By SOPHIKO MEGRELIDZE Associated Press TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia’s Parliament has moved a step closer to passing a law that critics fear will stifle media freedom and endanger the country’s European Union membership bid. Tens of thousands of protesters have thronged surrounding streets. Police used water cannons, tear gas and pepper spray against the
Continue ReadingBy PHILIP MARCELO Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors asked for a September retrial for Harvey Weinstein during a hearing Wednesday in Manhattan, the disgraced movie mogul’s first court appearance since his 2020 rape conviction was overturned by an appeals court last week. One of Weinstein’s accusers, Jessica Mann, was in the courtroom Wednesday
Continue ReadingBy JILL COLVIN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump will speak at the Libertarian National Convention later this month as he tries to woo voters beyond the Republican base. The group announced Trump’s invitation on Wednesday. Trump, in a statement, said, “If Libertarians join me and the Republican Party, where we
Continue ReadingBy Kevin Liptak and Jeff Zeleny, CNN (CNN) — As protests and attempts to quell them spread from New York to Los Angeles and many states in between, President Joe Biden finds himself caught in a series of political and diplomatic crosscurrents without an easy solution. He is opposed to lawlessness and the takeover of
Continue ReadingBy JEFF AMY Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Jailers in Georgia must now check the immigration status of inmates and apply to help enforce federal immigration law. That’s after Gov. Brian Kemp signed a law that gained traction after police accused a Venezuelan man of beating a nursing student to death on the University of
Continue ReadingRIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Heavy rains in Brazil’s southern Rio Grande do Sul state have killed at least 10 people and left 21 missing since Monday. That’s according to the country’s civil defense. It said Wednesday an additional 11 people were injured and more than 1,400 were forced to leave their homes due to
Continue ReadingBOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian President Gustavo Petro says his government will break diplomatic relations with Israel effective Thursday in the latest escalation of tensions between both countries over the Israel-Hamas war. Petro made the announcement Wednesday during an International Workers’ Day march in Colombia’s capital. In his speech, he again described Israel’s siege of Gaza
Continue ReadingBy The Associated Press Georgia Republicans on Wednesday reiterated their support for a forceful police response to campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war. Gov. Brian Kemp, before he signed laws related to policing, praised officers for “standing strong and maintaining order in the face of protests and disturbances on our college campuses.” State troopers have
Continue ReadingBy The Associated Press Georgia Republicans on Wednesday reiterated their support for a forceful police response to campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war. Gov. Brian Kemp, before he signed laws related to policing, praised officers for “standing strong and maintaining order in the face of protests and disturbances on our college campuses.” State troopers have
Continue ReadingBy JOSH FUNK AP Business Writer OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Federal regulators say Union Pacific managers undermined their efforts to assess safety at the railroad by coaching employees on how to respond and suggesting they might be disciplined. The Federal Railroad Administration’s Karl Alexy said in a letter to the railroad’s executives that the problems
Continue ReadingBy STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are rallying Wednesday after the head of the Federal Reserve said its next move on interest rates is unlikely to be a hike, even as inflation has remained stubbornly higher than hoped this year. The S&P 500 was up 1% in afternoon trading
Continue ReadingBy HOLLY RAMER Associated Press BRENTWOOD, N.H. (AP) — Testimony has ended in a landmark trial over New Hampshire’s accountability for abuse at its youth detention center. David Meehan went to police in 2017 alleging he was brutally beaten and raped at center in the 1990s. Eleven former state workers have been arrested and more
Continue ReadingBy Hannah Rabinowitz, CNN (CNN) — The leader of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, Kristen Clarke, said in an extraordinary personal statement shared with CNN that she was a victim of years-long domestic abuse and chose not to disclose an expunged arrest record from that period during the Senate confirmation process. Clarke’s now-expunged arrest,
Continue ReadingBy TODD RICHMOND Associated Press MOUNT HOREB, Wis. (AP) — Witnesses described children fleeing amid the sound of gunshots near a Wisconsin middle school where authorities said an active shooter was “neutralized” outside the building Wednesday. There were no reported injuries to those inside the school. Authorities in Mount Horeb said without giving details that
Continue ReadingBy PHILIP MARCELO Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors asked for a September retrial for Harvey Weinstein during a hearing Wednesday in Manhattan, the disgraced movie mogul’s first court appearance since his 2020 rape conviction was overturned by an appeals court last week. One of Weinstein’s accusers, Jessica Mann, was in the courtroom Wednesday
Continue ReadingBy JANIE McCAULEY AP Sports Writer Cameron Nelsen never asked for help, she just didn’t yet have it in her, unable to fully grasp the dangerous path her life had taken in the midst of an eating disorder and mental-health crisis stemming from a series of physical challenges that began at a young age. Her
Continue ReadingBy The Associated Press California Gov. Gavin Newsom said anyone who engaged in illegal behavior on the University of California, Los Angeles, campus should be held accountable, “including through criminal prosecution, suspension or expulsion.” “The law is clear: The right to free speech does not extend to inciting violence, vandalism, or lawlessness on campus,” said
Continue ReadingBy CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve on Wednesday emphasized that inflation has remained stubbornly high in recent months and said it doesn’t plan to cut interest rates until it has “greater confidence” that price increases are slowing sustainably to its 2% target. The Fed issued its decision in a
Continue ReadingBy Chandelis Duster, CNN (CNN) — Democratic lawmakers have reintroduced legislation that would ban discrimination based on a person’s hairstyle or hair texture, marking the latest attempt in Congress to pass a federal CROWN Act. New Jersey Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman introduced HR 8191, also known as the CROWN Act of 2024, in the US House
Continue ReadingBy BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer Do social media users have the right to control what they see — or don’t see — on their feeds? A lawsuit filed against Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. is arguing that a federal law often used to shield internet companies from liability also allows people to use external
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