AP National News

MADRID (AP) — A major blunder in designs of new trains for two northern Spanish regions has led to the resignations of two top transport officials, bringing to four the number of people who have lost their jobs because of the controversy this month. A total of 31 narrow-gauge local trains were ordered in 2020

By DASHA LITVINOVA Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Russian officials and state media have downplayed President Joe Biden’s surprise visit to Ukraine, painting Kyiv as a U.S. puppet and maintaining Moscow’s forces will prevail despite Washington’s pledges to send more weapons to Ukraine. Biden met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Ukrainian capital Monday

By TATIANA POLLASTRI and ELÉONORE HUGHES Associated Press SAO SEBASTIAO, Brazil (AP) — Hundreds of rescuers searched Monday for survivors of landslides and flooding that killed at least 36 people along the coast of Brazil’s southern state of Sao Paulo following a huge weekend downpour. Worst hit was the city of Sao Sebastiao, where at

By LAURAN NEERGAARD AP Medical Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — A stroke left Heather Rendulic with little use of her left hand and arm, putting certain everyday tasks like tying shoes or cutting foods out of reach. “I live one-handed in a two-handed world and you don’t realize how many things you need two hands for

By EVAN VUCCI, JOHN LEICESTER and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Joe Biden’s motorcade slipped out of the White House around 3:30 a.m. Sunday. There was no big, flashy Air Force One for this trip. Instead, the president vanished into the night on an Air Force C-32, a modified Boeing 757

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tiger sightings are rare these days on the PGA Tour. Tiger Woods at Riviera played 72 holes for the first time in 10 months. And there’s no telling for sure when Woods will compete again. That might be in the Masters in April. This is

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch Royal House says that Princess Beatrix, the 85-year-old former Dutch queen, has undergone surgery after breaking her wrist in a skiing accident. The Royal House said in a statement Monday that the accident happened last Friday and the princess “has undergone surgery for the break and returned to

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has imposed sanctions on nine officials in Myanmar as well as government departments and companies linked to rising violence, human rights abuses and security threats. Monday’s move saw the energy minister and top military brass hit with asset freezes and travel bans. The assets in Europe of defense ministry

By JOSH BOAK and AMANDA SEITZ Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — It seems no one wants to cut Social Security or Medicare benefits. Not President Joe Biden, who’s telling voters his upcoming federal budget proposal will “defend and strengthen” the programs. Not Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who’s declared cuts to the programs off the

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A shooting during a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans killed one person, wounded four and sent panicked families running for cover, police said Monday. One suspect was taken into custody shortly after the shooting Sunday night, the New Orleans Police Department said. The victims were three males and two females,

MOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin could meet with the Chinese Communist Party’s foreign policy chief in the Russian capital. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday that “we don’t rule out” Putin’s meeting with Wang Yi, the Chinese Communist Party’s most senior foreign policy official, who’s visiting Moscow. Peskov hailed

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is taking aim at a new health hazard: online misinformation. Under FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf the agency has begun using Instagram memes, YouTube videos and other online tools to try and debunk myths about COVID vaccines and other medical

By WANJOHI KABUKURU Associated Press MOMBASA, Kenya (AP) — A cyclone which is intensifying as it approaches the southeastern African coast has been labeled as “dangerous” by the United Nation’s weather agency on Monday as nations brace for landfall. Cyclone Freddy is projected to reach Madagascar on Tuesday evening and hurtle toward Mozambique by the

By EVAN VUCCI, JOHN LEICESTER, AAMER MADHANI and ZEKE MILLER Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Joe Biden swept unannounced into Ukraine on Monday to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a defiant display of Western solidarity with a country still fighting what he called “a brutal and unjust war” days before the first

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — One person has died and four are in stable condition after a shooting during a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, police said Monday. The New Orleans Police Department said one suspect was taken into custody shortly after the Sunday night shooting. The department said in a statement that the victims

By SHARON LURYE Associated Press JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The air-conditioning gave out as students returned from summer break last year to Jim Hill High School in Jackson, Mississippi, forcing them to learn in sweltering heat. By Thanksgiving, students were huddling under blankets because the heat wasn’t working. Along the way students dealt with broken

By DEEPA BHARATH Associated Press Among Kshama Sawant’s earliest memories of the caste system was hearing her grandfather — a man she “otherwise loved very much” — utter a slur to summon their lower-caste maid. The Seattle City Council member, raised in an upper-caste Hindu Brahmin household in India, was 6 when she questioned her

By DEEPA BHARATH Associated Press Caste is an ancient system of social hierarchy based on one’s birth that is tied to concepts of purity and social status. Its history, evolution and current state are complicated. A move to outlaw caste-based discrimination in Seattle has thrust this complex — and often misunderstood — system into the

NEW YORK (AP) — Amid ongoing criticism over his comments about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, Don Lemon was absent Monday from “CNN This Morning.” Co-host Poppy Harlow told viewers that “Don has the day off.” Lemon has not been on the air since Thursday, when during a discussion on “CNN This Morning” about the