Justices to Meet for 1st Time Since Leak of Draft Roe Ruling

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The Supreme Court’s nine justices will gather in private Thursday for their first scheduled meeting since the leak of a draft opinion that would overrule Roe v. Wade and sharply curtail abortion rights in roughly half the states. The meeting in the justices’ private, wood-paneled conference room could be a tense affair in a setting noted for its decorum. No one aside from the justices attends and the most junior among them, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, is responsible for taking notes. Thursday’s conference comes at an especially fraught moment, with the future of abortion rights at stake and an investigationmore

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Biden Congratulates Marcos on Philippines Election Win

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U.S. President Joe Biden has congratulated Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for winning the presidential election in the Philippines. The White House said Wednesday U.S. President Joe Biden called to congratulate Ferdinando Marcos Jr. for winning the presidential election in the Philippines.  Marcos, who is colloquially known as “Bongbong,” claimed victory Wednesday as a near-complete initial count of votes put him far ahead of his closest challenger. “President Biden underscored that he looks forward to working with the President-elect to continue strengthening the U.S.-Philippine Alliance, while expanding bilateral cooperation on a wide range of issues, including the fight against COVID-19, addressing themore

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Women Settle Lawsuit Against Liberty University, Documents Say

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A settlement has been reached in a lawsuit twelve women brought last summer against Liberty University, accusing the Christian institution of fostering an unsafe environment on its Virginia campus and mishandling cases of sexual assault and harassment, according to court documents filed Wednesday.  A notice of dismissal filed by the plaintiffs’ attorney, Jack Larkin, said the case had been settled but provided no details about the terms.  Larkin did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. But in an email to TV station WDBJ, he said: “The terms of the settlement are confidential in naturemore

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Cornell University Event Calls for School’s Disentanglement With Chinese Partners

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   The tweeted invitation for a teach-in at Cornell University featured a photograph of “Pillar of Shame,” a sculpture that commemorates the deadly 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, which authorities removed from Hong Kong University last year. The topic: “Academic Freedom, Global Hubs and Cornell Involvement in the People’s Republic of China.” The speakers: Three Cornell University academics with China-related specialties and Yaqiu Wang, a senior researcher on China at Human Rights Watch. The event was organized as a rebuke to the university’s growing involvement in China and reflected a broader trend of calls for colleges and universities to cut tiesmore

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Ukraine Cites Gains Pushing Russia Out of Kharkiv 

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Ukrainian officials said the country’s forces have made gains in pushing Russian forces out of Kharkiv, a city in northeastern Ukraine that has been under attack since Russia launched its invasion in late February.  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cautiously offered what he called “good news” in an address late Tuesday, saying “the occupiers are gradually being pushed away.”  “But I also want to urge all our people … not to spread excessive emotions,” Zelenskyy said. “We should not create an atmosphere of excessive moral pressure, where victories are expected weekly and even daily.”  The Ukrainian leader also tweeted his appreciationmore

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US House Passes $40 Billion Bill to Bolster Ukraine Against Russian Invasion

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The U.S. House of Representatives approved more than $40 billion more aid for Ukraine on Tuesday, as Congress races to keep military aid flowing and boost the government in Kyiv as it grapples with the Russian invasion. The House passed the Ukraine spending bill by 368 to 57, with every ‘no’ vote coming from Republicans. The measure now heads to the Senate, which is expected to act quickly. President Joe Biden had asked Congress to approve an additional $33 billion in aid for Ukraine two weeks ago, but lawmakers decided to increase the military and humanitarian funding. “This bill willmore

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McConnell, Utah Leaders Honor ‘Larger Than Life’ Orrin Hatch

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell paid tribute to the late Sen. Orrin Hatch on Friday, celebrating the Utah icon as a principled conservative, committed public servant and man of faith. Two weeks after Hatch died at age 88 from complications stemming from a stroke, McConnell joined Hatch’s family, friends, former colleagues and leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to memorialize the seven-term U.S. senator at a ceremony held at a chapel at the Institute of Religion in Salt Lake City. “Each piece of legislation Orrin crafted was like a handwritten note. Every bill was an Orrinmore

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US Judge Dismisses Trump’s Lawsuit Challenging His Twitter Ban

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A U.S. judge on Friday dismissed former President Donald Trump’s lawsuit against Twitter Inc. that challenged his suspension from the platform. In a written ruling, U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco rejected Trump’s argument that Twitter violated his right to freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Twitter and other social media platforms banned Trump from their services after a mob of his supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol in a deadly riot on Jan. 6, 2021. That assault followed a speech by Trump in which he reiterated false claims that his election lossmore

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White House Announces New Press Secretary

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Karine Jean-Pierre will be the new White House Press Secretary starting May 13, the White House announced Thursday.  Jean-Pierre, who is currently deputy press secretary, will replace Jen Psaki who has served as press secretary since President Joe Biden became president.  “Karine not only brings the experience, talent and integrity needed for this difficult job, but she will continue to lead the way in communicating about the work of the Biden-Harris Administration on behalf of the American people. Jill and I have known and respected Karine a long time and she will be a strong voice speaking for me andmore

