World

South Korean police raid local Starbucks headquarters over controversial marketing campaign

Hyung-jin Kim, The Associated Press 2 minute read 12:56 AM CDT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean police raided the headquarters of Starbucks’ local operation as part of an investigation into a controversial marketing campaign that was perceived as defaming 1980s' pro-democracy movements.

Investigators searched the Starbucks headquarters in southern Seoul on Tuesday, police said Wednesday.

Police gave no further details, but South Korean media reported investigators also were sent to the residences of Starbucks executives.

The coffee chain triggered a public uproar when it attempted to promote a series of stainless-steel tumblers it called “SS Tank” by declaring May 18 to be “Tank Day.” The date marks the anniversary of a 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southern city of Gwangju that was brutally oppressed by South Korea's then military-backed rulers.

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Business

People walk past an electronic board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Asian shares are mostly lower as Kospi falls 4% and tech giants decline on Wall Street

Elaine Kurtenbach, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Asian shares are mostly lower as Kospi falls 4% and tech giants decline on Wall Street

Elaine Kurtenbach, The Associated Press 4 minute read 12:12 AM CDT

BANGKOK (AP) — Asian shares were mostly lower and South Korea’s Kospi dropped more than 4% on Thursday following declines for some Big Tech giants including memory chipmaker SK Hynix.

Oil prices held steady, with Brent crude trading near $79 a barrel. Uncertainty about the direction of the U.S. war with Iran is still overhanging markets despite hopes for a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Markets will get an update Friday on U.S. jobs with the monthly employment report for July, and analysts say investors appear to be bracing for its potential impact.

“Asia's chip selloff looks like a combination of profit-taking and risk reduction ahead of Friday's nonfarm payroll report,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

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12:12 AM CDT

Israeli military vehicles, left, are seen stationed among homes in the village of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, occupied by Israeli forces, is seen from the southern village of Zawtar al-Gharbieh, Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

2 soldiers killed in Lebanon in the first Israeli deaths since June truce with Hezbollah

The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

2 soldiers killed in Lebanon in the first Israeli deaths since June truce with Hezbollah

The Associated Press 3 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 11:52 PM CDT

BEIRUT (AP) — The Israeli military said Thursday that two of its soldiers were killed in combat in southern Lebanon in the first Israeli deaths since the implementation of a shaky truce between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in June.

Four other soldiers were seriously wounded, the military said. The deaths had been reported by Israeli media a day earlier.

The Israeli army launched strikes Wednesday in southern Lebanon in response to what it described as Hezbollah’s violation of the ceasefire and issued a call for residents of the village of Mansouri to flee — the first such warning Israel has issued in Lebanon for weeks.

There was no immediate statement from Hezbollah.

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Updated: Yesterday at 11:52 PM CDT

World

David Crowley, Democratic candidate for Wisconsin governor, takes a selfie photo with supporter Abigail Tessmann during a campaign stop Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Scott Bauer)

After Michigan, Democrats’ next battleground over the party’s future shifts to Wisconsin

Scott Bauer, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview

After Michigan, Democrats’ next battleground over the party’s future shifts to Wisconsin

Scott Bauer, The Associated Press 7 minute read Yesterday at 11:14 PM CDT

NEW GLARUS, Wis. (AP) — Sarah Miller, a software engineer from the liberal stronghold of Madison, has heard all of the chatter about a civil war in the Democratic Party between progressives and moderates. But all she cares about is winning.

That's why Miller said she is voting in Tuesday's gubernatorial primary for David Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive endorsed by two-term Gov. Tony Evers. He faces democratic socialist Francesca Hong in a contest that will be the latest test nationally of how far Democrats are willing to swing to the political left.

Wisconsin's primary comes a week after progressive Abdul El-Sayed narrowly defeated Rep. Haley Stevens in Michigan’s U.S. Senate primary, setting up a crucial test for progressives in November in a key battleground state. Also on Tuesday, voters in Minnesota will decide another U.S. Senate contest featuring a centrist and a progressive.

In a year where voters upset with the Democratic Party mainstream have propelled outsider candidates to victory across the country, Crowley is hoping to buck the trend in Wisconsin. He's banking on the support of Evers, one of the state's most popular elected officials, to make up ground in the waning days of the chaotic primary.

