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  • Supreme Court punts on Florida, Texas social media laws

    Supreme Court punts on Florida, Texas social media laws

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    The Supreme Court on Monday kicked legal challenges to Florida and Texas laws seeking to restrict how social media companies regulate content back down to lower courts to sort out questions surrounding the First Amendment. 

    While the details vary, both laws aimed to address conservative complaints that the social media companies like Facebook, TikTok and X were liberal-leaning and censored users based on their viewpoints, especially on the political right. The cases are among several this term in which the justices are wrestling with standards for free speech in the digital age.

    What You Need To Know

    • The Supreme Court is keeping a hold on efforts in Texas and Florida to limit how Facebook, TikTok, X, YouTube and other social media platforms regulate content posted by their users
    • The court Monday returned the cases to lower courts in challenges to the law from trade associations representing the platforms
    • The cases are among several this term in which the justices are wrestling with standards for free speech in the digital age
    • The Texas and Florida laws were signed by Republican governors in the months following decisions by Facebook and Twitter to cut then-President Donald Trump off over his posts related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters

    The Florida and Texas laws were signed by Republican governors in the months following decisions by Facebook and Twitter, now X, to cut then-President Donald Trump off over his posts related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.

    Trade associations representing the companies sued in federal court, claiming that the laws violated the platforms’ speech rights. One federal appeals court struck down Florida’s statute, while another upheld the Texas law. But both were on hold pending the outcome at the Supreme Court.

    In a statement when he signed the Florida measure into law, Gov. Ron DeSantis said it would be “protection against the Silicon Valley elites.”

    When Gov. Greg Abbott signed the Texas law, he said it was needed to protect free speech in what he termed the new public square. Social media platforms “are a place for healthy public debate where information should be able to flow freely — but there is a dangerous movement by social media companies to silence conservative viewpoints and ideas,” Abbott said. “That is wrong, and we will not allow it in Texas.”

    But much has changed since then. Elon Musk purchased Twitter and, besides changing its name, eliminated teams focused on content moderation, welcomed back many users previously banned for hate speech and used the site to spread conspiracy theories.

    President Joe Biden’s administration sided with the challengers, though it cautioned the court to seek a narrow ruling that maintained governments’ ability to impose regulations to ensure competition, preserve data privacy and protect consumer interests. Lawyers for Trump filed a brief in the Florida case that had urged the Supreme Court to uphold the state law.

    The cases are among several the justices have grappled with over the past year involving social media platforms, including one decided last week in which the court threw out a lawsuit from Louisiana, Missouri and other parties accusing federal officials of pressuring social media companies to silence conservative points of view.

    During arguments in February, the justices seemed inclined to prevent the laws from taking effect. Several justices suggested then that they viewed the platforms as akin to newspapers that have broad free-speech protections, rather than like telephone companies, known as common carriers, that are susceptible to broader regulation.

    But two conservative justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, appeared more ready to embrace the states’ arguments. Thomas raised the idea that the companies are seeking constitutional protection for “censoring other speech.” Alito also equated the platforms’ content moderation to censorship.

    “Is it anything more than a euphemism for censorship?” he asked.

    The justices also worried about too broad a ruling that might affect businesses that are not the primary targets of the laws, including e-commerce sites like Uber and Etsy and email and messaging services.

    But Justice Brett Kavanaugh, seemingly more favorable to the companies, took issue with applying the term censorship to actions taken by private companies, rather than the government.

    “When I think of Orwellian, I think of the state, not private individuals,” Kavanaugh said.

    Chief Justice John Roberts questioned whether the government or the private social media companies have the power to regulate speech on their platforms. He argued that the First Amendment, which bars restrictions on speech by the government, not private entities, appears to put the “thumb on the scale” in favor of private companies.

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    Associated Press

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  • Supreme Court rules in Trump immunity case

    Supreme Court rules in Trump immunity case

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    In Donald Trump’s immunity case, the Supreme Court ruled Monday that presidents are shielded from prosecution for official acts, but not unofficial ones.

