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GENEVA (AP) — Telecoms operator Swisscom has confirmed it’s in talks with Vodafone Group toward a possible purchase of its Italian subsidiary for 8 billion euros ($8.65 billion). The Swiss company said in a statement Wednesday it’s in “advanced exclusive negotiations” to buy all of Vodafone Italia and merge it with Swisscom’s Italian subsidiary, Fastweb.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Widespread strikes in Greece have halted trains and ferries in protests timed to coincide with the anniversary of a deadly rail crash a year ago. Greece’s deadliest rail disaster killed 57 people when a passenger train slammed into an oncoming cargo train. The tragedy shocked the country, with many of the

By LLAZAR SEMINI Associated Press TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Ukraine’s president will co-host a summit with Albania’s government on Wednesday that is meant to encourage further support for Kyiv by southeastern European countries, as signs of fatigue grow two years after Russia’s full-scale invasion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived before midnight Tuesday on the latest

By ZEN SOO AP Business Writer HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong’s government is lifting some curbs on property deals after home prices fell to a seven-year low. Finance minister Paul Chan announced the move in a speech Wednesday presenting the territory’s budget, which also raised spending on tourism promotion. Chan said all curbs imposed

By REBECCA BOONE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The hour of Thomas Eugene Creech’s death has been set, and it is rapidly approaching. On Wednesday morning Idaho prison officials will ask the 73-year-old if he would like a mild sedative to help calm him before his execution at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution south

By JIM VERTUNO Associated Press A series of wildfires swept across the Texas Panhandle early Wednesday, prompting evacuations, cutting off power to thousands, and forcing at least the temporary shutdown of a nuclear weapons facility as strong winds, dry grass and unseasonably warm temperatures fed the blazes. An unknown number of homes and other structures

By GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press Rather than trying to keep their seats in Congress, two of North Carolina’s U.S. representatives are vying for a role closer to home: state attorney general. It’s one of the most closely watched attorney general races across the U.S. this year. While the role has long been a springboard to

By DÁNICA COTO Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A top court has ruled that two residents of the tiny Caribbean island of Barbuda have the right to challenge construction of an airstrip that critics say endangers fragile ecosystems and was begun without any permits. Tuesday’s ruling by the Privy Council is considered

By ASTRID SUÁREZ and MANUEL RUEDA Associated Press BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian warlord Salvatore Mancuso has been returned to his native country after serving a drug trafficking sentence in the United States. He has been denied several requests to be sent to Italy, where he also has citizenship. Mancuso arrived in Bogota’s El Dorado

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Thousands of law enforcement officers, firefighters and paramedics are expected to pack a Minnesota church Wednesday for a memorial service for three first responders who were gunned down in the line of duty. They were killed in the Minneapolis suburb of Burnsville earlier this month

By JOHN HANNA Associated Press TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The parents of hundreds of thousands of U.S. children with physical or intellectual disabilities are waiting for state-covered services designed to foster independence and job skills for adulthood. While parents struggle to find services for toddlers, they also must think years ahead while their families are

By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas inmate who has long said he’s innocent and claims that his conviction more than 20 years ago was based on false testimony and questionable evidence is facing execution for fatally shooting two people, including his cousin. Ivan Cantu is scheduled to receive a lethal

By EDNA TARIGAN and ACHMAD IBRAHIM Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian President Joko Widodo has awarded an honorary four-star general rank to Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, a former high-ranking army officer who is linked to human rights abuses and who emerged as the apparent winner of the Feb. 14 presidential election. The alleged

By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyer said Tuesday that a suggested 100-year prison sentence for the FTX founder by an arm of the court is “grotesque” and “barbaric” and at most a term of a few years behind bars is appropriate for cryptocurrency crimes that the California man still