AP National News

MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Torchbearers are carrying the Olympic flame Thursday through the streets of France’s southern port city of Marseille, a day after it arrived on a majestic three-mast ship for the welcoming ceremony. The torch begins its 11-week journey across the country with about 10,000 bearers passing through more than 450 towns until

By ZIMO ZHONG Associated Press HONG KONG (AP) — Asian shares were mixed on Thursday after Wall Street’s lull stretched into a second day, with Chinese benchmarks rising after China reported better-than-expected trade figures for April. U.S. futures were slightly lower and oil prices rose. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index was down 0.3% at

By DAVID RISING Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — Six months into an offensive against Myanmar ’s military government, opposition forces have made massive gains, but civilian casualties are rising sharply as regime troops increasingly turn toward scorched-earth tactics in the Southeast Asian country’s bitter civil war. There is pressure on all fronts from powerful militias

By CEDAR ATTANASIO Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Fellow former hostages, family and coworkers celebrated the life of journalist and philanthropist Terry Anderson Wednesday, remembering a man who helped others while struggling to heal himself. The news writer became a news subject when he was taken hostage in Lebanon by members of an Islamic

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Thursday wrapped itself in patriotic pageantry for Victory Day, a celebration of its defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II that President Vladimir Putin has turned into a pillar of his nearly quarter-century in power and a justification of his military action in Ukraine. Even though few veterans of

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican crosses a key milestone Thursday in the runup to its 2025 Jubilee with the promulgation of the official decree establishing the Holy Year. It’s a once-every-quarter-century event that is expected to bring some 32 million pilgrims to Rome and has already brought months of

By LISA MASCARO and KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Hard-line Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tried and failed in a brazen push to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson, but the resounding rejection by Republicans and Democrats tired of the turmoil does not guarantee an end to the GOP chaos. One of Donald Trump’s biggest

By MICHAEL R. SISAK, JAKE OFFENHARTZ, JENNIFER PELTZ and COLLEEN LONG Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Stormy Daniels will return to the witness stand Thursday in Donald Trump’s hush money trial as the defense tries to undermine the credibility of the porn actor’s salacious testimony about their alleged sexual encounter and the money she

AMSTERDAM (AP) — In sometimes violent confrontations, police broke up a protest by pro-Palestinian activists at the University of Amsterdam Wednesday in a second straight day of unrest over the war in Gaza. After police ended a blockade on university grounds, hundreds of demonstrators moved to a nearby square to continue protesting late into the

By SYLVIE CORBET and BARBARA SURK Associated Press MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Tens of thousands welcomed the Olympic torch in the southern French city of Marseille, marking another milestone in the lead-up to the Summer Games in Paris. A majestic three-mast ship carried the Olympic torch from Greece for the welcoming ceremony at sunset Wednesday

By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — Former President Donald Trump’s youngest son, Barron Trump, has been chosen to serve as a Florida delegate to the Republican National Convention. The Republican Party of Florida said he will serve as one of 41 at-large delegates from Florida to the national gathering. Barron Trump has

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China’s military is criticizing the U.S. as hyping its warship’s passage through the Taiwan Strait. The guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey passed through the waterway between mainland China and Taiwan on Wednesday, less than two weeks before the island’s new president takes office. China claims sovereignty over

By DÁNICA COTO Associated Press PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A transitional council tasked with choosing new leaders for Haiti is changing the way it operates in a move that is surprising many as gang violence consumes the country. Two members who were not authorized to publicly share the changes because they had not yet been

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer Ownership of the NHL’s team in Utah has given fans 20 choices to vote on for the franchise’s new name, according to a survey sent out Wednesday by Smith Entertainment Group. Owner Ryan Smith has told The Associated Press the team will have a name starting with Utah. The

By GEORGE WALKER IV, JOEY CAPPELLETTI and ED WHITE Associated Press COLUMBIA, Tenn. (AP) — Severe storms tore through parts of the U.S. again Wednesday, spawning damaging tornadoes, producing massive hail, and killing two people in Tennessee and one person in North Carolina. A storm that rumbled across northeastern Tennessee brought high winds that knocked

By LISA MASCARO and KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Hardline Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tried and failed in sudden action Wednesday to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson, her long-shot effort swiftly and resoundingly rejected by Democrats and Republicans tired of the political chaos. One of Donald Trump’s biggest supporters in Congress, Greene stood

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Lithuania has defended the decision not to allow Russian and Belarusian observers to monitor its upcoming presidential election, accusing both countries of spearheading campaigns that “pose a threat to our national security.” The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe — which includes Lithuania, Russia and Belarus — usually sends multinational

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI, ED WHITE and SEAN MURPHY Associated Press PAVILION TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Severe storms tore through the central and southeast U.S. late Tuesday and Wednesday, spawning damaging tornadoes, producing massive hail, and killing one person in Tennessee and another in North Carolina when trees toppled onto their vehicles. The storm that rumbled

MAYSOON KHAN Associated Press/Report for America ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York City’s watchdog agency says it has launched a probe into allegations that the New York City Police Department has improperly used its official social media accounts to target public officials and private citizens. The city’s Department of Investigation confirmed the probe in a