MOSCOW (AP) — The trial of a Russian American dual citizen whom Russia accuses of treason opened on Thursday as tensions rise between Washington and Moscow, including over the arrests of two American journalists.

The trial is being held behind closed doors in Yekaterinburg, in the same court that next week is to begin hearing the case of Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who was arrested in March 2023 and charged with espionage.

The defendant was identified by Russian authorities as Los Angeles resident Ksenia Karelina, although U.S. media reports frequently use the surname Khavana, the name of her ex-husband.

Karelina was born in Yekaterinburg and was arrested in February while visiting her family.

Russia’s main domestic security agency, the Federal Security Service, charges that Karelina raised money for a Ukrainian organization that was providing weapons, ammunition and other supplies to the Ukrainian military. Her boyfriend has said she made a single donation of about $50 to a Ukrainian organization, according to media reports.

Karelina faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Almost all Russian criminal cases that make it to court end in convictions. The trial was adjourned in the afternoon and the next session was set for Aug. 7, Russian news agencies said.

Gershkovich, the highest-profile American behind bars in Russia, is accused of gathering secret information from a tank factory in Nizhny Tagil, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of Yekaterinburg. His employers deny the allegation, and the U.S. State Department has declared him to be wrongfully detained.

Gershkovich’s trial, also closed, is to begin next Wednesday.

A journalist for U.S.-funded Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe with U.S. and Russian dual citizenship has been held since October on charges of gathering military information and failing to register as a foreign agent.

Since sending troops into Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has sharply cracked down on dissent and has passed laws that criminalize criticism of the operation in Ukraine and remarks considered to discredit the Russian military. Concern has risen since then that Russia could be targeting U.S. nationals for arrest.

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stocks mostly fell Thursday in thin trading after U.S. markets were closed Wednesday in observance of Juneteenth.

U.S. futures and oil prices were mixed.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index edged 0.1% higher to 38,324.10.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong shed 0.5% to 18,336.76. The Hang Seng tech index retreated 1.4%, after jumping 3.7% on Wednesday, tracking Nvidia’s advance. The Shanghai Composite index dropped 0.3% to 3,009.72.

The Chinese yuan was trading at its lowest level this year, with the central parity rate set at 7.1192 yuan to the U.S. dollar, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.

The central parity rate is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the interbank market opens each business day.

China’s central bank kept its one-year lending benchmark rate unchanged at 3.45% and the five-year loan prime rate at 3.95% on Thursday. The one-year loan prime rate serves as a benchmark for the majority of corporate and household loans, while the five-year rate is used as a peg for real estate mortgages.

Meanwhile, markets were digesting comments from People’s Bank of China Gov. Pan Gongsheng, who told a financial forum in Shanghai that China will keep its monetary policies accommodative to support the economy.

In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.1% lower to 7,766.30. South Korea’s Kospi added 0.2% to 2,802.00.

Elsewhere, Taiwan’s Taiex gained 0.1%, while Bangkok’s SET fell 0.3%.

On Wednesday, European equity markets were mostly lower. In London, the FTSE 100 gained 0.2% to 8,205.11 after data showed that British inflation fell to the central bank’s 2% target for the first time in nearly three years. The data also backed market expectations that the Bank of England will keep its benchmark rate at 5.25% for the time being.

Germany’s DAX slipped 0.4% to 18,067.91, while the CAC 40 in Paris dropped 0.8% to 7,570.20.

U.S. markets reopen Thursday. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 added 0.3% to 5,487.03, setting an all-time high for the 31st time this year. The Nasdaq composite edged up by less than 0.1% to 17,862.23. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2% to 38,834.86.

Nvidia once again was the star, gaining 3.5% and acting as the strongest force pushing the S&P 500 upward. It lifted its total market value further above $3 trillion, again.

In other dealings early Thursday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gave up 15 cents to $80.56 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude added 8 cents to $85.15 per barrel.

The dollar rose to 158.17 Japanese yen from 158.10 yen. The euro slipped to $1.0742 from $1.0745.

TAMPICO, Mexico (AP) — Tropical Storm Alberto, the season’s first named storm, weakened Thursday as it moved inland over northeast Mexico after bringing heavy rains to parts of the parched region and leaving at least three dead.

The storm was weakening rapidly over land and was downgraded to a tropical depression by the U.S. National Hurricane Center.

But forecasters said heavy rain amounting to several inches was still expected inland in Mexico’s Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon and Coahuila states. South Texas was forecast to see diminishing rain Thursday.

Immediately after it moved ashore in Tampico, there was initial disappointment at the meager amount of rain that fell. Showers had been sporadic through the early morning with the sun even breaking through at times.

“We had hoped that it would come because water is so needed here, but at far as I can tell it went somewhere else,” said Tampico resident Marta Alicia Hernández.

But inland heavy rain was causing damage in the neighboring states of Nuevo Leon and Veracruz.

There, civil protection authorities reported three deaths linked to Alberto’s rains. They said one man died in the La Silla river in the city of Monterrey, the state capital, and that two minors died from electric shocks in the municipality of Allende. Local media reported that the minors were riding a bicycle in the rain.

Water also washed out a segment of a major highway connecting Monterrey and Saltillo.

Nuevo Leon Gov. Samuel García wrote on his account on social media platform X that metro and public transportation services would be suspended in Monterrey from Wednesday night until midday Thursday when Alberto has passed.

To the south in the state of Veracruz, 24 families were left homeless in the state capital of Xalapa after days of heavy rain collapsed a retaining wall onto three buildings.

At dawn, residents heard a deafening sound and the floor began to move.

“I thought it was an earthquake,” said Pedro Luna Sánchez, who had owned an apartment in one of the buildings for 26 years. “I looked out the window and saw my neighbor calling for help. I looked more closely and saw the wall was on top of the buildings.”

All residents were able to escape safely.

Alberto had spurred tropical storm warnings covering most of the western Gulf of Mexico’s coastline from Texas to Veracruz. The storm made landfall with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 kmh).

Schools were closed across Tamaulipas state where Alberto came ashore and would be through Friday. Shelters were prepared across the state to receive residents trying to escape high water.

As much as 5 inches (13 centimeters) to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain was expected in some parts of northeast Mexico and southern Texas, with even higher isolated totals possible, according to the hurricane center. Some higher locations in Mexico could see as much as 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rain, which could result in mudslides and flash flooding, especially in the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila and Nuevo Leon.

Alberto was bringing rains and flooding to the coast of Texas as well.

The U.S. National Weather Service said the main hazard for southern coastal Texas is flooding from excess rain. Areas along the Texas coast saw some road flooding and dangerous rip currents Wednesday, and waterspouts were spotted offshore.

The mayor of Corpus Christi, Texas, planned to request a disaster declaration after parts of the city were drenched with up to 6 inches of rain on Wednesday, a spokeswoman said. Residents reported water and wind damage, and canals were damaged on the north side of Padre Island, Brianna Sandoval said Thursday.

Two people were rescued from vehicles that stalled over flooded roads, and a downed powerline rerouted highway traffic for part of the morning. The city remained under a flood warning.

Bert Dagnon, who closed his Salt Water Gift Shop in Galveston on Wednesday out of an abundance of caution, said it didn’t rain as much as predicted and there was little impact in the area aside from flooding in low-lying areas.

“I suspect everybody will pick up, mop up and move on,” he said Thursday, adding that he’d already had customers as skies turned partly sunny at the beach.

In Surfside Beach, a Texas city on a barrier island, storm surge early Thursday left behind some damaged roads and lots of debris, but “very little damage” to the mostly elevated structures, Mayor Gregg Bisso said.

The surge was receding by late morning and “you can almost get around now,” he said. Bisso said the island has a population of about 800 full-time residents with as many as 10,000 vacationers in the summer.

Tampico resident Octavio González was visibly disappointed in the little rain from Alberto.

“Very little water fell,” he said. “We’re on this south side of Tamaulipas with a lot of drought. And the truth is we have a lot of hope for the rain.”

___

Associated Press writers Jamie Stengle in Dallas; Valerie Gonzalez in McAllen, Texas; and Alba Alemán in Xalapa, Mexico, contributed to this report.

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin signed at least a dozen deals with his Vietnamese counterpart on Thursday and offered to supply fossil fuels including natural gas to Vietnam for the long term during a state visit that comes as Moscow is seeking to bolster ties in Asia to offset its growing international isolation over its military actions in Ukraine.

