Watch live: Biden’s State of the Union addressVideo
President Joe Biden will deliver his first State of the Union address Tuesday night. But it comes at a challenging time for Biden, who is weighed down by public disapproval of his handling of the economy and the pandemic. The address also comes days after Russia opened war against Ukraine,...
California bar investigating Trump lawyer John Eastman for ethic breaches
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The State Bar of California says it is investigating well-known conservative attorney John Eastman for possible ethics violations after the one-time candidate for state attorney general argued former U.S. President Donald Trump could stay in office despite losing the 2020 election. Eastman, the former dean of Chapman...
GOP pushes to strip safety measures from West Virginia mining law
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia Republicans forged ahead Tuesday with an overhaul of mine safety regulation that would strip the state of its ability to cite coal companies for unsafe working conditions. They blocked an effort by Democrats to derail the measure. That came a day after dozens of miners...
Lawsuit: Texas investigating parents of transgender youth
The parents of a transgender teenager in Texas said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that the state is investigating them after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott ordered officials to look into reports of gender-confirming care for kids as abuse. The parents of the 16-year-old girl are asking a judge to block...
State of Union: Biden vows to check Russia, fight inflation
WASHINGTON — Addressing a concerned nation and anxious world, President Joe Biden vowed in his first State of the Union address Tuesday night to check Russian aggression in Ukraine, tame soaring U.S. inflation and deal with the fading but still dangerous coronavirus. Biden declared that he and all members of...
Wendy Rogers, Arizona Republican who backs white nationalism, is censured
The Arizona Senate voted Tuesday to censure Republican Wendy Rogers, whose embrace of white nationalism and calls for violence drew condemnation from across the political spectrum. Rogers is in her first term in elected office but has built a national profile among the far right with inflammatory rhetoric and vociferous...
GOP investigator: Wisconsin should weigh decertifying vote
MADISON — The Republican-hired investigator of Wisconsin’s 2020 election testified Tuesday that the state Legislature should “take a very hard look at the option of decertification of the 2020” presidential election, a move that GOP leaders reiterated they won’t make and that nonpartisan attorneys call illegal. Michael Gableman released a...
Russian radio station taken off air over Ukraine coverage
MOSCOW — A Russian radio station critical of the Kremlin was taken off the airwaves on Tuesday, its chief editor said and The Associated Press confirmed, after authorities threatened to shut it down over its coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The move against Echo Moskvy, one of Russia’s oldest...
Justices keep Pennsylvania’s mail-in voting law in place, at least for now
HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s mail-in voting law will remain in place, at least for the near future, despite a state judge’s order that would have made it expire in two weeks, the state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. The justices issued a one-paragraph order that overturned a Feb. 16 decision by Commonwealth...
Georgia Senate: Require in-person exams for abortion pills
A Georgia woman would have to be examined by a physician in person and sign a consent form before she could be prescribed abortion pills under a bill passed Tuesday by the state Senate. Senate Bill 456, which passed 31-22 on a party-line vote, is part of a nationwide push...
Judge: No FBI entrapment for 3 in Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer kidnap plot
JACKSON, Mich. — A judge ruled Tuesday that three men charged in a plot to kidnap Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer before the 2020 election were not entrapped by the FBI. The case against Joseph Morrison, Pete Musico and Paul Bellar will move forward to a tentatively scheduled pretrial examination...
Russian attack damages Kyiv Holocaust memorial
JERUSALEM — Holocaust remembrance organizations in Israel are condemning a Russian attack that inflicted damage to the Babi Yar Holocaust memorial. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid issued a statement denouncing the incident, and said Israel would help repair any damage. “We are calling for the preservation and respect for this...
Justices seem to favor doctors convicted in pain pill schemes
WASHINGTON — In a case stemming from the opioid addiction crisis, the Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared ready to side with two imprisoned doctors who wrote thousands of prescriptions for pain medication in short periods. The justices signaled they would rule that the doctors’ trials were unfair because they were...
