Russia fires 30 cruise missiles at Ukrainian targets; Ukraine says 29 were shot down
May 18, 2023 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia fired 30 cruise missiles against different parts of Ukraine early Thursday in the latest nighttime test of Ukrainian air defenses, which shot down 29 of them, officials said.
Crews work to reach Italian towns isolated by floods as toll rises to 13 and cleanup begins
May 18, 2023 GMTFAENZA, Italy (AP) — Rescue crews worked Thursday to reach towns and villages in northern Italy still isolated by heavy rains and flooding, as the death toll rose to 13 and authorities began mapping out cleanup and reconstruction plans.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s main challenger in Turkey’s presidential race shifted gear and adopted a more nationalist and hard-line stance on Thursday, vowing to send back millions of refugees if he is elected and rejecting any possibility of negotiating for peace with Kurdish militants.
Car rushes Vatican gate, is fired on by gendarmes; driver apprehended after reaching courtyard
May 18, 2023 GMTROME (AP) — A car driven by someone with apparent psychiatric problems rushed through a Vatican gate Thursday and sped past Swiss Guards into a palace courtyard before being apprehended by police, the Holy See said.
Prince Harry and Meghan’s run from paparazzi is another episode in battle royale with the media
May 18, 2023 GMTLONDON (AP) — The latest chapter in the drama surrounding Prince Harry and Meghan’s treatment by the tabloid media was much ado about something.
First full-size 3D scan of Titanic shows shipwreck in new light
May 18, 2023 GMTLONDON (AP) — Deep-sea researchers have completed the first full-size digital scan of the Titanic, showing the entire wreck in unprecedented detail and clarity, the companies behind a new documentary on the wreck said Thursday.
GENEVA (AP) — A top U.N. official said Thursday that he hopes for a breakthrough soon after months of efforts to ensure that Russian food and fertilizer can be shipped to developing countries struggling with high prices.
Russia extends detention of US consular worker by 3 months
May 18, 2023 GMTMOSCOW (AP) — A Russian court on Thursday extended by three months the detention of a former employee of the U.S. Consulate in Vladivostok on charges of cooperating with a foreign state.
Anti-migration operation on French African island of Mayotte stirs tensions, exposes inequalities
May 18, 2023 GMTCHIRONGUI, Mayotte (AP) — Facing a migration quagmire on the French island territory of Mayotte, off Africa’s east coast, France’s government has mobilized 2,000 troops and police to carry out mass expulsions, destroy slums and eradicate violent gangs.
Magnitude 5.1 quake rattles Greek island of Crete but no early reports of damage or injuries
May 18, 2023 GMTATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities say an earthquake with preliminary magnitude 5.1 has shaken the southern island of Crete. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
The Athens Geodynamic Institute said the quake struck just before 10 a.m.
El Ninos are far costlier than once thought, in the trillions, study says -- and one’s brewing now
May 18, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The natural burst of El Nino warming that changes weather worldwide is far costlier with longer-lasting expenses than experts had thought, averaging trillions of dollars in damage, a new study found.
Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral cost UK government $200 million
May 18, 2023 GMTLONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II's funeral and lying-in-state last year cost Britain's government an estimated 162 million pounds (around $200 million), the treasury revealed Thursday.
The state funeral for the late monarch, held on Sept.
France moves to ban smoking in woodlands to combat growing climate-related risk of mega fires
May 18, 2023 GMTPARIS (AP) — French lawmakers have voted to ban smoking in all forests and woods during the fire season, part of a series of proposed measures to tackle growing destruction and dangers from climate change-related blazes.
ROME (AP) — The Vatican has recalled a postage stamp promoting this year’s World Youth Day in Portugal following complaints that it celebrated Portugal’s colonial empire and the nationalist dictatorship of Antonio Salazar at a time when the Holy See has been atoning for colonial-era abuses.
Curator of Africa-themed Venice Biennale denounces Italy’s denial of visas to 3 Ghanaians
May 18, 2023 GMTVENICE, Italy (AP) — The curator of this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale on Thursday denounced Italy’s denial of visas to three Ghanaian men who worked with her on the main exhibition giving voice to Africans and the African diaspora.