Putin and President To Lam agreed to further cooperate in education, science and technology, oil and gas exploration, clean energy and health. The two countries also agreed to work on a roadmap for a nuclear science and technology center in Vietnam.

Of the 12 publicly announced agreements, none overtly pertained to defense. But Lam said there were other deals that were not made public.

Following their talks, Putin said the two countries share an interest in “developing a reliable security architecture” in the Asia-Pacific region with no room for “closed military-political blocs.” Lam added that both Russia and Vietnam wanted to “further cooperate in defense and security to cope with non-traditional security challenges.”

The agreements between Russia and Vietnam were not as substantial as the pact Putin signed with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un the previous day which pledged mutual aid in the event of invasion, said Nigel Gould-Davies, a senior fellow for Russia and Eurasia with the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, and a former British ambassador to Belarus.

Putin’s recent visits to China and now North Korea and Vietnam are attempts to “break the international isolation,” said Nguyen Khac Giang, an analyst at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.

Giang said Russia is important to Vietnam for two reasons: It is the biggest supplier of military equipment to the Southeast Asian nation, and Russian oil exploration technologies help maintain Vietnam’s sovereignty claims in the contested South China Sea.

Vietnam also has licensed Russian state-controlled oil company Zarubezhneft to develop an offshore block of its southeastern coast.

Putin arrived in Hanoi on Thursday morning from North Korea after signing the strategic pact, which comes as both countries face escalating standoffs with the West and could mark their strongest connection since the end of the Cold War.

In Hanoi, Putin also met Vietnam’s most powerful politician, Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, according to the official Vietnam News Agency.

Putin drove to Vietnam’s Presidential Palace on Thursday afternoon, where he was greeted by school children waving Russian and Vietnamese flags.

Much has changed since Putin’s last visit to Vietnam in 2017. Russia now faces a raft of U.S.-led sanctions for its invasion of Ukraine. In 2023, the International Criminal Court in Hague issued an arrest warrant for Putin for alleged war crimes, making it difficult for the Russian leader to travel internationally. The Kremlin rejected the warrant as “null and void,” stressing that Moscow doesn’t recognize the court’s jurisdiction.

Putin’s trip resulted in a sharp rebuke from the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam, which said that “no country should give Putin a platform to promote his war of aggression and otherwise allow him to normalize his atrocities.” If Putin is allowed to travel freely it “could normalize Russia’s blatant violations of international law,” it said in a statement.

The U.S. and its allies have expressed growing concerns over a possible arms arrangement in which North Korea provides Russia with badly needed munitions for use in Ukraine in exchange for Russian economic assistance and technology transfers that could enhance the threat posed by Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile programs.

Both countries deny accusations of weapons transfers, which would violate multiple U.N. Security Council sanctions that Russia previously endorsed.

It is unlikely that Vietnam would supply significant quantities of weapons to Russia and risk the progress that it has made with NATO members on military equipment, particularly the U.S., said Ridzwan Rahmat, a Singapore-based analyst with the defense intelligence company Janes.

“I would imagine Vietnam wouldn’t want to take a risk, inviting the wrath of Western countries by supplying the Russians,” Rahmat said.

Hanoi and Moscow have had diplomatic relations since 1950, and this year marks 30 years of a treaty establishing “friendly relations” between Vietnam and Russia. Prashanth Parameswaran, a fellow with the Wilson Center’s Asia Program, said Vietnam is “reinforcing” that relationship even while it diversifies with newer partners.

Evidence of the long relationship and its influence can be seen in Vietnamese cities like the capital, where many Soviet-style apartment blocks are now dwarfed by skyscrapers. A statue of Vladimir Lenin, the founder of the Soviet Union, stands in a park where kids skateboard every evening. Many in the Communist Party’s top leadership in Vietnam studied in Soviet universities, including party chief Trong.

In an article written for Nhan Dan, the official newspaper of Vietnam’s Communist Party, Putin thanked “Vietnamese friends for their balanced position on the Ukrainian crisis” and hailed the country as a “strong supporter of a fair world order” based on international law, equality and geopolitical non-interference.

Vietnam’s pragmatic policy of “bamboo diplomacy” — a phrase coined by Trong referring to the plant’s flexibility, bending but not breaking in the shifting headwinds of global geopolitics — is being increasingly tested.

A manufacturing powerhouse and an increasingly important player in global supply chains, Vietnam hosted both U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in 2023.

Putin’s visit is important for Hanoi on a diplomatic level, said Gould-Davies, the former ambassador.

“Perhaps for Vietnam it’s a matter of just showing that it’s able to maintain this very agile balance of its bamboo diplomacy,” he said. “Already in the course of a year they’ve hosted visits by the heads of state of the three most powerful countries in the world, which is pretty impressive.”

For Russia, the visit seems to have been more about optics than anything else, he said, as Moscow seeks to engage and influence other countries, particularly in the so-called Global South.

“Since the war began, Putin has not been able to travel much or very far, and he’s made very few trips beyond the countries of the former Soviet space,” he said.

Vietnam has remained neutral on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But neutrality is getting trickier,

Vietnam needs support from the U.S. to advance its economic ambitions and diversify its defense ties, Parameswaran said. “It has to carefully calibrate what it does with Russia in an environment of rising tensions between Washington and Moscow.”

Bilateral trade between Russia and Vietnam totaled $3.6 billion in 2023, compared to $171 billion with China and $111 billion with America.

Since the early 2000s, Russia has accounted for around 80% of Vietnam’s arms imports. This has been declining over the years due to Vietnamese attempts to diversify its supplies. But to entirely wean itself off Russia will take time, Giang said.

Given Putin’s international isolation, Vietnam is doing the Russian leader a “huge favor and may expect favors in return,” Andrew Goledzinowski, the Australian ambassador to Vietnam, wrote on social media platform X.

“Vietnam will always act in Vietnam’s interests and not anyone else’s,” he wrote.

___

AP writer David Rising in Bangkok contributed to this report.

PRAGUE (AP) — The U.S. chipmaker onsemi is planning a multi-year investment of up $2 billion in its production facility in the Czech Republic, the company and the Czech government said on Wednesday.

The government said the money will be invested in the company’s existing production facility in the eastern Czech town of Roznov pod Radhostem. It’s the biggest single foreign investment in the country since the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993.

The company based in Scottsdale, Arizona, currently produces 10 million chips a day in Roznov. The investment would increase production by hundreds of percent, the government said. It said the number of jobs created in Roznov will increase to 3,000 from the current 1,700.

The company said the move “would solidify advanced power semiconductor supply chain for its European and global customer base.”

“The site would produce the company’s intelligent power semiconductors that are essential for improving the energy efficiency of applications in electric vehicles, renewable energy and AI data centers,” it said in a statement.

The car industry is a key part of the Czech economy. Germany’s Volkswagen that owns Skoda Auto, the country’s biggest export company, is a strategic partner for onsemi.

The Czech government said it will negotiate with onsemi about incentives it can offer to the company.

TAMPICO, Mexico (AP) — Tropical Storm Alberto formed Wednesday in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico, the first named storm of what is forecast to be a busy hurricane season. Authorities in Mexico reported three deaths from its rains.

Alberto, which is bringing strong winds, heavy rainfall and some flooding along the coasts of Texas and Mexico, is expected to make landfall in northern Mexico early Thursday.

“The heavy rainfall and the water, as usual, is the biggest story in tropical storms,” said Michael Brennan, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Hurricane Center.

Civil protection authorities in the northern state of Nuevo Leon said one man died in the La Silla river in the city of Monterrey, the state capital. They also said that two minors died from electric shocks in the municipality of Allende. Local media reported that the minors were riding a bicycle in the rain.

Nuevo Leon Gov. Samuel García wrote on his account on social media platform X that metro and public transportation services would be suspended in Monterrey from Wednesday night until midday Thursday when Alberto had passed.

The National Hurricane Center said late Wednesday that Alberto was located about 135 miles (220 kilometers) east of Tampico, Mexico, and about 320 miles (510 kilometers) south-southeast of Brownsville, Texas, with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph (85 kph). The storm was moving west at 9 miles per hour.

The center of the storm was expected to reach the northeastern coast of Mexico south of the mouth of the Rio Grande by Thursday morning.

