AP National News

BANSKA BYSTRICA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico is in stable but serious condition on Thursday after being shot multiple times in an assassination attempt a day earlier, a hospital official said. Doctors are continuing to treat Fico in an attempt to improve his condition, Defense Minister Robert Kalinak told reporters outside the

By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military finished installing a floating pier for the Gaza Strip on Thursday, with officials poised to begin ferrying badly needed humanitarian aid into the enclave besieged over seven months of intense fighting in the Israel-Hamas war. The final, overnight construction sets up a complicated

By MOLLY QUELL Associated Press THE HAGUE (AP) — The United Nations’ top court opens two days of hearings on Thursday into a request from South Africa to press Israel to halt its military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s population has sought shelter. It is the

By BELA SZANDELSZKY and KAREL JANICEK Associated Press BANSKA BYSTRICA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia’s populist Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot multiple times and gravely wounded Wednesday, but his deputy prime minister said he believed Fico would survive. The prime minister had been greeting supporters at an event when the attempted assassination took place, shocking

By JIM GOMEZ Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — More than 100 Filipino activists on wooden boats have decided not to sail closer to a fiercely disputed shoal in the South China Sea to avoid a confrontation with dozens of Chinese coast guard and suspected militia ships guarding the area. Organizers say they will distribute

Savannah Gankiewicz of Hawaii has been crowned Miss USA 2023, more than a week after the previous titleholder resigned citing her mental health. Gankiewicz, a model who leads a female empowerment nonprofit, will hold the title until August — the remainder of the pageant’s term. As the first runner-up, Gankiewicz was announced as the replacement

By PATRICK WHITTLE Associated Press AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — An independent commission investigating Maine’s deadliest mass shooting is preparing to hear from the shooter’s family for the first time. Army reservist Robert Card killed 18 people with an assault rifle in Lewiston last October. Card was a hand grenade instructor in the reserves and had

By MOLLY QUELL and RAF CASERT Associated Press THE HAGUE (AP) — Anti-Islam firebrand Geert Wilders and three other party leaders have agreed on a coalition deal that veers the Netherlands toward the hard right. It caps a half year of tumultuous negotiations, though it’s still unclear who will become prime minister. The “Hope, courage

By EMILY WANG FUJIYAMA and CHRISTOPHER BODEEN Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — China’s leader Xi Jinping welcomed Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Thursday as he began a two-day state visit while Moscow presses forward with a new offensive in Ukraine, underscoring the close relationship between the autocratic leaders. Following Putin’s dawn arrival, he was greeted

By PHILIP MARCELO Associated Press EAST MEADOW, N.Y. (AP) — A towering stadium boasting 34,000 seats and a precisely trimmed field of soft Kentucky bluegrass is rising in a suburban New York park that will host one of the world’s top cricket tournaments next month. But on a recent Saturday morning, on the other side

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — PEN America is gathering Thursday night for its annual gala, a high-profile event raised even higher because some wondered if it would be held at all. The literary and human rights organization has faced ongoing criticism over its response to the Israel-Hamas War, with hundreds

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer Asian shares were mostly higher on Thursday after U.S. stocks rallied to records on hopes that inflation is heading back in the right direction. The optimism came from a report showing U.S. consumers had to pay prices for gasoline, car insurance and everything else in April that were 3.4%

VENTURA, Calif. (AP) — A judge decided Wednesday that a Southern California college professor will stand trial for involuntary manslaughter and battery in the death of a Jewish counter-protester during demonstrations over the Israel-Hamas war last year. Superior Court Judge Ryan Wright judge declared after a two-day preliminary hearing that there’s enough evidence to try

By VERONICA ANDREA SAUCHELLI, MARIA GRAZIA MURRU and GIADA ZAMPANO Associated Press RIETI, Italy (AP) — Ella Anthony knew it was time to leave her native Nigeria when she escaped an abusive, forced marriage only to face angry relatives who threatened to turn her in to police because she was gay. Since Nigeria criminalizes same-sex

By TARA COPP and CLAUDIA LAUER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — In 2020, the top enlisted leader of the Air Force went public with his fear of waking up to the news that a Black airman had been killed by a white police officer. Then four years later, a Florida deputy shot and killed Senior

By HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH Associated Press TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The lesson on diversity started slowly in a first-grade classroom in Topeka, where schools were at the center of a case that struck down segregated education. “I like broccoli. Do you like broccoli?” Marie Carter, a Black school library worker, asked broccoli-hating librarian Amy Gugelman, who