WASHINGTON (AP) — Surging prices for gas, food and rent catapulted U.S. inflation to a new four-decade peak in June, further pressuring households and likely sealing the case for another large interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve, with higher borrowing costs to follow. Consumer prices soared 9.1% compared with a year earlier, the government said Wednesday, the biggest yearly increase…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon said Tuesday that it killed a leader of the Islamic State group in Syria in a drone strike. U.S. Central Command said in a news release that Maher al-Agal was killed Tuesday and an unidentified senior official in the Islamic State group was seriously injured. The Pentagon said there were no civilian casualties, though it wasn’t possible…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration on Monday told hospitals that they “must” provide abortion services if the life of the mother is at risk, saying federal law on emergency treatment guidelines preempts state laws in jurisdictions that now ban the procedure without any exceptions following the Supreme Court’s decision to end a constitutional right to abortion. The Department of Health…
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Monday declined to delay the upcoming trial of Steve Bannon, a one-time adviser to former President Donald Trump who faces contempt of Congress charges after refusing for months to cooperate with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. Bannon is still scheduled to go on trial next week despite telling the House committee…
WASHINGTON (AP) — For the first time, a pharmaceutical company has asked for permission to sell a birth control pill over the counter in the U.S. HRA Pharma’s application on Monday sets up a high-stakes decision for health regulators amid legal and political battles over women’s reproductive health. The company says the timing was unrelated to the Supreme Court’s recent decision overturning…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A judge declared many of Minnesota’s restrictions on abortion unconstitutional on Monday, including the state’s mandatory 24-hour waiting period and a requirement that both parents be notified before a minor can get an abortion. Ramsey County District Judge Thomas Gilligan also struck down Minnesota’s requirements that only physicians can perform abortions and that abortions after…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is hosting a “celebration” of a new bipartisan law meant to reduce gun violence that, after just 16 days in effect, already has been overshadowed by yet another mass shooting. The bill, passed after recent gun rampages in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, incrementally toughens requirements for young people to buy guns, denies firearms to more domestic…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Now that former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin has been sentenced to federal prison, attention turns to the fates of three fellow ex-cops who are still working their way through a complicated web of state and federal court proceedings arising from the killing of George Floyd. Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane still await sentencing for their convictions…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s conservative-controlled Supreme Court ruled Friday that absentee ballot drop boxes may be placed only in election offices and that no one other than the voter can return a ballot in person, dealing a defeat to Democrats who said the decision would make it harder to vote in the battleground state. However, the court didn’t address whether anyone…
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) — A program that allows people to cross into remote areas of Canada without reporting to border officials is expected to resume in the coming days. The Canada Border Services Agency told Minnesota Public Radio News that it has notified stakeholders that the program will restart soon and that the reopening date will be posted on its website once…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden signed an executive order Friday to protect access to abortion as he faced mounting pressure from fellow Democrats to be more forceful on the subject after the Supreme Court ended a constitutional right to the procedure two weeks ago. The actions he outlined are intended to mitigate some potential penalties women seeking abortion may face after…
NARA, Japan (AP) — Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated Friday on a street in western Japan by a gunman who opened fire on him from behind as he delivered a campaign speech — an attack that stunned the nation with some of the strictest gun control laws anywhere. The 67-year-old Abe, who was Japan’s longest-serving leader when he resigned…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday sentenced Derek Chauvin to 21 years in prison for violating George Floyd’s civil rights, telling the former Minneapolis police officer that what he did was “simply wrong” and “offensive.” U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson sharply criticized Chauvin for his actions on May 25, 2020, when the white officer pinned Floyd to the…
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge sentenced a former Trump supporter to three years of probation and a $7,000 fine for sending an email threatening to kill Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and three other congresswomen. David George Hannon, 67, also must undergo mental and substance abuse treatment and have no contact with Omar or Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of…
WASHINGTON (AP) — More Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week and while layoffs remain low, it was the fifth consecutive week that claims topped the 230,000 mark and the most in almost six months. Applications for jobless aid for the week ending July 2 rose to 235,000, up 4,000 from the previous week and the most since mid-January, the…
LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation Thursday amid a mass revolt by top members of his government, marking an end to three tumultuous years in power in which he brazenly bent and sometimes broke the rules of British politics. Months of defiance ended almost with a shrug as Johnson stood outside No. 10 Downing St. and…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is about to swap solitary confinement at Minnesota’s only maximum security prison for an unknown future at a federal prison where, despite his national notoriety for killing George Floyd, he’ll probably be safer. Chauvin will be sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul after pleading guilty in December to federal civil rights charges. He’s already serving…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Pat Cipollone, Donald Trump’s former White House counsel, is scheduled to testify Friday before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to a person briefed on the matter. Cipollone, whose reported resistance to Trump’s schemes to overturn his 2020 election defeat has made him a long-sought and potentially revelatory witness, was subpoenaed by…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is looking to help foreign makers of baby formula stay on the U.S. market for the long term, in an effort to diversify the industry after the closure of the largest domestic plant sparked a nationwide shortage. The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday was set to announce plans to help overseas producers that have sent…
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A woman accused of killing a man can argue at trial that she was justified because he was sexually trafficking her, Wisconsin’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday in a decision that could help define the limits of legal immunity for trafficking victims nationwide. The justices ruled 4-3 that a 2008 state law that absolves trafficking victims of…
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (AP) — The man charged with killing seven people at an Independence Day parade confessed to police that he unleashed a hail of bullets from a rooftop in suburban Chicago and then fled to the Madison, Wisconsin, area, where he contemplated shooting up an event there, authorities said Wednesday. The gunman turned back to Illinois, where he…
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday threw out a host of actions by the Trump administration to roll back protections for endangered or threatened species, a year after the Biden administration said it was moving to strengthen species protections weakened under former President Donald Trump. U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar in Northern California eliminated the Trump-era rules even…
ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia prosecutor investigating the conduct of former President Donald Trump and his allies after the 2020 election is trying to compel U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, and other members of Trump’s campaign legal team to testify before a special grand jury. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Tuesday filed petitions with the judge overseeing…
KRAMATORSK, Ukraine (AP) — A day after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared victory in seizing an eastern Ukraine province essential to his wartime aims, his troops escalated their offensive in the neighboring province Tuesday, prompting the governor to urge a mass evacuation of residents. Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said that getting the 350,000 people remaining in Donetsk province out is necessary to save…
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (AP) — The gunman who attacked an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago fired more than 70 rounds with an AR-15-style gun that killed at least seven people, then evaded initial capture by dressing as a woman and blending into the fleeing crowd, police said Tuesday. A spokesman for the Lake County Major Crime Task Force told…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday bestowed the nation’s highest military honor to four Army soldiers for their heroism above and beyond the call of duty during the Vietnam War. Biden presented the Medal of Honor to Staff Sergeant Edward N. Kaneshiro, Specialist Five Dwight W. Birdwell, Specialist Five Dennis M. Fujii, and retired Major John J. Duffy….
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A federal judge will this week sentence former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for federal civil rights violations in the killing of George Floyd. U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson on Tuesday set Chauvin’s sentencing hearing for 2 p.m. Thursday in St. Paul. Chauvin’s plea agreement calls for a sentence of 20 to 25 years in prison. Federal prosecutors…
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street futures slipped Tuesday after the Independence Day holiday following declines in Europe and an upbeat session in Asia. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials fell 0.6%, as did futures for the S&P 500. The war in Ukraine and its impact on energy supplies are casting a shadow over the global economic outlook at a…
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (AP) — A 22-year-old man identified as a person of interest in a shooting during an Independence Day parade in suburban Chicago that killed at least six people, wounded at least 30 and sent hundreds of people fleeing was taken into custody Monday evening following an hours-long manhunt, police said. Highland Park Police Chief Lou Jogmen said…
HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. (AP) — At least five people are dead and 19 were taken to hospitals after a shooting at a July Fourth parade in a Chicago suburb, and officers are searching for a suspect, police said Monday. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that the parade began around 10 a.m. but it was suddenly halted 10 minutes later after shots…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden told Democratic governors Friday that he is “looking at all the alternatives” for protecting abortion access following the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. One day after returning from international summits in Europe, Biden described the ruling as “tragic” and warned that Republicans could try to enact a nationwide ban on abortion if they retake control…
SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — A Florida judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit in which the parents of Gabby Petito claim that Brian Laundrie told his parents he had killed her before he returned home alone from their western trip. The decision Thursday by Sarasota County Circuit Judge Hunter Carroll means the lawsuit can proceed against Christopher and Robert Laundrie. Petito’s parents,…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A new Minnesota law taking effect Friday allows people 21 and older to buy edibles and beverages that contain a limited amount of THC, the ingredient in marijuana that creates a high. Edibles, like gummies, and beverages can contain up to 5 milligrams of THC per serving and 50 milligrams per package under the law….