MADRID (AP) — Kenyan marathon specialist Eliud Kipchoge has won the Princess of Asturias Award for sports for 2023, the Spanish foundation that organizes the prizes said Thursday.
Kipchoge, 38, who took Olympic gold medals in the marathon in 2016 and 2020 and was world 5,000 meters champion in 2003 “is considered a legend in world athletics and the best marathon runner of all time,” the foundation's panel of judges said in a statement.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The show must go on, even when its Ukrainian director is drafted by the army weeks before opening night.
“Silence, Silence, Silence, Please,” a play that tackles Russia’s war in Ukraine had its world debut in Portugal last week, but it’s chief creator was conspicuously missing from among the packed audience.
Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, were pursued in their car by photographers after a charity event in New York, an incident that the mayor and the couple’s office described Wednesday as potentially dangerous and stirred memories of the 1997 car crash that killed Harry’s mother, Princess Diana.
Exceptional rains in drought-struck northern Italy kill 8, cancel Formula One Grand Prix
May 18, 2023 GMTCASTEL BOLOGNESE, Italy (AP) — Exceptional rains Wednesday in a drought-struck region of northern Italy swelled rivers over their banks, killing at least eight people, forcing the evacuation of thousands and prompting officials to warn that Italy needs a national plan to combat climate change-induced flooding.
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Russia agreed to a two-month extension of a deal that has allowed Ukraine to ship grain through the Black Sea to parts of the world struggling with hunger, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Wednesday, a boost to global food security after the war drove up prices.
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — As the lead trauma surgeon at a military hospital in Ukraine's capital, Petro Nikitin has his hands deep in a war churning hundreds of kilometers (miles) away. The 59-year-old doctor's work to repair the bodies of some of the most badly injured soldiers is all-consuming.
US Navy commander: No real change in Russian military’s conduct toward Western warships in east Med
May 17, 2023 GMTLIMASSOL, Cyprus (AP) — A U.S. Navy commander said Wednesday there is “no significant change” in the conduct of Russian aircraft and warships toward Western naval and air assets in the eastern Mediterranean as Moscow’s war in Ukraine grinds on.
Renowned actor Forest Whitaker sets up his Peace and Development Initiative in poor Paris suburb
May 17, 2023 GMTAUBERVILLIERS, France (AP) — Renowned actor Forest Whitaker, who has portrayed a dictator, a Mafia hitman and a butler, has taken on what for some may be his most inspirational role.
Whitaker officially inaugurated on Wednesday his Whitaker Peace and Development Initiative in Seine-Saint-Denis, meant to bring business, communication and conflict resolution skills to the young people of France’s poorest region.
Ukraine’s foreign minister and visiting Chinese envoy discuss peace, but next steps unclear
May 17, 2023 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine's foreign minister met with a visiting Chinese mediator to discuss how to end Russia's war, but no details were disclosed Wednesday and the next steps were unclear.
Pope takes cellphone call during general audience, meets with clergy abuse survivors
May 17, 2023 GMTVATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican’s Wednesday general audiences are often chances for ordinary people to get rare access to Pope Francis, and this week’s gathering was no different: A group of LGBTQ+ Catholics got a papal photo, and clergy abuse survivors from Germany who biked to Rome handed Francis a letter demanding a better response from the church to the crisis.
Russia freezes bank accounts of Finland’s diplomatic missions, prompting cash payments
May 17, 2023 GMTHELSINKI (AP) — Russia has frozen the bank accounts of Finland’s diplomatic representations in Moscow and St. Petersburg, disrupting money flow and forcing the Nordic country's missions to resort to cash payments, the Finnish foreign minister said Wednesday.
Prison sentences for political activists who defrauded Polish Red Cross to fund election campaign
May 17, 2023 GMTWARSAW, Poland (AP) — A Polish court has convicted nine people, including two former activists of the governing Law and Justice party, of using donations to the regional Red Cross to fund an election campaign.
