Russia launches Mediterranean drills amid rift with Britain

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JUN 25, 2021 @ 1800 GMT | In this photo released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Friday, June 25, 2021, a Russian MiG-31 fighter jet carrying a Kinzhal missile takes off from the Hemeimeem air base in Syria. The Russian military on Friday launched sweeping maneuvers in the Mediterranean Sea featuring warplanes capable of carrying hypersonic missiles, a show of force amid a surge in tensions following an incident with a British destroyer in the Black Sea. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

MOSCOW, Russia (AP) — The Russian military on Friday launched sweeping maneuvers in the Mediterranean Sea featuring warplanes armed with state-of-the-art hypersonic missiles, a show of force amid a surge in tensions following an incident with a British destroyer in the Black Sea.

Moscow said one of its warships fired warning shots and a warplane dropped bombs in the path of British destroyer Defender on Wednesday to force her out of an area near Crimea that Russia claims as its territorial waters. Britain denied that account, insisted its ship wasn’t fired upon and said she was sailing in Ukrainian waters.

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New York court suspends Rudy Giuliani’s law license

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JUN 24, 2021 @ 1500 GMT | FILE – In this June 21, 2021, file photo former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani speaks during a campaign event for Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa in New York. An appeals court suspended Giuliani from practicing law in New York because he made false statements while trying to get courts to overturn Donald Trump’s loss in the presidential race. The ruling, signed Thursday, June 24 will prevent Giuliani from representing clients as a lawyer. (AP File Photo)

NEW YORK, United States (AP) — An appeals court suspended Rudy Giuliani from practicing law in New York Thursday because he made false statements while trying to get courts to overturn Donald Trump’s loss in the presidential race.

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Antivirus pioneer John McAfee found dead in Spanish prison

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JUN 24, 2021 @ 1830 GMT | FILE — In this Dec. 12, 2012, file photo, anti-virus software founder John McAfee answers questions to reporters as he walks on Ocean Drive, in the South Beach area of Miami Beach, Fla. McAfee, the outlandish security software pioneer who tried to live life as a hedonistic outsider while running from a host of legal troubles, was found dead in his jail cell near Barcelona, Spain, on Wednesday, June 23, 2021. His death came just hours after a Spanish court announced that it had approved his extradition to the United States to face tax charges punishable by decades in prison, authorities said. (AP File Photo)

MADRID, Spain (AP) — John McAfee, the creator of McAfee antivirus software, was found dead in his jail cell near Barcelona in an apparent suicide Wednesday, hours after a Spanish court approved his extradition to the United States to face tax charges punishable by decades in prison, authorities said.

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Xi congratulates Chinese astronauts aboard space station

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JUN 23, 2021 @ 1800 GMT | Xi Jinping, at the China’s new space station in space on Wednesday, June 23, 2021. (CCTV via AP Video)

BEIJING, China (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke Wednesday with three astronauts who are making the country’s first permanent space station their home for the next three months, and called their mission an important milestone in China’s space industry.

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US sends Taiwan 2.5 million vaccine doses, tripling pledge

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JUN 20, 2021 @ 1830 GMT | In this photo released by the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control, a China Airlines cargo plane carrying COVID-19 vaccines from Memphis arrive at the airport outside Taipei, Taiwan, Sunday, June 20, 2021. The U.S. sent 2.5 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to Taiwan on Sunday, tripling an earlier pledge in a donation with both public health and geopolitical meaning. (Taiwan Centers for Disease Control via AP)

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The U.S. sent 2.5 million doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to Taiwan on Sunday, tripling an earlier pledge in a donation with both public health and geopolitical meaning.

The shipment arrived on a China Airlines cargo plane that had left Memphis the previous day. Health Minister Chen Shih-chung and Brent Christensen, the top U.S. official in Taiwan, were among those who welcomed the plane on the tarmac at the airport outside of the capital, Taipei.

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Hit by a ransomware attack? Your payment may be deductible

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JUN 19, 2021 @ 1300 GMT | FILE – In this photo March 22, 2013, file photo, the exterior of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) building in Washington. As ransomware attacks surge, the FBI is doubling down on its guidance to affected businesses: Don’t pay the cybercriminals. But the U.S. government also offers a little-noticed incentive for those who do pay: The ransoms may be tax deductible. (AP File Photo)

WASHINGTON, United States (AP) — As ransomware attacks surge, the FBI is doubling down on its guidance to affected businesses: Don’t pay the cybercriminals. But the U.S. government also offers a little-noticed incentive for those who do pay: The ransoms may be tax deductible.

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Crew starts making China’s new space station their home

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JUN 18, 2021 @ 1800 GMT | In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese astronauts salute after successfully entering the Tianhe space station module as they are displayed on a big screen at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center in Beijing, on Thursday, June 17, 2021. China has launched the first three-man crew to its new space station in its the ambitious programs first crewed mission in five years (Xinhua via AP)

JIUQUAN, China (AP) — Three Chinese astronauts have begun making China’s new space station their home for the next three months, after their launch and arrival at the station Thursday marked further advances in the country’s ambitious space program.

Their Shenzhou-12 craft connected with the station about six hours after taking off from the Jiuquan launch center on the edge of the Gobi Desert.

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Iran votes in presidential poll tipped in hard-liner’s favor

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JUN 18, 2021 @ 1700 GMT | This combination of four photos shows candidates for the June 18, 2021, Iranian presidential elections from left to right; Abdolnasser Hemmati, Mohsen Rezaei, Amir Hossein Ghazizadeh Hashemi and Ebrahim Raisi. Iranians will vote Friday on who should be the country’s next president amid tensions with the West over its tattered nuclear deal with world powers. (AP Photo)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran voted Friday in a presidential election tipped in the favor of a hard-line protege of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, fueling public apathy and sparking calls for a boycott in the Islamic Republic.

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UK records over 10,000 virus cases for first time since Feb

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JUN 17, 2021 @ 1430 GMT | People walk in Piccadilly Circus, in London, Monday, June 14, 2021. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to confirm Monday that the next planned relaxation of coronavirus restrictions in England will be delayed as a result of the spread of the delta variant first identified in India. (AP Photo)

LONDON, United Kingdom (AP) — The U.K.’s latest surge in coronavirus infections gathered pace Thursday with new confirmed cases rising above 10,000 for the first time in nearly four months as a result of the spread of the more contagious delta variant.

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California marks reopening with jackpots, Hollywood flair

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JUN 16, 2021 @ 1400 GMT | California Governor Gavin Newsom, center, celebrates with other guests after the Vax for the Win lottery contest during a news conference at Universal Studios in Universal City, Calif., Tuesday, June 15, 2021. Starting Tuesday, there were no more state rules on social distancing, and no more limits on capacity at restaurants, bars, supermarkets, gyms, stadiums or anywhere else. (AP Photo)

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AP) — Welcome back, California.

San Francisco announced the return of its iconic cable cars. Disneyland threw open its doors to out-of-state tourists. And Gov. Gavin Newsom marked the day with Hollywood flair, visiting Universal Studios to celebrate the lifting of most COVID-19 restrictions and what he called the “full reopening” of the Golden State’s economy Tuesday.

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