As much as 5 inches (13 centimeters) to 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain was expected in some areas along the Texas coast, with even higher isolated totals possible, Brennan said. He said some higher locations in Mexico could see as much as 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rain, which could result in mudslides and flash flooding, especially in the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila and Nuevo Leon.

The municipal government of Tampico, a port city in Tamaulipas state, announced Wednesday afternoon that authorities had activated a command center in coordination with the water, electricity and oil companies.

Many residents were excited about the prospect of heavy showers, as Tamaulipas and most of Mexico has been dealing with extreme droughts.

“We have been needing this water that we’re now getting, thank God. Let’s hope that we only get water,” said Blanca Coronel Moral, a resident of Tampico. “Our lagoon, which gives us drinking water, is completely dry.”

Tamaulipas Gov. Américo Villarreal said Wednesday on X that schools across the state will remain closed between Wednesday and Friday.

The coordinator of civil protection in Tamaulipas, Luis Gerardo Gonzalez, said they have 333 shelters distributed throughout the state at each municipality. “As the storm moves, we will be opening up more shelters.”

Authorities urged residents to be aware of the alerts the state and municipal civil protections are sharing. They anticipate the storm arriving overnight with communities closest to the coast most affected.

Tropical storm warnings were in effect from the Texas coast at San Luis Pass southward to the mouth of the Rio Grande and from the northeastern coast of Mexico south of the mouth of the Rio Grande to Tecolutla.

“Rapid weakening is expected once the center moves inland, and Alberto is likely to dissipate over Mexico” on Thursday, the center said.

The U.S. National Weather Service said the main hazard for southern coastal Texas is flooding from excess rain. On Wednesday, the NWS said, there is “a high probability” of flash flooding in southern coastal Texas. Tornadoes or waterspouts are possible.

NOAA predicts the hurricane season that began June 1 and runs through Nov. 30 is likely to be well above average, with between 17 and 25 named storms. The forecast calls for as many as 13 hurricanes and four major hurricanes.

An average Atlantic hurricane season produces 14 named storms, seven of them hurricanes and three major hurricanes.

Brennan said there will be dangerous rip currents from the storm and drivers should watch out for road closures and turn around if they see water covering roadways.

Areas along the Texas coast were seeing some road flooding and dangerous rip currents Wednesday, and waterspouts have been spotted offshore. “We’ve seen a few brief spin-ups and some waterspouts out there,” said Tyler Castillo, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Corpus Christi.

Tim Cady, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Houston, said they’ll be keeping an eye on coastal flooding as high tide approaches Thursday morning.

“When we have these strong onshore winds combined with the high tide, that can result in coastal inundation, particularly in our lower-lying coastal areas,” Cady said.

___ AP journalists Jamie Stengle in Dallas and Julie Walker in New York contributed to this report.

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stocks were mixed on Wednesday after U.S. benchmarks ticked to more records following the latest signs that the U.S. economy may be slowing without falling into recession.

U.S. futures were mixed and oil prices fell.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index climbed 0.2% to 38,570.86 as Japan’s trade data for May showed exports rose 13.5% while imports were up 9.5% from a year earlier, pushed higher by rising prices and the weaker value of the yen against the U.S. dollar.

Minutes from the Bank of Japan’s latest policy meeting disclosed a debate among its decision makers over whether the yen’s weakness may push inflation still higher. Governor Kazuo Ueda has hinted at raising the benchmark interest rate in coming months, depending on economic data at the time.

“Moves in the Nikkei have reflected much indecision in place, with the index trading in a broad consolidation phase thus far,” IG Asia said in a commentary.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 2.9% to 18,437.57, while the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.4% to 3,018.05 after the head of China’s securities watchdog said at a financial forum in Shanghai that the agency would be enhancing oversight of all financial activities to prevent potential risks.

In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.1% lower to 7,769.10. South Korea’s Kospi surged 1.2% to 2,797.33.

Elsewhere, Taiwan’s Taiex gained 2%, while Bangkok’s SET fell 0.7%.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 added 0.3% to 5,487.03, setting an all-time high for the 31st time this year. The Nasdaq composite edged up by less than 0.1% to 17,862.23. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2% to 38,834.86.

Nvidia once again was the star, gaining 3.5% and acting as the strongest force pushing the S&P 500 upward. It lifted its total market value further above $3 trillion, again.

Nvidia’s chips are helping to develop AI, which proponents expect to change the world as much or more than the internet, and demand for its chips has proven to be shockingly voracious. Nvidia’s revenue routinely triples every quarter, and its profit is rocketing at even more breathtaking rates. Its stock is up nearly 174% this year, and Nvidia alone was responsible for nearly a third of the S&P 500’s entire gain for the year through May.

Of course, a potential danger of having a handful of superstars responsible for most of the U.S. stock market’s run to records is a more fragile market. If more stocks were participating, it could be a signal of a healthier market.

The Commerce Department reported that retail sales rose 0.1% in May, below the pace that economists projected, while April sales were revised downward — a 0.2% decline, from unchanged. Sales rose 0.6% in March and 0.9% in February. That comes after sales fell 1.1% in January, dragged down in part by inclement weather.to

The weaker-than-expected data could be a warning signal that the main engine of the U.S. economy, spending by households, is cracking. Inflation is still high, even if it’s slowed since its peak, and lower-income households in particular are struggling to keep up with the more expensive prices.

Still, a survey of global fund managers by Bank of America showed they’re the most optimistic about stocks since the autumn of 2021, with relatively little hiding out in cash and allocations heavy to stocks. Fewer managers are also calling for a “hard landing” where the economy tumbles into a bad recession.

In other dealings Wednesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil gave up 20 cents to $80.51 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude lost 23 cents to $85.10 per barrel.

The dollar fell to 157.71 Japanese yen from 157.87 yen. The euro slipped to $1.0732 from $1.0738.

DHARAMSHALA, India (AP) — A bipartisan United States congressional delegation met with the Dalai Lama on Wednesday at his residence in India’s Dharamshala, sparking anger from China which views the exiled leader as dangerous separatist.

The high-level delegation, led by Republican Rep. Michael McCaul and including Democratic former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, arrived a day before in the hillside town, which the Nobel Peace Prize laureate has made his headquarters since fleeing from Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959. India considers Tibet to be part of China, though it hosts Tibetan exiles.

The meeting with the spiritual leader is expected to focus on the Resolve Tibet Act, recently passed by the U.S. Congress, aimed at encouraging dialogue between the Dalai Lama and Chinese officials that could result in a peaceful resolution to the dispute between Tibet and Beijing. The bill will now go to the White House for President Joe Biden’s endorsement.

The visit comes as the U.S. and China have increased talks in recent months, in a bid to normalize strained ties. But news of the visit and the subject of the bill triggered swift backlash from China.

After arrival Tuesday, the U.S. delegation met with officials from the Tibetan government-in-exile, which wants more autonomy for Tibet.

Hundreds of people on Wednesday gathered at a monastery just outside the 88-year-old Dalai Lama’s residence, where the meeting took place, waving American and Tibetan flags in support.

China doesn’t recognize the Tibetan government-in-exile and hasn’t held any dialogue with the representatives of the Dalai Lama since 2010.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, McCaul highlighted the importance of the bill, which he said demonstrates that “the United States of America stands with the people of Tibet.”

Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, urged Washington to not support Tibetan independence and said the White House “must not sign the bill into law,” or Beijing will take “resolute measures,” without elaborating on what these measures may be.

“It’s known by all that the 14th Dalai Lama is not a pure religious figure, but a political exile engaged in anti-China separatist activities under the cloak of religion,” Lin added on Tuesday, urging the U.S. side to “have no contact with the Dalai group in any form, and stop sending the wrong signal to the world.”

The Dalai Lama denies being a separatist and says he only advocates substantial autonomy and protection of Tibet’s native Buddhist culture.

The Tibetan spiritual leader has a history of engaging with U.S. officials, he has met with all recent American presidents — from Jimmy Carter to Barack Obama — except for Donald Trump and he is yet to meet Biden.

Beijing, meanwhile, has repeatedly asked the U.S. not to interfere with Tibetan affairs and has argued that the people of Tibet have enjoyed social stability and economic growth under its rule.

The Dalai Lama is expected to travel to the U.S. on Thursday for medical treatment on his knees, but it is unclear if he will meet any officials while there.

