AP National News

Associated Press ROME (AP) — Italy’s president has sharply rebuked Elon Musk. President Sergio Mattarella issued an unusually piqued statement on Wednesday following Musk’s weighing in on Italian court rulings that have stymied the government’s plans to process some asylum-seekers in Albania. Musk wrote earlier that the court rulings were unacceptable and that “these judges

BANGKOK (AP) — In case you can’t get enough of the little pygmy hippo Moo Deng from Thailand, there’s now an official song featuring the internet’s favorite baby animal — released in four languages for her global fans. The upbeat 50-second song “Moodeng Moodeng,” available in Thai, English, Chinese and Japanese versions, features simple lyrics

Associated Press MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine government says its law enforcement agencies will be obliged to cooperate if the International Criminal Court seeks the custody of former President Rodrigo Duterte as part of an investigation into thousands of deaths during his crackdown on illegal drugs. The Hague-based court has been investigating the widespread

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A court in Greenland has again decided to extend the custody of anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson, until Dec. 4, while Denmark considers a Japanese extradition request. The Canadian-American citizen is a former head of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which has had high-seas confrontations with whaling vessels. Watson was arrested in

Associated Press LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Neighbors of a factory in Louisville, Kentucky, where two workers were killed in an explosion say they complained for years about odors coming from the plant. The explosion happened Tuesday at Givaudan Sense Colour. The factory produces colorings for food and drinks. The blast caused a partial collapse of

Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP) — A month has passed since U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin delivered an ultimatum to Israeli officials. It called on them to ramp up aid to Gaza within 30 days or risk them reconsidering arms shipments. Humanitarian groups say Israel has failed with aid falling

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Song Jae-lim, a South Korean actor known for his roles in K-dramas “Moon Embracing the Sun” and “Queen Woo,” was found dead at his home in capital Seoul. He was 39. Officials at Seoul’s Seongdong district police station didn’t immediately comment Wednesday on the cause of death. South Korea’s Yonhap

Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Artifacts and human remains taken by a Norwegian explorer and anthropologist in the late 1940s are being returned by a museum in Oslo to Chile’s remote territory of Easter Island in the mid-Pacific, the Kon-Tiki Museum said Wednesday. In 1947, explorer Thor Heyerdahl sailed on a log raft named

Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s nuclear watchdog has formally disqualified a reactor in the country’s north-central region from starting. It’s the first rejection under safety standards that were reinforced after the 2011 Fukushima disaster and a setback as Japan seeks to accelerate reactor restarts to maximize nuclear power. The Nuclear Regulation Authority said Wednesday

BRUSSELS (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the Biden administration intends to bolster its military support to Ukraine. Blinken was at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday for planned meetings with allied envoys and Ukrainian officials. He said that the U.S. will “continue to shore up everything we’re doing for Ukraine to

Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the Biden administration is determined in its final months to help Ukraine keep fighting its war with Russia next year. Blinken said Wednesday in Brussels that the U.S. is sending Ukraine as much aid as possible so that it might hold Russian

Associated Press DENPASAR, Indonesia (AP) — Several international airlines have canceled flights to and from Indonesia’s tourist island of Bali because of an ongoing volcanic eruption. Travelers were left stranded at airports on Wednesday. Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki volcano on the remote island of Flores in East Nusa Tenggara province has spewed hot ash high into

AP Business Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Donald Trump’s election win is clouding the outlook for mortgage rates even before he gets back to the White House. The president-elect campaigned on a promise to make homeownership more affordable by lowering mortgage rates through policies aimed at knocking out inflation. But his proposed economic agenda could

BEIJING (AP) — China has held sea and air combat drills at disputed Scarborough Shoal, an uninhabited area of reefs and rocks it had seized from the Philippines in the South China Sea. China on Sunday published new baselines for the shoal including geographic coordinates. A nation’s territorial waters and exclusive economic zone are typically

SOUTHPORT, Conn. (AP) — The nation’s largest owner of regional sports networks will offer single-game pricing for NBA and NHL games beginning next month. Diamond Sports Group, which owns 16 RSNs, announced Tuesday that the option will be available on its direct-to-consumer streaming package starting Dec. 5. Viewers will have the option for single games

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s state media say authorities have executed in public a man convicted of raping dozens of women over two decades. Wednesday’s report by the state-owned IRAN newspaper said Mohammad Ali Salamat was hanged after the country’s Supreme Court confirmed his death sentence. The execution took place on Tuesday at dawn at