Minority women most affected if abortion is banned, limited
If you are Black or Hispanic in a conservative state that already limits access to abortions, you are far more likely than a white woman to have one. And if the U.S. Supreme Court allows states to further restrict or even ban abortions, minority women will bear the brunt of...
Execution set for man whose sentence was overturned 3 times
A Missouri man whose death sentence was overturned three times before being reinstated is now scheduled to die in May for killing a small-town couple nearly 26 years ago. The Missouri Supreme Court on Monday set a May 3 execution date for Carman Deck. Executions in Missouri are carried out...
Justice Department won’t reopen probe into Tamir Rice death
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has said it will not reopen the federal investigation into the 2014 death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was shot to death by Cleveland police, notifying Tamir’s mother after she had participated in a federal training event for state prosecutors on investigating police misconduct cases....
Avenatti decides not to testify at trial vs. Stormy Daniels
NEW YORK — Michael Avenatti said Tuesday that he will not testify at his trial on charges that he cheated porn actor Stormy Daniels out of nearly $300,000 in book proceeds. Avenatti announced his decision in Manhattan federal court after telling Judge Jesse M. Furman he had no witnesses in...
Landslides kill at least 22 in Ecuador capital
A rain-weakened hillside collapsed in Ecuador’s capital, sweeping over homes and a sports field and killing at least 22 people, city officials said Tuesday. The Quito Security Department also said 32 people were injured and eight houses had collapsed, while others were damaged. Neighbors had joined rescue workers in hunting...
Ted Cruz calls Biden pledge to put Black woman on Supreme Court ‘offensive’
WASHINGTON — Sen. Ted Cruz, calling it “offensive” that President Joe Biden has promised to choose a Black woman for a new Supreme Court vacancy, speculated that Vice President Kamala Harris might get the nod because Democrats want her out of office so badly. “I think there is a chance...
Thousands flee homes near N.C. fertilizer plant fire
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — An uncontrolled fire raging at a North Carolina fertilizer plant forced the evacuations of thousands of people as firefighters warned early Tuesday that chemicals at the site could cause a large explosion. Authorities drove through neighborhoods and knocked on doors asking residents to leave within a one-mile...
Millions follow rich candidates in Pennsylvania Senate race
HARRISBURG — Cash is pouring in to Pennsylvania’s hotly contested race for U.S. Senate, as wealthy and well-connected candidates moved in from out of state, followed by millions of dollars going into TV ads and super PACs. Filings posted online by the Federal Election Commission before Monday night’s deadline showed...
Tesla recall: ‘Full Self-Driving’ software runs stop signs
DETROIT — Tesla is recalling nearly 54,000 cars and SUVs because their “Full Self-Driving” software lets them roll through stop signs without coming to a complete halt. Documents posted Tuesday by U.S. safety regulators say that Tesla will disable the feature with an over-the-internet software update. The “rolling stop” feature...
U.S., Russia trade accusations about Ukraine at U.N. Security Council
WASHINGTON — A stormy, angry session of the United Nations’ highest body on Monday heightened deep global rifts and raised new accusations about the Russian troop buildup around Ukraine, with the American and Russian sides harshly accusing each other of escalating the conflict. The United States, backed by most Western...
U.S. urges Pfizer to apply for under-5 covid shots
WASHINGTON — U.S. regulators are urging drugmaker Pfizer to apply for emergency authorization for a two-dose regimen of its covid-19 vaccine for children 6 months to 5 years old while awaiting data on a three-dose course, aiming to clear the way for the shots as soon as late February, a...
Report: Pennsylvania is the nation’s ‘cyber charter capital,’ with funding and oversight consequences
PHILADELPHIA — Enrollment in cyber charter schools grew faster in Pennsylvania last year than in any other state — and how they’re funded results in big costs for local school districts, according to a new report. Pennsylvania is the “cyber charter capital of the nation,” the report released last week...
