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The chairman of the House Republican campaign committee is already predicting his party will pick up seats in the midterm election that are some 20 months away. Republican Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina also says in an Associated Press interview that the Department of Government Efficiency's cuts are resonating with voters. Hudson and House Speaker Mike Johnson have told fellow Republicans to skip hosting town hall meetings because the gatherings are being disrupted by protesters angry over the cuts. But Hudson says Republicans are confident their budget-cutting puts them "on the side of the angels.” Democrats believe they have a chance to win back the House majority in 2026.

AP

The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating a fuel spill off the tiny Puerto Rican island of Vieques, which is popular with tourists. A mile-long sheen and a strong diesel odor was reported by local emergency medical officials on Friday afternoon along Sun Ray Beach. The Coast Guard said Friday that at least one person was exposed to the unknown substance and received treatment. Authorities urged people to stay out of the water as the investigation continued on Saturday.

AP

Republicans in Congress have long been intent on countering America’s rivals and spreading U.S. influence abroad. But when President Donald Trump spelled out a sharp turn from that approach in his recent address to Congress, lawmakers in his party couldn’t help but stand and applaud. He's taken a neutral position on the war in Ukraine, imposed tariffs on trading partners and allies, and cut foreign military and humanitarian aid. Some Republicans who weren't shy about countering Trump during his first term are standing by him now. It shows Trump’s ability to impose his will on his party and the extent to which he's ushering in a potentially generational shift.

AP

Polish abortion rights activists have opened a center across from the parliament building in Warsaw where women can have abortions with pills, either alone or with other women. Opening the center on International Women’s Day across from the legislature was a symbolic challenge to authorities in the traditionally Roman Catholic nation, which has one of Europe’s most restrictive laws. A small but loud group of protesters stood outside the center as activists gathered inside for its inauguration on Saturday. The center's founders say it is the first stationary abortion center in Poland. They also say they want to put pressure on politicians, and to destigmatize abortion in a society where it is common but the topic is taboo.

AP

Virginia's lieutenant governor is used to facing formidable obstacles in her political campaigns. And Winsome Earle-Sears' bid to be Virginia’s next governor is no exception. The Jamaican immigrant and Marine veteran will need to win the Republican primary in June at a time when her party has been taken over by the “Make America Great Again” movement. Then she'll have to woo moderate and independent voters in the November general election as Democrats look to tie her to President Donald Trump’s overhaul of the federal government. Two conservatives are trying to challenge her in the primary. Virginia has never elected a woman as governor.

AP

Rio Takeda of Japan shot a 3-under 69 to hold a two-shot lead after three rounds of the LPGA’s Blue Bay tournament on China’s southern island of Hainan. Takeda was on 9-under 207 going into Sunday’s final round. The 21-year-old Takeda is looking for her second LPGA tournament victory after winning the Toto Japan Classic four months ago in a six-hole, sudden-death playoff. Takeda was two shots ahead of Gigi Stoll, Auston Kim and Cassie Porter. Stoll shot a 68, Kim finished with a 70 and Porter shot an even-par 72.

AP

If you’re about to go to the gym, should you eat something beforehand? Or is it better to wait till after? Well, it depends. Abby Langer is a dietitian in Toronto. She says you should wait two to three hours after a full meal before working out. That’s because exercise interferes with digestion and a full stomach can be uncomfortable. It’s OK, though, to have a small snack with lots of carbs beforehand. Afterward, eat a higher ratio of protein and fiber. You should try to eat within an hour, but it’s not because of how nutrients get processed. Instead, if you wait too long, you get hungry. And you would probably overeat.

AP

Pope Francis has entered his fourth week in the hospital with double pneumonia, increasingly handing off his day-to-day duties to cardinals as questions swirl about the near and long-term future of his papacy. On Saturday, the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, took Francis’ place to celebrate Mass for a pro-life group. On Sunday, another Vatican official, Cardinal Michael Czerny, is stepping in for the pope to celebrate a Holy Year Mass for volunteers. The 88-year-old pope has spoken about the possibility of resignation, though his position has changed over time, especially after the death of Pope Benedict XVI.

AP

Federica Brignone is still a relentless winner in giant slalom races. Mikaela Shiffrin is still searching for form after her serious crash in November. Brignone was fastest in both runs of a World Cup giant slalom Saturday in Are, Sweden. She finished a huge 1.36 seconds ahead of Alice Robinson. Lara Colturi was third. Brignone's win extended her lead in the overall World Cup standings. Robinson leads Brignone in the giant slalom standings with one race left at Sun Valley, Idaho  Shiffrin failed to finish in the morning run after skiing out wide at a right-hand turn.

