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DA will retry Harvey Weinstein after appeals court overturns NY rape conviction

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NEW YORK — Manhattan prosecutors on Wednesday told a judge they will retry disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein following the overturning of his rape and sexual assault conviction and will be ready for trial as soon as this fall.

The decision was announced by prosecutors from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office at a hearing...Read more

Jeff Bachner/New York Daily News/TNS

Over 100 pro-Palestinian protesters arrested during NYPD raid of Columbia University

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NEW YORK — Over 100 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested when an army of NYPD cops stormed Columbia University to end the seizure of a school building where all the doors had been barricaded with bicycle locks, officials said Wednesday.

Officers, some wielding chainsaws, climbed in through windows Tuesday night to enter Columbia’s ...Read more

Spencer Platt/Getty Images North America/TNS

NYPD cops hoist US flag at City College after school worker tosses away Palestinian flag

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NEW YORK — Cops including two high-ranking NYPD officials proudly hoisted an American flag — and a school worker pulled down and tossed away a Palestinian flag — after evicting protesters encamped at City College, video posted by the department shows.

Kaz Daughtry, the NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner for Operations, posted the video early ...Read more

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images North America/TNS

Mitt Romney insists he's no dog killer, unlike South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem

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Mitt Romney says he resents being compared to South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem after she bragged about killing a pet dog over its troublesome behavior.

The former Republican presidential standard-bearer insisted that he did nothing nearly so cruel as Noem by strapping a pet dog to the roof of his car, a much-mocked episode from his 2012 White ...Read more

Saul Loeb/Getty Images of North America/TNS

Biden rips Trump over abortion as draconian Florida ban goes into effect

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President Biden ripped former President Trump over abortion on Wednesday, the same day a draconian ban went into effect in Florida.

Biden derided his White House rival for giving his blessing to Republican-run states that have enacted ever-stricter restrictions on abortion since the conservative Supreme Court rolled back the Roe v. Wade ...Read more

Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS

UCLA cancels classes after counterprotesters violently attack pro-Palestinian camp

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LOS ANGELES — University administrators canceled classes at UCLA on Wednesday, hours after violence broke out at a pro-Palestinian encampment set up on campus.

Just before midnight, a large group of counterdemonstrators, wearing black outfits and white masks, arrived on campus and tried to tear down the barricades surrounding the encampment. ...Read more

Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel/TNS

Florida's new abortion ban goes into effect, but voters will decide its future

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MIAMI — Democrats and abortion-access advocates have been warning for months of an impending voter backlash against Republicans who backed Florida’s six-week ban on the procedure. Now, it’s time to find out whether they’re right or wrong.

The six-week ban, which was quietly signed into law last year by Gov. Ron DeSantis, went into force...Read more

Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Marjorie Taylor Greene to call for vote on Speaker Johnson's ouster next week

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WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she is ready to call for a vote to remove Mike Johnson as House speaker, even if it ultimately fails with Democrats’ help.

Greene, at times angry and cursing during a Wednesday morning news conference on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, said Johnson is a weak leader who has allowed the ...Read more

Fletcher Page/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS

University of Georgia police report includes more protest arrest details

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ATLANTA — Nine University of Georgia students were among the 16 people arrested Monday for trespassing at an Israel-Gaza protest on the university campus, according to the UGA police department.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported 10 students were arrested. However, one person was a UGA graduate, not a current student, ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

United Methodists strike decades long ban on ordination of LGBTQ clergy

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There were tears, hugs, prayer and singing in Charlotte, North Carolina, after the United Methodist Church removed a line prohibiting the ordination of LGBTQ clergy that had been in place since 1984.

According to Unite Methodist News, delegates - without debate - voted 692 to 51 for the changes on the day’s consent calendar, which enabled the...Read more

Ken Murray/New York Daily News/TNS

Probe of NYC mayoral adviser Timothy Pearson broadens in wake of harassment allegation

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NEW YORK — A city Department of Investigation probe of mayoral adviser Timothy Pearson has been expanded to include his role in NYPD personnel and promotional matters concerning officers involved in two lawsuits accusing him of sexual harassment and retaliation, the New York Daily News has learned.

DOI probers have asked the NYPD for a wide ...Read more

Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News/TNS

Feds announce student loan relief for former Art Institute students

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The White House announced Wednesday the approval of more than $6.1 billion in automatic student loan relief to nearly 317,000 borrowers who enrolled at any Art Institute campus between January 2004 through October 2017.

The U.S. Department of Education found that The Art Institutes and its parent company, Education Management Corporation, “...Read more

Fed flags lack of inflation progress but signals hikes unlikely

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The Federal Reserve signaled fresh concerns about inflation while indicating it was likely to keep borrowing costs elevated for longer rather than raising them again.

Officials unanimously decided Wednesday to leave the target range for the benchmark federal funds rate at 5.25% to 5.5% — where it’s been since July — following a slew of ...Read more

Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Amid continued demonstrations, swastika drawn on USC's campus

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LOS ANGELES — In the midst of tense demonstrations at USC over the war in Gaza, officials found a swastika drawn on a campus fence.

"Clearly it was drawn there just to incite even more anger at a time that is so painful for our community," USC President Carol Folt wrote in a statement on Instagram. "I condemn any antisemitic symbols or any ...Read more

Mexico emerges as a destination for Americans seeking reproductive health services – not for the first time

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When its six-week abortion ban went into effect on May 1, 2024, Florida joined nearly two dozen other U.S. states that ban abortion or greatly restrict it.

These laws came into effect after the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade ended nearly 50 years of the constitutional right to abortion in the United States....Read more

Power outages linked to heat and storms are rising, and low-income communities are most at risk, as a new NYC study shows

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Many Americans think of power outages as infrequent inconveniences, but that’s quickly changing. Nationwide, major power outages have increased tenfold since 1980, largely because of an aging electrical grid and damage sustained from severe storms as the planet warms.

At the same time, electricity demand is rising as the population ...Read more

Baby orangutan born at Tampa's Busch Gardens via C-section was a rare feat

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TAMPA, Fla. — Luna loved the ultrasound game.

The 26-year-old orangutan at Busch Gardens would come up to the mesh screening that separates the primates from the humans that care for them and happily present her belly.

Dr. Maria Spriggs, chief veterinarian at Busch Gardens, would use that play time to put an ultrasound probe on Luna’s ...Read more

Barbara Haddock Taylor/The Baltimore Sun/TNS

Maryland officials award $3 million to Baltimore man who spent 31 years wrongfully imprisoned

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BALTIMORE — Maryland officials on Wednesday awarded more than $3 million to a Baltimore man who served 31 years in prison before he was exonerated, one of the largest payments under a 2021 law that reformed how the state compensates people who have been wrongfully convicted.

Gary Washington, 63, met privately with Gov. Wes Moore and then ...Read more

Arvin Temkar/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS

Georgia Gov. Kemp signs bill requiring sheriffs to enforce federal immigration law

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ATLANTA — Sheriffs in Georgia will now be required to coordinate with federal immigration officials when someone in custody is suspected of being in the country without permission.

Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday signed House Bill 1105, requiring jailers to hold any suspect who is believed to be in the country without legal permission if that ...Read more

Kat Wade/Getty Images North America/TNS

Navy in court over Pearl Harbor water contamination

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WASHINGTON — Not since the dark day at Pearl Harbor that drew America into World War II has there been so much trouble in paradise, as the U.S. naval base on the Hawaiian island of Oahu is sometimes described.

A gusher of jet fuel that leaked into the base’s drinking water in November 2021 led to a lawsuit that forced the Navy to admit it ...Read more