AP National News

By MATT O’BRIEN and RAF CASERT Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has launched an investigation into Microsoft’s planned takeover of video game giant Activision Blizzard, fearing the $69 billion deal would distort fair competition in the market. Microsoft, maker of the Xbox gaming system, first announced the agreement to buy the California-based

JACKSON, Miss (AP) — Authorities in Mississippi’s capital city are on the hunt for a suspected arsonist who set several fires on and near the campus of a public historically Black college. News outlets report at least seven fires were confirmed by officials early Tuesday. At least two of the buildings set ablaze are churches.

By AUDREY McAVOY Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii’s sitting lieutenant governor, Democrat Josh Green, has a large advantage heading into his state’s gubernatorial race against his Republican opponent Duke Aiona. The heavily Democratic state has had just two Republican governors since becoming a state in 1959. It hasn’t elected a Republican to the office

By AUDREY McAVOY Associated Press HONOLULU (AP) — Democratic incumbent Brian Schatz faces Republican Bob McDermott in the race to represent Hawaii in the U.S. Senate. Schatz is the favorite in Tuesday’s general election. He’s run ads in local media but hasn’t done much visible campaigning at home. Last month, he traveled to Yuma, Arizona

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has met with lawmakers from his party to discuss their concerns about rising numbers of migrants seeking asylum in the Netherlands, amid tensions within his four-party coalition about how to tackle the issue. The meeting Tuesday followed the refusal of

By FREIDA FRISARO AND JULIE WALKER Associated Press MIAMI (AP) — Subtropical Storm Nicole began strengthening and transitioning into a tropical storm early Tuesday as it churned toward the northwestern Bahamas and Florida’s Atlantic coastline, forecasters said. “There are indications in the satellite imagery and recognizance aircraft that the system may be trying to evolve

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly has been fighting to hold on to the seat he won for Democrats two years ago, but he faced a vastly different political environment heading into Tuesday’s election against Republican venture capitalist Blake Masters. Kelly’s 2020 special election victory gave Democrats both of Arizona’s Senate seats for the

By WILSON RING Associated Press Voters in deep blue Vermont are deciding whether to send Republican Gov. Phil Scott back to Montpelier for his fourth two-year term. The 64-year-old Scott is being challenged by Democrat Brenda Siegel and three independent candidates. Since he became governor in 2017, Scott says he has focused on minimizing Vermonters’

By NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press ROME (AP) — Italian authorities on Tuesday announced the extraordinary discovery of 2,000-year-old bronze statues in an ancient Tuscan thermal spring and said the find will “rewrite history” about the transition from the Etruscan civilization to the Roman Empire. The discovery, in the sacred baths of the San Casciano dei

NEW YORK (AP) — A Tyrannosaurus rex skull unearthed in South Dakota is expected to sell for $15 million or more at auction in New York next month, officials with Sotheby’s said Tuesday. The 200-pound (91-kilogram) skull fossil, nicknamed Maximus, is being sold Dec. 9 by an owner who wishes to remain anonymous, the auction

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The daughter of Norway’s King Harald says she no longer will officially represent the Norwegian royal house following questions about her and her American fiancé’s activities. Princess Märtha Louise is fourth in line to the Norwegian throne. The 50-year-old got engaged in June to Durek Verrett, who describes himself as a

By HOLLY RAMER Associated Press CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Democratic U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan faces Republican Don Bolduc Tuesday in a closely-watched race that could decide the balance of power in the U.S. Senate. Flipping the seat would be a key pickup for Republicans hoping to win control of the Senate. Bolduc is a retired

By ANDREW MELDRUM and YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine’s president has hinted at the possibility of peace talks with Russia, a shift from his earlier refusal to negotiate with President Vladimir Putin that came on the eve of crucial elections in the United States. Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the international community late

By PAUL J. WEBER Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Democrat Beto O’Rourke are steering into the finish of one of the most expensive midterm races in the country. Abbott on Tuesday is seeking a record-tying third term that would strengthen his prospects as a potential 2024 presidential candidate.

By MEAD GRUVER Associated Press CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Following a first term fraught with a double dose of crises — the COVID-19 pandemic and crash in oil prices that combined knocked the wind out of Wyoming’s economy — Republican Gov. Mark Gordon is asking voters to give him four more years. He faces a

By KEITH RIDLER Associated Press BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho Gov. Brad Little faces a Democratic challenger who has been all but invisible and an antigovernment independent candidate who has failed to gain much traction. The first-term governor’s strategy has been to ignore them. It’s working. Little is expected to cruise to an easy reelection

By PAUL J. WEBER and ACACIA CORONADO Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Three U.S. House races in South Texas are carrying unusually high stakes as Republicans close in on retaking control of Congress. The unusually competitive atmosphere Tuesday along the U.S.-Mexico border underlined the rapidly shifting political winds in an important stronghold for Democrats.

By JESSE BEDAYN and JAMES ANDERSON Associated Press DENVER (AP) — U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert’s bid for a second term and a toss-up race in a new congressional district could equalize or reverse Democrats’ current 4-3 edge in the state’s delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives. Boebert is a far-right Republican and supporter of

By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A pair of dogs gifted by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in 2018 are now mired in a South Korean political row, with the country’s former president blaming his conservative successor for a lack of financial support as he gave the animals up. Moon