AP

Thousands of women have taken to the streets of Turkish cities to mark International Women’s Day, protesting inequality and violence against women. On the Asian side of Istanbul, women listened to speeches, danced and sang in the spring sunshine on Saturday while being overseen by a large police presence. Crowds in Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority southeast, celebrated the prospect of peace brought by a ceasefire announced last week by Kurdish militants. Critics have accused President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government of overseeing restrictions on women’s rights and not doing enough to tackle violence against women.

AP

Lauren Price is following the Katie Taylor blueprint to boxing success. The Welsh welterweight outclassed Natasha Jonas on Friday night at Royal Albert Hall to retain her WBA title and pick up the WBC and IBF belts. Price says “You’ve seen it with Katie Taylor, she’s got a nation behind her in Ireland. I’ve got Wales. She’s an Olympic champion. I’m an Olympic champion. I really honestly feel like I could be going and selling out stadiums.” Price needs the WBO belt to become the undisputed champion. It is held by Mikaela Mayer who faces English fighter Sandy Ryan on March 29 in Las Vegas.

AP

The Italian government has approved a draft law that for the first time introduces the legal definition of femicide in the country’s criminal law and punishes it with life imprisonment. The move, announced on the eve of Women’s International Day on Saturday, aims at tackling a shocking string of homicides and violence targeting women. It also strengthens measures against gender-based crimes like stalking and revenge porn. The proposal still needs to go through parliament and be approved by both chambers to become law.

AP

Swiss police say they have solved a kidnapping involving two dogs and a demand for ransom of about $1.135 million. Zurich police said Saturday the Bolonka dogs were stolen from the home of a 59-year-old man in Schlieren near Zurich last week, while the dog owner was away. When he returned home, the dogs were gone and he found a letter demanding a ransom for their release. The man called police and investigators eventually discovered the dogs in Poland and arrested a Polish and a Norwegian suspect. The dogs were returned to their owner.

AP

Foreign ministers from Muslim nations rejected calls by U.S. President Donald Trump to empty the Gaza Strip of its Palestinian population and backed a plan for an administrative committee of Palestinians to govern the territory to allow reconstruction to go ahead. The foreign ministers gathered in the Saudi city of Jeddah for a special session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Saturday to address the situation in Gaza, at a time when the 7-week-old ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has been thrown into doubt. In a statement put out Saturday, the gathering threw its support behind a plan to rebuild Gaza put forward by Egypt. The OIC groups 57 nations with largely Muslim populations.

AP

The Chernihiv Regional Youth Theater in Ukraine has adapted to the war by having women perform traditionally male roles, after many men left the troupe to fight on the front line. The war has taken a toll; some members are missing or killed, and Russian attacks have damaged cultural institutions. Despite the hardships, the troupe remains committed to preserving their art and aiding the war effort by raising funds and weaving camouflage nets. Their resilience reflects a broader reality in Ukraine, where women are stepping into roles once dominated by men, sustaining not just their industries but the spirit of national resistance.

AP

Emergency services have been called to the Palace of Westminster after a man holding a Palestinian flag climbed up Big Ben tower. Photos show the man standing on a ledge several meters up Elizabeth Tower, which houses Big Ben. A nearby street was closed and several emergency service vehicles were at the scene as crowds looked on from behind a police cordon. The Metropolitan Police said officers were at the scene “working to bring the incident to a safe conclusion,” alongside firefighters and ambulance services.

AP

It was yet another duel for victory and a 1-2-3 finish for the Switzerland men's downhill team Saturday. Franjo von Allmen edged teammate Marco Odermatt to win at Kvitfjell in Norway. It sent their season-long title contest for the World Cup downhill title to the final race in the United States. Von Allmen finished 0.28 seconds ahead of Odermatt, who needed an agile recovery midway down the 1994 Olympics slope to stay upright. Stefan Rogentin completed the podium sweep 0.38 back in third. The last downhill race is March 22 at Sun Valley, Idaho.

AP

Sellers around the NHL from Philadelphia to San Jose, Mikko Rantanen and the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers were winners at the trade deadline. The Carolina Hurricanes, Vancouver's Brock Boeser and the July 1 free agent frenzy were among the losers. The path to the Eastern Conference final also has cracked wide open for the Washington Capitals. But there will also be one top team in the Atlantic Division and another in the Central that gave up significant assets and is guaranteed to lose in the first round of the playoffs.

