As 72-year-old Nonki Kunene walks through the corridors of Thabisang Primary School in Soweto, South Africa, she recalls the joy she and many others felt 30 years ago when they voted for the first time. It was at this school on April 27, 1994 that Kunene joined millions of South Africans to brave long queues and take part in the country's first democratic elections after decades of white minority rule which denied Black people the right to vote. However, as the country gears up for celebrations Saturday to mark 30 years of freedom and democracy, much of the enthusiasm and optimism of that peri ..read more

Harvey Weinstein's landmark New York sexual assault conviction was thrown out by an appeals court Thursday, and most of the dozens of civil cases filed against him since he became a central target in the #MeToo movement in 2017 have either been settled or dismissed. That doesn't mean the 72-year-old disgraced movie mogul and his lawyers don't have plenty of court time ahead. Prosecutors in Manhattan say they plan to retry him, and several other cases remain unresolved. Here's a look at those, and at some that have come and gone: THE LONE LOS ANGELES CONVICTION Weinstein was found guilty in 202 ..read more

The students at an encampment at Columbia University who inspired a wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the country dug in for their 10th day Friday, as administrators and police at college campuses from California to Connecticut wrestle with how to address protests that have seen scuffles with police and hundreds of arrests. Officials at Columbia and some other schools have been negotiating with student protesters who have rebuffed police and doubled down. Other schools have quickly turned to law enforcement to douse demonstrations before they can take hold. After a tent encampment ..read more

Millions of Indians began voting Friday in the second round of multi-phase national elections as Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought to galvanize voters with his assertive brand of Hindu nationalist politics. People lined up outside polling stations as voting opened at 7 a.m. Turnout was expected to pick up as the day progresses. The outcome of Friday’s voting will be crucial for Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, as the 88 constituencies up for grabs across 13 states include some of its strongholds in states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. Most pol ..read more

Even amid war, Ukraine finds time for the glittery, pop-filled Eurovision Song Contest. Perhaps now even more than ever. Ukraine’s entrants in the pan-continental music competition — the female duo of rapper alyona alyona and singer Jerry Heil — set off from Kyiv for the competition on Thursday. In wartime, that means a long train journey to Poland, from where they will travel on to next month’s competition in Malmö, Sweden. “We need to be visible for the world,” Heil told The Associated Press at Kyiv train station before her departure. “We need to show that even now, during the war, our cultu ..read more

#MeToo founder Tarana Burke has heard it before. Every time there’s a legal setback, the movement is declared dead in the water. A legal success, and presto, it’s alive again. So Burke, who nearly two decades ago coined the phrase “Me too” from her work with sexual assault survivors, found herself again declaring after New York's highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction: The #MeToo reckoning is greater than any court case. It’s still there, and it’s working. The most obvious proof, Burke said: “Ten years ago we could not get a man like Harvey Weinstein into ..read more

Diabetes is a major reason people lose their vision or limbs or experience kidney failure, three complications that Joel Gonzalez, Jr. has dealt with in his life. Gonzalez, 46, suffered a leg amputation, has lost most of his vision and was forced to have a kidney transplant three years ago. “I thought I was going to die,” he said. Gonzalez’s health problems developed after he was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes more than 25 years ago. Experts say high blood sugar levels over an extended period can damage blood vessels. If those aren’t properly working, blood can’t travel to the parts of the bod ..read more

Chicken Kiev, AI-generated press releases and the annoyance of fan selfies while performing — there was a lot on the minds of the Pet Shop Boys as the iconic British duo prepared to release a new album. Their 15th studio album, “Nonetheless,” comes Friday — 40 years (and 50 million record sales) after Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe rose to fame with the single “West End Girls.” Bands of any longevity — especially such a long one — are often asked the cliche: “How do you stay relevant?” For them, it's about never trying to be cool. “That’s something a lot of people try and do, to be somehow cool ..read more

The U.S. is expected to announce Friday that it will provide about $6 billion in long-term military aid to Ukraine, U.S. officials said, adding that it will include much sought after munitions for Patriot air defense systems. The officials said the aid package will be funded through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which pays for longer-term contracts with the defense industry and means that it could take many months or years for the weapons to arrive. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet made public. The new funding — the largest tranche of USAI ..read more

An Arizona grand jury's indictment of 18 people who either posed as or helped organize a slate of electors falsely claiming that former President Donald Trump won the state in 2020 could help shape the landscape of challenges to the 2024 election. The indictment issued Wednesday is part of a campaign to deter a repeat of 2020, when Trump and his allies falsely claimed he won swing states, filed dozens of lawsuits unsuccessfully challenging Biden's victory and tried to get Congress to let Trump stay in power. That campaign culminated with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The penalt ..read more