Category: Uncategorized

MOSCOW (AP) — A Russian court on Tuesday extended the arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich by three months in a closed-door hearing emblematic of the secrecy that has marked the case against the first United States correspondent since the Cold War to be detained in Russia on spying charges. Gershkovich, a 31-year-old American citizen, was ordered held until Aug. 30. He was arrested in March on espionage charges on a reporting trip in Russia. He, his employer and the U.S.... Read More

By JAMES POLLARD (Associated Press/Report for America) COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The South Carolina Senate approved a bill Tuesday that would ban most abortions after around six weeks of pregnancy — before most people know they are pregnant – and sent it to the governor who has promised to sign it. The proposal restores a ban South Carolina had in place when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year — a ban that, once it took effect, was overturned by the state’s highest... Read More

Barbara Sharief, a former Broward County commissioner who is running for Florida Senate in 2024, has reached a settlement agreement with a PAC over political ads from last year’s election that she says were defamatory, according to her lawyer. Sharief’s lawyer, Michael Pizzi, considers it a victory even though the election is long over. “This is more than symbolic because she has a bright political future,” he said of Sharief. “People are on notice they can’t... Read More

By MICHAEL R. SISAK (Associated Press) NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump made a video appearance in a New York courtroom on Tuesday where the judge tentatively scheduled the former president’s trial for March 25, a date that would fall in the heat of the presidential primary season. Trump had pleaded not guilty last month to the charges in the criminal case. At Tuesday’s hearing, Manhattan Judge Juan Merchan reviewed an order barring Trump from publicly disseminating certain evidence... Read More

By BARBARA ORTUTAY (AP Technology Writer) Dr. Vivek Murthy, the U.S. surgeon general, is calling for “immediate action” by tech companies and lawmakers to protect kids’ and adolescents’ mental health on social media. But after years of middling and insufficient action by both social media platforms and policymakers, parents and young people still bear most of the burden in navigating the fast-changing, often harmful world of secretive algorithms, addictive apps and extreme and... Read More

By MARGERY A. BECK and JOSH FUNK (Associated Press) LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Republican Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen signed a bill Monday that bans abortion at 12 weeks of pregnancy and restricts gender-affirming medical care for people younger than 19. The abortion ban takes effect immediately, while the ban on gender-affirming care takes effect on Oct. 1. The hybrid measure ties together restrictions that Republicans have pursued across the U.S. Pillen called the law “the most significant win... Read More

By REBECCA BOONE (Associated Press) BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A judge entered not guilty pleas Monday for a man charged in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, setting the stage for a trial in which he could potentially face the death penalty. The Nov. 13, 2022, killings stunned the rural community of Moscow, Idaho, and prompted many students to leave campus early, switching to remote learning for the remainder of the semester. Bryan Kohberger, 28, was arrested late last... Read More

By TOM WITHERS (AP Sports Writer) Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Brown, the unstoppable running back who retired at the peak of his brilliant career to become an actor as well as a prominent civil rights advocate during the 1960s, has died. He was 87. A spokeswoman for Brown’s family said he passed away peacefully in his Los Angeles home on Thursday night with his wife, Monique, by his side. One of the greatest players in football history and one of the game’s first superstars, Brown was... Read More

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran on Friday executed three men accused of deadly violence during last year’s anti-government protests despite objections from human rights groups. Mizan, the judiciary’s website, announced the executions of Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi, without saying how the deaths were carried out. Authorities say they killed a police officer and two members of the paramilitary Basij group in the city of Isfahan in November during nationwide... Read More