WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday threw out a host of actions by the Trump administration to roll back protections for endangered or threatened species, a year after the Biden administration said it was moving to strengthen species protections weakened under former President Donald Trump. U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar in Northern California eliminated the Trump-era rules even…
ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia prosecutor investigating the conduct of former President Donald Trump and his allies after the 2020 election is trying to compel U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and other members of Trump’s campaign legal team to testify before a special grand jury. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Tuesday filed petitions with the judge overseeing…
KRAMATORSK, Ukraine (AP) — A day after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared victory in seizing an eastern Ukraine province essential to his wartime aims, his troops escalated their offensive in the neighboring province Tuesday, prompting the governor to urge a mass evacuation of residents. Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said that getting the 350,000 people remaining in Donetsk province out is necessary to save…
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (AP) — The gunman who attacked an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago fired more than 70 rounds with an AR-15-style gun that killed at least seven people, then evaded initial capture by dressing as a woman and blending into the fleeing crowd, police said Tuesday. A spokesman for the Lake County Major Crime Task Force told…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday bestowed the nation’s highest military honor to four Army soldiers for their heroism above and beyond the call of duty during the Vietnam War. Biden presented the Medal of Honor to Staff Sergeant Edward N. Kaneshiro, Specialist Five Dwight W. Birdwell, Specialist Five Dennis M. Fujii, and retired Major John J. Duffy….
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal judge will this week sentence former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for federal civil rights violations in the killing of George Floyd. U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson on Tuesday set Chauvin’s sentencing hearing for 2 p.m. Thursday in St. Paul. Chauvin’s plea agreement calls for a sentence of 20 to 25 years in prison. Federal prosecutors…
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street futures slipped Tuesday after the Independence Day holiday following declines in Europe and an upbeat session in Asia. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials fell 0.6%, as did futures for the S&P 500. The war in Ukraine and its impact on energy supplies are casting a shadow over the global economic outlook at a…
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (AP) — A 22-year-old man identified as a person of interest in a shooting during an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago that killed at least six people, wounded at least 30 and sent hundreds of people fleeing was taken into custody Monday evening following an hours-long manhunt, police said. Highland Park Police Chief Lou Jogmen said…
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (AP) — At least five people are dead and 19 were taken to hospitals after a shooting at a July Fourth parade in a Chicago suburb, and officers are searching for a suspect, police said Monday. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the parade began around 10 a.m. but it was suddenly halted 10 minutes later after shots…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden told Democratic governors Friday that he is “looking at all the alternatives” for protecting abortion access following the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. One day after returning from international summits in Europe, Biden described the ruling as “tragic” and warned that Republicans could try to enact a nationwide ban on abortion if they retake control…
SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — A Florida judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit in which the parents of Gabby Petito claim that Brian Laundrie told his parents he had killed her before he returned home alone from their western trip. The decision Thursday by Sarasota County Circuit Judge Hunter Carroll means the lawsuit can proceed against Christopher and Robert Laundrie. Petito’s parents,…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A new Minnesota law taking effect Friday allows people 21 and older to buy edibles and beverages that contain a limited amount of THC, the ingredient in marijuana that creates a high. Edibles, like gummies, and beverages can contain up to 5 milligrams of THC per serving and 50 milligrams per package under the law….