    The case was sent back to a lower court, further delaying the historic prosecution against the Republican ex-president on charges that he sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of his supporters.

    The ruling was 6-3 along the high court’s ideological lines, with Trump’s three appointed conservative justices ruling in favor, but the three liberal justices on the bench dissenting. 

    “Under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of Presidential power entitles a former President to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority,” the ruling reads. “And he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts. There is no immunity for unofficial acts.”

    In a blistering dissent, liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor, an appointee of Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama, expressed grave concern for how this ruling could impact the future of American democracy.

    “Looking beyond the fate of this particular prosecution, the long-term consequences of today’s decision are stark,” she wrote. “The Court effectively creates a law-free zone around the President, upsetting the status quo that has existed since the Founding. This new official-acts immunity now ‘lies about like a loaded weapon’ for any President that wishes to place his own interests, his own political survival, or his own financial gain, above the interests of the Nation.”

    “When he uses his official powers in any way, under the majority’s reasoning, he now will be insulated from criminal prosecution. Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune. Let the President violate the law, let him exploit the trappings of his office for personal gain, let him use his official power for evil ends. Because if he knew that he may one day face liability for breaking the law, he might not be as bold and fearless as we would like him to be. That is the majority’s message today.”

    “Even if these nightmare scenarios never play out, and I pray they never do, the damage has been done,” Sotomayor wrote. “The relationship between the President and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably. In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law. 

    “Never in the history of our Republic has a President had reason to believe that he would be immune from criminal prosecution if he used the trappings of his office to violate the criminal law,” she later added. “Moving forward, however, all former Presidents will be cloaked in such immunity. If the occupant of that office misuses official power for personal gain, the criminal law that the rest of us must abide will not provide a backstop.”

    “With fear for our democracy, I dissent,” Sotomayor concluded.

    In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump called it a “BIG WIN FOR OUR CONSTITUTION AND DEMOCRACY” in all-caps.

    “PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!” he added.

    This is a developing story. Check back later for updates.

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    Justin Tasolides

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  • Biden is making appeals to donors as concerns persist over debate performance

    Biden is making appeals to donors as concerns persist over debate performance

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    President Joe Biden is looking to recapture his mojo and reassure donors at a Saturday fundraiser that he is fully up to the challenge of beating Donald Trump.

    The 81-year-old’s troubling performance at the first presidential debate Thursday rattled many Democrats, who see Trump after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection as an existential threat to U.S. democracy. Biden’s meandering answers and struggles to respond to Trump prompted The New York Times editorial board to declare Friday that he should exit the race and that staying in would be a “reckless gamble.”

    What You Need To Know

    • President Joe Biden is looking to recapture his mojo and reassure donors that he’s fully up to the challenge of beating Donald Trump

    • The 81-year-old’s troubling performance at the first presidential debate Thursday night rattled many Democrats

    • Biden’s meandering answers and struggles to respond to Trump prompted The New York Times editorial board to declare Friday that he should exit the race

    • Biden and his wife, Jill, attended an afternoon campaign event Saturday in East Hampton, New York; they will then go to Red Bank, New Jersey, for an evening fundraiser

    Biden and his wife, Jill, attended an afternoon campaign event in East Hampton, New York, the Long Island beach town where the real estate firm Zillow prices the median home at $1.9 million. Based on public records, the event that was closed to the news media was at the home of Avram Glazer, an owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football team.

    The couple then went to a second event in East Hampton at the home of investor Barry Rosenstein, whose wife, Lizanne, said the president was “a role model for what it is to get knocked down over and over and over again and get up.”

    “We can waste time comparing debate nights,” she continued. “But you know what? It’s more meaningful to compare presidencies.”

    Addressing the gathering, Biden quickly tore into Trump over his presidential record including his treatment of veterans and said of Thursday night’s debate, “I didn’t have a great night, but neither did Trump.”