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Yesterday at 11:14 PM CDT

World

Democratic congressional candidate State Rep. Justin J. Pearson, D-Memphis, speaks during a campaign rally, Friday, July 17, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

A new Tennessee congressional map that splits Memphis is making its debut in the state’s primary

David A. Lieb And Kristin M. Hall, The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

A new Tennessee congressional map that splits Memphis is making its debut in the state’s primary

David A. Lieb And Kristin M. Hall, The Associated Press 5 minute read Yesterday at 11:09 PM CDT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A new Tennessee congressional map that carved up a majority Black district in Memphis is making its electoral debut Tuesday in a primary election that will determine the nominees for a Republican attempt at a clean sweep of the state's U.S. House districts in the midterms.

The primaries were upended just three months before the vote when the Republican-led Legislature redrew congressional districts following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened federal Voting Rights Act protection for minorities. President Donald Trump cheered the redistricting as part of a national plan to try to help Republicans hold on to their slim House majority.

Trump has endorsed state Sen. Brent Taylor in the four-person Republican primary for the significantly reshaped 9th Congressional District, which now stretches about 200 miles (320 kilometers) east from Memphis before reaching north toward the Nashville area. The district, which previously favored Democrats, now tilts toward Republicans, and some Memphis voters have raised concerns that their representation has been diminished.

After the redistricting, longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen announced that he would no longer seek reelection in the 9th District. Cohen's primary challenger, Democratic state Rep. Justin Pearson, then was joined by state Sen. London Lamar in what became a four-person contest.

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Yesterday at 11:09 PM CDT

Health

Dr. Anthony Fauci appears before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee at the Capitol, Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)

Senate panel to vote on holding Fauci in contempt for refusing to answer questions

Eric Tucker, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Senate panel to vote on holding Fauci in contempt for refusing to answer questions

Eric Tucker, The Associated Press 3 minute read Yesterday at 11:09 PM CDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Senate committee is set to vote Thursday on whether to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress and refer him to the Justice Department for potential prosecution over his refusal to answer questions at a hearing last week focused on his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination more than 100 times when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, the Republican committee chairman, has said that constitutional protection did not apply since Fauci last year received a pardon from President Joe Biden and thus did not have to worry about the threat of prosecution.

But Fauci, in a statement issued before the hearing, said he had good reason to fear the possibility of criminal charges given what he said was Paul's determination “to get me to say something, anything, that could vindicate his repeated public pledges that I end up, in his words, quote, behind bars, unquote."

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Yesterday at 11:09 PM CDT

Environment

FILE - A helicopter conducting night operations prepares to drop water on the Quilpituk Creek wildfire burning on the west side of Okanagan Lake near Fintry, British Columbia, Aug. 3, 2026. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

Climate change contributed to big Canada fires, study says as Trump blames mismanagement

Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

Climate change contributed to big Canada fires, study says as Trump blames mismanagement

Seth Borenstein, The Associated Press 6 minute read Yesterday at 11:07 PM CDT

Human-caused climate change doubled the likelihood of the tinderbox weather conditions that sparked Canada’s massive summer wildfires and in turn angered U.S. President Donald Trump, according to a study released Thursday.

And fire and climate scientists said Trump, who has talked about punishing Canada for poor fire management and sending days of choking smoke across the border, should look more in the mirror than up north when it comes to blame. They point to the United States' huge historical emissions of heat-trapping gases from the burning of coal, oil and gas.

The fire weather conditions in Northwest Territories and northwestern Ontario, while unusual but not that rare, were still made twice as likely by global warming, said Thursday's study by World Weather Attribution, a group of international scientists who examine extreme weather conditions to see if there are climate change fingerprints. It's about the same as the team found for summer fires in France, but not nearly as clear a climate fingerprint as they calculated in Spanish fires, which the scientists said were 20 times more likely because of climate change.