___

AP writers Krutika Pathi in New Delhi and Didi Tang in Washington contributed reporting.

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed an agreement Wednesday that pledges mutual aid if either country faces “aggression,” a strategic pact that comes as both face escalating standoffs with the West.

Details of the deal were not immediately clear, but it could mark the strongest connection between Moscow and Pyongyang since the end of the Cold War. Both leaders described it as a major upgrade of their relations, covering security, trade, investment, cultural and humanitarian ties.

The summit came as Putin visited North Korea for the first time in 24 years and the U.S. and its allies expressed growing concerns over a possible arms arrangement in which Pyongyang provides Moscow with badly needed munitions for its war in Ukraine, in exchange for economic assistance and technology transfers that could enhance the threat posed by Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile program.

From North Korea, Putin traveled to Vietnam, where he exited his plane onto a red carpet and briefly shook hands with dignitaries while soldiers in white dress uniforms stood at attention. In Hanoi, Putin is scheduled to meet with Vietnam’s most powerful politician, Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, and new President To Lam, as the Russian leader seeks to strengthen ties with a longtime partner.

During Putin’s visit to North Korea, Kim said the two countries had a “fiery friendship,” and that the deal was their “strongest ever treaty,” putting the relationship at the level of an alliance. He vowed full support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Putin called it a “breakthrough document” reflecting shared desires to move relations to a higher level.

North Korea and the former Soviet Union signed a treaty in 1961 that experts say necessitated Moscow’s military intervention if the North came under attack. The deal was discarded after the collapse of the USSR, replaced by one in 2000 that offered weaker security assurances. It wasn’t immediately clear if the new deal provides a similar level of protection as the 1961 treaty.

Kim met Putin at the airport, where the two shook hands, hugged twice and rode together in a limousine. The huge motorcade rolled through the capital’s brightly lit streets, where buildings were decorated with giant Russian flags and portraits of Putin.

After spending the night at a state guest house, Putin was welcomed Wednesday morning in a ceremony at the city’s main square, filled with what appeared to be tens of thousands of spectators, including children with balloons and people in coordinated T-shirts of the red, white and blue national colors of both countries. Crowds lining the streets chanted “Welcome Putin,” and waved flowers and flags.

Putin and Kim saluted an honor guard and walked across a red carpet. Kim introduced key members of his leadership, including Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui; top aide and ruling party secretary Jo Yong Won; and the leader’s powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong.

At their talks, Putin thanked Kim for North Korea’s support in Ukraine, part of what he said was a “fight against the imperialist hegemonistic policies of the U.S. and its satellites against the Russian Federation.”

Putin praised ties that he traced to the Soviet army fighting the Japanese military on the Korean Peninsula at the end of World War II, and Moscow’s support for Pyongyang during the Korean War.

What kind of support was pledged in the agreement was not spelled out. Explanations of the agreement by the leaders did not specify what the “mutual assistance” would be in the event of aggression against either country — troops, materiel or some other sort of aid.

Kim has used similar language before, consistently saying North Korea supports what he describes as a just action to protect Russia’s interests and blaming the crisis on the West’s “hegemonic policy.”

North Korea is under heavy U.N. Security Council sanctions over its weapons program, while Russia also faces sanctions by the U.S. and its Western partners over its invasion of Ukraine.

U.S. and South Korean officials accuse the North of providing Russia with artillery, missiles and other military equipment for use in Ukraine, possibly in return for key military technologies and aid. On Tuesday, a U.S. State Department spokesman said that in recent months, Washington has seen North Korea “unlawfully transfer dozens of ballistic missiles and over 11,000 containers of munitions to aid Russia’s war effort.”

Both Pyongyang and Moscow deny accusations of weapons transfers, which would violate multiple U.N. Security Council sanctions that Russia previously endorsed.

Along with China, Russia has provided political cover for Kim’s efforts to advance his nuclear arsenal, repeatedly blocking U.S.-led efforts to impose fresh U.N. sanctions on the North over its weapons tests.

In March, a Russian veto in the Security Council ended monitoring of U.N. sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear program, prompting Western accusations that Moscow is seeking to avoid scrutiny as it buys weapons from Pyongyang.

Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov told reporters in Pyongyang the leaders exchanged gifts. Putin presented Kim with a Russian-made Aurus limousine and other gifts, including a tea set and a naval officer’s dagger. Ushakov said Kim’s presents to Putin included artwork depicting the Russian leader.

Later, Putin and Kim attended a concert featuring marching soldiers, weapons-throwing, dancing and patriotic songs. Putin clapped and spoke to Kim through a translator, saying something that made both laugh.

The Russian leader also visited the Сhurch of the Life-Giving Trinity in Pyongyang and gave a Trinity icon to the Orthodox church.

At a dinner before he left for Vietnam, Putin cited a proverb that said “a close neighbor is better than a distant relative,” while Kim toasted the “immortality of the invincible DPRK-Russia relations that are the envy of the world.”

The Kremlin’s website said the leaders signed an agreement to build a road bridge on their border, and another on cooperation in health care, medical education and science. Putin also said that Russia would not rule out developing military-technical cooperation with North Korea.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Putin’s visit illustrates how Russia tries, “in desperation, to develop and to strengthen relations with countries that can provide it with what it needs to continue the war of aggression that it started against Ukraine.”

Koo Byoungsam, spokesperson of South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, said the Seoul government was still interpreting the results of the summit, including what Russia’s response might be if the North comes under attack.

China is North Korea’s biggest ally and economic lifeline, accounting for most of the country’s trade. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said high-level exchanges between Moscow and Pyongyang are “bilateral arrangements between two sovereign states,” without giving a specific assessment of the agreements.

Sam Greene of the Center for European Policy Analysis said Putin’s trip to Pyongyang is an indication of how beholden he is to some other countries since invading Ukraine. Previously, “it was always the North Koreans coming to Russia. It wasn’t the other way around,” he said.

The trip is a good way to make “the West nervous” by demonstrating Moscow has interests and clout beyond Ukraine, Greene added.

The North could also seek to increase labor exports to Russia and other activities to get foreign currency in defiance of U.N. sanctions, according to the Institute for National Security Strategy, a think tank run by South Korea’s main spy agency. There will likely be talks about expanding cooperation in agriculture, fisheries and mining and further promoting Russian tourism to North Korea, the institute said.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are at their highest point in years, with the pace of both Kim’s weapons tests and combined military exercises involving the U.S., South Korea and Japan intensifying in a tit-for-tat cycle. The Koreas also have engaged in Cold War-style psychological warfare.

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Kim reported from Seoul, South Korea.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Two employees of the United States Agriculture Department were assaulted and temporarily held by assailants in the Mexican state of Michoacan, prompting the U.S. government to suspend inspections of avocado and mango shipments, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico said Tuesday.

Amb. Ken Salazar said in a statement that the assault occurred while they were inspecting avocados in Michoacan. He said they were no longer being held.

U.S. officials had confirmed the pause in inspections Monday citing security concerns.

The employees work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). Because the United States also grows avocados, U.S. inspectors work in Mexico to ensure exported avocados don’t carry diseases that could hurt U.S. crops.

“To guarantee the safety of our agricultural inspection teams, APHIS has suspended the avocado and mango inspections in Michoacan until these security problems have been resolved,” Salazar said.

Michoacan is Mexico’s biggest exporter of avocados.

Inspections in other Mexican states are not affected, Salazar said.

Mexico’s Producers and Packers Association said in a statement Tuesday that it was working closely with government officials from Mexico and the United States to resume avocado exports from Michoacan.

It said the incident that spurred the suspension was “unconnected to the avocado industry.”

Many avocado growers in Michoacan say drug gangs threaten them or their family members with kidnapping or death unless they pay protection money, sometimes amounting to thousands of dollars per acre.

There have also been reports of organized crime bringing avocados grown in other states not approved for export and trying to get them through U.S. inspections.

Michoacan Gov. Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla told reporters Monday that Mexican authorities were in discussions with their U.S. counterparts to quickly resolve the situation.

In February 2022, the U.S. government suspended inspections of Mexican avocados “until further notice” after a U.S. plant safety inspector in Michoacan received a threatening message. The halt was lifted after about a week.

Later that year, Jalisco became the second Mexican state authorized to export avocados to the U.S.

