AP National News

By SARAH RANKIN and DENISE LAVOIE Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s new Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, has pledged to restore trust in government and to restore power to the people. Youngkin struck themes of bipartisanship and optimism in his inaugural speech as he was sworn into office Saturday. A weekend of pomp and

LYON, France (AP) — A progressive icon from the South American territory of French Guiana has joined the race for France’s presidential election in April. Christiane Taubira, a former justice minister, promised to push back against the “discourse of hate” that has stained the campaign and try to unite the country’s long-fractured left wing. Taubira

MOSCOW (AP) — A top law-enforcement official in Kazakhstan says 225 people died during the violent demonstrations that shook the country this month, a significantly higher number than previously announced. Serik Shalabayev in the general prosecutor’s office said 19 police officers or servicemen were among the dead and more than 4,300 people were injured. The

MEXICO CITY (AP) — State authorities say the leader of a crime gang notorious for siphoning gasoline from government fuel pipelines has been sentenced to 60 years in prison for kidnapping. José Antonio Yépez Ortiz had been one of Mexico’s most wanted suspects prior to his arrest on Aug. 2, 2020, following a shootout with

By KATHLEEN RONAYNE Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Governors and state lawmakers are prioritizing climate change as they write their state budgets, devoting money to lowering emissions and guarding against natural disasters such as flood and fire. The spending comes as most states are flush with cash: Tax collections have exceeded expectations, and states

By JOCELYN GECKER and JEROME PUGMIRE Associated Press To his critics, Novak Djokovic has been cavalier and reckless in the face of a deadly pandemic. But students of the tennis star’s game note that bending reality has been a secret to his success, until now. The saga playing out in Australia over Djokovic’s refusal to

By FLORENT BAJRAMI and LLAZAR SEMINI Associated Press PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Lawmakers in Kosovo have held an extraordinary session to reject allowing the country’s ethnic Serb minority to vote in a Serb referendum in Kosovo. The resolution they passed said the move violates the country’s constitution, laws and international practice. Kosovo police stopped at

By BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — A quest for the fortune left behind by multimillionaire murderer Robert Durst is underway just days after his death. A lawyer for the family of his missing first wife notified the real estate tycoon’s trust Tuesday that it would be seeking more than $100 million from

HOULTON, Maine (AP) — Two radio announcers calling a Maine high school girl’s basketball game have been fired after they mocked players for being overweight. The Portland Press Herald reported that the comments were made by two broadcasters on Houlton radio station WHOU-FM on Thursday during a game between teams from Central Aroostook and Easton.

PASSAIC, N.J. (AP) — Catastrophe has been averted after a dramatic fire near a chemical plant burned through the night and into Saturday morning in northern New Jersey. Its smoke was so heavy that it was detected on weather radar and was seen and smelled in nearby New York City. The fire at Majestic Industries

ROME (AP) — The discovery of African swine fever in northern Italy has pork producers fearing significant damages to a major agricultural export. Earlier this month, a case of the virus, which can be deadly to pigs but doesn’t harm humans, was discovered in a wild boar in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy. Wild

LONDON (AP) — Lawyers for Prince Andrew and his accuser Virginia Giuffre have filed their initial requests for witnesses in her lawsuit accusing the British royal of sexually abusing her at age 17. Recently released documents show that the prince’s legal team is seeking witness accounts from her husband, Robert Giuffre, and her psychologist, Judith

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Environmental protesters are once again demanding the cancelation of plans for lithium mining in western Serbia. They took to the streets again Saturday in the Balkan nation, blocking roads and, for the first time, a border crossing. Traffic on Serbia’s main north-south highway was halted by the protests for more than

By TERRY TANG Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Some relatives of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. are spending the holiday named for him in conservative-leaning Arizona to mobilize support for languishing federal voting rights legislation. Martin Luther King III, his wife and their 13-year-old daughter will take part Saturday in an on-the-ground campaign

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ROME (AP) — Italy’s supreme court has faulted Italian prosecutors for withholding evidence benefiting the key suspect in the Vatican’s fraud and embezzlement trial in a parallel case in Italian courts. The Court of Cassation ordered the Tribunal of Review to consider that evidence before deciding whether to uphold an

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press The U.S. Census Bureau has begun accepting challenges from states, cities and tribal nations that want to contest the results of the 2020 census. The count was one of the most difficult in recent memory due to the pandemic, political interference from the Trump administration, hurricanes and wildfires. Governors, mayors

By STEVE PEOPLES AP National Politics Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Just over a year ago, millions of energized young people, women, voters of color and independents joined forces to send Joe Biden to the White House. But 12 months after he entered the Oval Office, many describe a coalition in crisis. Leading voices across

By MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Eric Adams has stepped into the roles of cheerleader and crisis manager in his first weeks as New York City mayor while facing questions about early controversies of his own making. His early days on the job may foreshadow that the Adams era of New