The study, which was done so quickly it has not been peer reviewed yet, looked at the weather conditions that are connected to large wildfires and the Canadian index for those conditions, which are heat, lack of rain, humidity and wind. The researchers found the doubling of frequency when — using scientifically accepted techniques to search for climate fingerprints — they compared current conditions to a world without the 2.5 degrees (1.4 degrees Celsius) of warming that's occurred since the industrial age and burning of fossil fuels started. The weeklong weather conditions that led to the fires in Ontario are now the type that can happen every six years or so, the report said.

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Yesterday at 11:07 PM CDT

Featured

The Week That Was: July 26 to Aug. 1

In pictures: Folklorama 2026

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Dancers perform at the First Nations Pavilion at the Convention Centre Sunday.

How many mosquitos are buzzing around Winnipeg? Check our interactive map.

Brighter days ahead after Camp Arnes

Supplied
Keishna Abenstein is thrilled her middle child, Teagen, got to take in Camp Arnes this summer thanks to the Sunshine Fund after her own fond childhood memories of the camp. From left: Teagen, Keishna, Reaven and Shayne Abenstein.

Stampeding to Starlette’s

Reclaiming Icelandic ancestors, one photo at a time

World

AP News in Brief at 12:04 a.m. EDT

The Associated Press 12 minute read Yesterday at 11:05 PM CDT

How Abdul El-Sayed went from political oblivion to progressive breakthrough in Michigan Senate race

DETROIT (AP) — Abdul El-Sayed, a former public health official who harnessed Democratic frustration with the party establishment, narrowly defeated Rep. Haley Stevens in Michigan’s U.S. Senate primary, setting up a crucial test for progressives in a key battleground state.

El-Sayed will face Republican Mike Rogers, a former congressman, in November in a race that will help determine control of the Senate. His first challenge will be unifying Democratic factions after a bitter primary that offered divergent visions for a party desperate for a path back to power.

The margin was extraordinarily close. El-Sayed walked off the stage at his Tuesday night election party without declaring victory, and the race was not called until early Wednesday, after nearly all ballots statewide had been counted. At the time The Associated Press declared him the winner, El-Sayed led Stevens by 14,893 votes — just under 1 percentage point — out of more than 1.5 million ballots counted, the most in recent state history.

World

IndyCar Series driver David Malukas drives a race car down West Executive Drive during an event with President Donald Trump to promote the upcoming Freedom 250 Grand Prix auto race, Monday, July 13, 2026, at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Trump’s IndyCar race: Doing 200 in a 25 mph zone with manhole cover-displacing torque

Will Weissert, The Associated Press 7 minute read Preview

Trump’s IndyCar race: Doing 200 in a 25 mph zone with manhole cover-displacing torque

Will Weissert, The Associated Press 7 minute read Yesterday at 11:03 PM CDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The speed limit along Pennsylvania Avenue is 25 mph.

But the open-wheel race cars roaring through the longest straightaway of the upcoming Washington IndyCar race organized by President Donald Trump could be going nearly eight times that fast.

“If we did that during the regular day, I think people would be put in jail, perhaps for the rest of their lives,” Trump joked recently while hosting an IndyCar pit crew at the White House to hype the Freedom 250 Grand Prix.

The race, scheduled for Aug. 22 and 23, features vehicles that typically reach street-course speeds approaching 200 mph and have enough torque to tear off manhole covers. It is the latest — and the fastest — of the major events Trump has hosted against the backdrop of America's 250th birthday, a larger celebration he has made as much about himself as possible.

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Yesterday at 11:03 PM CDT

World

Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, left, and Myanmar's President Min Aung Hlaing review an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Government House in Bangkok, Thailand Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

Leader of Myanmar’s military-backed government arrives in Thailand seeking political legitimacy

The Associated Press 5 minute read Preview

Leader of Myanmar’s military-backed government arrives in Thailand seeking political legitimacy

The Associated Press 5 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 11:10 PM CDT

BANGKOK (AP) — The head of Myanmar’s military-backed government arrived in Thailand on Thursday for an official visit that could serve as a major steppingstone in his effort to win political legitimacy more than five years after seizing power from an elected civilian government.

President Min Aung Hlaing 's two-day official visit includes meetings with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and other officials at Government House, where they are expected to sign several memorandums of understanding. Following the meetings, the two leaders will attend a Thailand-Myanmar Business Forum.

