AP National News

By AMY FORLITI, TAMMY WEBBER and MICHAEL TARM Associated Press KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — A witness at Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial says the first man shot on the streets of Kenosha seemed to “lunge” toward Rittenhouse’s gun in an attempt to take it away just before Rittenhouse fired.  Jamie McGinniss is a video director for

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press The Senate has confirmed Robert Santos as the next U.S. Census Bureau director. As a third-generation Mexican American, he will be the first person of color to lead the nation’s largest statistical agency on a permanent basis. The bureau conducts the once-a-decade census, often described as the nation’s largest civilian

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — News agencies report that the body of a Louisiana man who wanted it donated for science was dissected before paying viewers at an event marketed as an “Oddities and Curiosities Expo” in Oregon. His wife is aghast. Elsie Saunders of Baker calls it horrible and unethical. She says the papers

By ANDREW MELDRUM Associated Press JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa’s voters have delivered a significant rebuke to the governing African National Congress, the party of late anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, which got less than 50% of ballots cast in local government elections. Widespread corruption, persistently high rates of unemployment, crippling power blackouts and ineffective delivery

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s powerful Orthodox Church is urging members of its congregations to attend services with vaccination or test certificates, as the country’s daily number of confirmed new infections hit a record high  for the second time in a few days. The church’s governing Holy Synod made the recommendations Thursday in a directive

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) — The National Toy Hall of Fame has inducted American Girl dolls and the strategy board game Risk, recognizing each for their influence on the toy industry. Also inducted Thursday was sand, which it calls perhaps the most universal and oldest toy in the world. All three were honored during a ceremony

By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press A federal appeals court has upheld a judge’s ruling that Baltimore city officials cannot ban a conservative Roman Catholic media outlet from holding a rally at a city-owned pavilion during a U.S. bishops’ meeting. A three-judge panel from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals didn’t explain its decision late

By JARI TANNER Associated Press HELSINKI (AP) — Finland’s capital city says it will no longer serve meat at seminars, staff meetings, receptions and other events to reduce Helsinki’s carbon footprint. Instead, the city government plans to offer vegetarian dishes and sustainable local fish. Helsinki’s spokesperson said Thursday that the change takes effect in January

By NOMAAN MERCHANT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge is questioning Donald Trump’s efforts to withhold documents from Congress related to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Judge Tanya Chutkan expressed skepticism Thursday when attorneys for the former president asked her to block the handover of documents to a House committee. Chutkan

By JACQUES BILLEAUD and LINDSAY WHITEHURST Associated Press A Texas real estate agent who bragged she wasn’t going to jail for storming the U.S. Capitol because she is white, has blond hair and good job has been sentenced to two months behind bars. The judge who sentenced Jennifer Leigh Ryan on Thursday questioned whether she

By MICHAEL PHILLIS Associated Press BENTON HARBOR, Mich. (AP) — The water system in Benton Harbor, Michigan, has tested for elevated levels of lead for three consecutive years. In response, residents have been told to drink and cook with bottled water and the state has promised to spend millions of dollars replacing lead service lines.

By FRANK JORDANS and SETH BORENSTEIN Associated Press GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — In the fight to curb climate change, several major coal-using nations have announced steps to wean themselves off of the heavily polluting fossil fuel. Though some will only do it slowly. The pledges to phase out coal come on top of other promises

By SARAH RANKIN Associated Press RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Republican Virginia Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin and outgoing Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam are pledging a smooth transition of power. The two met at the governor’s mansion Thursday for a lunch, joined by their wives. Youngkin said in brief remarks afterward that the meeting marked the beginning of

PARIS (AP) — British and French negotiators looking to untangle a post-Brexit spat over fishing licenses have met in Paris and expect to talk again next week. Although fishing is a tiny industry economically for both Britain and France, the issue of boats’ access to English Channel waters that divide the two maritime powers has

GENEVA (AP) — Top officials at the World Health Organization say there has been more than a 50% jump in coronavirus cases across Europe in the last month, making it the epicenter of the pandemic. WHO emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan said that despite an ample supply of vaccines, uptake has been uneven throughout the

By ANDREW DeMILLO and GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Republican governors, lawmakers and attorneys general already are forming a wall of opposition to President Joe Biden’s plan to require vaccinations or COVID-19 testing at all private employers of 100 workers or more. They have adopted laws to exempt employers in their

By JUSTIN SPIKE Associated Press BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — A senior official with Hungary’s ruling party has acknowledged for the first time that the government has purchased a powerful spyware tool, which was allegedly used to target the digital devices of several journalists, businesspeople and an opposition politician. It was the first time a Hungarian

By STEVE KARNOWSKI, LINDSAY WHITEHURST and MOHAMED IBRAHIM Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Police accountability activists are vowing to keep fighting for change despite the failure of a ballot proposal to replace the Minneapolis Police Department with a reimagined public safety unit. The vote came 18 months after George Floyd died under the knee of

By JIM SALTER Associated Press O’FALLON, Mo. (AP) — A federal lawsuit accuses the National Rifle Association of violating campaign finance laws by using shell companies to illegally funnel up to $35 million to Republican candidates, including former President Donald Trump, Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri and others. The Campaign Legal Center filed the lawsuit

By MATTHEW LEE AP Diplomatic Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department’s internal watchdog says that a missing $6,000 bottle of Japanese whisky given to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo remains unaccounted for. It also says the “gift vault” in which presents given to senior U.S. officials are stored was in “a state of