Dragon Boat Festival links modern China to traditions more than 2,000 years old
BEIJING (AP) — Dragon boat races, lion dances and other festivities marked the Dragon Boat Festival on Friday across mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The more than 2,000-year-old holiday is best known for its sporting events, but its origins are...
Black bank card program to steer cash payments to single mothers in government housing
(AP) — One of the few Black-owned banks in the United States is introducing a debit card aimed at helping single mothers who live in government-subsidized housing escape poverty. The Bank King Card debit card will be offered beginning Friday in honor...
Israel and Hezbollah agree to halt fighting as talks between the US and Iran hang in the balance
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group agreed Friday to halt the heavy fighting in southern Lebanon that had threatened to unravel an interim peace agreement between the United States and Iran, officials said. Neither Israel nor...
Online threats, insults fuel South Africa’s anti-foreigner hate
JOHANNESBURG (AFP) — Inflammatory social media posts — including of men brandishing a machete or calling foreigners “leeches” — are stoking emotions around an unofficial demand for illegal immigrants to leave South Africa by the end of the month, fueling a...
Fresh arrests target Turkey’s opposition-run municipalities
ISTANBUL (AFP) — The Turkish government is tightening its grip on the opposition, with fresh arrests on Friday targeting elected officials from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) while it faces a deepening leadership crisis. The arrests, along...
UK regulator suspends ICC prosecutor who issued Netanyahu war crimes warrant
MANCHESTER, England (CN) — Karim Khan, the British lawyer who pursued an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was suspended Friday by Britain’s legal regulator over a case involving accusations of sexual...
Sixth Circuit revives Ohio’s parental consent law for kids’ social media
CINCINNATI (CN) — A divided appeals panel vacated a lower court injunction and determined Ohio’s parental consent requirement does not violate minor users’ First Amendment rights. NetChoice, a trade association representing Google, YouTube, Meta and...
‘There’s no turning back’: French tech sovereignty takes center stage in Paris
PARIS (CN) — Europe’s increasingly urgent message of self-reliance carried over into the defense and technology sectors in Paris this week, as leaders scramble to prepare for a geopolitical landscape where traditional loyalties are no longer a guarantee. The...
Two jailed for reported Russia-linked arsons on UK PM’s property
LONDON (AFP) — A U.K. judge on Friday jailed two men for a series of reportedly Russian-backed arson attacks on two houses in London and a car linked to Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The pair — Roman Lavrynovych, 22, and Stanislav Carpiuc, 27 — were offered money to...