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A wide-ranging lawsuit filed two years ago to challenge the way Georgia’s elections are run has been pared down by a federal judge. The lawsuit was filed in November 2018 by Fair Fight Action. The group was founded by Democrat Stacey Abrams, who narrowly lost the governor's race that month. A judge on Wednesday allowed some of the suit's provisions to move forward, including claims against the state’s “exact match” voter registration requirement. The judge's order does not address sweeping new voting legislation Georgia Republicans passed last week amid intense criticism. Abrams ran against then-Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who has denied any wrongdoing. Kemp immediately signed last week's bill. 

Virginia’s highest court has ruled that the city of Charlottesville can take down two statues of Confederate generals, including one of Robert E. Lee that became the focus of a violent white nationalist rally in 2017. The state Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a Circuit Court decision in favor of a group of residents who sued to block the city from taking down the Lee statue and a nearby monument to fellow Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. Charlottesville’s city council had voted to remove both. The city said Thursday it will move forward with redesigning the parks 

The U.S. is moving closer toward vaccinating 100 million Americans against COVID-19 in a race against an uptick in cases that health officials fear could lead to another surge of infections. Over 99 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine. More than 56 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, have been fully vaccinated. That's according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But cases are inching up, and officials warn they could ban fans from ballparks as major league baseball season gets underway. 

Amid the glow of baseball’s opening day, there's a cloud looming over the All-Star Game still more than three months away. Georgia’s new voting law has prompted calls from as high as the White House to consider moving the midsummer classic out of Atlanta. The game is set for July 13 at Truist Park. One of baseball’s biggest stars, Braves first baseman and reigning MVP Freddie Freeman, weighed in on the divisive issue. He suggested the game remain in Atlanta but be used as a platform for voting rights. Others, including President Biden, have suggested that it be moved. 

Cade Cunningham has announced he will enter the NBA draft after a dynamic freshman season that saw him named a first-team AP All-American. The 6-foot-8 point guard is expected to be a high pick — possibly No. 1 overall. His decision was no surprise -- he participated in Senior Night activities before the Cowboys faced Oklahoma in Stillwater. Cunningham won the Wayman Tisdale Award as the top freshman in college basketball. He led the Big 12 in scoring with 20.2 points per game. 

Michigan’s Juwan Howard is The Associated Press men’s college basketball coach of the year. Howard received 35 of 63 votes from a national media panel. Gonzaga’s Mark Few was second with 16 votes. Baylor’s Scott Drew and Alabama’s Nate Oats tied at five each. Howard has put a quick imprint on his alma mater, continuing the winning tradition John Beilein started. He has also made big inroads in recruiting. Michigan reached No. 2 in The Associated Press poll and finished the regular season No. 4. The Wolverines lost to UCLA in the NCAA regional finals earlier this week.

Prosecutors say a Bangladeshi immigrant who set off a pipe bomb attached to his chest in New York City’s busiest subway station should face life in prison. They said in court papers filed Thursday that the attempted suicide bombing by Akayed Ullah in 2017 was a “premeditated and vicious” terror attack committed on behalf of Islamic State group. The government’s request comes a week after lawyers for Ullah argued in their own papers that he only deserves a mandatory 35-year prison term. Sentencing is set for April 8. 

NEW YORK (AP) — Once again, mayhem and mass destruction is back at the box office. It’s almost like old times. “Godzilla vs. Kong,” one of the few tentpoles to dare release during COVID times, is poised this weekend to…

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian police brought in a well-known Serbian doctor and other vocal anti-vaccination activists for questioning Thursday, saying they are jeopardizing the Balkan country’s successful coronavirus inoculation drive. Serbian state TV said psychiatrist Jovana Stojkovic, a leading…

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban hosted talks Thursday with populist politicians from Italy and Poland in a bid to create a new right-wing nationalist political force on the European stage. The trilateral meeting brought Polish Prime…

Italy’s spy thriller has taken a more mundane turn with indications that the Italian Navy captain accused of passing classified documents to Russia was desperate for extra money. His wife told Corriere della Sera newspaper he was struggling to pay his mortgage and support his four children. Walter Biot, an Italian Navy frigate captain working at the Defense Ministry, was being held at a Rome prison after his arrest Tuesday. During a preliminary interrogation Thursday, he exercised his right to not answer prosecutors’ questions or make a statement. Biot was arrested on espionage charges after he was allegedly caught passing a pen drive of classified documents, including on NATO operations, to a Russian Embassy official for 5,000 euros ($5,900). 

Miguel Cabrera has hit the first home run of the new Major League Baseball season, a drive through the snow in Detroit’s chilly opener against Cleveland. The temperature at game time was 32 degrees, and the snow at Comerica Park was becoming a bit more intense when Cabrera hit a first-inning shot to right field off Cleveland’s Shane Bieber. It wasn’t easy to see through the ball through the snow, but the two-run drive carried just beyond the wall. Cabrera’s 488th career homer was upheld after a review. The 37-year-old Cabrera is five homers shy of tying Lou Gehrig and Fred McGriff for 28th on the career list.

A new study finds that American farmers are using smaller amounts of pesticides, but those chemicals are more toxic and much more harmful to pollinators, aquatic bugs and some plants. Thursday's study shows that the newer generation of pesticides is not harming birds and mammals nearly as much as in the past because they are aimed more at insects. That means insects near pests farmers want to eradicate are getting hurt more. The study used federal data to show toxicity levels in pollinators and other bugs and plants have more than doubled since 2005.

The Biden administration is unveiling a coalition of community, religious and celebrity partners to promote COVID-19 shots as it seeks to overcome vaccine hesitancy. The Department of Health and Human Services’ new “We Can Do This” campaign features television and social media ads. But it also relies on a community corps of public health, athletic, faith and other groups to spread the word about the safety and efficacy of the three approved coronavirus vaccines. Vice President Kamala Harris and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy met Thursday with more than 275 inaugural members of the community corps to kick off the effort.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Views of the nation’s economy are the rosiest they’ve been since the pandemic began more than a year ago, buoyed by Democrats feeling increasingly optimistic as President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief package is distributed across the…

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel asked citizens Thursday to consider the strain that nurses and doctors are under as they care for a rising number of COVID-19 patients and help them by respecting social distancing and other rules…