AP National News

By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations chief is urging Mali’s military leaders to accelerate the transition to democracy. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres  expressed “great concern” at their recent announcement delaying next month’s elections until 2026. He told reporters Thursday “it is absolutely essential that the Malian government presents an

By The Associated Press A Maryland hospital is defending its decision to transplant a pig’s heart into a dying man following reports that the patient had a criminal record. David Bennett still is recovering from last week’s highly experimental transplant, a medical first and a step in the quest to one day ease shortages of

By ZEKE MILLER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden says the government plans to double to 1 billion the rapid, at-home COVID-19 tests to be distributed free to Americans. Speaking at the White House on Thursday, Biden says his administration will also make “high-quality masks” available for no charge. He spoke at an

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador says he hopes Mexican investors buy the local subsidiary of Citigroup. The president made his remarks about Citibanamex in a video posted to his social media accounts Thursday, saying that “we would like this bank to be Mexicanized.”  The president contends foreign bankers often take

BALTIMORE (AP) — A federal grand jury has indicted Baltimore’s top prosecutor on charges of perjury and making false mortgage applications in the purchase of two Florida vacation homes. The Maryland-based U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the four-count indictment in a news release Thursday. The indictment alleges that Marilyn Mosby lied about meeting qualifications for coronavirus-related

BIG RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan professor has been placed on leave after he told students in a profanity-laced video that he randomly assigns grades before the first day of class. Barry Mehler is a 74-year-old instructor at Ferris State University in Big Rapids. He told students in the video: “I don’t even want

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — A  man once dubbed “King Perry” will spend more than 17 years in prison for his role in masterminding a long-running Ponzi scheme that collected more than $115 million from 1,000 investors nationwide. Perry Santillo appeared Thursday in federal court in Rochester, New York. A judge ordered him to pay $103

By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s governor has rejected releasing Robert F. Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan from prison more than a half-century after the slaying shook the world in 1968. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday rejected a recommendation from a two-person panel of parole commissioners. Newsom said Sirhan, now 77, poses

By MICHELLE LIU Associated Press/Report for America The family of a mentally ill Black man who died after South Carolina jail employees repeatedly stunned him and then kneeled on his back until he stopped breathing is still seeking criminal charges one year later. Relatives for Jamal Sutherland want South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson to

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Paul Tash is retiring as CEO of the Tampa Bay Times, a media organization he joined 47 years ago as a summer intern. The Times announced the move Thursday. Tash, 67, became editor of what was then the St. Petersburg Times in 1992. During his tenure, the newspaper won nine

CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) — The ashes of Winter the dolphin have been returned to the sea, about two months after the beloved marine mammal of movie star fame died at a Florida aquarium. Clearwater Marine Aquarium staff members released a seal salt urn containing Winter’s ashes into the Gulf of Mexico from a U.S. Coast

By BOBBY CAINA CALVAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A communal funeral for victims of New York City’s deadliest fire in years has been planned for Sunday, a week after the the blaze in the Bronx high-rise. The service is to be held at the Islamic Cultural Center in the Bronx. Funerals began Wednesday

By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINS Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Ohio prison system says it will deploy more than 5,000 body cameras by May in all state prisons and adult parole authority offices. The director of the Ohio corrections department said Thursday that the state has signed a contract with Arizona-based Axon for the cameras.

By GRANT SCHULTE Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Colorado has warned it will “protect and aggressively assert” its water rights after Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts announced a plan to spend $500 million on a canal and reservoir project that includes claiming access to land in Colorado under a 99-year-old compact between the states. Colorado

By DAVID BAUDER AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Elvis Costello’s new album sounds like a tight rock ‘n’ roll combo sweating together on a tiny stage, feeding off each other produce a joyful noise. But that’s an illusion. The coronavirus-era disc ‘The Boy Named If’ was made in solitary style — four musicians,

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — The federal government is moving forward with a plan to let teenagers drive big rigs from state to state in a test program. Currently, truckers who cross state lines must be at least 21 years old. But an apprenticeship program required by Congress to help ease

By FARNOUSH AMIRI Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The House committee investigating the Capitol insurrection has issued subpoenas to Twitter, Meta, Reddit and YouTube, demanding documents after lawmakers said the companies’ initial responses were inadequate. The committee chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, demanded records from the companies related to their role in allegedly spreading misinformation about

By JOHN RABY Associated Press CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice says his health is improving  two days after he was diagnosed with COVID-19. The 70-year-old Republican governor continues to experience mild symptoms. Justice was diagnosed with the coronavirus on Tuesday and says he’s feeling much better Thursday. Justice says he woke