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BERLIN (AP) — The German parliament voted Thursday to introduce an annual national “veterans’ day” to honor people who have served in the military, which often has struggled to gain recognition in the country. The proposal was drawn up by the parties in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party governing coalition together with the main opposition conservative bloc, and was approved by nearly all parties in the Bundestag, parliament’s lower house. It […]

DALLAS (AP) — Southwest Airlines said Thursday that it lost $231 million in the first quarter and will limit hiring, offer voluntary leave to employees and stop flying to four airports. CEO Robert Jordan said the airline expects to end this year with 2,000 fewer employees than it had at the end of last year. Jordan said Southwest was reacting quickly “to address our financial underperformance” and cope with delayed […]

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine worked Thursday to get much-needed new supplies of weapons and ammunition from a huge U.S. aid package to its eastern front line, where Russia was pressing forward with its efforts to take ground from outnumbered and outgunned troops. Ukraine is also seeking to reverse the drain of potential soldiers from the country, announcing that men of conscription age will no longer be able to renew […]

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — A top European Union military officer said that a frigate that’s part of an EU mission in the Red Sea to protect merchant shipping destroyed a drone launched from an area in Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels on Thursday morning. Austrian Gen. Robert Brieger, who is chair of the EU’s military committee, said that it would be crucial for the bloc to “conserve resources” over the […]

PARIS (AP) — Air passengers traveling to and from Paris experienced significant disruptions Thursday, despite a decision by air traffic controllers to cancel a strike after last-minute negotiations. Flight operations were substantially reduced because of adjustments made to schedules ahead of the proposed industrial action. French civil aviation authorities had preemptively requested airlines to cut their flights significantly — by 75% at Paris-Orly, 55% at Charles-de-Gaulle, and 65% at Marseille-Provence, […]

LONDON (AP) — Two military horses that bolted and ran miles through the streets of London after being spooked by construction noise and tossing their riders were in a serious condition and required operations, a British government official said Thursday. The animals were among a group of four horses that broke free during routine exercises Wednesday near Buckingham Palace, tossing their riders and causing chaos as they galloped loose through […]

PATNA, India (AP) — A major fire that engulfed a restaurant and hotel in eastern India on Thursday killed at least six people and injured 20, a local fire officer said. The fire began when a cooking gas cylinder exploded while diners were eating in the restaurant, and it soon spread into an adjacent hotel in Patna, the capital of Bihar state, said Satya Prakash, the officer. At least 40 […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawyers for an American believed to be held by the Taliban for nearly two years are asking a United Nations human rights investigator to intervene, citing what they say is cruel and inhumane treatment. Ryan Corbett was abducted Aug. 10, 2022, after returning to Afghanistan, where he and his family had been living at the time of the collapse of the U.S.-based government there a year earlier. […]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Whether at home or on the road, Art Schallock would begin each day by taking the elevator down to the lobby and collecting the latest comic books for roommate Yogi Berra. “Every morning,” Schallock recalled, chuckling at the thought decades later. Schallock never minded. It was all worth it. Just part of being the new guy back in the day, a rite of passage for the […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Ever since college, Brad Jobling struggled with his weight, fluctuating between a low of 155 pounds when he was in his 30s to as high as 220. He spent a decade tracking calories on WeightWatchers, but the pounds he dropped always crept back onto his 5-foot-5-inch frame. A little over a year ago, the 58-year-old Manhattan resident went on a new weight loss drug called Wegovy. […]