AP National News

PARIS (AP) — Valérie Pécresse, the head the Paris region and a former conservative minister, has been chosen to run in France’s presidential race for The Republicans party. The decision could significantly shape the presidential election in April. She received 61% of the votes in the party’s primary, defeating contender Eric Ciotti, a hardline lawmaker

By AGOES BASOEKI Associated Press LUMAJANG, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s highest volcano on Java island has spewed thick columns of ash, searing gas and lava down its slopes in a sudden eruption triggered by heavy rains. At least one villager died from burns and 41 were hospitalized. Mount Semeru’s eruption in East Java province left

By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer A rush of vaccine-seeking customers and staff shortages are squeezing drugstores around the country. That has led to frazzled workers and even temporary pharmacy closures. Drugstores are normally busy this time of year with flu shots and other vaccines. But now pharmacists are doling out a growing number of

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Police say at least 18 people died after a bus carrying choir members to a wedding plunged into a river in Kenya on Saturday. Mwingi East Sub-County Police Commander Joseph Yakan said the driver tried to steer the bus past a flooded bridge, but the strong current swept the vehicle into

By DUSAN STOJANOVIC Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Thousands of protesters have gathered in Belgrade and other Serbian towns and villages to block roads and bridges despite police warnings and an intimidation campaign launched by authorities against the participants. Blowing whistles and chanting “Uprising! Uprising!” thousands of people stopped traffic Saturday on the main

BERLIN (AP) — German authorities say five bodies with gunshot and stabbing wounds have been found Saturday in a house just outside Berlin. The victims included three children. Officers found the bodies in Koenigs Wusterhausen, southeast of Berlin, on Saturday after witnesses reported seeing dead people in the building, prosecutors and police said in a

By GEIR MOULSON Associated Press German Chancellor-designate Olaf Scholz’s center-left party has given its overwhelming approval to a deal to form a new government with environmentalist and pro-business parties. Saturday’s vote at a Social Democratic Party convention was the first of three such decisions needed for Scholz to take office next week. Scholz’s Social Democrats

By COREY WILLIAMS and ED WHITE Associated Press PONTIAC, Mich. (AP) — A sheriff’s office in Michigan says the parents of a teen accused of killing four students in a shooting at a high school have been caught while hiding in a Detroit commercial building that housed artwork. Police say James and Jennifer Crumbley appeared

By BABA AHMED Associated Press BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — A local official in central Mali says gunmen attacked a truck carrying civilians in central Mali, killing at least 31 people. The mayor of Bandiagara, Housseini Saye, said the truck was carrying about 50 civilians when the identified gunmen attacked the vehicle Friday about 10 kilometers

By JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Stacey Abrams’ 2022 Democratic campaign for Georgia governor is likely to be different than her narrow 2018 loss. Abrams faces a sour national environment for Democrats. But incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp is trying to stave off GOP challenges pushed by former President Donald Trump. Abrams says

Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A New Orleans city council member is pushing to change a street currently named after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and replace it with one the city’s most famous musicians, Allen Toussaint. Jared C. Brossett introduced an ordinance to rename the street that goes through the northern part of

By TOM HAYS Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The first week of the sex-abuse trial of Ghislaine Maxwell saw the first of her four main accusers taking the witness stand to give emotional testimony accusing the British socialite of coaxing her into sexual encounters with financier Jeffrey Epstein. The jury at the federal trial

BERLIN (AP) — Outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel has made what is likely her final appeal before leaving office next week for Germans to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Merkel gave what is expected to be her last weekly video message two days after federal and state leaders decided on a series of measures meant to break

By DAVID SHARP Associated Press PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Most Americans know about atrocities endured by Native Americans after the arrival of European settlers — wars, disease, stolen land. Members of the Penobscot Nation in Maine want to ensure that history doesn’t whitewash one of the ugliest parts — government-sanctioned scalping by colonists. At the

By AYA BATRAWY Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron has met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the final leg of a two-day Gulf tour. Concerns over Iran’s nuclear program, the multiple crises in Lebanon and the ongoing war in Yemen were expected to be aired in private

By NICOLE WINFIELD and DEREK GATOPOULOS Associated Press ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Pope Francis has warned that the “easy answers” of populism and authoritarianism threaten democracy in Europe and called for fresh dedication to promoting the common good. Francis used a speech in Greece, the birthplace of democracy, to address Europe at large, arguing that

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — The highest volcano on Indonesia’s most densely populated island of Java has spewed thick columns of ash high into the sky, triggering panic among people living nearby. There have been no immediate reports of casualties. Mount Semeru’s sudden eruption in Lumajang district in East Java province left several villages around its

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — A Sudanese pro-democracy group has condemned comments by the U.N. chief urging citizens to support a deal that reinstated Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok so the country can have “a peaceful transition towards a true democracy.” The Sudanese Professionals’ Association, which was at the forefront of the uprising

PARIS (AP) — Members of France’s main conservative party are picking their presidential candidate, a decision that could significantly shape April’s election. The head the Paris region, Valérie Pécresse, and a hardline lawmaker from Nice, Eric Ciotti, are competing in the final round of The Republicans’ primary. About 140,000 registered members of The Republicans are

MILAN (AP) — A dentist in Italy faces possible criminal charges after trying to receive a coronavirus vaccine in a fake arm made of silicone. A nurse in the northern city of Biella, Filippa Bua, said she could tell right away that something was off when a 57-year-old man presented the phony limb for a