Wagner leader calls for rebellion, Kremlin orders his arrest
KYIV, Ukraine — The owner of the Wagner private military contractor escalated his direct challenge to the Kremlin on Friday, calling for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia’s defense minister. The security services reacted immediately by opening a criminal investigation into Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Zelenskyy tells countries to act before Russia attacks nuclear plant
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukraine wants other countries to heed its warning that Russia may be planning to attack an occupied nuclear power plant to cause a radiation disaster, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Previous passengers recall ill-fated Titan
Talk to someone who rode on the Titan submersible, and they’re likely to mention a technological glitch: the propulsion system failed or communications with people on the surface cut out. Maybe there were problems balancing weights on board.
Climate summit ends without a deal on shipping tax
PARIS — Participants at a Paris summit stopped short Friday of a deal to create a tax on greenhouse gas emissions produced from international shipping, leaving climate NGOs and activists lamenting the lack of ambitious responses to fight climate change and the world’s inequalities brought forward at the meeting.
Tropical Storm Cindy forms behind Bret
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Tropical Storm Cindy formed behind Tropical Storm Bret, in the first case of two storms in the tropical Atlantic in June since record keeping began in 1851, forecasters said Friday.
Trump, DeSantis interviews show Fox influence still strong
NEW YORK — The two leading GOP presidential contenders had very different interview experiences with Fox News in the past week — each an illustration of the influence that even a damaged Fox has over the Republican nominating process.
Abortion laws a year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe
In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that ended nearly a half-century of a nationwide right to abortion, states have enacted contrasting policies on the issue.
Tornadoes, hail, hurricane-force winds tear through Texas
A line of severe storms produced what a meteorologist calls a rare combination of multiple tornadoes, hurricane-force winds and softball-sized hail in west Texas, killing at least four people, injuring nine and causing significant damage around the town of Matador, a meteorologist said Thursday.
Victor Wembanyama is the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft
NEW YORK — Victor Wembanyama is the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, headed to San Antonio with enormous expectations to become basketball’s newest sensation.
Qatar sovereign fund buys stake in Washington’s pro teams
Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund is buying a roughly 5% stake in the parent company of the NBA’s Washington Wizards, NHL’s Washington Capitals and WNBA’s Washington Mystics as part of a $4.05 billion deal, a person with knowledge of the sale said Thursday.
US Coast Guard: The Titan submersible imploded
A submersible carrying five people to the Titanic imploded near the site of the shipwreck and killed everyone on board, authorities said Thursday, bringing a tragic end to a saga that included an urgent around-the-clock search and a worldwide vigil for the missing vessel.
Bridge on Russian supply route struck by missiles
KYIV, Ukraine — Russia-appointed officials in Crimea said that a bridge between the Moscow-annexed peninsula and Russia-occupied areas in southern Ukraine was hit by missiles Thursday, threatening a key supply link to Russian forces amid the early stages of a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
UN: Russian forces on blacklist for killing children in Ukraine
UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations put Russian forces on its annual blacklist of countries that violate children’s rights in conflict for killing boys and girls and attacking schools and hospitals in Ukraine, according to a new report seen Thursday by The Associated Press.
Caribbean shuts down as Tropical Storm Bret closes in
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Tropical Storm Bret bore down on the eastern Caribbean on Thursday night as islands shut down and braced for torrential downpours, landslides and flooding.
UN: Somalia faces a ‘dire hunger emergency’
UNITED NATIONS — Somalia’s “dire hunger emergency” is spiraling upward with one-third of the population expected to face crisis or worse levels of food needs, but the U.N. has been forced to drastically cut food assistance because of a lack of funding, the head of the World Food Program said Thursday.
Hunter Biden will plead guilty in tax and gun case
WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Joe Biden’s son Hunter will plead guilty to federal tax offenses but avoid full prosecution on a separate gun charge in a deal with the Justice Department that likely spares him time behind bars.
Trump’s penchant for talking could pose problems
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Criminal defendants are routinely advised to avoid commenting on pending charges against them. But Donald Trump, the former president and current White House hopeful, is no ordinary defendant.
DA, ethics panel back judge in Donald Trump hush-money case
NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s tempestuous views aside, Manhattan prosecutors say neither the former president nor his lawyers have shown any evidence to support their claims that the judge in his hush-money criminal case has an anti-Trump bias. They urged him to reject defense demands that he step aside from the case.
Trump adviser faces possible disbarment over 2020 election
LOS ANGELES — Attorney John Eastman, the architect of a legal strategy aimed at keeping former President Donald Trump in power, concocted a baseless theory and made false claims of fraud in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election, a prosecutor said Tuesday in arguing that Eastman be disbarred.
Biden discusses artificial intelligence in San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO — President Joe Biden convened a group of technology leaders on Tuesday to debate what he called the “risks and enormous promises” of artificial intelligence.