AP-National

By FARAI MUTSAKA Associated Press HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zambia’s president Hakainde Hichilema has declared the country’s debilitating drought a national disaster and emergency. In an address to the nation Thursday, Hakainde Hichilema said 84 of the country’s 116 districts are affected by the prolonged drought. The declaration provides a legal basis to mobilize more

BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. (AP) — Hatch watch is underway in Southern California mountains. Three bald eagle chicks could emerge this week from eggs laid in a nest monitored by nature lovers via a popular online camera feed. The mother, Jackie, laid the eggs in late January atop a tree overlooking Big Bear Lake high

By TOM ODULA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Haiti’s prime minister has arrived in Kenya to try to salvage a plan to have the African country deploy 1,000 police officers to the troubled Caribbean nation to help combat gang violence.Kenya agreed in October to lead a U.N.-authorized international police force to Haiti. But the

By CURT ANDERSON Associated Press Grand jury transcripts from a 2006 Florida investigation into wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of dozens of underage girls will be released publicly later this year under legislation signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The measure will take effect July 1. Epstein cut a deal with South Florida federal

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI Associated Press LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Former U.S. Rep. Justin Amash announced on social media Thursday that he will run for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat. Amash will pursue the Republican nomination in the race. He had previously left the Republican party in 2019 after supporting an impeachment inquiry in then-President Donald

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris plans to return to the swing state of Wisconsin next week for an event touting worker apprenticeship programs. The White House announced the visit on Thursday. The trip to Madison will mark her sixth trip to the state as vice president and her second this year. She

The U.S. economy is humming and there are hundreds of thousands of jobs being added every month. In a stunning burst of hiring to start the year, the nation added 353,000 jobs in January. The unemployment rate is hovering at 3.7%, just above a half-century low. At the same time, layoffs continue to arrive across

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment NEW YORK (AP) — Liev Schreiber is chewing on big ideas in a revival of John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Doubt,” which lands on Broadway during Lent. It opens March 7. Schreiber plays jovial Father Flynn, a teacher who is alleged to have an inappropriate relationship with a student,

By DAVID A. LIEB Assocaited Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri residents could see a roughly $138 million tax break under legislation intended to offset a surge in local property tax collections caused by higher vehicle values. The state House overwhelmingly passed the legislation Thursday, sending it to the Senate. Missouri is among several

By BRUCE SCHREINER Associated Press FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Mitch McConnell’s decision to step down as Senate Republican leader in November is reverberating back home in Kentucky, setting off a wave of speculation about the future of his seat as well as the loss of influence for the Bluegrass State. McConnell was cagey enough in

By ED WHITE Associated Press DETROIT (AP) — The ousted leader of the Michigan Republican Party has lost a key court ruling in her effort to regain the top post. The Michigan appeals court won’t suspend a lower court’s order affirming Kristina Karamo’s removal by party members. Karamo was hoping that a stay would clear

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer Former talk show host Oprah Winfrey is leaving WeightWatchers board of directors and donating all of her interest in the company to a museum. Shares of WW International Inc. tumbled more than 23% in Thursday morning trading. Winfrey, who told People magazine in December that she was using a

By YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A bill in Belarus that would outlaw the promotion of homosexuality and other behavior is set to land on lawmakers’ desks amid an unwavering crackdown on dissent initiated by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko in August 2020. Prosecutor General Andrei Shved said Thursday the bill establishes administrative

By GRANT PECK Associated Press BANGKOK (AP) — A Myanmar fighter jet has crashed and burned in the countryside in the central region of Magway, with at least one pilot safely rescued after ejecting from the aircraft. State television MRTV reported that Thursday’s crash took place shortly after noon during what was described as training

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City officials have cleared out a Bronx storefront illegally converted to house dozens of tenants that was run by the same person who operated one hosting as many as 70 migrants in a Queens furniture store. The city Department of Buildings said Thursday that it responded Wednesday to reports

By ACACIA CORONADO Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday blocked a new Texas law that would give police broad powers to arrest migrants suspected of illegally entering the U.S., dealing a victory to the Biden administration with a broad rejection of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s immigration enforcement effort. U.S. District

By JOSHUA GOODMAN and JIM MUSTIAN MIAMI (AP) — The widow of a prominent Cuban dissident killed in a mysterious car crash has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a former U.S. ambassador suspected of working for Cuba. The state lawsuit filed Thursday in Miami accuses former U.S. Ambassador Manuel Rocha of sharing intelligence that

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has delivered a blunt message to the West, warning that it risks provoking a global nuclear war if it expands its involvement in the fighting in Ukraine. At the same time, Putin focused his 2-hour state-of-the-nation address on a wide range of economic

By MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will visit former President Donald Trump next week at Mar-a-Lago, according to a person briefed on the plans. The meeting comes as Trump seeks to turn his attention to his looming election rematch with President Joe Biden. Orbán and Trump

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — In one of the weirdest high schools in history, Cleopatra is dating class president Frida Kahlo and John F. Kennedy’s best friend is Abraham Lincoln. This is “Clone High,” a cult animated show that’s enjoying a new life on the streamer Max some two decades