For many Southern Baptists, the only campaign question is which Republican candidate to support
Southern Baptists form a core part of the white evangelical Christian bloc that has reliably and overwhelmingly voted Republican in recent elections, and is expected to again in 2024. But Southern Baptists are weighing their options in the GOP presidential primary field — some already lining up behind Donald Trump,...
Young lawyer who helped write voting rights bill ‘star-struck’ as he witnessed 1965 signing into law
WASHINGTON — Joel Finkelstein is an accidental witness to one of the seminal events of the civil rights movement, the signing in 1965 of the Voting Rights Act. He was a year out of law school at Cornell when he received the call to head to the Capitol for the...
Voices from the violent civil rights era see attacks on voting rights as part of ongoing struggle
They are part of a small, vanishing group who lived at the epicenter of the struggle for voting rights six decades ago, an era driven by segregation, violence and the yearning for equality that eventually led to laws bringing the U.S. closer to its promise of democracy for all its...
Japan supports Sweden’s NATO membership as defense ministers strengthen ties
TOKYO — Japan’s defense minister expressed his country’s support for Sweden’s NATO membership during talks Wednesday with his Swedish counterpart, as the two sides called for stronger military ties amid shared concern over threats from Russia and China. Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson said that Sweden sees the need for...
N.D. Gov. Doug Burgum launches bid for 2024 GOP presidential nomination
FARGO, N.D. — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has announced his candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, adding his name to the long list of contenders hoping to dent former President Donald Trump’s early lead in the race. Burgum, 66, made the announcement in the The Wall Street Journal...
Pence says ‘Different times call for different leadership’ in video launching 2024 presidential bidVideo
DES MOINES, Iowa — Former Vice President Mike Pence promised “the best days of the greatest nation on earth are yet to come” in a video released Wednesday formally launching his campaign for the Republican nomination for president. “Different times call for different leadership,” Pence, who served four years alongside...
Pope Francis undergoes abdominal surgery, will stay in hospital for several days
ROME — Pope Francis underwent surgery Wednesday to repair a hernia in his abdominal wall, the latest malady to befall the 86-year-old pontiff who had part of his colon removed two years ago. The Vatican said there were no complications after the three-hour surgery, during which Francis was under general...
Florida grand jury involved in Trump documents probe by Justice Department
WASHINGTON — Federal prosecutors are using a grand jury in Florida as part of their investigation into the possible mishandling of classified documents at former President Donald Trump’s Palm Beach property, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday night. The grand jury is in addition to a separate panel...
Why is it so smoky outside? Canada wildfires lead to air-quality alerts in northeastern U.S.Video
Intense Canadian wildfires are blanketing the northeastern U.S. in a dystopian haze, turning the air acrid, the sky yellowish gray and prompting warnings for vulnerable populations to stay inside. The effects of hundreds of wildfires burning across the western provinces to Quebec could be felt as far away as New...
House conservatives block GOP bills, voice frustration in response to debt ceiling vote
WASHINGTON — House conservatives staged a mini-revolt Tuesday in retaliation for Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s leadership on last week’s vote to raise the debt ceiling, the right wing banding together to block progress on a mixture of bills and vent their frustration. Led by outspoken members of the House Freedom Caucus,...
2 dead in shooting after high school graduation ceremony in Virginia capitalVideo
RICHMOND, Va. — Seven people were shot, two fatally, when gunfire rang out Tuesday outside a downtown theater where a high school graduation ceremony had recently concluded, causing attendees to flee in panic, weep and clutch their children, authorities and witnesses reported. A 19-year-old suspect tried to flee but was...
Sheriff probes self-defense claim of white woman who fatally shot Black neighbor in front of kids
OCALA, Fla. — Authorities came under intense pressure Tuesday to arrest and charge a white woman who killed a Black neighbor on her front doorstep in a case that has put Florida’s divisive stand your ground law back into the spotlight. About three dozen mostly Black protesters gathered outside the...
Chesapeake Bay report cites environmental justice disparities
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A report on the Chesapeake Bay released Tuesday found strong disparities between communities in different parts of the bay’s watershed in terms of health, economics and social justice concerns. The findings show a larger context for the challenges of improving the health of the nation’s largest estuary,...