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal prosecutors asked a judge Wednesday to sentence one of the four former Minneapolis police officers convicted of civil rights violations in George Floyd’s killing to as many as 6 1/2 years in prison but to impose significantly stiffer yet unspecified sentences on two others. They urged U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson to follow the nonbinding federal sentencing guidelines…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in to the Supreme Court on Thursday, shattering a glass ceiling as the first Black woman on the nation’s highest court. The 51-year-old Jackson is the court’s 116th justice, and she took the place of the justice she once worked for. Justice Stephen Breyer’s retirement was effective at noon. Moments later, joined by her family, Jackson recited the two oaths…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the Biden administration properly ended a Trump-era policy forcing some U.S. asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico. The justices’ 5-4 decision for the administration came in a case about the “Remain in Mexico” policy under President Donald Trump. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the decision and was joined by fellow conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh as…
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a blow to the fight against climate change, the Supreme Court on Thursday limited how the nation’s main anti-air pollution law can be used to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. By a 6-3 vote, with conservatives in the majority, the court said that the Clean Air Act does not give the Environmental Protection Agency broad authority…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Thursday that he would support an exception to the Senate filibuster to protect access to abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. “If the filibuster gets in the way, it’s like voting rights,” Biden said during a press conference in Madrid, where he was attending a NATO summit. The Democratic president said there should…
MADRID (AP) — President Joe Biden said Wednesday the U.S. will significantly expand its military presence in Europe, the latest example of how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has reshaped plans for the continent’s security and prompted a reinvestment in NATO. Among the changes will be a permanent U.S. garrison in Poland, for the first time creating an enduring American foothold on the…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Tim Walz painted Republican challenger Scott Jensen as an extremist Tuesday as he vowed to protect abortion rights in Minnesota, one of the few Midwestern states where abortion is expected to remain legal. Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade has changed the dynamics of the election campaign in Minnesota, Walz said at a news conference. He…
KREMENCHUK, Ukraine (AP) — France’s president said Tuesday that Russia “cannot and should not win” in Ukraine, voicing the West’s continued support for Kyiv following Moscow’s horrific missile attack on a shopping mall that underscored the war’s terrible toll on civilians. Ukrainian leaders denounced the strike, which killed 18 in the central city of Kremenchuk, as a war crime and a…
UPDATE: Fifty people died after being abandoned in a tractor-trailer in the sweltering Texas heat, one of the worst tragedies to claim the lives of migrants smuggled across the border from Mexico to the U.S. More than a dozen people had been taken to hospitals, including four children. SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Forty-six people were found dead after being abandoned…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Jan. 6 panel is calling a surprise hearing this week to present evidence it says it recently obtained, raising expectations of new bombshells in the sweeping investigation into the Capitol insurrection. The hearing scheduled for 1 p.m. on Tuesday comes after Congress left Washington for a two-week recess. Lawmakers on the panel investigating the Jan. 6,…
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The fall of Roe v. Wade shifted the battleground over abortion to courthouses around the country Monday, as one side sought quickly to enact statewide bans and the other tried to block or at least delay such measures. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Friday to end constitutional protection for abortion opened the gates for a wave of litigation…
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting mostly lower in early trading on Wall Street Monday as the market cools off following a rare winning week and the best daily gain for the S&P 500 in two years. The benchmark index gave up an early gain and was off 0.1% in the early going, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq was down…
(AP) — Juul on Friday asked a federal court to block a government order to stop selling its electronic cigarettes. The e-cigarette maker asked the court to pause what it calls an “extraordinary and unlawful action” by the Food and Drug Administration that would require it to immediately halt its business. The company filed an emergency motion with the U.S….
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House sent President Joe Biden the most wide-ranging gun violence bill Congress has passed in decades on Friday, a measured compromise that at once illustrates progress on the long-intractable issue and the deep-seated partisan divide that persists. The Democratic-led chamber approved the election-year legislation on a mostly party-line 234-193 vote, capping a spurt of action prompted by voters’…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Friday that “it’s a sad day for the court and the country” after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide. “Now with Roe gone, let’s be very clear, the health and life of women across this nation are now at risk,” he said from the…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years in a decision by its conservative majority to overturn Roe v. Wade. Friday’s outcome is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states. The decision, unthinkable just a few years ago, was the culmination of decades of efforts by abortion…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States will send another $450 million in military aid to Ukraine, including some additional medium-range rocket systems, U.S. officials said Thursday. The latest package will include four High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, and is expected to be announced later Thursday. The first four HIMARS that the U.S. previously sent have already gone into…
(AP) — The rights of LGBTQ students would become enshrined in federal law and victims of campus sexual assault would gain new protections under new rules proposed by the Biden administration on Thursday. The proposal, announced on the 50th anniversary of the Title IX women’s rights law, is intended to replace a set of controversial rules issued during the Trump administration by Education…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal prosecutors asked a judge on Wednesday to sentence a former Minneapolis officer to 25 years for violating the rights of George Floyd, saying Derek Chauvin’s actions were cold-blooded and needless as he knelt on the Black man’s neck while Floyd repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe. Chauvin pleaded guilty in December to violating Floyd’s rights, admitting for the first time…
