AP National News

By JAE C. HONG, AMY TAXIN and MARK PRATT Associated Press RUNNING SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) — Fresh snow fell in the California mountains on Wednesday, adding to a staggering total that had blocked roads and stranded visitors for days. The Sierra Nevada range in the north and Southern California mountains were under blizzard warnings for

By ANDREW DALTON Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — The family of the late Kobe Bryant has agreed to a $28.5 million settlement with Los Angeles County to resolve the remaining claims in a lawsuit over deputies and firefighters sharing grisly photos of the NBA star, his 13-year-old daughter and other victims killed in a

By The Associated Press U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is wrapping up a brief tour of Central Asia in Uzbekistan before heading to India for what is expected to be a contentious Ukraine-dominated meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of 20. Blinken met Wednesday in Tashkent with senior Uzbek officials a day after

By SAM METZ Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A push to mandate members of religious clergy report child sexual abuse when it’s brought to their attention is facing pushback from churches throughout the United States. That’s the case in Utah, where four separate proposals to narrow the so-called clergy-penitent privilege loophole have not

By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says the country’s ban on same-sex marriage is not discriminatory, insisting that constitutional freedom of marriage only envisions heterosexual unions, a comment that triggered criticism he is backtracking despite his recent apology and meeting with LGBTQ people. Kishida’s governing Liberal Democratic Party, known for its

By JULIE WATSON Associated Press SAN DIEGO (AP) — A California parole board voted in 2021 to free Robert F. Kennedy’s assassin, but the decision later was overturned by the governor. Sirhan Sirhan will once again appear before the board Wednesday at a hearing in San Diego County to seek approval for his release. Gov.

By MARK THIESSEN Associated Press ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The second half-century for the world’s most famous sled dog race is getting off to a rough start. Only 33 mushers will participate in the ceremonial start of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race on Saturday, the smallest field ever to take their dog teams nearly

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Award-winning Haitian broadcaster Michele Montas, who was exiled three times and served as spokesperson for the former United Nations secretary-general, follows the chaos in her country every day from her apartment in New York. She has a simple answer to why peace remains elusive and

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerians awoke to a new president Wednesday, with ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu declared the winner of the country’s election. As he thanked his supporters he appealed for reconciliation with his rivals, who are already demanding a revote in Africa’s most populous nation. The announcement by

By JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press Alex Murdaugh’s family long dominated the legal scene in his small South Carolina county. But for the past six weeks, Murdaugh has been on the other side of the courtroom, standing trial on murder charges in the 2021 shootings of his wife and son. He was found guilty Thursday and

By COLLIN BINKLEY AP Education Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Niara Thompson couldn’t shake her frustration as the Supreme Court debated President Joe Biden’s student debt cancellation. As she listened from the audience Tuesday, it all felt academic. There was a long discussion on the nuances of certain words. Justices asked lawyers to explore hypothetical scenarios.

By PATRICIA LUNA Associated Press SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — The transformation begins as night falls on this semi-desert esplanade on the outskirts of Chile’s capital, with Arturo, Alejandro and René applying makeup and donning wigs, feathers and sequins to become “Verónica Power,” “Alexandra” and “The Crazy Purse Woman.” The characters are classics of the Timoteo

BEIJING (AP) — Two surveys show China’s factory activity accelerated in February as the economy revived following the end of anti-virus controls that kept millions of people at home and disrupted travel and trade. Purchasing managers’ indexes issued by a business magazine, Caixin, and the official China Federation of Logistics & Purchasing rebounded to levels

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Election officials declared ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu the winner of Nigeria’s presidential election early Wednesday, with the two leading opposition candidates already demanding a revote in Africa’s most populous nation. The overnight announcement was likely to lead to a court challenge by his main opponents

By COLLEEN LONG and JOSH BOAK Associated Press VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — President Joe Biden says GOP lawmakers could put millions of people’s health care at risk. He is honing his message ahead of the release of his budget plan next week as Republicans push for him to negotiate over spending levels. The Democratic

By COSTAS KANTOURIS and DEREK GATOPOULOS Associated Press TEMPE, Greece (AP) — A passenger train carrying hundreds of people collided at high speed with an oncoming freight train in a fiery wreck in northern Greece, killing 29 and injuring at least 85, officials said Wednesday. Multiple cars derailed and at least three burst into flames

By The Associated Press The Biden administration is pledging to support the independence of the five Central Asian nations, in a not-so-subtle warning to the former Soviet states that Russia’s value as a partner has been badly compromised by its year-old war against Ukraine. In Kazakhstan for a series of meetings with top Central Asian

By COSTAS KANTOURIS and DEREK GATOPOULOS Associated Press TEMPE, Greece (AP) — A passenger train and an oncoming freight train collided in a fiery wreck in northern Greece early Wednesday, killing 16 people and injuring at least 85, Fire Service officials said. Multiple cars derailed and at least three burst into flame after the collision