    Biden contended that the polling he’s seen shows that Democrats moved up after the debate, saying of Trump: “The big takeaway was his lies.”

    Scheduled later was an evening fundraiser in Red Bank, New Jersey.

    In the aftermath of Thursday night’s debate, Biden flashed more vigor in speeches in North Carolina and New York on Friday, saying he believes with “all my heart and soul” that he can do the job of the presidency.

    The Biden campaign said it has raised more than $27 million on Thursday and Friday, including $3 million at a New York City fundraiser focused on the LGBTQ+ community.

    Jill Biden told supporters Friday that he said to her after the debate, “You know, Jill, I don’t know what happened. I didn’t feel that great.” The first lady then said she responded to him, “Look, Joe, we are not going to let 90 minutes define the four years that you’ve been president.”

    The Democratic president still needs to allay the fears stirred by the debate as it seeped into the public conscience with clips and memes spreading on the internet and public pressure for him to bow out of the race.

    Democratic donors across New York, Southern California and Silicon Valley privately expressed deep concerns about the viability of Biden’s campaign in the wake of his debate performance.

    In a series of text message chains and private conversations, they discussed the short list of possible replacements, a group that included Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Vice President Kamala Harris.

    But on Friday, there was no formal push to pressure Biden to step aside and some suspected there never would be given the logistical challenges associated with replacing the presumptive nominee just four months before Election Day.

    Some donors noted they were going to pause their personal giving. They said receipts from Biden’s weekend fundraiser would almost certainly be strong because the tickets were sold and paid for before the debate.

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    Associated Press

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  • Biden admin. wants additional funding to pay for bridge collapse, Maui wildfires

    Biden admin. wants additional funding to pay for bridge collapse, Maui wildfires

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    The Biden administration renewed its call Friday for Congress to provide supplemental funding for urgent domestic needs and added to its wishlist. 

    What You Need To Know

    • The Biden administration renewed its call Friday for Congress to provide supplemental funding for urgent domestic needs and added to its wishlist

    • The revised request includes nearly $4 billion in new funding being sought compared to the October proposal

    • The Biden administration wants additional funding to address disaster relief, including the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, last year’s wildfires in Maui and tornadoes that devastated communities in the Midwest

    • In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote that the administration also “reiterates its call on the Congress to support the toughest, fairest bipartisan border security agreement in decades

    The requests initially appeared in a $106 billion spending package proposed by Biden in October. That plan also included foreign aid to help Ukraine and Israel in their wars and Taiwan and partners in the Indo-Pacific to counter China. 

    Congress approved $95.3 billion in February for those initiatives but has not acted on the other requests, including money to bolster border security. 

    The revised request includes nearly $4 billion in new funding being sought compared to the October proposal, but also drops a $2.2 billion request related to the nuclear fuel supply chain because Congress has already acted on that.

    The Biden administration wants additional funding to address disaster relief, including the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, last year’s wildfires in Maui and tornadoes that devastated communities in the Midwest. 

    At the Francis Scott Key Bridge, the Army Corps of Engineers and Coast Guard have paid $112.5 million for wreckage removal, response activities and other unplanned contests, officials said. The Biden administration is seeking to replenish those funds.

    In March, a container ship lost power and slammed into the bridge, causing it to crumble into the water below. Six construction workers who were on the crossing were killed, and maritime traffic at the busy Port of Baltimore was disrupted for weeks.

    The administration is also seeking $3.1 billion to rebuild the bridge and to repair and reconstruct other federally owned highways and roads across the country that have been severely damaged by natural disasters, such as typhoons, wildfires and hurricanes, or other causes. 

    The federal government is requesting $25 million for the Labor Department to award grants for reconstruction and recovery needs caused by natural disasters as well as cleanup and recovery efforts at the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

    And the Biden administration wants another $700 million for the Department of Housing and Urban Development to spend on long-term recovery, restoration of infrastructure and housing, economic revitalization and mitigation in regions hit by major disasters last year as well as in the future.

