At 97, D-Day veteran parachutes into Normandy

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June 5, 2019 0700 GMT | U.S. World War II D-Day veteran Tom Rice, from Coronado, CA, parachutes in a tandem jump into a field in Carentan, Normandy, France ON Wednesday. Approximately 200 parachutists participated in the jump over Normandy on Wednesday, replicating a jump made by U.S. soldiers on June 6, 1944 as a prelude to the seaborne invasions on D-Day | (AP Photo)

CARENTAN, France (AP) — No murderous hails of gunfire this time. No D-Day objective that had to be taken, whatever the cost. This time, 75 years almost to the hour after he parachuted into Nazi-occupied France, Tom Rice again found himself floating down through Normandy’s skies, now a grizzled 97-year-old thrilled as a little kid.

“Woo-hoo!” the ex-paratrooper yelped after hitting the ground, carrying the memories of comrades lost in battle and on a new mission — of remembrance this time — for the ever-shrinking numbers who sacrificed so much in World War II.

“I represent a whole generation,” Rice said.

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Ceremony, political gibes mark Trump’s first day in London

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June 3, 2019 1130 GMT | London, England (GB) | US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump attend a welcome ceremony with Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II in the garden of Buckingham Palace, in London, for Monday on the first day of a three day state visit to Britain | (AP Photo)

LONDON (AP) — Mixing pageantry and pugilism, President Donald Trump plunged into his long-delayed state visit to Britain on Monday, welcomed with smiles and a cannon salute by the royals but launching political insults at others in a time of turmoil for both nations in the deep, if recently strained, alliance.

It was a whirlwind of pomp, circumstance and protest for Trump, who had lunch with Queen Elizabeth and tea with Prince Charles before a grand state dinner at Buckingham Palace.

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Trump: UK should be ready to leave EU without a deal

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June 1, 2019 GMT 1100 | Jackson, Mississippi USA | A file photo, Donald Trump welcomes Nigel Farage, left, ex-leader of the British UKIP party, to speak at a campaign rally in Jackson ON 24 August, 2016. Trump will visit United Kingdom in first week of June 2019 as a state guest | (AP File Photo)

LONDON (AP) — President Donald Trump has waded into the most controversial issue in British politics by urging the U.K. government to leave the European Union without a deal if it can’t get better terms from EU leaders.

Trump told the Sunday Times in an interview published Sunday that Britain should “walk away” from talks and refuse to pay a 39 billion pound ($49 billion) divorce bill if it doesn’t get better terms from the EU.

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US companies are in line of fire of tariffs aimed at Mexico

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May 30, 2019 1400 GMT | Colorado, USA | President Donald Trump waves as he takes the stage to speak at the U.S. Air Force Academy graduation Thursday, at Air Force Academy in in Colorado Springs, Colorado United States | (AP Photo)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s surprise threat to impose escalating tariffs on Mexican imports jolted industry leaders throughout the U.S. economy Friday, sparked opposition even from usual Trump allies and set the stage for American consumers to face higher prices.

It also sent stock markets tumbling, with the Dow Jones industrial average closing down roughly 355 points, or 1.4%. Investors poured money instead into the safety of bonds, sending yields lower and signaling that they fear the economy will slow in the coming months.

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Green parties’ gains could boost climate action in Europe

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May 26, 2019. 1500 GMT |Brussels, Belgium | From Germany and France to Cyprus and Estonia, voters from 21 nations went to the polls Sunday in the final day of a crucial European Parliament election that could see major gains by the far-right, nationalist and populist movements that are on the rise across much of the continent | (AP Photo)

BERLIN (AP) — Green parties’ surprisingly strong showing in elections for the 751-seat European Parliament raised hopes — particularly among young voters — that global warming and other environmental issues will get more serious consideration on the continent.

Provisional results Monday showed the left-leaning Greens coming in fourth in the balloting with 69 seats, an increase of 17 from the last election, five years ago. Perhaps more significantly, the results showed how environmental concerns can transcend the political issues that dominate most European Union elections.

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Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party surges to victory in India

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May 23, 2019 2100 GMT | New Delhi, India | Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah greet supporters on arrival at the party headquarters. Modi’s BJP party claimed it won reelection with a commanding lead in Thursday’s vote count, while the head of the main opposition party conceded a personal defeat that signaled the end of an era for modern India’s main political dynasty | (AP Photo)

NEW DELHI (AP) — Charismatic but polarizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi surged to a landslide victory in Indian elections, propelling his Hindu nationalist party to back-to-back majorities in parliament for the first time in decades.

The Election Commission of India reports that the Bharatiya Janata Party won 303 out of the 542 constituencies in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament. The party’s top rival, the Indian National Congress, won 52 seats which have a part of Mahaghatbandan failed badly against Modi led BJP party.

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High-tech Estonia votes online for European Parliament

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May 20, 2019 1130 GMT | Tallinn, Estonia | Electoral lists for the European elections are shown on Linda’s laptop computer on Thursday May 16, as she prepares to vote in a cafe in Estonia’s capital, Tallinn, Estonia is the only country in the world to allow internet voting for the entire electorate, in every election | (AP Photo)

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Estonia was crippled by cyberattacks on government networks during a dispute with Russia in 2007. Today the tiny tech-savvy nation is so certain of its cyber defenses that it is the only country in the world to allow internet voting for the entire electorate, in every election, and thousands have already done so in the European Parliament elections.

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Indian minister projects ruling party win as polls near end

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May 15, 2019 1600 GMT | A day before election 2019 in India, Modi and his party BJP Leaders releases manifesto on 8th April 2019 in New Delhi, India | (AP File Photo)

NEW DELHI (AP) — An Indian government minister said Friday that she’s confident her Bharatiya Janata Party will remain in power when general elections conclude this month, and that minorities in Hindu-majority India have nothing to fear from five more years of the Hindu nationalist ideology the party espouses.

“Our assessment is we are coming back and we are coming back with a good majority,” Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told foreign reporters in New Delhi ahead of Sunday’s sixth phase of polling in the six-week election.

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Cyril Ramaphosa’s ruling ANC party led government in South Africa marks victory in 2019 election

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May 11, 2019 1245 GMT | Pretoria, South Africa | South Africans voted Wednesday in a national election and results show that the ruling African National Congress party (ANC) has won the national elections but has seen its share of the vote drop significantly | (AP Photo)

PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — South Africa’s ruling African National Congress on Saturday marked its lowest margin victory in national elections in a quarter-century, while President Cyril Ramaphosa declared that the vote had given him and others “a firm mandate to build a better South Africa for all.”

With all votes counted, the ANC had 57.5%, the electoral commission said . It was the worst-ever showing at the polls for the party of the late Nelson Mandela that has ruled since the end of the apartheid system of racial discrimination 25 years ago. The party won 62% of the vote in 2014.

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EU elections primer: How they work, what could happen

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May 9, 2019 1430 GMT | Sibiu, Romania | European Union leaders on Thursday start to set out a course for increased political cooperation in the wake of the impending departure of the United Kingdom from the bloc | (AP Photo)

BRUSSELS (AP) — About 400 million Europeans from 28 countries will head to the polls May 23-26 to choose lawmakers to represent them at the European Parliament for the next five years. Here’s a look at that massive exercise in democracy, a multi-national ballot by the European Union’s only democratically elected institution.

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