AP National News

AP Music Writer NEW YORK (AP) — It’s a pop hit like many others: An ascending chorus, an addictive hook, a warm rhythm. But “OMG,” performed by New York Mets infielder Jose Iglesias, has become the perfect anthem for the team’s unlikely playoff run. Since its release on streaming platforms in late June, “OMG” has

AP Business Writers NEW YORK (AP) — Just how much of a setback was the COVID-19 pandemic for U.S. working women? Although women who lost or left their jobs at the height of the crisis have largely returned to the workforce, a recent finding points to the price many paid for stepping back: In 2023,

CHENNAI, India (AP) — Schools, colleges and government offices have shut in parts of southern India as heavy monsoon rains triggered severe flooding. The worst-hit cities included Chennai and Bengaluru, the country’s industrial and information technology hubs. Television images Wednesday showed people in Chennai struggling through traffic congestion in knee-deep floodwaters. Power cuts and flight cancellations

Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — More than 140 people, including children, are dead in Nigeria after an overturned gasoline tanker truck exploded in flames while they tried to scoop up fuel. Dozens more were injured. Deadly tanker accidents are common in Africa’s most populous country, which lacks an efficient railway system to transport cargo.

Associated Press WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Victims of domestic violence in New Zealand will be allowed to cut ties to abusive spouses more quickly after lawmakers unanimously voted Wednesday to exempt them from a mandatory two-year separation period before divorce can be sought. The required cooling-off period before a couple in New Zealand can

AP Medical Writer LONDON (AP) — A new bill aiming to legalize assisted dying in Britain was introduced in Parliament on Wednesday, marking the first time in nearly a decade that lawmakers will debate allowing doctors to help end people’s lives after previous court challenges to change the law failed. The Labour politician Kim Leadbeater

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A moderately strong earthquake has struck eastern Turkey, causing widespread panic. There is no report of any casualty or significant destruction. The earthquake with a magnitude 5.9 struck the town of Kale in Malatya province on Wednesday. It was also felt in several nearby provinces and parts of northern Syria. A

Associated Press The world is set to make abundant energy by the second half of the decade as the production of batteries and solar panels surges but there’ll also be an excess of planet-warming fossil fuels, a report released Wednesday by the International Energy Agency said. It estimates that energy worldwide will increasingly rely on

Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is being criticized for buying a multimillion dollar waterfront home during a national housing crisis with federal elections only months away. The $2.9 million clifftop home is in the Copacabana suburb, north of his hometown of Sydney. Many Australians are struggling to buy their

Associated Press SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Leaders of Kashmir’s biggest political party have been sworn into office to run a largely powerless local government for the first time after India stripped the region of its special status five years ago. The swearing-ins followed a recent election in the disputed region. National Conference leader Omar Abdullah will

Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Inflation in the U.K. has fallen to its lowest level in more than three years, a drop that has cemented market expectations that the Bank of England will lower interest rates at its next policy meeting. The Office for National Statistics said Wednesday that consumer prices rose by 1.7% in

Associated Press ISLAMABAD (AP) — Leaders and top officials from an international group founded to counter Western alliances have met in Pakistan’s capital, with Moscow and Beijing announcing they will boost cooperation. The 23rd meeting of the China-and Russia-founded Shanghai Cooperation Organization was held Wednesday amid tight security in Islamabad and attended by leaders including

Associated Press SHENGJIN, Albania (AP) — An Italian navy ship docked at the Albanian port of Shengjin to bring the first group of 16 migrants intercepted in international waters. The naval ship Libra left the port of Lampedusa on Monday with 16 men — 10 from Bangladesh and six from Egypt — who were rescued

Associated Press QANA, Lebanon (AP) — Israeli airstrikes pounded areas across Lebanon, killing at least 27 people over the past 24 hours, officials said Wednesday, including more than a dozen in a southern town where Israeli bombardments in previous conflicts are seared into local memory. Elsewhere in the south, a city’s mayor was among the

Associated Press OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s top election official had no authority to strip voting rights from people convicted of a felony, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in a decision that could add hundreds of new voters to the rolls and potentially help tip the balance on Nov. 5. The order by Republican

Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — A former Las Vegas-area Democratic elected official was sentenced Wednesday to at least 28 years in Nevada state prison for killing an investigative journalist who wrote articles critical of his conduct in office two years ago and exposed an intimate relationship with a female coworker. A judge invoked sentencing

Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Multiple generations of family members of Erik and Lyle Menendez pleaded for the brothers’ release from prison on Wednesday, saying they deserve to be free despite life sentences for the 1989 killings of their parents in Beverly Hills because they had been “brutalized” and sexually abused by their father.

Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas state board on Wednesday declined to stop what could be the first execution in the U.S. in a case tied to the diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome, rejecting clemency pleas from a man whose claims of innocence have drawn wide support, including from Republican lawmakers and a detective

Associated Press Montana’s rising cost of living featured in a debate Wednesday between the state’s governor and his challenger in the upcoming election. While Democrat Ryan Busse sought to portray Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte as out of touch with people trying to afford housing, Gianforte pointed to the state’s strong economy in arguing for a