SACRAMENTO / AP As California lawmakers return to Sacramento on Wednesday, liberal dreams of expanding safety-net benefits and providing health coverage to immigrants are giving way to a new vision revolving around a feverish push to protect gains racked up in the past. After years of pushing forward a progressive agenda, legislative Democrats will be pushing back against conservative …

  PARIS / AFP The son of Equatorial Guinea’s president is going on trial in France accused of buying real estate, sports cars and other luxury goods with public funds from his country. Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, who is also Equatorial Guinea’s second vice president, faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of corruption, money laundering and embezzlement …

  WARSAW / AP Polish authorities have charged a Tunisian citizen with murder in the stabbing death of a Polish man on New Year’s Eve, a case that sparked violent protests over the weekend. The trouble began on Saturday evening when the 21-year-old Pole, identified only as Daniel, got into a quarrel with the employees of a kebab restaurant in …