Top General News
GOP ready to block elections bill in Senate showdown
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democrats’ expansive elections and voting bill is all but certain to be rejected in a key test vote in the Senate, providing a dramatic example of Republicans’ use of the filibuster to block legislation and forcing hard questions for Democrats over next steps. ...
Iran's election unsettles Biden's hope for a nuclear deal
WASHINGTON (AP) — Biden administration officials are insisting that the election of a hard-liner as Iran’s president won’t affect prospects for reviving the faltering 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran. But there are already signs that their goal of locking in a deal just got tougher. ...
Watchdog: Nursing home deaths up 32% in 2020 amid pandemic
WASHINGTON (AP) — Deaths among Medicare patients in nursing homes soared by 32% last year, with two devastating spikes eight months apart, a government watchdog reported Tuesday in the most comprehensive look yet at the ravages of COVID-19 among its most vulnerable victims. ...
White House: 70% of Americans 30 or older get COVID-19 shot
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 70% of Americans age 30 or older have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, the White House said, even as President Joe Biden is set to fall short of reaching his goal of giving a shot to the same percentage of all American adults by Independence Day....
Background checks blocked a record high 300,000 gun sales
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The number of people stopped from buying guns through the U.S. background check system hit an all-time high of more than 300,000 last year amid a surge of firearm sales, according to new records obtained by the group Everytown for Gun Safety. The...
How Big Tech created a data 'treasure trove' for police
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — When U.S. law enforcement officials need to cast a wide net for information, they’re increasingly turning to the vast digital ponds of personal data created by Big Tech companies via the devices and online services that have hooked billions of people around the...
EXPLAINER: Ranked choice voting gets big test in NYC
NEW YORK (AP) — Ranked choice voting makes its debut in New York City's mayoral primary Tuesday in one of the most high-profile tests yet for a system gaining use in pockets across the U.S. The system is based on a simple premise: Democracy works better if people...
Palestinians, settlers clash in tense Jerusalem neighborhood
JERUSALEM (AP) — Palestinians and Jewish settlers hurled stones, chairs and fireworks at each other overnight in a tense Jerusalem neighborhood where settler groups are trying to evict several Palestinian families, officials said Tuesday. The threatened evictions fueled...
Catalan separatists eye freedom after Spain's Cabinet pardon
MADRID (AP) — Nine Catalan separatist leaders jailed for sedition were eyeing freedom, after Spain’s Cabinet pardoned them Tuesday in the hope of starting what Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called a much-needed reconciliation in the country’s restive northeast. ...
UEFA declines Munich application for rainbow-colored stadium
MUNICH (AP) — German soccer clubs are banding together to display rainbow colors during the country’s match against Hungary at the European Championship after UEFA rejected host city Munich’s plan to do the same. Bundesliga clubs in Bremen, Frankfurt, Cologne,...
Latest General News
'Serious racial disparities' in Pennsylvania juvenile court
Pennsylvania locks up far too many first-time and low-level youth offenders, with Black youth in particular disproportionately yanked from their homes and prosecuted as adults, according to a task force that made recommendations to reform the state’s juvenile justice system. ...
Spanish film festival shifts to gender neutral awards
MADRID (AP) — Spain’s San Sebastián International Film Festival announced Tuesday that its acting awards will this year be gender neutral for the first time. The Silver Shell for best actor and best actress are to be replaced by the Silver Shell for best leading...
School resource officer 1 of 3 killed in Colorado shooting
DENVER (AP) — A police officer who was one of three people killed in a shooting at a suburban Denver shopping district was a school resource officer known for developing relationships with students, city officials said. Police have not explained what started Monday's...
Supreme Court upholds expansion of Newark charter schools
New Jersey's Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the state's decision to allow the expansion of seven charter schools in Newark, rejecting a challenge that argued it would hinder the ability of students in traditional public schools to get a quality education. The lawsuit...
Almost 900 Secret Service employees were infected with COVID
WASHINGTON (AP) — Roughly 900 U.S. Secret Service employees tested positive for the coronavirus, according to government records obtained by a government watchdog group. Secret Service records show that 881 people on the agency payroll were diagnosed with COVID-19...
Inmate charged in death of prisoner at St. Joseph prison
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — An inmate has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of another prisoner at the Western Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in St. Joseph. Akwasi Sawyer, 41, was charged last week with involuntary manslaughter in the...
Wisconsin Republicans to send election bills to governor
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Assembly planned to send bills to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers on Tuesday that would limit opportunities for absentee voting, make it more difficult for the elderly and disabled to cast absentee ballots, and prohibit officials from filling in missing...
A last push, then a long wait in NYC mayoral primary
NEW YORK (AP) — Thirteen Democrats and two Republicans engaged in a last effort to rally supporters Tuesday as voters cast their ballots in New York City's mayoral primary, the first citywide election to use ranked choice voting. Several candidates in the race to...
EXPLAINER: Ranked choice voting gets big test in NYC
NEW YORK (AP) — Ranked choice voting makes its debut in New York City's mayoral primary Tuesday in one of the most high-profile tests yet for a system gaining use in pockets across the U.S. The system is based on a simple premise: Democracy works better if people...
Forced by judge to surrender rifle, McCloskey has a new one
ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis lawyer and U.S. Senate candidate Mark McCloskey may have been forced to give up his old semi-automatic rifle, but now, he has a new one. McCloskey on Saturday posted on Twitter of photo of himself posing with an AR-15 at a gun store. “Check...
