Новости за 29.06.2023

Kansas’ Democratic governor says the state will keep allowing residents to change official documents to reflect their gender identities. Gov. Laura Kelly issued that statement Thursday despite a new state law aimed at preventing transgender people from altering their driver’s licenses and birth certificates. Kelly said attorneys disagree with a legal opinion issued this week by Republican state Attorney General Kris Kobach. He has said he might sue her if she refused to comply. The new law set to... Читать дальше...

Former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for his role in the largest corruption scandal in state history. The 64-year-old Republican is expected to appeal U.S. District Judge Timothy Black’s Thursday ruling. A jury convicted Householder and lobbyist Matt Borges, ex-chair of the Ohio Republican Party, of racketeering in April. Jurors found Householder orchestrated a $60 million bribery scheme secretly funded by Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp. to secure the speakership... Читать дальше...

A divided Supreme Court has struck down affirmative action in college admissions, declaring race cannot be a factor and forcing institutions of higher education to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies. The court’s conservative majority effectively overturned cases reaching back 45 years in invalidating admissions plans at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, the nation’s oldest private and public colleges, respectively. The decision, like last year’s momentous abortion ruling that overturned Roe v. Читать дальше...

NATO members have reached a tentative agreement to ask Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg to remain head of the 31-member transatlantic alliance for another year. That's according to a U.S. official familiar with the decision. The official says the move still needs to be finalized by alliance members, but the much-anticipated decision to formally ask Stoltenberg to extend his tenure for another year is expected to happen relatively soon. NATO members are scheduled to meet for their annual summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11-12.

A team of Italian researchers has reached the edge of space, flying aboard Virgin Galactic’s rocket-powered plane. They launched Thursday morning from Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert and climbed to a peak altitude of more than 52 miles. Now, Virgin Galactic will be flying the first of hundreds of ticket holders, many who have been waiting years for their chance to experience a few minutes of weightlessness. Those commercial flights are expected to begin in August. Thursday's flight was a research mission... Читать дальше...

Three Florida men have been charged with making $22 million illegally by insider trading ahead of the public announcement that an acquisition firm was going to take ex-President Donald Trump's media company public. The charges were outlined Thursday in papers unsealed in federal court in New York and do not implicate Trump in any way. The court papers say the men were invited to invest in Digital World Acquisition Corp. and were provided confidential information about it and another special purpose acquisition company... Читать дальше...

Americans 60 and older can get a new RSV vaccine but should discuss it with their doctor first. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that those eligible for the newly approved vaccines should talk with their doctor to see if it is right for them. Two vaccines are expected to be ready in the fall. RSV is a common cause of cold-like symptoms. But it can be dangerous for infants and the elderly. The CDC says adults with chronic heart or lung disease, weakened immune systems and... Читать дальше...

NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street is shaky Thursday as investors consider both the upsides and downsides of the latest signals that the U.S. economy remains in much better shape than feared.

A German rail workers’ union says it’s prepared to take a long-running pay dispute with the main national railway operator to arbitration, which should head off strikes during the summer vacation period. The EVG union said Thursday that it will discuss an arbitration process with state-owned railway operator Deutsche Bahn. Talks between EVG and Deutsche Bahn broke down last week. The union then announced a ballot on open-ended strike action. That announcement came as schools closed for the summer in parts of Germany. Читать дальше...

Poland’s prime minister says his country will not be forced to accept European Union migration rules. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is also vowing to veto any plan that might force countries to take in refugees. EU nations made a breakthrough on asylum law reform earlier this month. They sealed an agreement on a plan to share responsibility for migrants entering Europe without authorization. Countries refusing to take migrants in could pay money or offer other support instead. Poland and Hungary... Читать дальше...

Republicans who control the Wisconsin Senate, in a surprise move, are proceeding with trying to force a vote on firing the state’s nonpartisan top elections official before the 2024 presidential election. The Senate voted Wednesday night to move ahead at a later date with a public hearing, and ultimately a confirmation vote, on the reappointment of Megan Wolfe for a second term overseeing elections in the presidential battleground state. The move came a day after Democrats on the Wisconsin Elections... Читать дальше...

Police have released video footage of an officer killing a neo-Nazi gunman and quickly ending a mass shooting that left eight people dead and seven others wounded at a Dallas-area shopping mall.

Fender, the guitar of choice for some of the world’s biggest stars from Jimi Hendrix to Eric Clapton, is opening what it calls its “first flagship store” in its 77-year history. The American guitar manufacturer has chosen for its location Tokyo’s Harajuku, a hot spot for Japanese youngsters who love animation, outlandish fashion and, of course, American music. Asia-Pacific is on track to become the biggest music market in the world by 2030, and more stores are planned for the region. Fender’s Japan... Читать дальше...