    “Obviously, these are urgent needs that in many cases, when we look at the October supplemental, we’ve been requesting now for almost nine months,” a senior administration official told reporters Friday. “So I think our desire is that Congress acts as swiftly as possible, and we are going to work with the Hill.”

    In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote that the administration also “reiterates its call on the Congress to support the toughest, fairest bipartisan border security agreement in decades, which would deliver significant policy changes, resources, and personnel needed to secure America’s border and fix the broken immigration system.”

    In February, Republicans in both the House and Senate rejected a border deal that was negotiated for months by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla.; Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.; and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz.

    The White House is also restating its request for other disaster-relief funding as well money to stabilize child care centers, to pay wildland firefighters and to restore a program making high-speed internet access accessible and affordable to all Americans. 

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    Ryan Chatelain

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  • Consumer sentiment holds steady in June, despite concerns about high prices

    Consumer sentiment holds steady in June, despite concerns about high prices

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    Consumer sentiment held steady in June, falling 1% from May, according to the newest University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers.

    Americans said they believe inflation will continue to weaken but are concerned about high prices and weak incomes affecting their personal finances.

    What You Need To Know

    • Consumer sentiment held steady in June, falling 1% from May, according to the newest University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers

    • Americans said they believe inflation will continue to weaken

    • They remain concerned about high prices and weak incomes affecting their personal finances

    • The Commerce Department reported Friday that the core personal consumption expenditures price index increased 2.6% in May compared with a year ago


    “Over the past two years, our surveys clearly reveal that consumers distinguish between their experiences with high price levels and their views of overall inflation rates,” Surveys of Consumers Chief Economist Joanne Hsu said in a statement.

    “On one hand, they recognize that inflation has softened substantially and expect that trend to continue,” she said. “On the other hand, slowing inflation does not generally lead to reductions in overall price levels; the persistence of high prices continue to exert pain on household budgets.”

    About 46% of respondents in the June survey said high prices had eroded their living standards. Just 12% said it is a good time to buy a house — a reflection of near-record home prices and mortgage rates that are more than double what they were two years ago.

    While consumers expect home values to continue increasing in the short and long term, a growing percentage of consumers expect interest rates to fall in the coming year.

    The June consumer sentiment report comes hours after the Commerce Department reported the core personal consumption expenditures price index increased 2.6% compared with a year ago — the lowest annual rate since March 2021. While personal incomes rose 0.5% in May, consumer spending increased by 0.2%.

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    Susan Carpenter

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  • Recap: Biden, Trump face off in first debate of 2024 election

    Recap: Biden, Trump face off in first debate of 2024 election

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    By

    Spectrum News Staff

    Atlanta

    UPDATED 11:30 PM ET Jun. 27, 2024
    PUBLISHED 11:22 AM ET Jun. 27, 2024
    PUBLISHED 11:22 AM EDT Jun. 27, 2024

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    Spectrum News Staff

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  • Fewer Americans file for jobless claims, but continuing claims rise

    Fewer Americans file for jobless claims, but continuing claims rise

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    The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week as layoffs remain at healthy levels despite elevated interest rates and inflation.

    The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims for the week ending June 22 fell by 6,000 to 233,000 from 239,000 the previous week.

    However, the total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits rose for the eighth straight week, to 1.84 million, for the week of June 15.

    The four-week average of claims, which softens some of the week-to-week volatility, rose by 3,000 to 236,000.

    Weekly unemployment claims — a proxy for layoffs — remain at low levels by historical standards, a sign that most Americans enjoy unusual job security. Still, after mostly staying below 220,000 this year, weekly claims have moved up recently.

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    Associated Press

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  • Atlanta Hawks take Risacher of France first overall in NBA Draft

    Atlanta Hawks take Risacher of France first overall in NBA Draft

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    The French Revolution has come to the NBA.