Homeowners get their turn at covid relief funds
Last year, state officials were able to channel federal covid-19 relief funding to Pennsylvania renters in need of financial assistance. Starting Tuesday, they will look to provide similar relief for homeowners. “As Pennsylvania continues to manage out of the covid-19 pandemic, we continue to make key investments in areas where...
California Gov. Gavin Newsom criticized again for not wearing a mask
LOS ANGELES — California Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing new criticism for shedding his face mask, rekindling a politically sensitive issue that has shadowed the Democratic governor since he was caught without a face covering at a private 2020 party that defied his own pandemic safety orders. The latest scrutiny...
Pennsylvania high court may step in to House districts case
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s highest court signaled Monday that it may get involved in the process of redrawing Pennsylvania’s congressional districts boundaries, as the state runs up against the primary schedule to adjust the boundaries to account for a decade of demographic shifts. The state Supreme Court, in a 5-2 decision,...
Bomb threats made to historically Black schools across U.S.
WOODSTOCK, Ga. — At least a half-dozen historically Black universities in five states and the District of Columbia were responding to bomb threats Monday, with many of them locking down their campuses for a time. In warnings to students, school officials say some of the threats were directed at academic...
U.S. sanctions Myanmar judiciary officials on coup anniversary
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Monday slapped sanctions on top members of Myanmar’s judiciary and one of its main revenue-producing ports over rights abuses since last year’s coup. The sanctions on the country’s attorney general, supreme court chief justice and others were announced by the Treasury and State Departments...
A new law expanding access to birth control is about to take effect in North Carolina
RALEIGH, N.C. — Beginning Tuesday, North Carolina women will be able to get hormonal birth control without a doctor’s prescription — a change that will give millions of women easier access to some of the most common contraceptives that prevent pregnancy. Under a new law, passed by the state’s Republican-controlled...
California moves to dismantle nation’s largest death row
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who three years ago placed a moratorium on executions, now is moving to dismantle the nation’s largest death row by moving all condemned inmates to other prisons within two years. The goal is to turn the section at San Quentin State Prison into...
‘Nazi’ protests held over the weekend condemned in Florida
ORLANDO, Fla. — More than a dozen self-proclaimed Nazis yelled antisemitic slogans outside a Florida shopping plaza and waved a swastika flag from a highway overpass before authorities broke them up over the weekend. The demonstrators, wearing Nazi garb, protested Saturday at an intersection near the University of Central Florida...
Moderna announces full U.S. approval for its covid vaccine
WASHINGTON — Moderna announced Monday that U.S. health regulators granted full approval to its covid-19 vaccine, a shot that’s been given to tens of millions of Americans since its emergency authorization over a year ago. The action by the Food and Drug Administration means the agency has completed the same...
Chicago synagogue, businesses vandalized over weekend
CHICAGO — A synagogue and an affiliated Jewish school in Chicago were vandalized over the weekend with swastika images and antisemitic graffiti, officials said. The incidents occurred Sunday at the FREE Synagogue and Hanna Sacks Bais Yaakov High School. “We’ll get through it,” Rabbi Levi Notik told WFLD-TV. “I want...
Georgia DA investigating Trump asks FBI for security help
ATLANTA — The prosecutor who’s investigating whether Donald Trump and others broke the law by trying to pressure Georgia officials to overturn Joe Biden’s presidential election victory is asking the FBI for security help after the former president railed against prosecutors investigating him. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on...
WHO says it’s probing alleged racism, abuse by top director
GENEVA — The head of the World Health Organization says an investigation is underway into alleged reports that the U.N. health agency’s top official in the Western Pacific engaged in racist, unethical and abusive behavior, following a report last week by The Associated Press. At a meeting of the WHO’s...
Judge rejects plea deal for man who killed Ahmaud Arbery
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — A federal judge rejected a plea agreement Monday that would have averted a hate crimes trial for the man convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery. Arbery’s parents denounced the proposed deal for Travis McMichael, with mother Wanda Cooper-Jones and father Marcus Arbery emotionally asking the judge to reject...