The visit has drawn criticism from activist groups such as Justice For Myanmar, which stated that the trip lends “false legitimacy” to Min Aung Hlaing and the ruling generals.

Min Aung Hlaing took a significant step toward would-be political rehabilitation in April when he was sworn in as president following an election held in phases in December and January. Critics dismissed the polls as a sham designed to consolidate the military’s grip on power while ostensibly restoring civilian rule.

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Updated: Yesterday at 11:10 PM CDT

World

Visitors pray in front of the cenotaph dedicated to the victims of the atomic bombing ahead of a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the bombing at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. (Mizuki Sakai/Kyodo News via AP)

Hiroshima marks 81st atomic bomb anniversary as mayor deplores the pursuit of nuclear weapons

Mari Yamaguchi, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

Hiroshima marks 81st atomic bomb anniversary as mayor deplores the pursuit of nuclear weapons

Mari Yamaguchi, The Associated Press 4 minute read Updated: 12:25 AM CDT

TOKYO (AP) — Hiroshima on Thursday marked the 81st anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the western Japanese city, with its mayor criticizing major powers for waging wars and urging them to stop justifying the possession of nuclear weapons as a method of deterrence.

“Downplaying the inhumanity of nuclear weapons and accepting the use of force to pursue one’s own prosperity risk cycles of violent retaliation that could ultimately result in another Hiroshima or Nagasaki,” Mayor Kazumi Matsui said.

Too many political leaders still consider nuclear deterrence a realistic approach and legitimize violence, which “simply pushes a world without nuclear weapons further into the distance,” Matsui said in his peace declaration at the ceremony at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. He also called on each citizen to learn lessons from the past and take action.

About 50,000 people, including representatives from some 120 countries and regions including the United States and Iran, were to attend the ceremony. A minute of silence was held while a peace bell rang out at 8:15 a.m., the time when a U.S. B-29 dropped the bomb on the city.

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Updated: 12:25 AM CDT

Science & Technology

FILE - An ad for the prediction market app Kalshi is displayed on a mobile phone Thursday, April 16, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley,File)

Federal judge lets Utah enforce its anti-gambling laws on the prediction market Kalshi

Hannah Schoenbaum, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Federal judge lets Utah enforce its anti-gambling laws on the prediction market Kalshi

Hannah Schoenbaum, The Associated Press 3 minute read Yesterday at 9:56 PM CDT

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah can enforce its strict anti-gambling laws on prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket, a federal judge ruled in a win for states seeking to rein in the popular betting platforms.

Utah has been on the front lines of a battle between states and the federal government over who regulates the markets and whether they should be considered finance or gambling. The legal landscape is fragmented, with state and federal courts blocking restrictions in several states and allowing them in others.

Kalshi sued Utah in February, asking a federal judge to prevent the state from enforcing its gambling restrictions on the platform. The lawsuit came as Utah was on the verge of enacting legislation intended to undercut prediction markets from doing business in the state.

State law now bans proposition betting in sports — wagers on certain events happening in a game, rather than the game’s outcome — which is a significant source of revenue for the leading prediction markets.

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Yesterday at 9:56 PM CDT

Business

Cable cars cut across the skyline during testing in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Sunday, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Alexander Joe)

This African city thought cable cars could fix its traffic gridlock. It was wrong

Alexander Joe, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview

This African city thought cable cars could fix its traffic gridlock. It was wrong

Alexander Joe, The Associated Press 6 minute read Yesterday at 9:25 PM CDT

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AP) — The idea was unique for sub-Saharan Africa: Use cable cars to lift thousands of commuters above the daily gridlock in one of Africa's fast-growing cities.

But the system ran for only a few weeks, and now the car-less cables hang unused above Madagascar 's capital in what might be a $170 million mistake by one of the world's poorest countries.

The cable car system in Antananarivo was promoted and inaugurated by former President Andry Rajoelina before he was deposed in a military coup late last year following youth-led protests alleging widespread government failures.

He reasoned it was the best way to end the reliance on aging, overcrowded minibus taxis that create traffic jams stretching for hours, an annoyance for many in the island nation off east Africa. Light rail wouldn't work because of the area's marshlands, he said.

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Yesterday at 9:25 PM CDT

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