AP National News

By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — It’s like Sephora or Starbucks now offered a checking account. After years of closing or mostly neglecting physical bank branches across the U.S., the nation’s largest banks are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on refurbishing old locations or building new ones, and in the

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Doctors Without Borders says the notorious Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, fighting Sudan’s military for over a year, fired shots and looted a main hospital in the western region of Darfur, forcing its closure. The RSF, attacked the South Hospital in al-Fasher, the capital city of North

MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Officials say a van has fallen from a mountain road into a river in the Pakistan-administered disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, killing 16 people, mostly children. A statement released by the disaster management authority on Monday said the incident happened in the Neelam Valley. It said the dead included nine children

By HANNA ARHIROVA Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine may keep some of the F-16 fighter jets it’s set to receive from its Western allies at foreign bases to protect them from Russian strikes, a senior Ukrainian military officer said Monday. Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway have committed to providing Ukraine with over

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — After Federal Reserve officials meet this week, a statement they will issue may suggest that they’ve seen meaningful progress on inflation this year — a prelude to eventual interest rate cuts. Yet it’s hard to say, because the officials themselves may not know for sure until

By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Ryan Christenson has turned lineup cards into art. After San Francisco Giants manager Bob Melvin picks a batting order, his bench coach selects the font and color scheme for the day’s sumptuous script. Options include Roman Gothic, a Celtic variation, Chicano Tattoo and graffiti. “He’s

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The elections in Sweden to the European Parliament marked the first electoral setback for the Swedish populist party with far-right roots. Sweden Democrats, the Scandinavian country’s second largest party, came fourth with 13.2 % of the votes, down 2.2%, according to preliminary figures. That made Sweden one of the few countries

By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press OBBÜERGEN, Switzerland (AP) — Switzerland’s president says nearly 90 countries and organizations, half from Europe, have confirmed attending the Swiss-hosted Ukraine peace summit over the weekend despite Russia’s refusal to participate. Viola Amherd told reporters Monday that the summit will aim to chart a path toward possible peace nearly 28

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria’s center-right GERB party led by former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov has received most votes in the country’s parliamentary election but will need at least two partners to form a governing coalition. The country’s sixth vote for the National Assembly in three years was held Sunday parallel with European Parliament elections.

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military on Monday said it’s detecting signs that North Korea is installing its own loudspeakers along their heavily armed border, a day after the South blared anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts over its speakers for the first time in years as the rivals engage in

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Across the Chinese diaspora, racing in dragon boats has been a tradition reaching back thousands of years. But change is afoot, most recently in central Taiwan where the races were switched to the evening to take advantage of cooler temperatures, a refreshing breeze and the sight of the boats lit up

NEW DELHI (AP) — India is investigating an attack in which suspected militants fired at a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims in Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing at least nine and injuring 33. The attack caused the vehicle to fall into a deep gorge Sunday in Jammu province. The bus was carrying pilgrims to the base camp of

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the opposition Liberal Party will renege on the nation’s ambitious target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 if it wins elections due within a year. Albanese on Monday made Australian action on climate change an issue in elections due

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Doctors Without Borders says the notorious Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, fighting Sudan’s military for over a year, fired shots and looted a health facility in the western region of Darfur, forcing its closure. The RSF, attacked the South Hospital in al-Fasher, the capital city of North

By VANESSA GERA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s centrist party clinched its first electoral victory over a right-wing populist party in a decade by taking the most votes in the European Parliament election. While the results, announced Monday, solidified his position, they also showed that his lead is small,

By TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s dramatic weekend rescue of four hostages from the Gaza Strip, in an operation that local health officials say killed 274 Palestinians, came at a sensitive time in the 8-month-old war, as Israel and Hamas weigh a U.S. proposal for a cease-fire and the release

By TIA GOLDENBERG Associated Press TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s dramatic weekend rescue of four hostages from deep inside an urban area of the Gaza Strip came at a sensitive time in the 8-month-old war, as Israel and Hamas weigh a U.S. proposal for a cease-fire and the release of the remaining captives. Both