Politics

New Hampshire’s limits on teaching on race and gender are unconstitutional, judge says

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A federal judge has struck down New Hampshire’s nearly 3-year-old law limiting what teachers can say about race, gender, sexual orientation, disability and other topics in public schools as unconstitutionally vague. The ruling could revive the topic as an election year campaign issue. Republicans pitched the 2021 law as an anti-discrimination […]
2 days ago

Vermont’s Republican governor allows ghost gun bill to become law without his signature

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, has allowed a bill to become law that requires serial numbers on firearms that are privately made with individual parts, kits or 3D printers. Scott allowed the bill, part of an effort to crack down on hard-to-trace ghost guns that are increasingly showing up in crimes, to become law […]
2 days ago

UN rights group says Japan needs to do more to counter human rights abuses

TOKYO (AP) — A group working under the U.N. Human Rights Council has issued a wide-ranging report about rights in Japan, including discrimination against minorities and unhealthy working conditions. The report, issued this week in Geneva, recommended various changes in Japan, such as more training in businesses to raise awareness of rights issues, setting up […]
2 days ago

The Latest | Judge excuses jurors, ending first day of deliberations in Trump’s criminal trial

NEW YORK (AP) — The first day of jury deliberations in Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial concluded after the panel sent their first two notes to the judge Wednesday afternoon, just a few hours after beginning deliberations. They requested to rehear jury instructions, as well as rehear testimony from former National Enquirer publisher David […]
2 days ago

US appoints a new representative to Taiwan as the self-governing island faces China’s intimidation

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — The United States has appointed a new representative to Taiwan, as China boosts its threats against the self-ruled island following the election of a new president who wants the territory to maintain its de-facto independence. China claims Taiwan as its own territory and this week staged naval and air force drills […]
2 days ago

Harvey Weinstein may face new charges as more accusers come forward, New York prosecutors say

NEW YORK (AP) — Manhattan prosecutors told a judge Wednesday they are evaluating more claims of sexual misconduct made against Harvey Weinstein and could potentially seek a new indictment against him before his scheduled retrial on rape and sexual assault charges. Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg said during a court hearing that additional people have […]
2 days ago

Jury in Donald Trump’s hush money case asks to rehear testimony as deliberations get underway

NEW YORK (AP) — The jury in Donald Trump’s hush money trial asked to rehear testimony Wednesday less than four hours after beginning deliberations in the first criminal case against a former American president. The four requests included testimony related to a 2015 meeting at Trump Tower where a tabloid publisher agreed to identify negative […]
2 days ago

Mexico’s next president is likely a woman. But in some Indigenous villages, men have all the power

PLAN DE AYALA, Mexico (AP) — At 4:30 a.m., the girls and women begin to appear in the dark streets of this rural village of Tojolabal people in southern Mexico. They walk in silence. Some are headed to grind corn to make their family’s tortillas. Others fetch firewood to carry home, on their backs or […]
2 days ago

Former California water official pleads guilty to conspiring to steal water from irrigation canal

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A former California water official has pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal water in a deal with federal prosecutors in the state’s crop-rich Central Valley. The Los Angeles Times reports Tuesday that 78-year-old Dennis Falaschi, who used to head the Panoche Water District, entered the plea in federal court in Fresno. […]
2 days ago

Prosecutors build their case at bribery trial of Sen. Bob Menendez with emails and texts

NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors were presenting their bribery case against New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez drip-by-drip on Tuesday, showing jurors a steady stream of documents, emails and phone records that they’ll explain more thoroughly later in the trial. The evidence was being shown to Manhattan federal court jurors through the testimony of an FBI […]
2 days ago

Reno police officer who accidentally shot suspect pulled trigger when hit by another officer’s Taser

RENO, Nev. (AP) — A Reno police officer accidentally shot an unarmed suspect in 2020 when he flinched and pulled the trigger on his service revolver in an inadvertent response to being stuck by a Taser fired by another officer, a prosecutor said Tuesday. Washoe County District Attorney Chris Hicks cleared Officer Richard Jager of […]
2 days ago

Federal investigation of former Ohio House speaker ends with no charges filed

COLYUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Federal officials have notified Ohio’s former House speaker that they have closed their investigation of him and he will not face any charges. Cliff Rosenberger, a Republican from Wilmington, had resigned the post in 2018 after it went public that he was the target of a federal probe into his travel […]
2 days ago

US files a labor complaint over claims that a Volkswagen plant in Mexico fired union activists