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a major expansion of gun rights, the Supreme Court said Thursday that Americans have a right to carry firearms in public. The justices’ 6-3 decision follows a series of recent mass shootings and is expected to ultimately allow more people to legally carry guns on the streets of the nation’s largest cities — including New York, Los Angeles…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health officials on Thursday ordered Juul to pull its electronic cigarettes from the U.S. market, the latest blow to the embattled company widely blamed for sparking a national surge in teen vaping. The action is part of a sweeping effort by the Food and Drug Administration to bring scientific scrutiny to the multibillion-dollar vaping industry after…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell sought Wednesday to reassure the public that the Fed will raise interest rates high and fast enough to quell inflation, without tightening credit so much as to throttle the economy and cause a recession. Testifying to the Senate Banking Committee, Powell faced skeptical questions from members of both parties about the Fed’s ability…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it is providing logistical support to import the equivalent of about 16 million 8-ounce baby formula bottles from Mexico starting this weekend, as part of its efforts to ease nationwide supply shortages caused by the closure of the largest U.S. manufacturing plant. The Department of Health and Human Services is expediting the…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday will call on Congress to suspend federal gasoline and diesel taxes for three months — an election year move meant to ease financial pressures at the pump as the public is increasingly concerned about high gas prices and inflation. The Democratic president will also call on states to suspend their own gas taxes or provide similar…
BROOKLYN CENTER, Minn. (AP) — A suburban Minneapolis city has agreed to pay $3.2 million to the family of Daunte Wright, a Black man who was fatally shot by a police officer who said she confused her gun for her Taser. The tentative settlement also includes changes in police policies and training involving traffic stops like the one that resulted in…
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are ending higher on Wall Street Tuesday, clawing back some of the ground they lost last week in their worst weekly drop since the beginning of the pandemic. The S&P 500 rose 2.4%. It’s still 21.5% below the record high it set in January. The tech-heavy Nasdaq climbed 2.5% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A judge on Tuesday rescheduled the state trial for two former Minneapolis police officers in George Floyd’s killing to Oct. 24 to resolve dueling requests for a new trial date after the state sought to start it as soon as this summer while a defense lawyer asked to delay it to next spring. Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng…
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Law enforcement authorities had enough officers on the scene of the Uvalde school massacre to have stopped the gunman three minutes after he entered the building, and they never checked a classroom door to see if it was locked, the Texas public safety chief testified Tuesday, pronouncing the police response an “abject failure.” Police officers with…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled that the mayor of Minneapolis hasn’t met a legal duty to hire more police officers or demonstrate why he hasn’t done so. In a Monday ruling, Chief Justice Lorie Gildea said Mayor Jacob Frey has a “clear legal duty” under the city’s charter to staff the department with at least 731…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Child care providers across Minnesota are upset that they’re not eligible for the state’s COVID-19 “hero pay” program. Gov. Tim Walz signed the program into law in April. It enables people who were employed for at least 120 hours in at least one front-line sector job outside their homes between March 15, 2020, and June 30, 2021…
REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. (AP) — President Joe Biden said Monday that he’s considering a federal holiday on the gasoline tax, possibly saving U.S. consumers as much as 18.4 cents a gallon. “Yes, I’m considering it,” Biden told reporters after taking a walk along the beach near his vacation home in Delaware. “I hope to have a decision based on the…
NEW YORK (AP) — By the numbers, the Jan. 6 committee hearings attracted 20 million live viewers on opening night, 11 million for the first daytime session and nearly 9 million for Thursday’s third installment. Yet those traditional Nielsen company yardsticks don’t begin to measure the true reach of what is being said there. Memorable moments from each hearing are…
The U.S. government is catching up with Black people who have been commemorating the end of slavery in the United States for generations with a day called “Juneteenth.” President Joe Biden signed a bill Thursday that was passed by Congress to set aside Juneteenth, or June 19th, as a federal holiday. “I hope this is the beginning of a change…
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks ended another bumpy day mostly higher on Wall Street but still wound up with their biggest weekly losses since March 2020, when markets went into freefall at the onset of coronavirus lockdowns. The S&P 500, the benchmark for many index funds in 401(k) accounts, edged up 0.2% Friday. It still lost 5.8% for the week,…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Equating the oil and gas industry to Big Tobacco, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday that “fossil fuel producers and financiers have humanity by the throat.” But President Joe Biden wasn’t quite itching for a fight. With both soaring energy prices and a warming planet weighing on the world at the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, Biden talked…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — It appears chances are dead for a special legislative session that could have brought billions of dollars in tax cuts and new spending in Minnesota. Democratic Gov. Tim Walz said late Thursday that talks with Republican leaders have “reached an impasse,” leaving billions of dollars from a state surplus unspent. About a week before the…
BUFFALO, Minn. (AP) — A man who stormed a medical clinic in Minnesota, fatally shot one person and wounded four others faces a mandatory term of life in prison without parole when he is sentenced Friday. Gregory Ulrich opened fire Feb. 9, 2021 at the Allina Crossroads Clinic in Buffalo, a city of about 16,400 people that’s 40 miles (65 kilometers) northwest…
(AP) — U.S. regulators on Friday authorized the first COVID-19 shots for infants and preschoolers, paving the way for vaccinations to begin next week. The Food and Drug Administration’s action follows its advisory panel’s unanimous recommendation for the shots from Moderna and Pfizer. That means U.S. kids under 5 — roughly 18 million youngsters — are eligible for the shots,…