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal prosecutors asked a judge Wednesday to sentence one of the four former Minneapolis police officers convicted of civil rights violations in George Floyd’s killing to as many as 6 1/2 years in prison but to impose significantly stiffer yet unspecified sentences on two others. They urged U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson to follow the nonbinding federal sentencing guidelines…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in to the Supreme Court on Thursday, shattering a glass ceiling as the first Black woman on the nation’s highest court. The 51-year-old Jackson is the court’s 116th justice, and she took the place of the justice she once worked for. Justice Stephen Breyer’s retirement was effective at noon. Moments later, joined by her family, Jackson recited the two oaths…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the Biden administration properly ended a Trump-era policy forcing some U.S. asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico. The justices’ 5-4 decision for the administration came in a case about the “Remain in Mexico” policy under President Donald Trump. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the decision and was joined by fellow conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh as…
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a blow to the fight against climate change, the Supreme Court on Thursday limited how the nation’s main anti-air pollution law can be used to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. By a 6-3 vote, with conservatives in the majority, the court said that the Clean Air Act does not give the Environmental Protection Agency broad authority…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Thursday that he would support an exception to the Senate filibuster to protect access to abortion after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. “If the filibuster gets in the way, it’s like voting rights,” Biden said during a press conference in Madrid, where he was attending a NATO summit. The Democratic president said there should…
MADRID (AP) — President Joe Biden said Wednesday the U.S. will significantly expand its military presence in Europe, the latest example of how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has reshaped plans for the continent’s security and prompted a reinvestment in NATO. Among the changes will be a permanent U.S. garrison in Poland, for the first time creating an enduring American foothold on the…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Tim Walz painted Republican challenger Scott Jensen as an extremist Tuesday as he vowed to protect abortion rights in Minnesota, one of the few Midwestern states where abortion is expected to remain legal. Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade has changed the dynamics of the election campaign in Minnesota, Walz said at a news conference. He…
KREMENCHUK, Ukraine (AP) — France’s president said Tuesday that Russia “cannot and should not win” in Ukraine, voicing the West’s continued support for Kyiv following Moscow’s horrific missile attack on a shopping mall that underscored the war’s terrible toll on civilians. Ukrainian leaders denounced the strike, which killed 18 in the central city of Kremenchuk, as a war crime and a…
UPDATE: Fifty people died after being abandoned in a tractor-trailer in the sweltering Texas heat, one of the worst tragedies to claim the lives of migrants smuggled across the border from Mexico to the U.S. More than a dozen people had been taken to hospitals, including four children. SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Forty-six people were found dead after being abandoned…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Jan. 6 panel is calling a surprise hearing this week to present evidence it says it recently obtained, raising expectations of new bombshells in the sweeping investigation into the Capitol insurrection. The hearing scheduled for 1 p.m. on Tuesday comes after Congress left Washington for a two-week recess. Lawmakers on the panel investigating the Jan. 6,…
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The fall of Roe v. Wade shifted the battleground over abortion to courthouses around the country Monday, as one side sought quickly to enact statewide bans and the other tried to block or at least delay such measures. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Friday to end constitutional protection for abortion opened the gates for a wave of litigation…
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are drifting mostly lower in early trading on Wall Street Monday as the market cools off following a rare winning week and the best daily gain for the S&P 500 in two years. The benchmark index gave up an early gain and was off 0.1% in the early going, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq was down…
(AP) — Juul on Friday asked a federal court to block a government order to stop selling its electronic cigarettes. The e-cigarette maker asked the court to pause what it calls an “extraordinary and unlawful action” by the Food and Drug Administration that would require it to immediately halt its business. The company filed an emergency motion with the U.S….
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House sent President Joe Biden the most wide-ranging gun violence bill Congress has passed in decades on Friday, a measured compromise that at once illustrates progress on the long-intractable issue and the deep-seated partisan divide that persists. The Democratic-led chamber approved the election-year legislation on a mostly party-line 234-193 vote, capping a spurt of action prompted by voters’…
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Friday that “it’s a sad day for the court and the country” after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide. “Now with Roe gone, let’s be very clear, the health and life of women across this nation are now at risk,” he said from the…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has ended constitutional protections for abortion that had been in place nearly 50 years in a decision by its conservative majority to overturn Roe v. Wade. Friday’s outcome is expected to lead to abortion bans in roughly half the states. The decision, unthinkable just a few years ago, was the culmination of decades of efforts by abortion…
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States will send another $450 million in military aid to Ukraine, including some additional medium-range rocket systems, U.S. officials said Thursday. The latest package will include four High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, and is expected to be announced later Thursday. The first four HIMARS that the U.S. previously sent have already gone into…
