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By JOHN HANNA AP Political Writer TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas legislator accused of kicking a high school student in the testicles has pleaded guilty to three lesser misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct. A magistrate judge on Monday placed Republican state Rep. Mark Samsel on a year’s probation under a deal with the local

By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — The environmental group Global Witness says at least 227 people died last year defending their homes, land and livelihoods from environmental exploitation as the deepening climate crisis increasingly pits economic interests against local communities. The total is the highest since Global Witness began gathering information about attacks

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Authorities in Nigeria say 240 inmates have escaped in the country’s second prison break this year. Interior minister Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola said Monday that the gunmen had used explosives to destroy three sides of the perimeter fence at the correctional facility in north central Nigeria. The

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Louisiana man who is the oldest living World War II veteran in the United States has marked his 112th birthday. Lawrence Brooks celebrated Sunday with a drive-by party at his New Orleans home hosted by the National World War II Museum. Festivities included a Jeep parade, a live performance from

By SAMY MAGDY Associated Press Officials say Libyan authorities have arrested two suspected human traffickers and facilitated the return of more than 50 Egyptian migrants to their home country. Fifty-three Egyptians landed in Cairo’s international airport on a private flight late Sunday after authorities in Libya’s capital of Tripoli arrested them for attempting to travel

By ADRIAN SAINZ Associated Press MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A jury has been selected in the trial of a Tennessee state senator charged with stealing more than $600,000 in federal funds. The federal trial of state Sen. Katrina Robinson started Monday in Memphis. Robinson is accused of stealing funds from federal grants slated for The

By LAURAN NEERGAARD and MATTHEW PERRONE Associated Press An international group of scientists is arguing the average person doesn’t need a COVID-19 booster yet — an opinion that highlights the intense scientific divide over the question. Two of those scientists are top U.S. vaccine regulators, raising questions about whether White House plans for booster doses

By CEDAR ATTANASIO Associated Press / Report for America Across the U.S., vaccine-hesitant parents are struggling with vaccine-seeking teenagers set on getting their shots. A return to in-person school this month are raising the stakes for high school students who want to be safe in packed classrooms and homecoming rallies. Coronavirus outbreaks are already forcing

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken has pushed back against harsh Republican criticism of the Biden administration’s handling of the military withdrawal from Afghanistan. In a sometimes contentious hearing on Monday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Blinken sought to blunt complaints from angry GOP lawmakers about

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — The new chairman of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board wants to change the way governments and businesses look at highway safety to consider the whole system rather than individual driver behavior. Jennifer Homendy says such an approach worked in aviation, where there were no U.S.

By SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer Researchers in Germany have potty trained cows, all in the name of science. Monday’s study in the journal Current Biology reports how scientists got 11 of 16 Holsteins to do their business inside a special pen called a “MooLoo.” They only worked on getting the cows to urinate in