North Korea says deal between Putin and Kim requires immediate military assistance in event of war
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea’s state media say the new agreement between Russia and North Korea reached by their leaders requires the countries to use all available means to provide immediate military assistance in the event of war. The official Korean Central News Agency on Thursday reported the language of the comprehensive strategic partnership agreement reached by its leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Pyongyang on Wednesday. The agency said part of the agreement states that if one of the countries gets invaded and pushed into a state of war, the other must deploy “all means at its disposal without delay” to provide “military and other assistance.”
Putin in Vietnam, seeking to strengthen ties in Southeast Asia while Russia’s isolation deepens
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin is in Vietnam to strengthen ties with its longtime partner in Southeast Asia at a time when Moscow is facing growing international isolation because of its military actions in Ukraine. He arrived early Thursday in Hanoi after concluding his trip to North Korea, where he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed an agreement that pledges mutual aid if the event of war. The Russian leader met new President To Lam and is later scheduled to meet Vietnam’s most powerful politician — Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong — and other officials. Vietnam remains dependent on Russia for arms and as a counterweight to China in the disputed South China Sea.
Russia obliterates front-line Ukraine towns by retrofitting bombs and expanding its air base network
KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia is intensifying its use of cheap glide bombs to lay waste to cities in eastern Ukraine. The latest generation of the retrofitted weapons have devastated Kharkiv, Avdiivka, Chasiv Yar and Vovchansk. Russia has nearly unlimited supplies of the bombs, which are adapted from Soviet-era stockpiles. They are dispatched from airfields just across the border that Ukraine has not been able to hit. An Associated Press analysis of drone footage, satellite imagery, Ukrainian documents and Russian photos shows that Russia has used the explosives to accelerate its destruction of front-line cities this year on a scale previously unseen in the war.
The fate of the latest cease-fire proposal hinges on Netanyahu and Hamas’ leader in Gaza
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The fate of the proposed cease-fire deal for Gaza hinges in many ways on two men: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas’ leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar. Each leader faces significant political and personal pressures that may be influencing their decision-making. And neither seems to be in a rush to make concessions to end the devastating eight-month-long war and free hostages taken by Hamas in its Oct. 7 attack. Hamas has accepted the broad outline of the plan but requested “amendments.” Netanyahu has publicly disputed aspects of it, even though the U.S. has framed it as an Israeli plan.
New law requires all Louisiana public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana has become the first state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom. Republican Gov. Jeff Landry on Wednesday signed the bill mandating the displays. The GOP-drafted legislation requires a poster of the Ten Commandments in “large, easily readable font” in all public classrooms, from kindergarten to state-funded universities. Opponents question the law’s constitutionality. Civil rights groups including the American Civil Liberties Union promised a lawsuit. Proponents say the purpose of the measure is not solely religious, but that it has historical significance. Classrooms must display the Ten Commandments by the start of 2025.
Alberto, season’s first named tropical storm, dumps rain on Texas and Mexico, which reports 3 deaths
TAMPICO, Mexico (AP) — Tropical Storm Alberto is rumbling toward northeast Mexico as the first named storm of the season, carrying heavy rains that left three people dead but also brought hope to a region suffering under a prolonged, severe drought. Mexican authorities downplayed the risk posed by Alberto and instead pinned their hopes on its ability to ease the parched region’s water needs. Much of Mexico has been suffering under severe drought with northern Mexico especially hard hit. But in nearby Nuevo Leon state, civil protection authorities reported three deaths linked to Alberto’s rains.
New Mexico wildfire claims second life, while rain offers hope of relief
ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — Heavy rain and hail are falling around an evacuated village in New Mexico threatened by wildfires that have killed at least two people and damaged more than 1,400 structures, offering the hope of some assistance for firefighters but adding the threat of high winds and flash floods. Police confirmed Wednesday that the remains of a second fire victim were found. Meteorologists say weather patterns were shifting Wednesday with possible rains later in the afternoon and evening. But there was also a risk of high winds and flash floods.
Scorching temperatures, humidity making life miserable for millions from Midwest to Maine
BOSTON (AP) — A blistering heat wave stretching from the Midwest to the tip of Maine is leaving millions of people sweltering through the Juneteenth holiday. Many cities have issued heat warnings and several places canceled activities planned for the holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. Some places closed cooling centers due to the holiday, forcing those who rely on them find other places to seek relief. The dangerous temperatures are expected to peak in the eastern Great Lakes and New England on Wednesday and Thursday, and in the Ohio Valley and Mid-Atlantic on Friday and Saturday.
On Juneteenth, monument dedicated in Alabama to those who endured slavery
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Equal Justice Initiative nonprofit invoked the Juneteenth holiday as it dedicated a monument that honors the people who endured and survived slavery. The National Monument to Freedom is the centerpiece of the new Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery, Alabama. The monument is inscribed with the surnames that formerly enslaved people chose for themselves after being emancipated at the Civil War’s end. The founder of the Equal Justice Initiative said Juneteenth is a day to honestly confront the brutality of slavery but also honor the people who managed to remain hopeful despite what they faced.
Can a marriage survive a gender transition? Yes, and even thrive. How these couples make it work
Marriages in which a partner undergoes a gender transition can not only survive, but also thrive under the light of new honesty. Such marriages showcase the resilience of love and the flexibility of sexual identity. And they underscore the nuances and diversity of LGBTQ+ relationships 20 years after the first legal same-sex marriages in the U.S. and with Pride Month in its sixth decade. Therapists say many such marriages survive. There can be joy in coaching a partner in their new identity. One woman says she’s become more attracted to her transitioned partner. She cites his new confidence and says “he just seems so happy.”
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