Senate GOP blocks domestic terrorism bill, gun policy debate

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats’ first attempt at responding to the back-to-back mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, Texas, failed in the Senate Thursday as Republicans blocked a domestic terrorism bill that would have opened debate on difficult questions surrounding hate crimes and gun safety. ...

Spain: Parliament backs "Only yes means yes" consent bill

MADRID (AP) — Spain’s parliament voted Thursday to approve a bill that makes consent a key determinant in sexual assault cases, freeing victims of having to prove that violence or intimidation was used against them. The bill, popularly known as “Only Yes is Yes,” seeks to...

Wisconsin GOP leader open to arming teachers in schools

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin's top legislative Republican said Thursday that he is open to the idea of arming teachers following the latest school shooting in Texas, while he dismissed as “disingenuous" an offer from Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to find common ground. Assembly...

Iraqi lawmakers pass bill criminalizing any ties with Israel

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi lawmakers on Thursday passed a bill criminalizing normalization of ties and any relations, including business ties, with Israel. The legislation says that violation of the law is punishable with the death sentence or life imprisonment. The law was approved...

329 years later, last Salem 'witch' who wasn't is pardoned

BOSTON (AP) — It took more than three centuries, but the last Salem “witch” who wasn’t has been officially pardoned. Massachusetts lawmakers on Thursday formally exonerated Elizabeth Johnson Jr., clearing her name 329 years after she was convicted of witchcraft in 1693 and...

Bee Nguyen, Dee Dawkins-Haigler in Democratic SoS runoff

ATLANTA (AP) — Former Georgia state Rep. Dee Dawkins-Haigler is joining state Rep. Bee Nguyen in a runoff in the Democratic primary for Georgia secretary of state. Nguyen won about 44% of the primary vote, short of the majority she needed to win outright. Dawkins-Haigler won...

Texas shooting is new test for Biden's long battle over guns

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden, then the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, surveyed the collection of black, military-style rifles on display in the middle of the room as he denounced the sale of guns whose “only real function is to kill human beings at a ferocious pace.” ...

Zimbabwe's court raises age of consent for sex to 18 years

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court has ruled that the legal age of consent for sex should be raised to 18 from 16, a judgment welcomed by many in a country where rights groups say teen pregnancies are forcing hundreds of girls out of school. In a ruling...

Oklahoma governor signs transgender bathroom bill

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has signed a bill requiring public school students to use only the bathroom of the sex listed on their birth certificate. About a dozen conservative states have passed laws targeting the transgender population over bathroom use,...

Senate GOP blocks domestic terrorism bill that would have opened debate on gun measures after Texas school shooting