The new pause in inspections won’t block shipments of Mexican avocados to the United States, because Jalisco is now an exporter and there are a lot of Michoacan avocados already in transit.

Salazar said he would travel to Michoacan next week to meet with Bedolla and the producers and packers association.

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Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stocks were mixed on Wednesday after U.S. benchmarks ticked to more records following the latest signs that the U.S. economy may be slowing without falling into recession.

U.S. futures were mixed and oil prices were little changed.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index climbed 0.2% to 38,575.54 as Japan’s trade data for May showed exports rose 13.5% while imports were up 9.5% from a year earlier, pushed higher by rising prices and the weaker value of the yen against the U.S. dollar.

Minutes from the Bank of Japan’s latest policy meeting disclosed a debate among its decision makers over whether the yen’s weakness may push inflation still higher. Governor Kazuo Ueda has hinted at raising the benchmark interest rate in coming months, depending on economic data at the time.

“Moves in the Nikkei have reflected much indecision in place, with the index trading in a broad consolidation phase thus far,” IG Asia said in a commentary.

The Hang Seng in Hong Kong added 2% to 18,264.51 while the Shanghai Composite index lost 0.3% to 3,020.03 after the head of China’s securities watchdog said at a financial forum in Shanghai that the agency would be enhancing oversight of all financial activities to prevent potential risks.

In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 edged 0.2% lower to 7,764.30. South Korea’s Kospi surged 1% to 2,792.14.

Elsewhere, Taiwan’s Taiex gained 1.8%, while Bangkok’s SET fell 0.1%.

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 added 0.3% to 5,487.03, setting an all-time high for the 31st time this year. The Nasdaq composite edged up by less than 0.1% to 17,862.23. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.2% to 38,834.86.

Nvidia once again was the star, gaining 3.5% and acting as the strongest force pushing the S&P 500 upward. It lifted its total market value further above $3 trillion, again.

Nvidia’s chips are helping to develop AI, which proponents expect to change the world as much or more than the internet, and demand for its chips has proven to be shockingly voracious. Nvidia’s revenue routinely triples every quarter, and its profit is rocketing at even more breathtaking rates. Its stock is up nearly 174% this year, and Nvidia alone was responsible for nearly a third of the S&P 500’s entire gain for the year through May.

Of course, a potential danger of having a handful of superstars responsible for most of the U.S. stock market’s run to records is a more fragile market. If more stocks were participating, it could be a signal of a healthier market.

The Commerce Department reported that retail sales rose 0.1% in May, below the pace that economists projected, while April sales were revised downward — a 0.2% decline, from unchanged. Sales rose 0.6% in March and 0.9% in February. That comes after sales fell 1.1% in January, dragged down in part by inclement weather.

The weaker-than-expected data could be a warning signal that the main engine of the U.S. economy, spending by households, is cracking. Inflation is still high, even if it’s slowed since its peak, and lower-income households in particular are struggling to keep up with the more expensive prices.

Still, a survey of global fund managers by Bank of America showed they’re the most optimistic about stocks since the autumn of 2021, with relatively little hiding out in cash and allocations heavy to stocks. Fewer managers are also calling for a “hard landing” where the economy tumbles into a bad recession.

In other dealings early Wednesday, U.S. benchmark crude oil was unchanged at $80.71 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude rose 2 cents to $85.35 per barrel.

The dollar rose to 157.87 Japanese yen from 156.87 yen. The euro slipped to $1.0737 from $1.0740.

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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.

NEW DELHI (AP) — India and the United States on Monday pledged to boost defense and technology cooperation and remove long-standing barriers to bilateral strategic trade, following a meeting between the national security advisers of both countries.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is on a two-day visit to the Indian capital, New Delhi, the first from a high-ranking U.S. official since Prime Minister Narendra Modi secured a third straight term in India’s general election earlier this month. Sullivan met with his counterpart, Ajit Doval, to discuss progress on the Initiative on Critical Emerging Technologies, which the two countries launched in 2022.

The initiative sets a path for collaboration on semiconductor production and developing artificial intelligence and was critical in sealing a deal that will allow U.S.-based General Electric to partner with India’s Hindustan Aeronautics to produce jet engines in India.

On Monday, the two officials emphasized the need for more collaboration, with a focus on funding innovative research in areas like semiconductor manufacturing, clean energy and machine learning. They also discussed the possible co-production of land warfare systems, according to a joint statement.

Sullivan also held talks with Modi, in which the two reaffirmed their commitment to bolstering ties between New Delhi and Washington, and he met with Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. On Tuesday, Sullivan is expected to meet with industry and business leaders.

India and the U.S. have grown closer recently, as both countries eye China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region with caution. Modi was honored with a pomp-filled state visit last year, where he and U.S. President Joe Biden called the India-U.S. relationship among the most consequential in the world.

But ties have also been tested after U.S. prosecutors last year accused an Indian government official of orchestrating a plot to murder a Sikh separatist leader in New York.

Sullivan’s visit to New Delhi comes as an Indian national was extradited to the U.S. from the Czech Republic to face charges of murder for hire and conspiracy to commit murder for hire, in relation to the assassination plot, which was foiled by U.S. officials.

The charges were the second recent accusation of complicity by Indian government officials in attempts to kill Sikh separatist figures living in North America.

In September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were credible allegations that the Indian government had links to the assassination in that country of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. While India rejected Trudeau’s accusations, it has set up an investigation committee to look into the U.S. allegations.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The United States government has suspended inspections of avocados and mangoes in the Mexican state of Michoacan due to security concerns, an official said Monday.

A U.S. government spokesperson, whose name could not be used under agency policy, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service is pausing inspections in Michoacan, which is Mexico’s biggest exporter of avocados, until the security conditions are resolved.

Inspections in other Mexican states are not affected, the spokesperson said.

Michoacan Gov. Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla told reporters Monday that Mexican authorities were in discussions with their U.S. counterparts to quickly resolve the situation.

In February 2022, the U.S. government suspended inspections of Mexican avocados “until further notice” after a U.S. plant safety inspector in Michoacan received a threatening message. The halt was lifted after about a week.

Later that year, Jalisco became the second Mexican state authorized to export avocados to the U.S.

The pause in inspections won’t block shipments of Mexican avocados to the United States, because Jalisco is now an exporter and there are a lot of Michoacan avocados already in transit, the spokesperson said.

Because the United States also grows avocados, U.S. inspectors work in Mexico to ensure exported avocados don’t carry diseases that could hurt U.S. crops.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in North Korea early on Wednesday, after saying the two countries want to cooperate closely to overcome U.S.-led sanctions in the face of intensifying confrontations with Washington.

Putin was met at Pyongyang’s airport by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. They shook hands and embraced, and Kim later joined Putin in his car to personally guide him to Pyongyang’s Kumsusan State Guest House, North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said. The agency described their meeting as a historic event that demonstrates the “invincibility and durability” of the two nations’ friendship and unity.

Putin, making his first trip to North Korea in 24 years, said in comments that appeared in its state media hours before he landed that he appreciates the country’s firm support of his military actions in Ukraine. The Kremlin launched a full-scale invasion of the neighboring country in 2022.

He said the countries would continue to “resolutely oppose” what he described as Western ambitions “to hinder the establishment of a multipolar world order based on justice, mutual respect for sovereignty, considering each other’s interests.”

Putin’s visit comes amid growing concerns about an arms arrangement in which Pyongyang provides Moscow with badly needed munitions to fuel Russia’s war in Ukraine in exchange for economic assistance and technology transfers that would enhance the threat posed by Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile program.

In the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, the streets were decorated with portraits of Putin and Russian flags. A banner on a building said: “We warmly welcome the President of the Russian Federation.”

Putin also said in his published remarks that Russia and North Korea will develop trade and payment systems “that are not controlled by the West” and jointly oppose sanctions against the countries, which he described as “illegal, unilateral restrictions.”

North Korea is under heavy U.N. Security Council economic sanctions over its nuclear weapons and missile programs, while Russia is also grappling with sanctions by the United States and its Western partners over its aggression in Ukraine.

Putin said the countries will also expand cooperation in tourism, culture and education.

Before heading to North Korea, Putin traveled to Yakutsk, a city in eastern Russia, where he met regional Gov. Aisen Nikolayev, and received briefings on technology and defense-related projects. He also met with young professionals working in Russia’s Far East.