Bill to require Holocaust lessons in Nebraska schools advances
LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska public schools would have to teach lessons about the Holocaust and other episodes of genocide under a bill advanced by lawmakers on Tuesday. Lawmakers gave the measure initial approval on a 44-0 vote, despite some questions about which specific moments in history could be defined as...
A target of Trump’s ire, Raffensperger fights for reelection in Georgia
ATLANTA — As former President Donald Trump sought to lay blame for his 2020 election loss, Georgia’s secretary of state emerged as one of his main targets. Now, with a Trump-endorsed challenger in the Republican primary, Brad Raffensperger is fighting to keep his job. The secretary of state emerged from...
Activism grows nationwide in response to school book bans
Until a year ago, Stephana Ferrell’s political activism was limited to the occasional letter to elected officials. Then came her local school board meeting in Orange County, Florida and an objection raised to Maia Kobabe’s graphic novel “Gender Queer: A Memoir.” And the county’s decision last fall to remove it...
Russian forces step up attacks on Ukraine’s civilian areas
KYIV, Ukraine — Russian forces stepped up their attacks on crowded urban areas Tuesday, bombarding the central square in Ukraine’s second-biggest city and Kyiv’s main TV tower in what Ukraine’s president called a blatant campaign of terror. “Nobody will forgive. Nobody will forget,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed after the bloodshed...
Nations agree to release 60 million barrels of oil amid war
FRANKFURT, Germany — All 31 countries that are members of the International Energy Agency have agreed to release 60 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves “to send a strong message to oil markets” that there will be “no shortfall in supplies” as a result of Russia’s invasion of...
New Orleans hosts its 1st full-dress Mardi Gras since 2020
NEW ORLEANS — Revelers decked out in traditional purple, green and gold came out to party on Fat Tuesday in New Orleans’ first full-dress Mardi Gras since 2020. The fun includes back-to-back parades across the city and marches through the French Quarter and beyond, with masks against covid-19 required only...
Photo gallery: Ukraine continues to endure, fight Russian attacks
KYIV, Ukraine — Day 6 of the biggest ground war in Europe since World War II saw Russian forces bombard the central square in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and other civilian sites Tuesday. “Nobody will forgive. Nobody will forget,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said condemning Russia’s attacks as a blatant campaign...
Man gets 41 years for killing, dismembering daughter
BALTIMORE — A 68-year-old man was sentenced Monday to 41 years for the murder of his daughter, whose dismembered remains were left at a dumpster. Malik Samartaney, previously known as Lawrence Banks, was convicted in October of second-degree murder and unauthorized disposal of a body in the May 2019 slaying...
Diplomats walk out of UN meetings in protest of RussiaVideo
GENEVA — Scores of diplomats have walked out of two meetings at the United Nations in Geneva in which Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was beamed in for a video statement, as a protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Lavrov spoke by video to the Conference on Disarmament and the...
Police say Pa. woman attacked pregnant woman for having to wait for a ride home
A Cumberland County resident attacked a pregnant woman and told her “I’ll kill you and I’ll kill your baby” after she was told she’d have to wait 20 minutes to get a ride home, Pennsylvania State Police said. Margarita Maldonado, 30, was staying with the pregnant woman for a couple...
Pope gives fathers working at Vatican 3-day paternity leave
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has decided to grant a three-day paternity leave to new fathers who work at the Vatican. In a law published Tuesday, Francis amended the Vatican’s family leave policy, which sets out the benefits for Vatican employees who have children or must care for family members....
Texas primary sets up Abbott-O’Rourke race as midterms begin
AUSTIN — Republican Gov. Greg Abbott will face Democrat Beto O’Rourke after voters in Texas opened what could be a lengthy, bruising primary season poised to reshape political power from state capitals to Washington. Both easily won their party’s nomination for governor on Tuesday. Abbott is now in a commanding...
