport goods across the Atlantic. But the hit to Jourdan’s pay is buying him peace
Continue ReadingAssociated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The issue of transgender rights animated the presidential campaign. Now it has made its way to the Supreme Court, and in more ways than one. On Wednesday, the first openly transgender attorney to argue before the nation’s highest court steps up to the lectern. Chase Strangio is representing three families
Continue ReadingAssociated Press TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a white ex-police detective in Kansas accused of sexually assaulting Black women has died in an apparent suicide at his home. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation said 71-year-old Roger Golubski died of a gunshot wound and there are no indications of foul play. He died as his
Continue ReadingAssociated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The president of the International Criminal Court lashed out on Monday at Russia for targeting its prosecutors and judges over the panel’s investigation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and slammed comments by a U.S. senator threatening the court. Judge Tomoko Akane said in her address to the annual
Continue ReadingAssociated Press INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Two Indianapolis police officers are set to stand trial in the death of Black man after being shocked with a Taser and restrained during a mental health crisis in his parents’ home. Officers Adam Ahmad and Steven Sanchez were indicted by a grand jury in 2023 in Herman Whitfield III’s
Continue ReadingAssociated Press LUANDA, Angola (AP) — President Joe Biden has arrived in Angola for his long-awaited first presidential visit to sub-Saharan Africa. Biden is using the three-day trip to counter China’s growing influence on the African continent by highlighting the U.S.-backed Lobito Corridor railway redevelopment in Zambia, Congo and Angola. The project aims to advance
Continue ReadingAssociated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Closing arguments are set to wrap up Tuesday in the trial of a Marine veteran charged with recklessly choking to death an irate homeless man on a New York subway train. Prosecutor Dafna Yoran told jurors at the start of summations Monday that Daniel Penny used too much force
Continue ReadingAP Sports Writer ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Josh Allen’s memorable week began with singer and actress Hailey Steinfeld accepting his proposal for marriage and ended with the Buffalo Bills quarterback celebrating his three-TD outing in an AFC East-clinching 35-10 win over San Francisco by making snow angels alongside coach Sean McDermott on Sunday night.
Continue ReadingDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. Navy destroyers shot down seven missiles and drones fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels at the warships and three American merchant vessels they were escorting through the Gulf of Aden. No damage or injuries were reported. U.S. Central Command said late Sunday that the destroyers USS Stockdale and USS
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