News

By MICHAEL BALSAMO and PAUL WEBER Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Justice Department is suing Texas over a new state law that bans most abortions, arguing that it was enacted “in open defiance of the Constitution.” The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in Texas, asks a federal judge to declare that the

By CURT ANDERSON AP Legal Affairs Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge has ruled that Florida’s new “anti-riot” law championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis as a way to quell violent protests is unconstitutional and cannot be enforced. The decision Thursday by U.S. District Judge Mark Walker in Tallahassee found the recently

By BEN FOX Associated Press NAVAL STATION GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba (AP) — President Joe Biden turned the page on one legacy of 9/11 when he ended the war in Afghanistan, but he has yet to do much about another: the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The White House says it intends to shutter the notorious prison

LAFAYETTE, Calif. (AP) — A volunteer crossing guard at a middle school in the San Francisco Bay Area pushed children from the path of a vehicle that ended up striking and killing him. Ashley Dias is being hailed as a hero after he saved a group of children leaving Stanley Middle School in Lafayette from

By JAMES MacPHERSON Associated Press BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Federal and state lawyers will meet next week to negotiate a settlement for money that North Dakota claims it spent policing protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline. North Dakota filed a lawsuit two years ago seeking to recover more than $38 million in damages from

By MATTHEW PERRONE AP Health Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health officials have delayed a high-stakes decision on whether to permit bestselling vaping brand Juul to stay on the market. At the same time, the Food and Drug Administration banned the sale of thousands of other, lesser-known electronic cigarettes and related products. Parents, politicians and

By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press HOUSTON (AP) — Police say a man suspected of killing a family of four and setting their Houston home on fire fatally shot himself as officers tried to arrest him. Firefighters discovered the bodies of a man and woman and two children Sunday morning after extinguishing a blaze at

By BECKY BOHRER Associated Press JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it will seek to restart a process that could restrict mining in Alaska’s Bristol Bay region, which is renowned for its salmon runs. The announcement is the latest in a long-running dispute over a proposed copper-and-gold mine for the southwest

By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER Associated Press A civil rights attorney who fought to desegregate Southern schools in the 1960s and was pushed out of his University of Mississippi teaching job amid uproar over his work on behalf of Black clients has died. George M. Strickler Jr.’s son said Wednesday that the attorney died at his

By ALAN FRAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are starting to push plans for providing paid family and medical leave, easing climate change and bolstering education through House committees. It’s a drive in which Democrats are battling Republicans and among themselves over President Joe Biden’s $3.5 trillion vision for reshaping federal priorities. Five panels

By KIM CHANDLER Associated Press MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama will allow an inmate’s pastor to hold his hand during an execution scheduled for next month. In a court document, lawyers described the new procedure that will be used next month. Willie B. Smith is scheduled to be executed Oct. 21. Alabama officials in February