AP

Officials say flooding rains will continue for days to lash a region of the Australian east coast even though it avoided its first tropical cyclone in 51 years. Tropical Cyclone Alfred had been expected to become the first cyclone to cross the Australian coast near the Queensland state capital, Brisbane, since 1974. But it weakened Saturday to a tropical low, then came to a near-standstill off the Brisbane coast for several hours. Meteorologists say the cyclone’s remnant is forecast to track west across the Australian mainland in the coming days, bringing heavy rain. The body of a 61-year-old man who disappeared in a flooded river was recovered on Saturday.

AP

State-run media in Myanmar say the head of the military government has declared the country will hold a general election within 10 months.  Four years after seizing power from the elected government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said the election will take place either in December or January 2026 at the latest, the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported Saturday. The election, nominally a democratic exercise, is widely seen as an attempt to normalize the military’s seizure of power through the ballot box. With the country at war and civil liberties tightly restricted, critics see no way for the polls to be free and fair.

AP

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump has come, gone and returned to the White House, but Boeing Co. still hasn’t delivered the new Air Force One jet that he’s eager to board after it’s painted in a red, white and blue color scheme of his own invention.

AP

The Taliban say Afghan women live in security with their rights protected. Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021, they have barred education for women and girls beyond sixth grade, most employment, and many public spaces. The Taliban’s chief spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid released a statement on his official X account Saturday, without specifically mentioning International Women’s Day which is celebrated on March 8, to say Afghan women enjoy dignity, honor and legal protection. The UN renewed its call for bans on women and girls to be reversed, saying the erasure of Afghan females from public life should not be tolerated.

AP

A Russian strike on a town in Ukraine’s embattled Donetsk region has killed at least 11 people as a wave of heavy aerial attacks continued into the second night following a U.S. decision to stop sharing satellite images with Ukraine. Thirty people were also reported injured in multiple strikes late Friday that damaged eight apartment blocks in the town of Dobropillya. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at least five children were among the injured. He called the attack "a vile and inhumane intimidation tactic to which the Russians often resort.”

AP

Walgreens was scheduled in two years to celebrate its 100th year as a publicly traded company. Now the storied pharmacist and retailer won’t honor that milestone, because it no longer will be publicly owned.

AP

TV footage has shown South Korea’s impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol coming out of prison. Local TV showed Yoon waving his hand and deeply bowing to his supporters after he came out of a detention center in Seoul on Saturday. Yoon’s release came a day after a Seoul court canceled his arrest to allow him to stand trial for his rebellion charge without being physically detained. Yoon was arrested and indicted by prosecutors in January over his Dec. 3 martial law decree that plunged the country into huge political turmoil.

AP

In his address to Congress, President Donald Trump got it terribly wrong and was hugely hypocritical to assail the bipartisan CHIPS Act as a “horrible, horrible thing.” He claimed, “We give hundreds of billions of dollars and it doesn’t mean a thing. They take our money and they don’t spend it.”

AP

Northern Illinois faces the Miami (OH) RedHawks after Chelby Koker scored 24 points in the Huskies' 79-70 loss to the Toledo Rockets. The teams match up Saturday for the first time this season. Miami (OH) is 10-7 against the MAC, and Northern Illinois is 6-11 against conference opponents.

AP

Niagara hosts the Rider Broncs after Safiatu Kolliegbo scored 21 points in Niagara's 70-58 loss to the Saint Peter's Peacocks. Saturday's meeting is the first of the season between the squads. Niagara is 1-18 against the MAAC, and Rider is 5-14 against conference opponents.

AP

The Texas A&M-CC Islanders play in the Southland Tournament against the Houston Christian Huskies. Sunday's game is the third meeting this season between the two teams. The Islanders won the last matchup 68-62. Texas A&M-CC is 12-8 against the Southland, and Houston Christian is 9-11 against the Southland.

AP

Pittsburgh hosts the Boston College Eagles after Jaland Lowe scored 20 points in Pittsburgh's 71-63 loss to the NC State Wolfpack. The teams play Saturday for the first time this season. Pittsburgh is 7-12 against the ACC, and Boston College is 4-15 against conference opponents.

AP

Xavier faces the Providence Friars after Zach Freemantle scored 24 points in Xavier's 91-78 win against the Butler Bulldogs. The teams meet Saturday for the second time this season. Xavier is 12-7 against the Big East, and Providence is 6-13 against conference opponents.