World News

PARIS (AP) — French investigators on Friday detained for questioning one of President Emmanuel Macron’s top security aides who was caught on camera beating a protester in May, sparking a major political crisis for the French leader. The presidential Elysee Palace said Friday it’s now taking steps to fire Alexandre Benalla, who was identified earlier this week by the Le...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin may have reached several historic agreements at their summit in Finland this week. Or, they may not have. It depends on who you talk to. Three days later no one was quite sure. With no details emerging from the leaders’ one-on-one discussion on Monday — other than the vague outline they offered...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Ten months after Hurricane Maria destroyed Puerto Rico’s electric grid, the local agency responsible for rebuilding it is in chaos and more than $1 billion in federal funds meant to strengthen the rickety system has gone unspent, according to contractors and U.S. officials who are anxious to make progress before the next hurricane. The...

VARZANEH, Iran (AP) — The small group of Iranian farmers gathered around their tractors — long idle, parked at the town entrance next to a canal that once irrigated their fields but has been dry for years — and they protested, pleading for help from the government. “We are the people,” shouted Mostafa Benvidi. “Help the people. At night they...

BRUSSELS (AP) — European regulators came down hard on another U.S. tech giant Wednesday, fining Google a record $5 billion Wednesday for forcing cellphone makers that use the company’s Android operating system to install Google search and browser apps. The European Union said Google’s practices restrict competition and reduce choices for consumers. While Google can easily afford the fine, the...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Having started a trade war with China and enraged U.S. allies with steel tariffs, President Donald Trump is primed for his next fight. He is targeting a product at the heart of the American experience: cars. Trump’s latest plan is to consider slapping tariffs on imported autos and auto parts — a move he says would aid...

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel placed new restrictions on its only cargo crossing with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday in response to continued Hamas hostilities, even after it agreed to a cease-fire ending 24 hours of intense fighting. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel will cease transferring gas and fuel through the Kerem Shalom crossing until Sunday but will allow food...

MADRID (AP) — A migrant aid group has accused Libya’s coast guard of abandoning three people in the Mediterranean Sea, including a woman and a toddler who died, after intercepting 160 Europe-bound migrants near the shores of the North African nation. Proactiva Open Arms, a Spanish rescue group, said it found one woman alive Tuesday and another dead, along with...

PARIS (AP) — With the golden World Cup trophy in hand, France’s victorious national team is returning home to a grand “Merci!” from a grateful nation that was sorely in need of a boost. “Eternal Happiness” said Monday’s headline in the sports daily L’Equipe, summing up the mood of many who hope this euphoria will last for months — even...

LONDON (AP) — There’s a character called Don Logan, played by Ben Kingsley in the British film “Sexy Beast” — a bullying and mercurial individual who wreaks havoc on the life of a retired former underworld cohort he visits in Spain. He intimidates, humiliates, taunts and worse. He is a most unwelcome house guest. For many Britons, the role of...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Twelve Russian intelligence officers hacked into the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton presidential campaign in the run-up to the 2016 election and released tens of thousands of stolen communications in a brazen effort by a foreign government to meddle in U.S. politics, according to a grand jury indictment announced Friday. The indictment stands as the clearest...

The government will take possession of 10 of the 11 shanty town properties, after the existing homes are demolished and the land is cleared, according to Chairman of the Shanty Town Task Force Senator Dion Foulkes. Foulkes said that the properties were leased for 21 years but those leases are now expired. However, despite admitting that the previous landowners broke...

CROOKS CORNER, South Africa (AP) — Africa’s ancient baobab, with its distinctive swollen trunk and known as the “tree of life,” is under a new and mysterious threat, with some of the largest and oldest dying abruptly in recent years. Nine of the 13 oldest baobabs, aged between 1,000 and 2,500 years, have died over the past dozen years, according...

BEIJING (AP) — Electric car producer Tesla will build its first factory outside the United States in Shanghai, becoming the first wholly foreign-owned automaker in China. Tesla Inc.’s announcement comes amid mounting U.S.-Chinese tension over technology and follows Beijing’s April promise to end restrictions that required foreign automakers to work through local partners. Tesla said construction would begin in the...

HAVANA (AP) — A 16-month freeze on new private restaurants and bed-and-breakfasts will end in December when Cuba’s communist government implements new regulations meant to prevent tax evasion and the accumulation of wealth, state media said Tuesday. Cuban officials who announced the change said that the private sector had become a necessary part of the island’s state-dominated economy but required...

HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) — Residents shoveled mud and debris to clear streets so they could get out for food and other supplies Wednesday in areas of western Japan hard hit by landslides and flooding that still swamped some areas. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited an evacuation center in the city of Kurashiki in Okayama prefecture, where more than 40 of...

ISTANBUL (AP) — A passenger train derailed in northwestern Turkey, killing two dozen people and injuring more than 300 others, officials said Monday. Investigators believe that heavy rains caused the ground under the rails to collapse, causing Sunday’s crash, Deputy Prime Minister Recep Akdag said. The train was heading to Istanbul from Edirne, on the border with Greece, with 362...

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Looters pillaged burned and vandalized shops in Haiti’s capital Sunday following two days of violent protests over the government’s attempt to raise fuel prices. Journalists saw young men stripping shelves bare in some supermarkets that were charred from the protests. Several bodies lay among debris scattered in the streets. With the situation still chaotic, the U.S....