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The U.S. Supreme Court's landmark abortion ruling overturning Roe v. Wade is prompting efforts in liberal states to protect providers and patients who have traveled for a legal procedure. Governors in at least a dozen states have taken action this year by refusing to cooperate with other states' law enforcement actions regarding abortion. They're also looking for ways to protect their residents from lawsuits that could arise from providing abortions to people from states where they're banned or severely restricted. Some progressive cities in conservative states are also considering telling law enforcement to make abortion-related crimes their lowest priority.
Immigrant advocates are hoping a federal appeals court will uphold an Obama-era program that prevents the deportation of thousands of immigrants brought into the United States as children. A federal judge in Texas last year declared the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program illegal — although he agreed to leave the program intact for those already benefiting from it while his order is appealed. An attorney for the state of Texas who is leading an effort to end the Deferred Action for Childhood arrivals program argued Wednesday that DACA recipients have cost the state hundreds of millions in health care and other costs.
The White House says President Joe Biden has called the wife of WNBA player Brittney Griner, who is detained in Russia, and has pledged he's working to win her release as soon as possible. Biden's conversation with Griner's wife, Cherelle Griner, comes after Brittney Griner wrote Biden a letter on Monday. In the letter, Brittney Griner told the president she feared she would spend forever in a Russian jail. The WNBA star is currently on trial in Russia, accused of possessing vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. Biden's call comes as Griner’s family has become more aggressive in pressuring the Biden administration by speaking out about her case.
Many Democrats are frustrated their party hasn't done more to respond to the Supreme Court's ruling revoking the constitutional right for women to obtain abortions. President Joe Biden responded to that frustration last week by calling for an exception to the filibuster to codify Roe v. Wade. But that won't happen because two Democratic senators oppose making any exception to the filibuster. Democrats' main response is that the party needs to elect more Democrats. But that grates on some activists who say the party needs to act with the power it already won in the 2020 election.
European Union lawmakers have voted to include natural gas and nuclear in the bloc’s list of sustainable activities. The European Commission earlier this year made the controversial proposal as part of its plans for building a climate-friendly future, dividing member countries and drawing outcry from environmentalists over what they criticize as “greenwashing.” EU legislators rejected an objection to the proposal in a 328-278 vote on Wednesday. The green labeling system from the European Commission defines what qualifies as an investment in sustainable energy.
The war in Ukraine is fueling fears of a natural gas emergency in Europe. Russia has throttled back supplies to more countries, this time to major economies and big users such as Germany and Italy. And there are worries about a complete shutoff. Supplies are enough to generate electricity and power industry for today’s needs. But Europe needs to fill its underground gas storage this summer. If it can't, the 27-member European Union could face emergency gas rationing by governments and economic disaster this winter. Meanwhile, higher gas prices and the threat of a cutoff are raising pressure on Europe to find substitutes and reduce how much gas it uses — and fast.
Pat Cipollone, Donald Trump’s former White House counsel, has agreed to testify before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to a person briefed on the matter. Cipollone's reported resistance to Trump’s schemes to overturn his 2020 election defeat has made him a long-sought and potentially revelatory witness. He was subpoenaed by the select committee last week after weeks of public pressure to provide testimony to the panel. The person briefed on the matter, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss private negotiations, said Cipplone agreed to appear before the committee for a private, transcribed interview on Friday.
MANCHESTER — The Manchester Democratic Town Committee (DTC) will be hosting a “Meet and Greet” with Vermont Attorney General candidate Charity Clark at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 12, at the home of Jim and Susan Ramsey at 3032 Main Street in Manchester Village. The event is part of a busy af…
Britain’s beleaguered Prime Minister Boris Johnson is fighting for his political future, after two of his top Cabinet ministers walked out of their jobs and a string of more junior ministers resigned following months of political chaos. Many opponents, including those within his own Conservative Party, have openly called for Johnson to go. But he has shown no sign of quitting, and it may be up to a powerful Conservative group known as the 1922 Committee to oust him before the next general election. Under current party rules, a year must pass before another formal leadership challenge can take place. But the committee has the power to change the rules to allow a fresh confidence vote sooner.