    French wing Zaccharie Risacher, 19, was selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the first overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft.

    What You Need To Know

    • French wing Zaccharie Risacher was selected first overall by the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday in the 2024 NBA Draft

    • Risacher’s selection marks the second-straight year that the top selection came from France after the San Antonio Spurs picked Victor Wembanyama first overall last year

    • Alexandre Sarr, another French player, was drafted second overall by the Washington Wizards
    • NBA commissioner Adam Silver kicked off the night by honoring the recent deaths of two NBA giants, Bill Walton, who died on May 27 at 71, and Jerry West, who died on June 12 at 86



    Risacher, who has been projected as one of the top defenders in this year’s rookie class, will join a once-exciting Hawks franchise that’s stumbled over the last few years despite the promise of star point guard Trae Young.

    His selection marks the second straight year that the top overall selection comes from France. 

    Last year, the San Antonio Spurs picked Victor Wembanyama first overall. Wembanyama, who was widely predicted as a potential franchise-changing talent, made good on that promise, winning the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award unanimously.

    Fellow Frenchmen Alexandre Sarr and Tidjane Salaun soon followed Risacher’s selection. 

    Sarr, a 7-foot-1-inch center most recently played in the Australian NBL, was selected second overall by the Washington Wizards. Salaun, a 6-foot 10-inch forward, was taken sixth overall by the Charlotte Hornets; he most recently played in France’s LNB. Later in the first round, the New York Knicks selected another French-born player, Pacome Dadiet,

    Their selections made NBA history multiple times over. 

    It’s the first time in NBA history that international players were taken with the top two picks and the first time three international players from one country were taken in the top 10 of an NBA Draft.

    Most of the excitement occurred less than 24 hours before the draft, as the New York Knicks went all in, trading a raft of draft picks and veteran player Bojan Bogdanovic to the Brooklyn Nets for Mikal Bridges. 

    Bridges, a 27-year-old wing, is renowned for his defense, though he foundered a bit after moving to Brooklyn from the Phoenix Suns two years ago. His move across the East River links him with a handful of former college teammates and friends from his alma mater, Villanova University. 

    NBA commissioner Adam Silver kicked off the night by honoring the recent deaths of two NBA giants, Bill Walton, who died on May 27 at 71, and Jerry West, who died on June 12 at 86. 

    Walton was a two-time NCAA champion and a two-time NBA champion, one each with the Portland Trail Blazers and Boston Celtics, a passing big man whose career was derailed by injuries. But he became beloved as a personality off the court and on the microphone, especially as he sought to boost the college game in his later years. 

    West, a singularly driven competitor, was one of the greatest players in the storied history of the Los Angeles Lakers and the league. A three-time inductee to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, he won only one championship as a player but contributed nine as a basketball executive, building dynasties with the Lakers and the Golden State Warriors.

    West also holds a singular honor: He’s the inspiration for the NBA’s logo.

     