Putin is being accompanied by several top officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Denis Mantrurov, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, according to his foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov. He said a number of documents will be signed during the visit, possibly including an agreement on a comprehensive strategic partnership.

U.S. and South Korean officials say military, economic and other exchanges between North Korea and Russia have sharply increased since Kim met Putin in September in the Russian Far East, their first since 2019.

U.S. and South Korean officials accuse the North of providing Russia with artillery, missiles and other military equipment for use in Ukraine, possibly in return for key military technologies and aid. Both Pyongyang and Moscow deny accusations about North Korean weapons transfers, which would violate multiple U.N. Security Council sanctions that Russia previously endorsed.

Along with China, Russia has provided political cover for Kim’s continuing efforts to advance his nuclear arsenal, repeatedly blocking U.S.-led efforts to impose fresh U.N. sanctions on the North over its weapons tests.

In March, a Russian veto at the United Nations ended monitoring of U.N. sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear program, prompting Western accusations that Moscow is seeking to avoid scrutiny as it buys weapons from Pyongyang for use in Ukraine. U.S. and South Korean officials have said they are discussing options for a new mechanism for monitoring the North.

Earlier this year, Putin sent Kim a high-end Aurus Senat limousine, which he had shown to the North Korean leader when they met in September. Observers said the shipment violated a U.N. resolution banning the supply of luxury items to North Korea.

In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Putin’s visit to North Korea illustrates how Russia tries, “in desperation, to develop and to strengthen relations with countries that can provide it with what it needs to continue the war of aggression that it started against Ukraine.”

“North Korea is providing significant munitions to Russia … and other weapons for use in Ukraine. Iran has been providing weaponry, including drones, that have been used against civilians and civilian infrastructure,” Blinken told reporters following a meeting with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday.

Stoltenberg reiterated concerns about the “potential support that Russia provides to North Korea when it comes to supporting their missile and nuclear programs.”

Lim Soosuk, spokesperson of South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, said Seoul has been stressing to Moscow that any cooperation between Russia and North Korea must not “proceed in a direction that violates U.N. Security Council resolutions or undermines peace and stability in the region.”

Tensions on the Korean Peninsulas are at their highest point in years, with the pace of both Kim’s weapons tests and combined military exercises involving the United States, South Korea and Japan intensifying in a tit-for-tat cycle. The Koreas also have engaged in Cold War-style psychological warfare that involved North Korea dropping tons of trash on the South with balloons, and the South broadcasting anti-North Korean propaganda with its loudspeakers.

South Korea’s military said soldiers fired warning shots to repel North Korean soldiers who temporarily crossed the land border Tuesday, apparently in error, for the second time this month.

Putin has continuously sought to rebuild ties with Pyongyang as part of efforts to restore his country’s clout and its Soviet-era alliances. Moscow’s ties with North Korea weakened after the 1991 Soviet collapse. Kim Jong Un first met with Putin in 2019 in Russia’s eastern port of Vladivostok.

After North Korea, the Kremlin said Putin will also visit Vietnam for talks that are expected to be focused on trade. The United States, which has spent years strengthening ties and accelerating trade with Vietnam, criticized Putin’s planned visit.

“As Russia continues to seek international support to sustain its illegal and brutal war against Ukraine, we reiterate that no country should give Putin a platform to promote his war of aggression and otherwise allow him to normalize his atrocities,” a U.S. Embassy spokesperson in Vietnam said in a statement.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean state media says Russian President Vladimir Putin will arrive in the country on Tuesday for a two-day visit.

Putin is expected to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for talks focused on expanding military cooperation as they deepen their alignment in the face of separate, intensifying confrontations with Washington.

North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Monday that Putin will pay a state visit to the North on Tuesday and Wednesday at the invitation of Kim. North Korean state media didn’t immediately provide more details. Russia confirmed the visit in a simultaneous announcement.

It will be Putin’s first visit to North Korea in 24 years. The visit comes amid growing international concerns about an arms arrangement in which Pyongyang provides Moscow with badly needed munitions to fuel Putin’s war in Ukraine in exchange for economic assistance and technology transfers that would enhance the threat posed by Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile program.

Military, economic and other cooperation between North Korea and Russia have sharply increased since Kim visited the Russian Far East in September for a meeting with Putin, their first since 2019.

U.S. and South Korean officials have accused the North of providing Russia with artillery, missiles and other military equipment to help prolong its fighting in Ukraine, possibly in return for key military technologies and aid. Both Pyongyang and Moscow have denied accusations about North Korean weapons transfers, which would be in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

BANGKOK (AP) — Shares were mostly higher in Asia on Tuesday after U.S. stocks rallied to more records, with gains for technology companies pushing the benchmarks higher.

U.S. futures were flat and oil prices declined.

This week has few top-tier economic reports apart from an update Tuesday on how much American shoppers are spending at U.S. retailers and a preliminary look Friday at the state of U.S. business activity. U.S. markets will be closed Wednesday for the Juneteenth holiday.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index gained 0.9% to 38,441.90. Toyota Motor Corp., a market heavyweight, gained 0.6% after its shareholders rejected a proposal to force Akio Toyoda, grandson of the automaker’s founder, to leave his post as chairman of the board.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 0.2% to 17,903.06 and the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.4% to 3,026.61.

In South Korea, the Kospi advanced 0.8% to 2,766.22.

In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1% to 7,776.20 after the Reserve Bank of Australia kept its key interest rate unchanged.

“While the Bank at its May meeting noted that inflation had fallen more gradually than expected, it today described it as ‘persistent,’ emphasizing that headline inflation as well as inflation excluding volatile items and travel had not fallen any further between April and December,” Capital Economics said in a commentary.

Admittedly, the Bank noted that ‘momentum in economic activity is weak,’ with the statement citing slow GDP growth, a rise in the unemployment rate and slower-than-expected wages growth,” it said.

India’s Sensex rose 0.4% to 77,291.77.

On Monday, U.S. stocks rose to records as gains for technology companies keep pushing the market higher.

the S&P 500 rose 0.8%, beating an all-time high it set on Thursday. It closed at 5,473.23. The Dow gained 0.5% to 38,778.10, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1% to 17,857.02.

Autodesk jumped 6.5% for one of the market’s biggest gains after an investment firm said it will try to delay the software company’s annual meeting so it can nominate new directors for the board.

Close behind Autodesk was chip company Broadcom, which rose 5.4% to add to gains from last week after it reported better profit than expected and said it would undergo a 10-for-one stock split to make its price more affordable. Broadcom followed Nvidia, the company that’s become the poster child of Wall Street’s frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology and just executed a similar split.

Apple gained 2% and Microsoft climbed 1.2%.

Super Micro Computer, which sells server and storage systems used in artificial intelligence and other computing, leaped 5.1% to bring its gain for the year so far to a staggering 212.2%.

The gains for tech helped offset pressure on the stock market caused by rising Treasury yields in the bond market. The climb in yields erased some of the slack created last week when better-than-expected reports on inflation raised hopes that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates later this year.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury climbed to 4.28% from 4.22% late Friday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, rose to 4.76% from 4.71%.

The Fed is trying to hold rates high for long enough to slow the economy and snuff out high inflation, but it wants to cut rates and reverse the momentum before the slowdown evolves into a painful recession.

High interest rates hurt all kinds of investments, and they tend to hit some areas particularly hard. Utilities in the S&P 500 fell 1.1% for Monday’s largest loss among the 11 sectors that make up the index. They often get hurt when bonds are paying more in interest and drawing away income-seeking investors who would otherwise gravitate to dividend-paying utility stocks.

GameStop was another laggard and fell 12.1% following its annual shareholder meeting. The stock has been soaring and sinking as it rides waves of enthusiasm by smaller-pocketed investors. At the meeting, CEO Ryan Cohen said the struggling video game retailer will focus on cutting costs, which would involve a “smaller network of stores.”

In other dealings, U.S. benchmark crude oil lost 17 cents to $80.19 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude gave up 30 cents top $84.19 per barrel.

The dollar rose to 157.59 Japanese yen from 156.38 yen. The euro was trading at $1.0724 from $1.0702.

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AP Business Writer Stan Choe contributed.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Muslims in Asia on Monday celebrated Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, with food and prayers for people in Gaza suffering from the Israel-Hamas war.

