Author: admin

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader John Thune is rejecting Democratic demands on health care as unserious but says a government shutdown is still “avoidable” despite sharp divisions ahead of Wednesday’s funding deadline. “I’m a big believer that there’s always a way out,” the South Dakota Republican said in an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday. “And I think there are off-ramps here, but I don’t think that the negotiating position, at least at the moment, that the Democrats are trying to exert here is going to get you there.” Thune said Democrats are going to have to “dial…

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The front line on the battlefield in Ukraine has grown in length to nearly 1,250 kilometers (800 miles), stretching Kyiv’s defenses, while Russian forces employ a new tactic of sending swarms of small assault groups to infiltrate Ukrainian lines, Ukraine’s top military commander says.The line of contact has grown by roughly 200 kilometers (120 miles) over the past year, and Ukrainian forces are averaging between 160 and 190 combat engagements every day with Russia’s bigger army, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi said in a review of the battlefield situation.At the same time, Russian tactics have switched since the…

ADEN, Yemen (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels said Friday that at least nine people were killed by Israeli strikes on the country’s rebel-held capital of Sanaa the previous day, the latest in an increase in exchanges between Israel and the Iranian-backed rebels over the war in Gaza.The strikes on Thursday afternoon came a day after a drone launched by the Houthis wounded 22 people in the southern Israeli city of Eilat, a rare breach of Israel’s air defenses. According to the health ministry in the Houthi-controlled northern half of Yemen, which includes Sanaa, four children, two women and three older…

LOS ANGELES (AP) — It pays less and less to buy and flip a home these days.From April through June, the typical home flipped by an investor resulted in a 25.1% return on investment, before expenses. That’s the lowest profit margin for such transactions since 2008, according to an analysis by Attom, a real estate data company.Gross profits — the difference between what an investor paid for a property and what it sold for — fell 13.6% in the second quarter from a year earlier to $65,300, the firm said. Attom’s analysis defines a flipped home as a property that…

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch government has agreed to return thousands of fossils to Indonesia from a world-renowned collection, after a commission ruled that they were removed in the colonial era “against the will of the people,” the education ministry announced Friday.The historically significant trove known as the Dubois Collection includes a piece of skull uncovered from the Solo River on the island of Java that is regarded as the first fossil evidence of Homo erectus, which is generally considered to be an ancestor of our species, Homo sapiens. The fossils are often referred to as “Java Man.”The…

Japan’s biggest revolving door is spinning again, and odds are it’s about to spit out Shinjiro Koizumi as the nation’s next prime minister. It’s not that a critical mass of Japan’s 125 million people seem enthusiastic about the 44-year-old son of 2001–2006 leader Junichiro Koizumi taking a turn running Asia’s No 2 economy. It’s more that the politically moderate, generally inoffensive scion of a family dynasty looks like the least worst option to replace Shigeru Ishiba. Luckily for Koizumi, he steps into some rather small shoes. One has to get extremely creative to argue that Ishiba achieved much during his…

Sep 26, 2025, 12:02 AM ETBrazil’s Flamengo and Ecuador’s Liga de Quito defeated Estudiantes de La Plata and São Paulo, respectively, on Thursday to qualify for the Copa Libertadores semifinals.Three-time Copa Libertadores champions Flamingo lost the second leg 1-0 for a final 2-2 on aggregate but prevailed on penalty kicks with goalkeeper Agustin Rossi deflecting shots from Gaston Benedetti and Santiago Ascacibar in the shootout.Flamengo, in the semifinals for the first time since 2022, will play another Argentine club in the next round where they are set to play against Racing Club, which advanced to the final four after beating…

China will officially launch its new K-visa scheme on October 1, aiming to attract foreign professionals in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Beijing’s initiative arrives at a moment of intensifying competition for skilled workers worldwide. It offers a stark contrast to Washington’s latest decision to require American employees to pay a one-time fee of US$100,000 for each of their new H-1B visa applications, the primary pathway for skilled foreign workers to enter the US job market. The Chinese government announced on August 14 that it had amended its visa rules by introducing a new K-visa category, bringing the total…

Inter Miami CF midfielder Sergio Busquets announced he will retire at the end of the 2025 Major League Soccer season.The Spaniard revealed his decision by publishing a video to his Instagram account, detailing his experience after an almost 20-year career with Barcelona, Miami and Spain.”I feel like it’s time to say goodbye to my career as a professional soccer player. It has been almost 20 years of enjoying this incredible story that I always dreamed of. Soccer has gifted me unique experiences in wonderful places, with the best travel companions,” Busquets said on Instagram.”Thank you to FC Barcelona, the club…

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Another tropical storm barreled across Philippine islands Friday, causing at least four deaths and new evacuations of tens of thousands of people from landslide- and flood-prone villages long battered by typhoons.Bualoi, which has weakened since making landfall overnight, was the latest of back-to-back storms from the Pacific to threaten Asia. Typhoon Ragasa, one of the strongest to hit in years, caused at least 25 deaths in the northern Philippines and Taiwan, mostly from flooding, before making landfall in China and dissipating over Vietnam.Bualoi made landfall in the Philippine town of San Policarpo in Eastern Samar province…