    2024 NBA Draft First Round selections:

    1. Atlanta Hawks, Zaccharie Risacher

    2. Washington Wizards, Alexandre Sarr

    3. Houston Rockets, Reed Sheppard

    4. San Antonio Spurs, Stephon Castle

    5. Detroit Pistons, Ron Holland II

    6. Charlotte Hornets, Tidjane Salaun

    7. Portland Trail Blazers, Donovan Clingan

    8. San Antonio Spurs, Rob Dillingham (Traded to Minnesota)

    9. Memphis Grizzlies, Zach Edey

    10. Utah Jazz, Cody Williams

    11. Chicago Bulls, Matas Buzelis

    12. Oklahoma City Thunder, Nikola Topic

    13. Sacramento Kings, Devin Carter

    14. Portland Trail Blazers, Carlton Carrington (Traded to Washington)

    15. Miami Heat, Kel’el Ware

    16. Philadelphia 76ers, Jared McCain

    17. Los Angeles Lakers, Dalton Knecht

    18. Orlando Magic, Tristan da Silva

    19. Toronto Raptors, Ja’Kobe Walter

    20. Cleveland Cavaliers, Jaylon Tyson

    21. New Orleans Pelicans, Yves Missi

    22. Phoenix Suns, DaRon Holmes II (Traded to Denver)

    23. Milwaukee Bucks, AJ Johnson

    24. New York Knicks, Kyshawn George (Traded to Washington)

    25. New York Knicks, Pacome Dadiet

    26. Washington Wizards, Dillon Jones (Traded to Oklahoma City)

    27. Minnesota Timberwolves, Terrence Shannon Jr.

    28. Denver Nuggets, Ryan Dunn (Traded to Phoenix)

    29. Utah Jazz, Isaiah Collier

    30. Boston Celtics, Baylor Scheierman

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    David Mendez

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  • Atlanta Hawks take Risacher of France first overall in NBA Draft

    Atlanta Hawks take Risacher of France first overall in NBA Draft

    [ad_1]

    The French Revolution has come to the NBA.

    French wing Zaccharie Risacher, 19, was selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the first overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft.

    What You Need To Know

    • French wing Zaccharie Risacher was selected first overall by the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday in the 2024 NBA Draft

    • Risacher’s selection marks the second-straight year that the top selection came from France after the San Antonio Spurs picked Victor Wembanyama first overall last year

    • Alexandre Sarr, another French player, was drafted second overall by the Washington Wizards
    • NBA commissioner Adam Silver kicked off the night by honoring the recent deaths of two NBA giants, Bill Walton, who died on May 27 at 71, and Jerry West, who died on June 12 at 86



    Risacher, who has been projected as one of the top defenders in this year’s rookie class, will join a once-exciting Hawks franchise that’s stumbled over the last few years despite the promise of star point guard Trae Young.

    His selection marks the second straight year that the top overall selection comes from France. 

    Last year, the San Antonio Spurs picked Victor Wembanyama first overall. Wembanyama, who was widely predicted as a potential franchise-changing talent, made good on that promise, winning the NBA’s Rookie of the Year award unanimously.

    Fellow Frenchmen Alexandre Sarr and Tidjane Salaun soon followed Risacher’s selection. 

    Sarr, a 7-foot-1-inch center most recently played in the Australian NBL, was selected second overall by the Washington Wizards. Salaun, a 6-foot 10-inch forward, was taken sixth overall by the Charlotte Hornets; he most recently played in France’s LNB. Later in the first round, the New York Knicks selected another French-born player, Pacome Dadiet,

    Their selections made NBA history multiple times over. 

    It’s the first time in NBA history that international players were taken with the top two picks and the first time three international players from one country were taken in the top 10 of an NBA Draft.

    Most of the excitement occurred less than 24 hours before the draft, as the New York Knicks went all in, trading a raft of draft picks and veteran player Bojan Bogdanovic to the Brooklyn Nets for Mikal Bridges. 

    Bridges, a 27-year-old wing, is renowned for his defense, though he foundered a bit after moving to Brooklyn from the Phoenix Suns two years ago. His move across the East River links him with a handful of former college teammates and friends from his alma mater, Villanova University. 

    NBA commissioner Adam Silver kicked off the night by honoring the recent deaths of two NBA giants, Bill Walton, who died on May 27 at 71, and Jerry West, who died on June 12 at 86. 

    Walton was a two-time NCAA champion and a two-time NBA champion, one each with the Portland Trail Blazers and Boston Celtics, a passing big man whose career was derailed by injuries. But he became beloved as a personality off the court and on the microphone, especially as he sought to boost the college game in his later years. 

    West, a singularly driven competitor, was one of the greatest players in the storied history of the Los Angeles Lakers and the league. A three-time inductee to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, he won only one championship as a player but contributed nine as a basketball executive, building dynasties with the Lakers and the Golden State Warriors.

    West also holds a singular honor: He’s the inspiration for the NBA’s logo.

