By Donald Judd and Lauren Said-Moorhouse, CNN Washington (CNN) — President Joe Biden told reporters at the White House Wednesday that his administration is “considering” a request from Australia to drop charges against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. In February, the Australian Parliament approved a motion calling for Assange to be released to his home country of Australia. Asked
Continue ReadingBy RUSS BYNUM Associated Press A retired U.S. Army colonel who was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism during the Korean War has died at age 97. A funeral home says that Ralph Puckett Jr. died Monday at his home in Columbus, Georgia. President Joe Biden presented Puckett with the Medal of Honor in
Continue ReadingBy LEA SKENE and BRIAN WITTE Associated Press BALTIMORE (AP) — Federal safety investigators are focusing on the electrical power system of the massive container ship that veered off course and crashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge last month. National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said her agency is gathering data with assistance
Continue ReadingBy Steve Contorno and Kate Sullivan, CNN (CNN) — Donald Trump said Wednesday he would not sign a national abortion ban if elected to the White House again, reversing a promise the former president made as a candidate in 2016 and stood by during his first term in office. Trump’s latest shift on abortion is
Continue ReadingBy WILL WEISSERT Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Japan is giving the United States 250 new cherry trees to help replace the hundreds that are being ripped out this summer as construction crews work to repair the crumbling seawall around the capital’s Tidal Basin. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made the announcement as President Joe
Continue ReadingBy KIMBERLEE KRUESI Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Republican Senate lawmakers in Tennessee have advanced legislation making it illegal for adults to help minors get an abortion without parental consent. The GOP-controlled Senate signed off on the proposal 26-3 on Wednesday. The bill is still advancing toward the floor in the House. If enacted,
Continue ReadingBy MAYSOON KHAN Associated Press/Report for America ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York towns and villages that have post-Prohibition bans on alcohol sales would be forced to lift such restrictions under a bill moving through the Legislature. The bill, which is up for a state Senate vote after advancing out of a committee last week,
Continue ReadingBy BILL BARROW and ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Donald Trump said Wednesday that an Arizona law that criminalizes nearly all abortions goes too far and the former president called on Arizona lawmakers to change it, while also defending the overturning of Roe v. Wade that cleared states to ban the procedure.
Continue ReadingBy Gregory Wallace, CNN (CNN) — The investigation into why a cargo ship lost power and struck a Baltimore bridge last month, causing it to collapse, is currently focused on engine room equipment, the National Transportation Safety Board said Wednesday. Hyundai, the equipment’s manufacturer, has sent employees to the Dali ship to help “download data from
Continue ReadingBy TARA COPP Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The top general for U.S. forces in Europe told Congress Wednesday that Ukraine will be outgunned 10 to one by Russia within a matter of weeks if Congress does not find a way to approve sending more ammunition and weapons to Kyiv soon. The testimony from Army
Continue ReadingBy Rob Picheta, Zeena Saifi, Kareem Khadder, Abeer Salman, Tareq Alhelou, Mohammad Sawalhi and Abdel Qadder Al-Sabbah, CNN (CNN) — Mohammad sits on the back of a donkey-drawn cart, trundling down what is left of a road, alongside the few belongings he managed to retrieve from his flattened home. Wednesday should have marked the celebration
Continue ReadingBy LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — Lawmakers have approved a major revamp of the European Union’s migration regulations. The reforms are meant to end years of division over how to manage the entry of people without authorization and to deprive the far right of a vote-winning campaign issue ahead of June elections. Wednesday’s
Continue ReadingBy Aaron Pellish, CNN (CNN) — Independent presidential candidate Cornel West announced fellow academic Melina Abdullah as his vice presidential nominee in an interview Wednesday on “The Tavis Smiley Show.” “She has a record of deep commitment and investment in ensuring that poor and working people are at the center of her vision,” West said
Continue ReadingBy Kristin Wilson, Haley Talbot and Lauren Fox, CNN (CNN) — Speaker Mike Johnson warned on Wednesday that an effort to oust him from his leadership post would not be helpful for the Republican majority and “would be chaos in the House.” Johnson, who has faced pushback from conservatives over his handling of government funding,
Continue ReadingBy Avery Lotz and Shania Shelton, CNN (CNN) — David Hume Kennerly, a Pulitzer-prize-winning photographer who served in the Ford White House, announced his resignation on Tuesday from the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation board over its “short-sighted” rejection of former Rep. Liz Cheney for the organization’s yearly award. “Today I am resigning from the Gerald
Continue ReadingBy CHRISTOPHER WEBER and STEFANIE DAZIO Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — The family of a Nigerian business leader who died in a Southern California helicopter crash that killed five others in February filed a lawsuit Wednesday claiming the flight should have been grounded because of treacherous weather. Relatives of Abimbola Ogunbanjo, the former chair
Continue ReadingLOS ANGELES (AP) — The family of a Nigerian business leader who died in a Southern California helicopter crash that killed five others in February filed a lawsuit Wednesday claiming the flight should have been grounded because of treacherous weather. Relatives of Abimbola Ogunbanjo, the former chair of the Nigerian stock exchange, allege in the
Continue ReadingBy SAM METZ Associated Press AMIZMIZ, Morocco (AP) — Communities hit hard by last year’s deadly earthquake in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains have marked the holy month of Ramadan with a mix of festiveness and despair. The task of rebuilding is daunting. The government estimates that more than 300,000 people were affected by the earthquake in
Continue ReadingBy SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin elections officials say the effort by supporters of former President Donald Trump to recall Wisconsin’s top elected Republican did not gather enough signatures to trigger the recall election and therefore should be rejected. The recommendation released Wednesday was to be considered Thursday by the Wisconsin
Continue ReadingBy LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — Angel Studios wants to give audiences the power to decide what movies are made. The company behind last summer’s surprise box office hit, the child trafficking movie “ Sound of Freedom,” employs a crowdfunding model to finance projects from the ground up. “The gatekeeper model
Continue Reading