UNESCO’s 193 members states are gathering for a two-day meeting in Paris aimed at voting on the United States’ plans to rejoin the U.N. cultural and scientific agency. The U.S. withdrew from the agency five years ago, during Donald Trump's presidency. U.S. officials say the decision to return was motivated by concern that China is filling the gap left by the U.S. in UNESCO policymaking. The U.S. and Israel stopped financing UNESCO after it voted to include Palestine as a member state in 2011. The... Читать дальше...

Japan and South Korea have agreed to revive a currency swap agreement for times of crisis. The move is the latest sign of warming ties as the countries work to smooth over historical antagonisms. Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki announced the agreement after meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Choo Kyungho. Suzuki emphasized that Japan is fully prepared to deal with fluctuations in the Japanese yen, which has weakened sharply against the U.S. dollar in the past year. Earlier this week... Читать дальше...

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says the central bank may have to tighten its oversight of the American financial system after the failure of three large U.S. banks this spring. Powell said Thursday that tougher regulations put in place following the 2007-2008 financial crisis have made large multinational banks much more resilient to widespread loan defaults. But Powell says the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and two other banks exposed different vulnerabilities that the Fed will likely address through new proposals. Читать дальше...

Nearly 200 former content moderators for Facebook are suing the company and a local contractor in a court case in Kenya that could have implications for the work worldwide. They are the first known moderators outside the United States to lodge such a complaint. The former employees from several African countries allege poor working conditions including low pay and insufficient mental health support. They say they are haunted by the graphic videos and other content they watched so the rest of the world wouldn't have to. Читать дальше...

California Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon is preparing to step down. Rendon will hand over the gavel to Assemblymember Robert Rivas on Friday. Rendon is the second-longest serving Assembly speaker in state history. He's not happy about the way he's leaving office. He said Rivas' efforts to replace him were embarrassing for the institution. Rivas' spokesperson noted the Democratic caucus twice elected Rivas to be the next speaker. Miller thanked Rendon for his leadership. Rendon is termed out of his Assembly seat in 2024. Читать дальше...

Norfolk Southern’s CEO has spoken often of safety and better service since he took the job over a year ago, but it’s safety that has dominated discussions after one of his trains derailed and caught fire in February in Ohio. Alan Shaw has said his plans include adding more detectors to spot mechanical problems and has hailed cooperation with unions. But labor leaders remain skeptical. Shaw has told The Associated Press in an interview of details on his plans for the railroad. He says, “I need all... Читать дальше...

Forecasters say the only break much of America can hope for anytime soon from eye-watering dangerous smoke from fire-struck Canada is brief bouts of shirt-soaking sweltering heat and humidity from a southern heat wave that has already proven deadly. Even then the smoke will likely come back to the Midwest and East. That’s because neither the 235 out-of-control Canadian wildfires nor the stuck weather pattern that’s responsible for this mess of meteorological maladies are stubbornly showing no signs of relenting for the next week or longer. Читать дальше...

Former President Donald Trump’s criminal indictment on charges of mishandling government secrets appears to have dented his popularity among Republicans — but only slightly. That's according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Sixty percent of Republicans now have a favorable view of Trump. That number is down slightly from April, when 68% of Republicans said they had a favorable view of the 2024 GOP presidential front-runner. The poll found 38% of Republicans have an unfavorable view of Trump... Читать дальше...

President Joe Biden has cozied up to high-dollar donors at posh Upper East Side penthouses and on West Coast decks gussied up with floral arrangements and flags in recent weeks. He has two more fundraisers in New York on Thursday that will close out an end-of-quarter campaign blitz his team believes will put him on strong financial footing for a contest they expect to set new spending records. While the first quarter is widely viewed as a benchmark of campaign strength, Jeffrey Katzenberg, the Hollywood mogul... Читать дальше...

An appeals court has denied a new trial request from a longtime Texas death row inmate whose supporters say there is evidence to back his claims of innocence. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday accepted a 2021 recommendation from a lower court judge, who had ruled against several claims made by Rodney Reed, including that he's innocent. Reed was condemned for the 1996 killing of 19-year-old Stacey Stites. Prosecutors say Reed raped and strangled Stites as she went to work in the rural community of Bastrop. Читать дальше...

Federal judges in Kentucky and Tennessee on Wednesday blocked portions of bans on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, handing down the rulings just days before the statutes were set to go into effect. The ruling is similar to roadblocks that federal courts have thrown up against Republican-dominant states in their pursuit to prevent young people from receiving transgender health care. The judges blocked portions of the law that would have banned transgender youth from accessing puberty blockers and hormone therapy.

A major railroad company is trying to convince a federal jury that a Montana clinic submitted hundreds of asbestos claims for people who weren’t sick, bilking taxpayer funds. BNSF Railway was earlier found liable for spreading hazardous asbestos that officials say killed hundreds of people in the Montana community of Libby. The new case focuses on the Center for Asbestos Related Disease. The clinic has certified more than 3,400 people with asbestos-related diseases since 2003. BNSF alleged more than... Читать дальше...