By COLLEEN LONG Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s son will head back to court on Thursday for arraignment in Los Angeles on federal tax charges filed after the collapse of a plea deal that could have spared him the spectacle of a criminal trial during the 2024 campaign. Hunter Biden is expected
Continue ReadingBy MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Israel is defending itself in the United Nations’ highest court Thursday against allegations that it is committing genocide with its military campaign in Gaza. South Africa asked the International Court of Justice to order Israel to immediately stop the war, alleging it has violated the
Continue ReadingBy LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The secrecy surrounding Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalizations due to prostate cancer surgery set off a political firestorm, launched multiple reviews and triggered calls for his ouster. To some, the uproar may be puzzling or even offensive. An individual’s right to privacy, particularly about medical issues,
Continue ReadingBy GERALD IMRAY Associated Press CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Barely two weeks after he was released from prison in 1990, Nelson Mandela flew to Zambia to meet with African leaders who had supported his fight against South Africa’s apartheid system of forced racial segregation. One figure stood out among the men in dark
Continue ReadingBy KEVIN FREKING Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — As Speaker Mike Johnson gathered House Republicans behind closed doors Wednesday to sell the spending deal he reached with Democrats, one thing quickly became clear: many GOP lawmakers weren’t buying it. Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio left early, saying he’d had enough. “I’m not going to sit
Continue ReadingBy MIKE CORDER Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Judges at the International Court of Justice on Thursday opened two days of legal arguments in a case filed by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide in its Gaza war. Israel rejects the allegation. Lawyers for South Africa asked judges at Thursday’s hearings to impose
Continue ReadingBy MICHAEL R. SISAK and JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump ’s New York civil fraud trial is back in session Thursday for closing arguments but it won’t be the former president doing the talking. Trump, the leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination, had angled to deliver his own closing
Continue ReadingBy Josh Campbell and Jamiel Lynch, CNN (CNN) — A Florida man accused of posting online threats to carry out mass violence has been arrested and charged with making an interstate threat and a weapon violation, federal court records show. Alexander Lightner, 26, of Venice, Florida, allegedly posted comments online that were “intended to convey
Continue ReadingMONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont sports fans can now wager online. Online sports betting got underway in the state on Thursday. Republican Gov. Phil Scott said last month that DraftKings, FanDuel and Fanatics Sportsbook were selected to operate mobile sports betting platforms in Vermont. He says the regulated marketplace comes with important consumer protections and
Continue ReadingBy GABRIELA MOLINA Associated Press QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — José Adolfo Macías Villamar, leader of Los Choneros, one of the Ecuadorian gangs considered responsible for a spike in car bombings, kidnappings and slayings, was discovered missing from his prison cell where he was serving a sentence for drug trafficking. Macías began serving a 34-year sentence
Continue ReadingBy BRIAN MELLEY Associated Press LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said he will introduce measures to reverse the convictions of more than 900 Post Office branch managers wrongly accused of theft or fraud because of a faulty computer system in what is considered one of the gravest injustices in the nation’s
Continue ReadingBy Richard Roth, Haley Britzky, Jennifer Hansler and Kathleen Magramo, CNN United Nations (CNN) — The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday approved a resolution calling on Yemen’s Houthi rebel group to “cease its brazen” attacks in the Red Sea, as the United States and Britain hinted at military strikes. The warnings come as the Iran-backed
Continue ReadingBy ANDREW DeMILLO and HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press Republican-led state legislatures are considering a new round of bills restricting medical care for transgender youths — and in some cases, adults — returning to the issue the year after a wave of high-profile bills became law and sparked lawsuits. As legislatures begin their work for the
Continue ReadingBy ANDREW DeMILLO and HANNAH SCHOENBAUM Associated Press Republican-led state legislatures are considering a new round of bills restricting medical care for transgender youths — and in some cases, adults — returning to the issue the year after a wave of high-profile bills became law and sparked lawsuits. As legislatures begin their work for the
Continue ReadingBy SIMINA MISTREANU Associated Press TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — One of Taiwan’s leading opposition party candidates in Saturday’s presidential election has promised to boost the island’s defense capabilities while restarting dialogue with Beijing. Taiwan has never been governed by the People’s Republic of China. But the mainland’s ruling Communist Party insists on unification with Taiwan,
Continue ReadingBy STEVE PEOPLES, JILL COLVIN and HOLLY RAMER Associated Press WINDHAM, N.H. (AP) — Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday suspended his Republican presidential bid just days before Iowa’s leadoff caucuses, ceding to growing pressure to drop out of the race from those desperate to deny Donald Trump a glidepath to the nomination.
Continue ReadingBy DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — While GOP presidential candidates Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley met in a sharp CNN debate that brought out clear differences, Donald Trump provided clear counterprogramming. He appeared Wednesday on a Fox News town hall at the same time as his rivals debated, where he was
Continue ReadingLAS VEGAS (AP) — Desi-Rae Young scored 24 points and No. 25 UNLV used a big first quarter to kickstart an easy 91-55 win over San Jose State on Wednesday night. The Rebels took care of this one early, hitting five 3-pointers in the first quarter and making 13 of 24 shots overall (54%) to
Continue ReadingCNN Opinion by Todd Graham (CNN) — It’s not often that a presidential candidate opens a debate by calling an opponent names like “mealy mouthed” or talking about how much their opponent lies. I am, of course, joking. Rudeness, it seems, is the norm for Republican presidential debates. This time, there were only two candidates
Continue ReadingBy EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States, Ukraine and six allies are accusing Russia of using North Korean ballistic missiles and launchers in recent devastating aerial attacks against Ukraine, in violation of U.N. sanctions. Their joint statement issued Wednesday ahead of a Security Council meeting on Ukraine cited the
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