AP-National

By MEGAN JANETSKY Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — They prowl through palace gardens stalking pigeons and make cameos on televised press briefings. Some greet tourists at the doors, while others take a sneaky lick of ice cream from staff. Nineteen feral cats have free rein of Mexico’s National Palace, long roaming the lush gardens

By LEAH WILLINGHAM Associated Press CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Sophomore Christian Adams expected he would be studying Chinese when he enrolled at West Virginia University, with a dream of working in labor or immigration law. He didn’t foresee switching his major to politics, a change he made after West Virginia’s flagship university in September cut

By JULIA FRANKEL and WAFAA SHURAFA Associated Press NUSEIRAT, Gaza Strip (AP) — Rockets streaked through the morning sky in Gaza on Oct. 7 as Amal Al-Taweel hurried to the hospital in the nearby Nuseirat refugee camp, already in labor. After a difficult birth, she and her husband, Mustafa, finally got to hold Ali, the

By MATTHEW BROWN and AMY BETH HANSON Associated Press LIBBY, Mont. (AP) — Paul Resch remembers playing baseball as a kid on a field constructed from asbestos-tainted vermiculite, mere yards from railroad tracks where trains kicked up clouds of dust as they hauled the contaminated material from a mountaintop mine through the northwestern Montana town

By ANDREW DeMILLO Associated Press LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas lawmakers are meeting at the Capitol for a session that will focus on Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ $6.3 billion proposed budget for the coming year. The budget is the top agenda item for the session that kicks off Wednesday with Sanders addressing the Legislature.

By HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The oldest-ever president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has so far created a mixed legacy. Some churchgoers say he has made the church’s global membership feel more included while leaving LGBTQ+ members feeling unsupported. Russell M. Nelson is nearing his 100th

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Powerball lottery drawing scheduled for Saturday night has been delayed to complete procedures required before the numbers are announced, the game’s organizers said. The drawing for the game, including an estimated $1.3 billion jackpot, was delayed to enable one of the organizers to complete required procedures before the scheduled

By FATIMA HUSSEIN and KEN MORITSUGU Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sent a message of mutual cooperation at a meeting Sunday with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, highlighting the improvement in relations since her visit to China last year while recognizing that major differences remain. After focusing on trade and economic

By SHAWN SEBASTIAN and SIBI ARASU Associated Press GUNTUR, India (AP) — India’s southern Andhra Pradesh state has become a positive example of the benefits of natural farming, a process of using organic matter as fertilizers and pesticides that makes crops more resilient to bad weather, and advocates say active government support is the primary

Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — An influential pastor and civil rights leader in Los Angeles has died. The Rev. Dr. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray died Friday, according to an announcement from the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture. Murray spent 27 years as pastor of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los

By EDDIE PELLS AP National Writer GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — There was more than one team that came to the Final Four with a dream — more than one team hoping to add its own unforgettable chapter to college basketball’s colorful history book. Zach Edey and Purdue have been thinking big all year, and after

BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — Iowa’s 71-69 victory over UConn at the women’s Final Four on Friday night averaged 14.2 million viewers on ESPN, making it the most-viewed women’s basketball game on record and the largest audience for an ESPN basketball broadcast. The previous women’s hoops mark was 12.3 million for last Monday’s Iowa-LSU game in

By DAVID SHARP Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Democrat Joseph E. Brennan, whose hardscrabble childhood shaped his working-class views in a political career that included two terms as Maine’s governor and two terms in the U.S. House, died Friday evening at his home in Portland. He was 89. Brennan died with his wife at

By MEGAN JANETSKY Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — Diplomatic relations between Mexico and Ecuador dramatically imploded after Ecuadorian police burst into Mexico’s embassy in Quito and arrested Jorge Glas, Ecuador’s former vice president. Glas, arrested late Friday, had been convicted on charges of bribery and corruption and remains under investigation for other potential crimes.

CLEVELAND (AP) — South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley said Saturday that she believes transgender athletes should be allowed to compete in women’s sports. Staley was asked at the news conference the day before her unbeaten Gamecocks play Iowa for the national championship for her opinion on the issue. “I’m of the opinion that

By REGINA GARCIA CANO and GABRIELA MOLINA Associated Press QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Ecuadorian authorities took the extraordinarily unusual step of breaking into a foreign embassy to arrest a former vice president facing corruption charges. The move earned the administration of President Daniel Noboa swift condemnation from fellow leaders as well as diplomats. Police on

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer WAXAHACHIE, Texas (AP) — The last time a total solar eclipse passed through this Texas town, horses and buggies filled the streets and cotton fetched 9 cents a pound. Nearly 150 years later, one thing hasn’t changed: the threat of clouds blocking the view. Overcast skies are forecast for

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. (AP) — Eleven people were injured when a bus carrying University of South Carolina students blew a tire and hit a concrete barrier in Mississippi. Mississippi state troopers said the driver and a student were critically injured and taken by helicopter to hospitals after the crash Friday, while nine other students

ISFAHAN, Iran (AP) — A top military commander Saturday renewed Iran’s promise to retaliate after an airstrike earlier this week widely blamed on Israel destroyed Iran’s consulate in Syria, killing 12 people, including two elite Iranian generals. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, Iran’s joint chief of staff, told mourners gathered for the funeral of Gen. Mohammad Reza