AP

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s biggest water company was fined almost 123 million pounds ($166 million) on Wednesday for releasing sewage into rivers and streams while paying dividends to its shareholders. Industry regulator Ofwat said that Thames Water must pay 104.5 million pounds for failing to protect the environment, and 18.2 million pounds for breaking rules

BANGKOK (AP) — A Cambodian soldier was killed when Thai and Cambodian troops briefly fired at each other in their disputed border area Wednesday, officials said. Cambodian army spokesperson Mao Phalla said the Cambodian troops were conducting a routine patrol along the border when the Thai side opened fire. The Thai army’s statement said the

BEIJING (AP) — Rescuers searched Wednesday for six people still missing after an explosion at a chemical plant in eastern China shook nearby buildings, killing at least five people and injuring 19. It was not immediately clear what caused the blast at an industrial park in the Shandong province city of Weifang. The explosion knocked

By NINIEK KARMINI and FADLAN SYAM Associated Press JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron met with his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto on Wednesday in a visit aimed at boosting defense and trade cooperation as part of his roughly week-long trip to Southeast Asia focused on strengthening regional ties in an increasingly unstable global

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Get ready for several years of even more record-breaking heat that pushes Earth to more deadly, fiery and uncomfortable extremes, two of the world’s top weather agencies forecast. There’s an 80% chance the world will break another annual temperature record in the next five years, and

By NICOLAS VAUX-MONTAGNY and SAMUEL PETREQUIN Associated Press A 74-year-old pedophile and former surgeon was given a maximum 20-year prison sentence on Wednesday by a French court for the rape and sexual assault of hundreds of patients, mostly children, over more than two decades. Joël Le Scouarnec was sentenced after admitting molesting nearly 300 victims

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian army whistleblower David McBride, who leaked allegations of Australian war crimes in Afghanistan to the media, lost a court bid to have his prison sentence reduced on Wednesday. The Australian Capital Territory Court of Appeal rejected the 61-year-old former army lawyer’s appeal against the severity

By ELÉONORE HUGHES Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Rio de Janeiro’s mayor on Tuesday loosened new restrictions on live music on the city’s beaches after many people warned of a threat to the dynamic cultural scene. Mayor Eduardo Paes earlier this month introduced the measures and reinforced existing ones, citing the need to

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press TOKYO (AP) — Japan said Tuesday it plans to use some slightly radioactive soil stored near the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant on flower beds at Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s office to show it is safe to reuse. The soil was removed from across the Fukushima prefecture as part of decontamination