MEXICO CITY (AP) — U.S. trade authorities said Tuesday they have filed a labor complaint with Mexico over allegations that a Volkswagen auto plant in central Mexico unfairly fired union activists. The U.S. Trade Representative’s office said Tuesday the complaint includes the temporary suspension of tariff benefits for vehicles and parts produced at the VW […]
2 days ago

Three people shot to death in tiny South Dakota town; former mayor charged

CENTERVILLE, S.D. (AP) — Three people were shot to death in a small South Dakota town, and a former law officer who once served as the town’s mayor is charged in the killings. Jay Ostrem, 64, was jailed on $1 million cash-only bond on three counts of first-degree murder, South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley […]
2 days ago

Aid deliveries suspended after rough seas damage US-built temporary pier in Gaza, 3 US officials say

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. built temporary pier that had been used to deliver additional humanitarian aid into Gaza was damaged by rough seas and has temporarily suspended operations. That’s according to three U.S. officials who spoke to The Associated Press on Tuesday. The Joint Logistics Over The Shore, or JLOTS, pier only began operations […]
3 days ago

Virginia-based tech firm settles allegations over whites-only job listing

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — A northern Virginia tech company is paying $38,500 to settle claims that it discriminated by posting a job listing seeking white, U.S.-born candidates for an opening as a business analyst. The Justice Department announced Thursday that it had reached a settlement agreement with Arthur Grand Technologies, an information technology firm in […]
3 days ago

He saw the horrors of Dachau. Now, this veteran warns against Holocaust denial

DUNWOODY, Ga. (AP) — A profile of Hilbert Margol, of Dunwoody, Georgia, one of a dwindling number of veterans took part in the Allies’ European war effort that led to the defeat of Nazi Germany. PFC HILBERT MARGOL BORN: Feb. 22, 1924, Jacksonville, Florida. SERVICE: Army, Battery B, 392nd Field Artillery Battalion, 42nd Infantry Division. […]
3 days ago

Ohio lawmakers holding special session to ensure President Biden is on 2024 ballot

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio lawmakers gathered Tuesday for a rare special session called by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine to pass legislation ensuring President Joe Biden appears on the state’s fall ballot. Legislators have done this before for Republicans as well as Democrats, but the ability of voters to speak directly through the ballot initiative […]
3 days ago

The Latest | Closing arguments in Trump’s hush money trial have concluded

NEW YORK (AP) — Closing arguments in Donald Trump ‘s historic hush money trial concluded Tuesday evening in a Manhattan courtroom. It was the final opportunity for prosecutors and defense attorneys to convince the jury of their respective cases before deliberations begin. Defense lawyer Todd Blanche spoke for about three hours in the morning while […]
3 days ago

Trump prosecutor focuses on ‘cover-up’ in closing arguments while defense attacks key witness

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump engaged in “a conspiracy and a cover-up,” a prosecutor told jurors during closing arguments Tuesday in the former president’s hush money trial, while a defense lawyer branded the star witness as the “greatest liar of all time” and pressed the panel for an across-the-board acquittal. The lawyers’ dueling accounts, […]
3 days ago

Fears rise of a second landslide and disease outbreak at site of Papua New Guinea disaster

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Authorities fear a second landslide and a disease outbreak are looming at the scene of Papua New Guinea’s mass-casualty disaster because of water streams and bodies trapped beneath the tons of debris that swept over a village. Thousands are being told to prepare to evacuate, officials said Tuesday. A mass of […]
3 days ago

81-year-old arrested after police say he terrorized a California neighborhood with a slingshot

AZUSA, Calif. (AP) — An 81-year-old man who investigators say terrorized a Southern California neighborhood for years with a slingshot has been arrested, police said. While conducting an investigation, detectives “learned that during the course of 9-10 years, dozens of citizens were being victimized by a serial slingshot shooter,” the Azusa Police Department said in […]
3 days ago

Biden says each generation has to ‘earn’ freedom, in solemn Memorial Day remarks

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden marked Memorial Day with a pledge that the country would continue the work of the nation’s fallen toward a more perfect union, “for which they lived, and for which they died.” Delivering remarks at a solemn remembrance ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, Biden said each generation must ensure the […]
4 days ago

Netanyahu says deadly Israeli strike in Rafah was the result of a ‘tragic mishap’

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that a “tragic mishap” was made in an Israeli strike in the southern Gaza city of Rafah that set fire to a camp housing displaced Palestinians and, according to local officials, killed at least 45 people. The strike only added to the surging international […]
4 days ago