One of the biggest Islamic holidays, the occasion commemorates Prophet Ibrahim’s test of faith through slaughtering livestock and animals and distributing the meat to the poor. It’s a joyous occasion for which food is a hallmark where devout Muslims buy and slaughter animals and share two-thirds of the meat with the poor and it’s a revered observance that coincides with the final rites of the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

Much of Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia, India and Bangladesh, observed Eid al-Adha on Monday, while Muslims in other parts of the globe, including Saudi Arabia, Libya, Egypt, and Yemen celebrated the holiday on Sunday.

On Monday, worshippers shoulder-to-shoulder joined in communal prayers in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta. Preachers in their sermons called on people to pray for Muslims in Gaza and Rafah.

“Our prayers and thoughts are with our brother and sisters who are now suffering in Palestine,” worshipper Adi Prasetya said after praying at a field in southern Jakarta. “There are many opportunities for us now to channel our help through charities.”

“May Allah give strength to those ravaged by war… may those who are divided can live in peace again,” said another devotee, Berlina Yustiza.

Although Indonesia has more Muslims than any other country in the world, its traditions to mark Eid al-Adha have been influenced by other religions.

Residents in Yogyakarta, an ancient center of Javanese culture and the seat of royal dynasties going back centuries, believe that if they manage to catch the crops arranged in the form of a cone-shaped pile called “gunungan” that is paraded from the royal palace to the Kauman Grand Mosque, it can bring them good luck. They scrambled to grab various food offerings, made of fruit, vegetables and traditional snacks.

A day before the sacrifice festival, people in East Java’s Pasuruan city expressed their gratitude and respect for the sacrificial animals by dressing them as beautiful as a bride. The sacrificial cow is wrapped in a seven-fold garland, a shroud, turban and prayer mat and paraded in a tradition called “manten sapi,” or bride cow, before being handed to the sacrificial committee.

Villagers in Demak, a town in Central Java province, celebrated the holiday with a procession of livestock called “apitan” as a form of gratitude for the food and harvest. They bring food in bamboo containers to the town’s square where they eat together after praying. Locals believe the procession will provide prosperity and that disaster would come if it was abandoned.

Eid al-Adha commemorates the Quranic tale of Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice Ismail as an act of obedience to God. Before he could carry out the sacrifice, God provided a ram as an offering. In the Christian and Jewish telling, Abraham is ordered to kill another son, Isaac.

In Malaysia, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim joined thousands of congregants, including foreign tourists, and offered morning prayers at a mosque near his office in Putrajaya, south of the capital Kuala Lumpur.

Meanwhile at a wholesale market in Selayang, just outside the capital, Muslim workers there knelt on mats placed on a large piece of white cloth laid outside the market to perform their prayers.

In his message, Anwar said the opportunity to go on the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca is one of God’s great gifts and should make one more ascetic and simpler.

“I invite Muslims to live the message of simplicity that is preached in Hajj, to always be humble and not be mesmerized by the attraction of temporary worldly riches,” Anwar said, “Let’s not deviate from this goal. The world should be a bridge to the eternal land.”

Muslims in India, where they comprise 14% of the population, celebrated Eid al-Adha on Monday across the country.

In New Delhi, thousands offered prayers at the historic Jama Masjid, a 17th century mosque. Families assembled early in the morning and many people shared hugs and wishes after the prayers. Numerous merchants with goats gathered on the streets leading to the mosque where people bargained with them for the best price.

Devotees across Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation of over 170 million people, on Monday marked the festival in open fields and mosques where many prayed for a better world free from war.

More than 400,000 devotees, the country’s largest congregation, offered their prayers at a field in Kishoreganj district in the morning.

In the capital, Dhaka, a prominent imam led a gathering on the Supreme Court grounds where 35,000 men and women participated.

Millions of cattle were slaughtered across the country to celebrate the day.

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Associated Press writers Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Rishi Lekhi in New Delhi and Julhas Alam in Dhaka, Bangladesh, contributed to this report.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s military announced on Sunday that it would pause fighting during daytime hours along a route in southern Gaza to free up a backlog of humanitarian aid deliveries for desperate Palestinians enduring a humanitarian crisis sparked by the war, now in its ninth month.

The “tactical pause,” which applies to about 12 kilometers (7½ miles) of road in the Rafah area, falls far short of a complete cease-fire in the territory that has been sought by the international community, including Israel’s top ally, the United States. It could help address the overwhelming needs of Palestinians that have surged in recent weeks with Israel’s incursion into Rafah.

The army said that the daily pause would begin at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) and last until 7 p.m. (1600 GMT) and continue until further notice. It’s aimed at allowing aid trucks to reach the nearby Israel-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing, the main entry point, and travel safely to the Salah a-Din highway, a main north-south road, the military said. The crossing has had a bottleneck since Israeli ground troops moved into Rafah in early May.

COGAT, the Israeli military body that oversees aid distribution in Gaza, said the route would increase the flow of aid to other parts of Gaza, including Khan Younis, the coastal area of Muwasi and central Gaza. Hard-hit northern Gaza, an early target in the war, is served by goods entering from the north.

The military said that the pause, which begins as Muslims start marking the Eid Al-Adha holiday, came after discussions with the United Nations and other aid agencies.

A U.N. spokesperson, Jens Laerke, told The Associated Press that Israel’s announcement was welcome but “no aid has been dispatched from Kerem Shalom today,” with no details. Laerke said that the U.N. hopes for further concrete measures by Israel, including smoother operations at checkpoints and regular entry of fuel.

Israel and Hamas are weighing the latest proposal for a cease-fire, detailed by U.S. President Joe Biden in the administration’s most concentrated diplomatic push for a halt to the fighting and the release of hostages taken by the militant group. While Biden described the proposal as an Israeli one, Israel hasn’t fully embraced it. Hamas has demanded changes that appear unacceptable to Israel.

With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to press ahead with the war and many members of his far-right government opposed to the cease-fire proposal, news of the military’s pause triggered a minor political storm.

An Israeli official quoted Netanyahu as saying the plan was “unacceptable to him” when he learned of it. The official said that Netanyahu received assurances that “there is no change” in the military’s policy and “fighting in Rafah continues as planned.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak with the media.

Israeli television stations later quoted Netanyahu as criticizing the military: “We have a country with an army, not an army with a country.”

But neither Netanyahu nor the army canceled the new arrangement. While the army insisted “there is no cessation of fighting” in southern Gaza, it also said the new route would be open during daytime hours “exclusively for the transportation of humanitarian aid.”

The fighting continued. Nine people, including five children, were killed Sunday when a house was struck in Bureji in central Gaza, according to AP journalists who counted the bodies at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah. A man wept over the small sheet-wrapped bundle in his arms. Two of the children had been playing in the street.

“What did this girl do to you, Netanyahu? Isn’t this forbidden for you?” a woman cried, holding a dead child.

Israel’s military didn’t respond to questions about the strike.

Israel announced the names of 12 soldiers killed in recent attacks in Gaza, putting the number killed since Israel began its ground invasion of Gaza last year at 309. Hamas killed around 1,200 people during its Oct. 7 attack and took 250 hostage, Israeli authorities say. Health officials in Hamas-run Gaza say more than 37,000 Palestinians have been killed.

Israel’s military offensive has plunged Gaza into a humanitarian crisis, with the U.N. reporting hundreds of thousands of people on the brink of famine.

Hamas’ supreme leader, Ismail Haniyeh, called for more pressure to open border crossings. Another crossing, the Rafah terminal between Gaza and Egypt, has been closed since Israel moved into the city. Egypt has refused to reopen the crossing as long as Israel controls the Palestinian side.

The flow of aid in southern Gaza has declined just as need grew. More than 1 million Palestinians, many of whom had already been displaced, fled Rafah after the invasion, crowding into other parts of southern and central Gaza. Most languish in tent camps, with open sewage in the streets.

From May 6 until June 6, the U.N. received an average of 68 trucks of aid a day. That was down from 168 a day in April and far below the 500 a day that aid groups say are needed.

COGAT says there are no restrictions on the entry of trucks. It says more than 8,600 trucks of all kinds, aid and commercial, entered Gaza from all crossings from May 2 to June 13, an average of 201 a day. But much of that aid has piled up at crossings.

A COGAT spokesman, Shimon Freedman, said it was the U.N.’s fault that its cargo stacked up on the Gaza side of Kerem Shalom. He said its agencies have “fundamental logistical problems,” especially a lack of trucks.

