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Zelenskyy seeks aid from Washington gripped by Republican tumult
President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will use their meeting Thursday to press for sustained support to counter Russia’s war machine — with allies fearing that the conflict will drag on for years — just as hardline Republicans are threatening to halt additional aid.
Zelenskyy plans a pair of meetings with Biden ...Read more
Capitol Police agents strained to probe increasing threats against lawmakers
Capitol Police special agents responsible for vetting threats against members of Congress are inundated, leaving some investigations delayed for months and not enough time to monitor all the people they determine to be potentially dangerous.
An increase in recent years in the number of cases — which include threats and other concerning ...Read more
India suspends visas, Canada pulls diplomats amid tensions
Canada said it would reduce the number of diplomats in India due to security concerns, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government appeared to suspend visas for Canadians, as a diplomatic row escalated over the murder of a Sikh activist.
Global Affairs Canada said some diplomats have received threats on social media platforms, part of an...Read more
PEPFAR reauthorization debate highlights splits in GOP
A key HIV/AIDS program that has enjoyed bipartisan support for more than 20 years is highlighting a post-Roe split in the Republican Party.
Eight provisions within the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, that expire Sept. 30 are in jeopardy, entangled in an abortion debate that has some arguing the George W. Bush-crafted ...Read more
McCarthy revises plan to avert shutdown, flips some holdouts
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy won the support of a few hardliners Wednesday night in his effort to quell his restive right flank and pass a short-term spending bill, but the risk of a U.S. government shutdown remains high just 10 days before a funding lapse.
After a closed-door meeting that lasted more than two hours, the besieged speaker was ...Read more
Racial affirmative action at West Point is different than at other colleges
It was just a footnote in the U.S. Supreme Court’s majority decision barring race-based affirmative action admissions, but it goes to the heart of what’s frustrating about the ruling.
At the bottom of page 22, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote: “The United States as amicus curiae contends that race-based admissions programs further ...Read more
Internal LAPD reports show body camera misuse more widespread than chief alleges
For weeks after the Mission Division scandal broke in late August, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore repeatedly framed the growing crisis as an isolated problem of rogue gang officers who flouted LAPD regulations by turning off their body-worn cameras at critical moments.
Moore said there was no evidence so far that other units ...Read more

G20 summit proved naysayers wrong – and showed Global South's potential to address world's biggest problems
Skepticism was running high ahead of the 2023 summit of the Group of 20, or G20, held in New Delhi in early September. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that they would not attend. At one moment, it was touch and go whether U.S. President Joe Biden – whose wife, Jill, was ill with COVID-19 – would...Read more

Traffic tickets can be profitable, and fairness isn't the bottom line in city courts where judges impose the fines
When city governments spend more money than they take in, officials often search for ways to generate revenue. One increasingly common source of money is traffic tickets. And research shows police officers issue more traffic tickets when cities are financially in a deficit.
But police represent only one aspect of this revenue-...Read more

Kevin McCarthy's leadership is an open question as budget shutdown looms and GOP infighting takes center stage
What do you get when you combine a tiny legislative majority, a former president itching for influence and a rogue group of lawmakers who like making headlines? House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s hellish life these days. The pressure has been fierce on McCarthy to fashion an agreement with his caucus to stave off a government shutdown. But ...Read more

'Journey to the West': Why the classic Chinese novel's mischievous monkey – and his very human quest – has inspired centuries of adaptations
One summer afternoon in the late 1980s, my mother and I passed by a tea house on our trip out of town. The crowded building was usually a boisterous place filled with chatter, laughter, and the happy, clacking shuffle of mahjong tiles. At the moment we were passing, however, a great hush came over the teahouse: People were held spellbound by ...Read more

Paying for hostages' release involves moral risks − a political philosopher explains
Five Americans held as hostages by Iran have been returned to the United States following a political deal in which President Joe Biden agreed to unfreeze US$6 billion in Iranian funds held in South Korean banks in exchange for the prisoners.
Hostage-taking has been frequently used by both states and insurgent groups as a means to ...Read more

Q&A: As Pulse memorial falters, Las Vegas leader shares lessons in commemorating tragedy
After nearly four years in the design phase, plans for a memorial to honor the lives of those killed in the Las Vegas Strip massacre in October 2017—the nation’s deadliest mass shooting— have been approved by the Clark County commission earlier this month.
Meanwhile, plans for a memorial for the nation’s second-deadliest mass shooting, ...Read more

Hefty cigarette taxes cut smoking big-time. But there's a downside for children
COMPTON, Calif. -- California voters eked out a win for children more than two decades ago based on a "sin tax." Proposition 10 slapped cigarettes with a hefty surcharge to pressure smokers to give up their habit and used the money to improve the health and well-being of young children and their families.
It worked.
When the measure passed in ...Read more

States sweeten their offers to chipmakers to outdo one other
HILLSBORO, Ore. — “Oregon’s been at this for decades,” the governor’s office assures potential investors in its so-called Silicon Forest. The Lone Star State’s governor calls it a “race that Texas must win for our state, our workforce, our national security, and our future.” And New York’s governor boasts on the state’s ...Read more

After brutal 6-year overhaul, hope returns to young sailors aboard USS George Washington
The flight deck of the USS George Washington is already streaked with tire marks from aircraft landings just three months after the warship was welcomed back into the Navy fleet.
But as the carrier and its crew transition from a brutal six-year maintenance cycle, there is still much to be done to prepare for its next mission.
The Washington ...Read more

Questions remain as feds signal an end to DWP billing probe
LOS ANGELES — It was a shocking sight on a July morning in 2019: An FBI van parked outside Los Angeles City Hall and agents upstairs, scouring the headquarters of the city attorney's office.
The government was there to collect evidence in a complex criminal case growing out of a scandal that erupted years earlier at another powerful city ...Read more

With its two doctors planning to retire, an Alabama town patches together health care options
LaFAYETTE, Ala. — Charity Hodge had mixed feelings when she spotted a Facebook post announcing that her longtime primary care doctor was ready to retire after decades of serving their rural community.
“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, no!’” Hodge recalled while sitting in an exam room on a July afternoon, waiting to see the physician, Terry ...Read more

Project LIFE: Long-acting injectables to stop surging opioid deaths
CHICAGO -- Malachi Castner, 23, said he didn’t always sleep on the Blue Line train to avoid the cold and rain. He didn’t always start his day early by shooting up. He was once a teenager on his high school’s wrestling team.
But it was after he tweaked his back while wrestling an opponent as a junior in high school and a doctor prescribed ...Read more

After billionaire leveled lakefront bluffs, Chicago suburb considers whether to regulate, protect them
CHICAGO — The Winnetka, Illinois, Village Council hosted a study session to consider enacting regulations for bluff and steep slope construction and destruction after residents raised concerns about billionaire Justin Ishbia removing bluffs from his lakefront property.
Trustees debated whether to allow lakefront homeowners — many of whom ...Read more
Popular Stories
- Hefty cigarette taxes cut smoking big-time. But there's a downside for children
- After brutal 6-year overhaul, hope returns to young sailors aboard USS George Washington
- Q&A: As Pulse memorial falters, Las Vegas leader shares lessons in commemorating tragedy
- Florida's arrest of undocumented van driver escalates Mexico's tensions with DeSantis
- Colorado officers on trial as first of 3 cases brought in killing of Elijah McClain goes before jury