Peruvian judge affirms extradition to U.S. of chief suspect in Natalee Holloway disappearance
LIMA, Peru — A Peruvian judge on Tuesday affirmed this week’s planned extradition to the U.S. of the main suspect in the unsolved 2005 disappearance of American student Natalee Holloway. The judge’s ruling came less than 24 hours after the attorney for Dutchman Joran van der Sloot filed a writ...
Plane that crashed in Virginia lost contact with air traffic controllers during ascent, feds say
Only minutes into a doomed journey that ended on a remote Virginia mountain, the pilot of a business jet was not responding to air traffic control instructions and the situation was soon reported to a network that includes military, security and law enforcement agencies, according to federal aviation officials. Despite...
Former N.J. Gov. Christie kicks off 2024 GOP presidential bid with swipes at Trump
NEW YORK — Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie wasted no time going after Donald Trump while launching his presidential campaign on Tuesday, calling the former president and current Republican primary front-runner a “lonely, self-consumed, self-serving mirror hog” and arguing that he’s the only one who can stop him. Christie...
Detroit clerk who locked door before customers were shot will face trial
DETROIT — A judge on Tuesday ordered a Detroit gas station clerk to stand trial for involuntary manslaughter, saying his decision to lock the door and then taunt an angry customer contributed to the fatal shooting of a bystander. Al-Hassan Aiyash “continued to pour gasoline on the fire,” said Judge...
Judge blocks Florida ban on trans minor care in narrow ruling, says ‘gender identity is real’
TALLAHASSEE — A federal judge temporarily blocked portions of a new Florida law championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis that bans transgender minors from receiving puberty blockers, saying in a Tuesday ruling that gender identity is real and the state has no rational basis for denying patients treatment. Judge Robert...
Ukrainian dam breach: What is happening and what’s at stake
KYIV, Ukraine — The dramatic rupture of the dam that upheld Ukraine’s largest reservoir released a torrent of water Tuesday, raising fears of widespread damage and flooding in areas where tens of thousands of people live. It’s not clear what caused the breach in the Kakhovka dam, which was already...
Protests in France as unions make last-ditch bid to resist higher retirement age
PARIS— French union activists marched on the headquarters of the Paris Olympics and slowed traffic at the capital’s Orly Airport with strikes Tuesday as they sought to reignite resistance to a higher retirement age. But the last-ditch effort drew fewer followers than at the height of the movement earlier this...
European Union urges probe into ‘horrible and heinous’ poisoning of Afghan schoolgirls
KABUL, Afghanistan — The European Union called on Afghan authorities Tuesday to investigate the poisoning of primary schoolgirls in the country’s north after 77 students were hospitalized. Two separate attacks took place in Sar-e-Pul province on Saturday and Sunday, local authorities said. Sixty schoolgirls were poisoned in Naswan-e-Kabod Aab School...
D-Day: Historical photos of Americans storming Normandy beaches
On June 6, 1944, during World War II, Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, France, on D-Day as they began the liberation of German-occupied Western Europe. The D-Day invasion that helped change the course of World War II was unprecedented in scale and audacity. Over 156,000 Allied troops landed...
Normandy marks D-Day’s 79th anniversary, honors WWII veterans
ON OMAHA BEACH, France — An overwhelming sound of gunfire and men’s screams. That’s how World War II veteran Marie Scott described D-Day, as Tuesday’s ceremonies got underway in honor of those who fought for freedom in the largest naval, air and land operation in history. This year’s tribute to...
Banks’ growing reliance on chatbots to handle customer service tasks worries consumer watchdog
NEW YORK — Can you trust Erica, or Sandi or Amy to increasingly control parts of your financial life without giving you inaccurate information or sending money to the wrong place? That’s what the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is asking in a report released Tuesday, where the bureau lays out...
Dozens of dangerous rail crossings will be eliminated with $570 million in grants
OMAHA, Neb. — With the rail industry relying on longer and longer trains to cut costs, the Biden administration is handing out $570 million in grants to help eliminate many railroad crossings in 32 states. The grants announced Monday will contribute to building bridges or underpasses at the sites of...