The U.N. denies such allegations. It says the fighting often makes it too dangerous for U.N. trucks inside Gaza to travel to Kerem Shalom. It also says the pace of deliveries has slowed because Israel’s military must authorize drivers to travel to the site, a system Israel says was designed for drivers’ safety.

The new arrangement aims to reduce the need for coordinating deliveries by providing an 11-hour uninterrupted daily window

Because of a lack of security, some aid trucks have been looted by crowds as they moved along Gaza’s roads. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the army would provide security to protect trucks moving along the highway.

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Wafaa Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, and Lee Keath from Cairo. Jack Jeffery contributed to this report from Jerusalem.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Gaza at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

OBBÜRGEN, Switzerland (AP) — Dozens of world leaders converged on a Swiss resort Saturday to discuss how to bring peace to war-ravaged Ukraine, though any hopes of a real breakthrough were muted by the absence of Russia.

More than two years into the war, the combatants remain as far apart as they’ve ever been, with Kyiv sticking to its demands that Russia leave all Ukrainian territory it has seized and Moscow pressing on with its grinding offensive that has already taken large swaths of eastern and southern Ukraine.

Despite Russia’s absence from the conference at the Bürgenstock resort overlooking Lake Lucerne, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggested that one measure of the two-day event’s success was “bringing back to the world the idea that joint efforts can stop war and establish a just peace.”

Attendees faced a tricky balancing act, with many chastising Russia for breaking international law while hedging their positions to leave the door open for Moscow to join future peace talks that might bring about an end to the conflict one day.

“Here, there are representatives from Latin America, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, the Pacific, North America and religious leaders,” Zelenskyy said. “Now, there is no Russia here. Why? Because if Russia was interested in peace, there would be no war.”

“We must decide together what a just peace means for the world and how it can be achieved in a truly lasting way,” he said. “At the first peace summit, we must determine how to achieve a just peace, so that at the second, we can already settle on a real end to the war.”

About half of the roughly 100 delegations were led by heads of state and government. Analysts said turnout would be a key indicator about how much pull Ukraine and its staunch Western backers have with the broader international community.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday sought to cast a shadow over the Swiss-Ukrainian initiative for the conference. Some countries such as India, Turkey and Saudi Arabia that have retained ties, at times lucrative, with Moscow — unlike Western powers that have sanctioned Russia over the war — were also on hand.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, told the conference that credible peace talks will need Russia’s participation and require “difficult compromise.”

Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, acknowledged the mistrust between Russia and Ukraine, saying “each side regards the other party’s steps (in floating proposals) as an extension of broader war effort.”

“Excellencies, I must also note that this summit could have been more results-oriented if the other party to the conflict — Russia — was present in the room,” he added.

Entering the venue, President Gitanas Nauseda of Lithuania, a NATO member country that has been one of the most stalwart supporters of fellow former Soviet republic Ukraine, said Russian troops must leave Ukraine, and that Moscow must be held accountable for crimes there and pay reparations for the war damage.

“Right now it seems unrealistic, but I think we have to stay united, and if international society will push the Russian Federation, everything is possible,” he told The Associated Press. “I think the situation is very clear: Ukraine has to seek territorial integrity.”

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, representing the United States while President Joe Biden attended a fundraiser in California, reiterated America’s full backing for Ukraine and announced $1.5 billion in new U.S. assistance for an array of projects such as energy infrastructure and civilian security.

China, which backs Russia, joined scores of countries that sat out the event. Beijing has said any peace process would require the participation of Russia and Ukraine, and has floated its own ideas for peace.

In a separate initiative last month, China and Brazil agreed to six “common understandings” toward a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis, asking other countries to play a role in promoting peace talks to be held “at a proper time” with both Russia and Ukraine involved.

The standoff over Ukraine is steeped in security for Europe — it is the continent’s deadliest conflict since World War II — and big-power geopolitics.

U.S. intelligence officials say China has increased sales of machine tools, microelectronics and other technology to Russia that Moscow is using to produce missiles, tanks, aircraft and other weaponry to fuel its war effort.

“What is clear is that China is not here, and I presume they’re not here because Putin asked them not to come and they obliged Putin,” said Biden’s top foreign policy advisor, Jake Sullivan. “And I think that says something about where China stands with respect to Russia’s war in Ukraine. I think countries should take notice of that.”

Harris and Sullivan both acknowledged that not all participants were on the same page about an eventual peace settlement.

Russian troops who control nearly a quarter of Ukraine have made territorial gains in recent months. When talk of the Swiss-hosted peace summit began last summer, Ukrainian forces had recently regained large tracts of territory, notably near the southern city of Kherson and the northern city of Kharkiv.

The conference centers on three agenda items — seen as the least controversial bits of a 10-point peace “formula” laid out by Zelenskyy: Nuclear safety, including at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia power plant; possible prisoner of war exchanges; and global food security. The war has disrupted shipments of food and fertilizer through the Black Sea.

Zelenskyy’s plan also called for the withdrawal of Russian troops from occupied Ukrainian territory, the cessation of hostilities and the restoration of Ukraine’s original borders with Russia, including Russia’s withdrawal from occupied Crimea. With Ukrainian mostly on the defensive these days, those appear to be increasingly distant hopes.

Putin wants any peace deal to be built around a draft agreement negotiated in the early phases of the war that included provisions for Ukraine’s neutral status and limits on its armed forces, while delaying talks about Russian-occupied areas. Ukraine’s push to join NATO over the years has rankled Moscow.

He wants Ukraine to drop its bid to join NATO and pull its forces out of regions that Russia illegally annexed in 2022.

“The situation on the battlefield has changed dramatically,” said Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, noting that although Russia “can’t achieve its maximalist objectives quickly through military means,” it is gaining momentum on the battlefield.

As world leaders discussed a pathway to peace in Switzerland, the war ground on in Ukraine, where shelling killed at least three civilians and wounded 15 others on Friday and overnight into Saturday, regional officials said.

Meanwhile, Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Russia’s southern Belgorod region, blamed Ukraine in a social media post for shelling that struck a five-story apartment building in the town of Shebekino on Friday, killing five people. There was no immediate comment from Kyiv.

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Ken Moritsugu in Beijing and Joanna Kozlowska in London contributed to this report.

TOKYO (AP) — Global shares were mixed on Friday after Wall Street touched fresh records, with benchmarks pushed higher by the frenzy over artificial-intelligence technology.

France’s CAC 40 dropped 1.3% in early trading to 7,606.73 while Germany’s DAX dipped 0.5% to 18,174.98. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 0.2% to 8,143.79. The future for the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.5% and that for the S&P 500 was 0.2% lower.

In Asian trading, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 gained after the it eases itself out of its ultra-lax stance.

“Even if the BOJ wants to convey that the direction of travel is for tightening, the key guiding principle is gradualism,” Tan Jing Yi at Mizuho Bank said in a commentary. “Fact is, underlying economic confidence is at best fragile if not fraught.”

The central bank said details on reducing its massive bond holdings, acquired as the BOJ pumped trillions of dollars into the economy, would be decided and start after its next meeting in July. That helped send the Japanese yen lower against the dollar. The dollar has risen from a rate of about 140 yen to above 157 yen over the past year.

Early Friday, the U.S. dollar was trading at 157.62 Japanese yen, up from 157.02 yen. The euro cost $1.0709, down from $1.0739.

Elsewhere in Asia, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.3% to 7,724.30. South Korea’s Kospi edged up 0.1% to 2,758.42. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.9% to 17,941.78, while the Shanghai Composite rose 0.1% to 3,032.63.

An update on U.S. inflation Thursday showed prices paid at the wholesale level weren’t as bad as economists expected. They actually dropped from April into May, when economists were forecasting a rise.

The S&P 500 added 0.2% to its all-time high set the day before and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.3% from its own record. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%.

High interest rates have been dragging on some parts of the economy, particularly manufacturing. A separate report on Thursday showed more U.S. workers filed for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected, though the number is still low relative to history.

The hope on Wall Street is that growth for the job market and economy will continue to slow, taking pressure off inflation, but not so much that it precipitates a deep recession.

Most Fed officials are penciling in either one or two cuts to interest rates this year, and traders are hopeful they can begin as soon as September.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude shed 58 cents to $78.04 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, the international standard, lost 47 cents to $82.28 a barrel.