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US Voters Predict Republicans Will Make Gains in Midterm

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With rising inflation, an ongoing pandemic, a Russian war in Ukraine and now a looming Supreme Court ruling on abortion, the stakes are high as Americans prepare to go to the polls in November for midterm elections. “I have so many friends who are struggling right now,” said Brandon Legnion, a nurse in New Orleans, Louisiana. “Friends who can barely afford the gas they need to get themselves to job sites. I think a lot of them are going to be eager to vote and express displeasure at the way the country is being run.” The midterms not only markmore

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Explainer: The Leak of Supreme Court’s Draft Roe v. Wade Reversal

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Late Monday, the American news website Politico dropped a bombshell: A draft of a Supreme Court majority opinion it had obtained revealed that the court was set to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that legalized abortion in the United States in 1973. The leak of a highly anticipated court opinion, unprecedented in modern history, set off a political firestorm in Washington and protests across the country. Democrats denounced the leaked draft decision as “the greatest restriction of rights in over 50 years” and vowed to pass legislation to protect abortion rights. Republicans cheered the reported opinion written bymore

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DC Reaches $750,000 Settlement in Trump Inauguration Lawsuit

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Former President Donald Trump’s businesses and inaugural committee have reached a deal to pay Washington, D.C., $750,000 to resolve a lawsuit that alleged the committee overpaid for events at his hotel and enriched the former president’s family in the process, according to the District of Columbia’s attorney general.  Attorney General Karl Racine announced the settlement agreement in the case against the Presidential Inaugural Committee, the Trump Organization and the Trump International Hotel in Washington in a tweet on Tuesday. The document had not yet been signed by a judge.  The agreement says the case is being resolved “to avoid themore

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Report: Draft Opinion Shows US Supreme Court to Overturn Abortion Rights

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In a rare leak from the highest court in the U.S., Politico reported it has obtained a draft Supreme Court opinion showing a majority of the court in favor of striking down the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.  The document, labeled as a “1st Draft” by Justice Samuel Alito and circulated among the other justices in February, represents a breach in the highly secretive deliberation process among the justices in which their decisions are unknown until the rulings are officially issued.  Those positions can change during the deliberation process, even after the drafting of a majoritymore

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Trump: Republican Political Kingmaker or Political Meddler?

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Is former U.S. President Donald Trump a Republican political kingmaker or just a political meddler?  The first answers are coming in the month of May.   The United States is about to get its first significant reading on how much political clout Trump retains over the Republican Party 16 months after he played a role in hundreds of his supporters storming the U.S. Capitol to protest his 2020 election defeat and then left Washington as Democrat Joe Biden became president.  Trump, who retains a wide Republican following, to this day claims he was cheated out another four-year term in themore

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Biden Calls Former VP Mondale ‘Giant’ of Political History 

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President Joe Biden saluted his “friend of five decades” Walter Mondale on Sunday, traveling to the University of Minnesota to remember the former vice president and Democratic Party elder whose memorial service was delayed for a year due to the pandemic.  Mondale died in April 2021 at age 93. He is credited with transforming the office of the vice presidency — which Biden himself held for eight years under President Barack Obama — expanding its responsibilities and making himself a key adviser to President Jimmy Carter.  Mondale “was a giant in American political history,” Biden said of Mondale, known tomore

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Biden Roasts Trump, GOP, Himself at Correspondents’ Dinner

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The White House press corps’ annual gala returned Saturday night along with the roasting of Washington, the journalists who cover it and the man at the helm: President Joe Biden. The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, sidelined by the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, featured Biden as the first president in six years to accept an invitation. Donald Trump shunned the event while in office. “Just imagine if my predecessor came to this dinner this year,” Biden told an audience of 2,600, among them journalists, government officials and celebrities. “Now that would really have been a real coup.” The presidentmore

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White House Correspondents Dinner Returns, With Biden Headlining

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U.S. President Joe Biden will resume a Washington tradition by speaking at the White House Correspondents Association dinner on Saturday night, the first president to speak at the annual event since 2016. After being canceled for two years due to COVID-19 pandemic and boycotted by Donald Trump during his presidency, the event returns with gusto this year, featuring remarks by comedian Trevor Noah. More than 20 WHCA-related parties are being staged around Washington before and after the major event on Saturday night and several senior administration officials will attend as well as a smattering of celebrities from the entertainment world.more

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US Seeks Authority to Give Seized Russian Assets to Ukraine

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The Biden administration is asking Congress for additional legal authority to make it easier for the U.S. government to seize Russian government and oligarch assets and transfer the proceeds to Ukraine. The White House released the package of legislative changes Thursday as President Joe Biden asked Congress for $33 billion in additional aid for Ukraine as it seeks to fend off a devastating Russian invasion, now in its third month. If enacted, the proposed measures would “establish new authorities for the forfeiture of property linked to Russian kleptocracy, allow the government to link the proceeds to support Ukraine, and furthermore

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