By CURT ANDERSON Associated Press Grand jury transcripts from a 2006 Florida investigation into wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of dozens of underage girls will be released publicly later this year under legislation signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The measure will take effect July 1. Epstein cut a deal with South Florida federal
Continue ReadingBy DAVID A. LIEB Assocaited Press JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri residents could see a roughly $138 million tax break under legislation intended to offset a surge in local property tax collections caused by higher vehicle values. The state House overwhelmingly passed the legislation Thursday, sending it to the Senate. Missouri is among several
Continue ReadingBy BRUCE SCHREINER Associated Press FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Mitch McConnell’s decision to step down as Senate Republican leader in November is reverberating back home in Kentucky. His announcement Wednesday has set off a wave of speculation about not only what impact the loss of influence might have on the Bluegrass State but the future
Continue ReadingGRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — The Michigan Court of Appeals is being urged to step into a dispute over leadership of the state Republican Party. Lawyers for Kristina Karamo are asking the court to throw out a decision by a Kent County judge, who said a January vote to oust Karamo was valid. The judge
Continue ReadingBy Andy Rose, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge in Austin, Texas, ordered the state government Thursday to suspend enforcement of a controversial law that would allow state law enforcement agents to arrest and detain people they suspect of entering the country illegally. “If allowed to procced, SB 4 could open the door to each
Continue ReadingBy JANIE HAR Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — After two false starts, the billionaires behind a plan to build an eco-friendly city from scratch are behind schedule to put their proposal before California voters this November. Former Goldman Sachs trader Jan Sramek unveiled his closely guarded ballot initiative for the proposed community between San
Continue ReadingBy JANIE HAR Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — After two false starts, the billionaires behind a plan to build an eco-friendly city from scratch are behind schedule to put their proposal before California voters this November. Former Goldman Sachs trader Jan Sramek unveiled his closely guarded ballot initiative for the proposed community between San
Continue ReadingBy MICHELLE CHAPMAN AP Business Writer Former talk show host Oprah Winfrey is leaving WeightWatchers board of directors and donating all of her interest in the company to a museum. Shares of WW International Inc. tumbled more than 23% in Thursday morning trading. Winfrey, who told People magazine in December that she was using a
Continue ReadingBy Radina Gigova, Nathan Hodge, Sahar Akbarzai and Jack Guy, CNN (CNN) — Attempts to hire a hearse to take the body of Alexey Navalny body to his funeral have been thwarted by unknown people, the Russian opposition leader’s team said Thursday. Spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh claimed that drivers had been “called by unknown people and
Continue ReadingBy YURAS KARMANAU Associated Press TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A bill in Belarus that would outlaw the promotion of homosexuality and other behavior is set to land on lawmakers’ desks amid an unwavering crackdown on dissent initiated by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko in August 2020. Prosecutor General Andrei Shved said Thursday the bill establishes administrative
Continue ReadingBy Zenebou Sylla, CNN (CNN) — An Ohio man pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal hate crime, admitting he assaulted an Asian American college student in 2021 and blamed him for Covid-19 because of the victim’s race, according to a news release by US prosecutors. Darrin Johnson, 27, could be sentenced to nearly two years
Continue ReadingCNN By Joe Sutton, Steve Almasy, Holly Yan, Robert Shackelford and David Williams, CNN (CNN) — Catastrophic wildfires ripping across the Texas Panhandle have killed at least two people and threaten to destroy more homes, cattle and livelihoods as the biggest inferno in state history engulfs more land every minute. The Smokehouse Creek Fire has now
Continue ReadingBy DAVID McHUGH AP Business Writer FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Multinational beer and beverage company Anheuser-Busch InBev, maker of Budweiser, Bud Light, Stella Artois and Corona, has reported a 7% increase in operating profit for last year, even as as sales sagged in the United States due to a decline in demand for Bud Light.
Continue ReadingBy ACACIA CORONADO Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday blocked a new Texas law that would give police broad powers to arrest migrants suspected of illegally entering the U.S., dealing a victory to the Biden administration with a broad rejection of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s immigration enforcement effort. U.S. District
Continue ReadingBy EMILY WAGSTER PETTUS Associated Press VICKSBURG, Miss. (AP) — A Civil War battlefield in Mississippi is providing more information about Black history. Recent ceremonies honored the memory of 18 Black soldiers and two white officers who fought for the Union and were killed or wounded in 1864 by irregular Confederate soldiers. The massacre happened
Continue ReadingBy Sean Lyngaas, CNN (CNN) — The 2024 US election will feature more foreign adversaries that are trying to meddle in the election than previous voting cycles thanks to artificial intelligence and other technological advances, FBI Director Christopher Wray said Thursday. Advances in AI-generated photos and videos “are lowering the barrier to entry” for malign foreign influence
Continue ReadingBy Nikki Carvajal, MJ Lee, Alex Marquardt and Michael Williams, CNN Washington (CNN) — The killing of more than a hundred Palestinians at a food distribution site in Gaza where Israeli troops opened fire, triggering panic as civilians were gathering around food aid trucks, has added urgency to ceasefire talks – but could also complicate them,
Continue ReadingBy JOSHUA GOODMAN and JIM MUSTIAN MIAMI (AP) — The widow of a prominent Cuban dissident killed in a mysterious car crash has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a former U.S. ambassador suspected of working for Cuba. The state lawsuit filed Thursday in Miami accuses former U.S. Ambassador Manuel Rocha of sharing intelligence that
Continue ReadingBy STEPHEN WADE AP Sports Writer TOKYO (AP) — Baseball star Shohei Ohtani has stunningly revealed he’s married. Ohtani wrote on Thursday on Instagram in Japanese: “The season is approaching but I would like to announce to everyone that I have gotten married.” He said his new wife was a “Japanese woman” without identifying her.
Continue ReadingBy VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has delivered a blunt message to the West, warning that it risks provoking a global nuclear war if it expands its involvement in the fighting in Ukraine. At the same time, Putin focused his 2-hour state-of-the-nation address on a wide range of economic
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