More Capitol riot defendants are pushing to get their trials moved out of Washington, D.C. The defendants claim they can't get a fair trial before unbiased jurors in Washington. But the judges presiding over the cases have consistently rejected those requests for a change of trial venue. Plenty of Washington residents have personal connections to the deadly riot, making it a challenge for judges and attorneys to choose impartial jurors. The task is even tougher as lawmakers hold high-profile public hearings on the Jan. 6 insurrection less than a mile from the federal courthouse. Some defendants have wanted to have their trials moved to Virginia or Michigan.
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Residents of parts of Shanghai and Beijing have been ordered to undergo further rounds of COVID-19 testing following the discovery of new cases in the two cities. Restaurants have also been restricted to takeout only in the northern city of Xi'an, which endured one of China's most sweeping lockdowns under the hardline zero-COVID policy. The gambling hub of Macao has also shut down one of its most famous hotel casinos after cases were discovered there. The strict measures have been retained despite relatively low numbers of cases, with mainland China reporting 353 cases of domestic transmission on Wednesday, 241 of them asymptomatic.
Amid the stream of mass shootings that have become chillingly commonplace in America, the reality of America’s staggering murder rate can often be seen more clearly in the deaths that never make the national news. These are seemingly mundane disputes that spin out of control and someone goes for a gun. Often, the victim and the shooter know one another. They are co-workers and acquaintances, siblings and neighbors. They are killed in farming villages, small towns and crowded cities. They are people like David Guess, a 51-year-old small town father of four who had struggled with addiction and who police say was shot by an acquaintance and dumped in the hills of northern Alabama.
The Justice Department has settled a long-running lawsuit filed by a group of men rounded up in the weeks after the September 11, 2001, attack who say they were abused in a federal lockup in New York City. The settlement was announced Tuesday. It calls for a $98,000 payout to be split among the six men who filed the suit. While the government doesn’t admit guilt in the settlement, each of the men received a letter from the director of the Bureau of Prisons acknowledging they were “held in excessively restrictive an unduly harsh conditions.”
After more than four months of ferocious fighting, Russia claimed full control over one of the two provinces in Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland. But Moscow’s seizure of the last major stronghold of Ukrainian resistance in Luhansk province came at a steep price. The critical question now is whether Russia can muster enough strength for a new offensive to complete its capture of the Donbas and make gains elsewhere in Ukraine. There are signs Russia is sustaining heavy losses. That raises doubts about whether Moscow’s forces and their separatist allies are ready to quickly thrust deeper into Donetsk, the other province that makes up the Donbas.
A new poll shows that many Americans don’t expect to rely on the digital services that became commonplace during the pandemic after COVID-19 subsides. That's even as many think it’s a good thing if those options remain available in the future. The poll comes from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. The poll shows that close to half or more of U.S. adults say they are not likely to attend virtual activities, receive virtual health care, have groceries delivered or use curbside pickup after the coronavirus pandemic ends. Still, close to half of adults also say it would be a good thing if virtual options continue.
Immigration hard-liner Kris Kobach is pursuing a political comeback in Kansas. Kobach is running for Kansas attorney general after losing a general election for governor in 2018 and a Republican primary for the U.S. Senate in 2020. Opponents say Kobach could lose the seat to a Democrat given his past struggles with voters. Kobach says his two statewide wins for secretary of state show he can win in a conservative tide in November. Kobach's Republican primary opponents are state Sen. Kellie Warren and former federal prosecutor Tony Mattivi, who lack his name recognition. Kobach helped lead a now-disbanded voting integrity commission launched by the Trump administration.
A member of the House Jan. 6 committee says more witnesses are coming forward with new details on the Capitol insurrection following former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson’s devastating testimony last week against former President Donald Trump. Illinois Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger says “there will be way more information" in two public hearings this month and to “stay tuned,” because people are emerging “every day.” Hutchinson testified that Trump wanted to join an angry mob of his supporters who marched to the Capitol, where they rioted. Hutchinson also said then-White House counsel Pat Cipollone was concerned Trump would face criminal charges if the Republican then-president joined them.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday declared victory in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk, one day after Ukrainian forces withdrew from their last remaining bulwark of resistance in the province. Putin's declaration came as Russian forces were trying to press their offensive deeper into eastern Ukraine after capturing the Luhansk stronghold of Lysychansk on Sunday. The Ukrainian General Staff said Russian forces are now focusing their efforts on pushing toward the line of Siversk, Fedorivka and Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, one of the two regions that make up the country’s eastern industrial heartland of Donbas. About half of Donetsk is controlled by Russia.
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