Europe OKs plan to tally cost of Moscow’s war in Ukraine with eye toward future reparations
May 17, 2023 GMTREYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — More than 40 nations agreed Wednesday to set up a system to tally the damage Russia has inflicted on Ukraine in the hope of getting reparations, adding to the international legal challenges the Kremlin is facing.
LONDON (AP) — The world's fourth-biggest carmaker by sales has warned of a potential existential threat to large parts of the British car industry unless the government moves to alter the terms of its post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union.
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A Moscow court has ordered the arrest of prominent film producer Alexander Rodnyansky and theater director Ivan Vyrypaev for “spreading false information” about the Russian army.
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss warned of economic and political threats to the West posed by China during a visit Wednesday to Beijing's democratic rival Taiwan.
Truss is the first former British prime minister since Margaret Thatcher in the 1990s to visit the self-governing island republic that China claims as its own territory, to be conquered by force if necessary.
Danish Supreme Court says newspaper did not violate copyright of Little Mermaid statue
May 17, 2023 GMTCOPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark’s Supreme Court on Wednesday overruled two lower courts, saying a cartoon depicting Copenhagen’s The Little Mermaid statue as a zombie and a photo of it with a face mask did not violate the copyright of the famous bronze.
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s Parliament building is an architectural masterpiece, a UNESCO World Heritage Site visited by 1 million people a year. It’s also a crumbling, leaky, asbestos-riddled structure at “real and rising" risk of destruction, lawmakers said Wednesday.
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Dozens of Serbian schools on Wednesday received bomb threats, the education ministry said, amid security concerns following two mass shootings early this month, including one in an elementary school.
G-7 leaders likely to focus on the war in Ukraine and tensions in Asia at summit in Hiroshima
May 17, 2023 GMTHIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — The symbolism will be palpable when leaders of the world's rich democracies sit down in Hiroshima, a city whose name evokes the tragedy of war, to tackle a host of challenges including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising tensions in Asia.
BERLIN (AP) — A top official at the German economy and climate ministry resigned Wednesday following accusations that he was involved in choosing his best man to head the federally owned German Energy Agency and signed off on financial support for a project in which his sister was involved
Norway’s ailing king celebrates Constitution Day as thousands of flag-waving children cheer
May 17, 2023 GMTCOPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Norway’s King Harald V, who was released from a hospital earlier this week, appeared Wednesday on the royal castle’s balcony to salute the thousands of children marching by as the Scandinavian country celebrated its Constitution Day.
East German workers strike, claiming they are paid less than counterparts in the west
May 17, 2023 GMTBERLIN (AP) — Employees at a beverage company in eastern Germany that produces the country's popular Vita Cola among other drinks, went on strike because more than 30 years after the country's reunification their salaries are still significantly lower than that of employees working for their parent company in western Germany.
Five go on trial in Germany over far-right plot to kidnap health minister, topple government
May 17, 2023 GMTBERLIN (AP) — Five people go on trial in Germany on Wednesday accused of planning a far-right coup and plotting to kidnap the country's health minister.
The four men, aged 44 to 56, and a 75-year-old woman are accused of founding or being members of a terrorist organization and treason.
Former French President Sarkozy loses appeal on corruption conviction; prison sentence upheld
May 17, 2023 GMTPARIS (AP) — A French appeals court on Wednesday upheld a one-year prison sentence for former President Nicolas Sarkozy on a conviction for corruption and influence peddling.
His lawyer said he will take the case to France’s highest court and insisted that Sarkozy is innocent.
Putin, Zelenskyy agree to meet with ‘African leaders peace mission,’ says South Africa president
May 17, 2023 GMTCAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have agreed to separate meetings with a delegation of leaders from six African countries to discuss a possible plan to end the war in Ukraine, South Africa's president said Tuesday.
Rain-swollen rivers flood some towns in north Italy; Venice prepares to raise mobile dike in lagoon
May 17, 2023 GMTROME (AP) — Rivers swollen by days of downpours flooded some towns in northern Italy on Tuesday, forcing some residents to rooftops, while in Venice, authorities prepared to activate a mobile barrier in the lagoon in hopes of sparing the city from a rare May high-tide flooding.
