CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- NASA's Parker Solar Probe is now closer to the sun than any spacecraft has ever gotten. Parker on Monday surpassed the record of 26.6 million miles (43 million kilometers) set by Helios-2 back in 1976. And it will keep getting closer to the sun until it flies through the corona, or outer atmosphere, for the first time next week, passing within 15 million miles (24 million kilometers) of the solar surface.  NASA`s Parker Solar Probe.(AP)Parker will make 24 close appro

MILAN (AP) -- Venice was inundated by an exceptional high tide Monday, putting three-quarters of the famed Italian lagoon city under water as large swathes of the rest of Italy experienced flooding and heavy winds that toppled trees and other objects, killing six people.Tourists and residents alike donned high boots to navigate the streets of Venice after strong winds raised the water level 156 centimeters (over 5 feet) before receding. The water exceeded the raised walkways normally put out in

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The UN humanitarian chief urged the Security Council and key countries on Monday to ensure that the cease-fire holds in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib to prevent "a military onslaught" and overwhelming human suffering.Mark Lowcock said the world has seen "a glimmer of hope in the weeks of relative quiet" since Russia and Turkey reached agreement on a truce in September that prevented a Syrian government offensive on the country's last rebel stronghold. (AP)"The sta

North Korea is exploring a grand plan to become a regional transportation hub, inspired in part by the successes of Singapore and Switzerland, and would be open to joining world financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund if current member states give up their “hostile” policies toward it, a senior government economist has told The Associated Press. Ri Ki Song, a senior researcher with the Economic Institute of the North's Academy of Social Sciences, said that although sanctio

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- The Latest on a Lion Air plane disappearance (all times local):NoonFamilies are turning up at Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency headquarters in Jakarta for world of their loved ones after a Lion Air plane crashed at sea.Indonesia's Finance Minister Sri Mulyani met with the agency chief, seeking information about 20 finance ministry staff who were on the flight. The Boeing plane disappeared Monday morning and the search is concentrating in oil-slickened wate

The top US envoy for North Korea on Monday expressed confidence about achieving North Korea's nuclear disarmament, despite worries about the slow pace of nuclear diplomacy in recent weeks.Meeting with his South Korean counterpart in Seoul, Stephen Biegun said that Washington and Seoul have a shared goal of ending seven decades of hostility on the Korean Peninsula.  (Yonhap)"The primary requirement for us to get to that endpoint is to achieve the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Ko

A Lion Air flight with 189 people on board crashed into the sea just minutes after taking off from Indonesia's capital on Monday in a blow to the country's aviation safety record after the lifting of bans on its airlines by the European Union and US. Indonesia's disaster agency posted photos online of a crushed smartphone, books, bags and parts of the aircraft fuselage that had been collected by search and rescue vessels that have converged on the area.(AP)Lion Air said the aircraft, on a 1-hour

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A survivor of the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre described Sunday how he and other terrorized worshippers concealed themselves in a supply closet as the gunman stepped over the body of a man he had just shot and killed, entered their darkened hiding spot and looked around."I can't say anything, and I'm barely breathing," recalled Barry Werber, 76, in an interview with The Associated Press. "He didn't see us, thank God."The gunman, Robert Gregory Bowers, opened fire with an AR-1

LEICESTER, England (AP) -- The Thai billionaire owner of English Premier League team Leicester City was among five people who died after his helicopter crashed and burst into flames shortly after taking off from the soccer field, the club said Sunday.Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, a 60-year-old entrepreneur who owns Thai duty-free retail giant King Power, bankrolled Leicester’s improbable league title triumph in 2016.“The world has lost a great man,” Leicester said in a statement. “A man of kindness,

PRAGUE (AP) -- Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Sunday he met with Saudi Arabia's foreign minister during an international conference and urged a full and complete investigation into the killing of writer Jamal Khashoggi.      Mattis told reporters traveling with him that Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir "had no reservations at all'' about the need for the kingdom to be transparent about the death of the Washington Post columnist at the kingdom's consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.   A view of

LEICESTER (AP) --  Flowers and wreaths have been laid outside Leicester's City's stadium, the morning after a helicopter belonging to the English club's Thai owner crashed in flames next to the ground.      Small bouquets were left by members of the public alongside a large image of the Hindu god Ganesh, which was also propped up among the flowers. A small candle was placed in front of the flowers as people gathered at the stadium.  People add flowers to a growing pile of tributes outside Leices

Many people in a US Pacific territory ravaged by a deadly super typhoon lost everything, but residents say they are resilient and must focus on the long recovery ahead. The US government is sending supplies to the Northern Marianas as residents dig through crumbled houses, smashed cars and fallen utility poles after Super Typhoon Yutu struck Thursday as a Category 5 storm. "The rebuilding of this island is beginning already as time waits for nobody,'' Jan Reyes, who lives on the territory's most

The strongest storm to hit any part of the United States this year crumbled concrete houses, smashed cars and killed at least one person in the Northern Mariana Islands, shocking residents and officials used to riding out monster storms in the US territory in the Pacific.A day after Super Typhoon Yutu slammed into the territory that is home to 50,000 people, residents on Friday picked through destruction ranging from collapsed houses — including some built to withstand typhoon winds — to snapped

NEW YORK (AP) -- Amazon reported another record quarterly profit Thursday, fueled by the growth of online shopping and its cloud-computing service. But its revenue grew less than Wall Street analysts expected, and Amazon's shares fell after the results were released.   (AP)The company, based in Seattle, has boosted its profitability as it expanded far beyond online shopping. For years, the company posted razor-thin quarterly profits, spending most of what it earned on building warehouses and mak

UNITED NATIONS (AP)-- Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday decried the failure to bring women into peacemaking, pointing to statistics showing that between 1990 and 2017, women constituted only 8 percent of negotiators and 5 percent of witnesses and signatories to major peace processes.He told the UN Security Council on Thursday that at the heart of these statistics -- which also include only 2 percent of mediators in conflicts being female -- is the continuing inequality between men a