Supreme Court in Parliament Square in London. (UK Supreme Court)LONDON (AP) -- Britain's highest court has ruled that the family of a patient in a persistently vegetative state does not need to seek a court's permission to have life support removed. The landmark ruling Monday comes in a case involving a man who suffered a brain injury. The 52-year-old man, identified as Mr. Y, has been in a coma since suffering a heart attack. Experts agreed that even if he had regained consciousness, he'd have

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- A shallow, magnitude 6.4 earthquake early Sunday killed at least 10 people and injured 40 on Indonesia's Lombok Island, a popular tourist destination next to Bali, officials said. The quake damaged dozens of single-story houses and taller buildings and was felt in a wider area, including in Bali, where no damage or casualties were reported. (AP)The US Geological Survey said the quake struck at a depth of 7 kilometers.East Lombok district was the hardest hit with eight death

Two of the biggest social media platforms lost nearly one-fifth of their market value after reporting disappointing user growth. Twitter's stock plunged Friday after it reported a decline in its monthly users and warned that the number could fall further in the coming months. The 20.5 percent plunge came one day after Facebook lost 19 percent of its value in a single day. Twitter says it's putting the long-term stability of its platform above user growth. That leaves investors seemingly unable t

CBS said Friday it is investigating personal misconduct claims after the company's chief executive, Les Moonves, was the subject of a New Yorker story detailing sexual misconduct allegations.  The media company said independent members of its board of directors are ``investigating claims that violate the company's clear policies'' regarding personal misconduct. CBS Corp.'s stock fell 6 percent _ its worst one-day loss in nearly seven years _ as the reports of the misconduct allegations began to

BEIJING -- A fire or possible explosion appears to have taken place outside the US Embassy in Beijing on Thursday. A woman was reportedly detained after spraying gasoline on herself, according to official media.Photos posted on Twitter showed a large amount of smoke and what appeared to be police vehicles surrounding the vast structure in northeastern Beijing.  (Courtesy of @AmichaiStein1 on Twitter)Police did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the incident and an embassy spokesm

A hydroelectric dam collapsed in southeastern Laos, leaving an unknown number of people dead and hundreds missing, state media said Tuesday. Rescue efforts were underway as top government officials rushed to the site and public appeals were launched for aid.The official Lao news agency KPL said the Xepian-Xe Nam Noy hydropower dam in Attapeu province collapsed Monday evening, releasing cascades of water that swept away houses, flooded villages and made more than 6,600 people homeless.The dam was

KOBE, Japan _ Andres Iniesta made his debut in Japan on Sunday for Vissel Kobe but his new team went down 3-0 at home to Shonan Bellmare.Keisuke Saka and Mitsuki Saito scored to give the visitors a 2-0 lead before Iniesta came on as a 59th-minute substitute. But Shunsuke Kikuchi added another in the 67th to put the result beyond doubt. Andres Iniesta (AP)The 34-year-old Iniesta had his first touch in the 62nd minute, as he received a pass inside his own area before dribbling to halfway and passi

LONDON - The British government is facing rising calls to liberalize abortion laws in Northern Ireland. The socialist feminist group Rosa, after claiming to have taken an abortion pill during a demonstration outside Belfast’s Crown and High Courts, Northern Ireland. (AP file photo)More than 170 politicians called Sunday for action to be taken. The group included legislators from political parties in Britain, Ireland and Northern Ireland. They sent a letter to the Sunday Times to urge Britain to

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The United States on Friday welcomed the UN Security Council’s united support for the fully verified denuclearization of North Korea and pressed China and Russia to strictly enforce UN sanctions to get Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons.US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused North Korea of violating an array of tough sanctions imposed by the council. He warned that “when sanctions are not enforced, the prospects for the successful denuclearization of North Korea a

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has apologized for calling a British diver involved in the Thailand cave rescue a pedophile, saying he spoke in anger but was wrong to do so.There was no immediate public reaction from diver Vern Unsworth to Musk's latest tweets.Musk's initial tweet calling Unsworth a "pedo" was a response to a TV interview Unsworth gave. In it, he said Musk and SpaceX engineers orchestrated a "PR stunt" by sending a small submarine to help divers rescue the 12 Thai soccer players

Japan on Wednesday approved its first national legislation banning smoking inside of public facilities, but the watered-down measure excludes many restaurants and bars and is seen as toothless.The legislation aims to lower secondhand smoking risks ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics amid international calls for a smoke-free Games. But ruling party lawmakers with strong ties to the tobacco and restaurant industries opted for a weakened version.The upper house approved and enacted the bill into law W

SAN FRANCISCO -- Uber is facing a US government investigation into allegations that the ride-hailing service set up a pay structure that discriminated against its female workers.The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission opened the probe in August 2017, according to a person familiar with the investigation. The person insisted on not being identified because the inquiry is considered confidential.The Wall Street Journal first reported the ongoing investigation. This March 20 file photo shows

President Donald Trump opened a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday by predicting that their countries will end up having “an extraordinary relationship” but without mentioning Moscow's meddling in the 2016 US presidential election in his opening remarks.“Our two countries, frankly, we have not been getting along well,” Trump said as he and Putin sat down at the Presidential Palace in Finland's capital. “I really think the world wants to see us get along.”Putin, for his part,

PARIS -- It was a victory for all of France and the home crowd did it justice, pouring into Paris’ Champs-Elysees Avenue by the tens of thousands to celebrate in an explosion of joy.France’s 4-2 win over Croatia in the World Cup final in Moscow on Sunday marked the second time in 20 years that France has won the World Cup, and came at a time when the people feel needy.“It represents enormous things,” said Goffrey Hamsik, dressed in a hat resembling a rooster — the French national symbol — and a

MOSCOW - With Vladimir Putin watching from the stands, France won its second World Cup title in a match that was interrupted by an on-field protest during the second half that Russian punk band Pussy Riot later took credit for. French players celebrate at the end of the final match between France and Croatia at the 2018 soccer World Cup in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, July 15, 2018. (AP)Nineteen-year-old Kylian Mbappe became only the second teenager to score in a World Cup fin