UN says prospects dim for robust global economic recovery despite uptick for US, EU and China
May 16, 2023 GMTUNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations on Tuesday forecast a slight uptick in economic growth in the United States, the European Union and China, but said prospects for a robust global economy recovery this year remain dim, pointing to stubbornly high inflation, the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, war in Ukraine, and the worsening impact of climate change.
CANNES, France (AP) — The Cannes Film Festival opened its 76th edition with a parade of stars, including the much-debated return of Johnny Depp.
Ukraine says it downed Russian hypersonic missiles during ‘exceptional’ air attack on Kyiv
May 16, 2023 GMTKYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian air defenses, bolstered by sophisticated Western-supplied systems, thwarted an intense Russian air attack on Kyiv early Tuesday, shooting down all missiles aimed at the capital, officials said.
Council of Europe summit in Iceland seeks to hold Russia to account for waging war in Ukraine
May 16, 2023 GMTREYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Leaders from across Europe are laser-focused on holding Russia to account for its invasion of Ukraine and were poised to approve a system that would precisely establish the damages Moscow would have to pay to rebuild the nation and compensate victims.
French first lady’s relative assaulted after Macron commits to retirement age increase
May 16, 2023 GMT21 pieces of jewelry worth $129 million were stolen. A court convicts 5 men in museum heist
May 16, 2023 GMTBERLIN (AP) — A German court convicted five men Tuesday of breaking into a Dresden museum and stealing 21 pieces of jewelry containing more than 4,300 diamonds.
The men ages 24 to 29 received prison sentences ranging from four years and four months to six years and three months, German news agency dpa reported.
Zookeeper found dead in animal enclosure in Slovakia
May 16, 2023 GMTBRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Authorities in Slovakia launched an investigation after a zookeeper was found dead in an animal enclosure, officials said Tuesday.
Police said an autopsy was being performed to determine the cause of the death and declined to provide further details, citing an ongoing investigation.
Swedish Eurovision winner Loreen returns home, performs winning power ballad ‘Tattoo’
May 16, 2023 GMTSTOCKHOLM (AP) — Swedish singer Loreen, who won the Eurovision Song Contest with her power ballad “Tattoo,” returned home on Tuesday, saying she was proud to be only the second person in Eurovision history to have won the contest twice.
EU countries adopt law banning products which fuel deforestation
May 16, 2023 GMTBRUSSELS (AP) — The 27 European Union countries on Tuesday formally adopted new rules that should help the bloc reduce its contribution to global deforestation by regulating the trade in a series of products driving the decrease in forested areas across the world.
LONDON (AP) — The European Union's sweeping set of beefed-up cryptocurrency rules got final approval from member states Tuesday, giving the 27-nation bloc a global lead in regulating the freewheeling sector.
Russian Duma votes to scrap Cold War armed forces deal
May 16, 2023 GMTMOSCOW (AP) — The lower house of Russia's parliament on Tuesday voted unanimously to formally pull out of a key Cold War-era security deal, more than eight years after Moscow halted its participation.
German court convicts, fines Jesuit priest over climate protest
May 16, 2023 GMTBERLIN (AP) — A German court on Tuesday convicted a Jesuit priest of coercion in connection with a climate protest last year and ordered him to pay a small fine.
The district court in Munich handed down its verdict in the case of the Rev.
Skeletons found in Pompeii ruins reveal deaths by earthquake, not just Vesuvius’ ancient eruption
May 16, 2023 GMTMILAN (AP) — The discovery of two skeletons buried beneath a collapsed wall in the Pompeii archaeological site point to deaths by powerful earthquakes that accompanied the devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the first century, experts said Tuesday, in addition to the victims of volcanic ash and gas.
Salman Rushdie warns free expression under threat in rare public address after attack
May 16, 2023 GMTLONDON (AP) — Writer Salman Rushdie has made a public speech, nine months after being stabbed and seriously injured onstage, warning that freedom of expression in the West is under its most severe threat in his lifetime.