     

    2024 NBA Draft First Round selections:

    1. Atlanta Hawks, Zaccharie Risacher

    2. Washington Wizards, Alexandre Sarr

    3. Houston Rockets, Reed Sheppard

    4. San Antonio Spurs, Stephon Castle

    5. Detroit Pistons, Ron Holland II

    6. Charlotte Hornets, Tidjane Salaun

    7. Portland Trail Blazers, Donovan Clingan

    8. San Antonio Spurs, Rob Dillingham (Traded to Minnesota)

    9. Memphis Grizzlies, Zach Edey

    10. Utah Jazz, Cody Williams

    11. Chicago Bulls, Matas Buzelis

    12. Oklahoma City Thunder, Nikola Topic

    13. Sacramento Kings, Devin Carter

    14. Portland Trail Blazers, Carlton Carrington (Traded to Washington)

    15. Miami Heat, Kel’el Ware

    16. Philadelphia 76ers, Jared McCain

    17. Los Angeles Lakers, Dalton Knecht

    18. Orlando Magic, Tristan da Silva

    19. Toronto Raptors, Ja’Kobe Walter

    20. Cleveland Cavaliers, Jaylon Tyson

    21. New Orleans Pelicans, Yves Missi

    22. Phoenix Suns, DaRon Holmes II (Traded to Denver)

    23. Milwaukee Bucks, AJ Johnson

    24. New York Knicks, Kyshawn George (Traded to Washington)

    25. New York Knicks, Pacome Dadiet

    26. Washington Wizards, Dillon Jones (Traded to Oklahoma City)

    27. Minnesota Timberwolves, Terrence Shannon Jr.

    28. Denver Nuggets, Ryan Dunn (Traded to Phoenix)

    29. Utah Jazz, Isaiah Collier

    30. Boston Celtics, Baylor Scheierman

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    David Mendez

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  • Supreme Court sides with Biden admin. in social media case

    Supreme Court sides with Biden admin. in social media case

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    The Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration on Wednesday against Republican-led states over combatting misinformation about controversial topics, including COVID-19 and election security, on social media.

    In a 6-3 decision, the high court rejected the effort to limit contact between White House officials and other federal employees and social media companies, arguing that the states lacked standing to challenge the administration. Republican attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri, along with five social media users, claimed in their suit that the Biden administration pressured social media companies to quash conservative viewpoints.

    Lower courts had sided with the plaintiffs, but in the opinion of the court, conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett said that a federal appeals court “was wrong to do so.”

    “To establish standing, the plaintiffs must demonstrate a substantial risk that, in the near future, they will suffer an injury that is traceable to a Government defendant and redressable by the injunction they seek,” Barrett wrote. “Because no plaintiff has carried that burden, none has standing to seek a preliminary injunction.”

    She went on to say that social media companies “have taken a range of actions to suppress certain categories of speech” under their “longstanding” policies about moderating content, including about health- and election-related topics, particularly noting the removal of falsehoods about the 2020 presidential election and the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Over the past few years, various federal officials regularly spoke with the platforms about COVID–19 and election-related misinformation,” Barrett detailed. “Officials at the White House, the Office of the Surgeon General, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) focused on COVID–19 content, while the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) concentrated on elections.”

    Barrett also wrote that the court rejects the “overly broad assertion” that the government took part in a lengthy pressure campaign to target certain political viewpoints, adding: “the platforms moderated similar content long before any of the Government defendants engaged in the challenged conduct.”

    “In fact, the platforms, acting independently, had strengthened their pre-existing contentmoderation policies before the Government defendants got involved,” she wrote. “For instance, Facebook announced an expansion of its COVID–19 misinformation policies in early February 2021, before White House officials began communicating with the platform. And the platforms continued to exercise their independent judgment even after communications with the defendants began. For example, on several occasions, various platforms explained that White House officials had flagged content that did not violate company policy. Moreover, the platforms did not speak only with the defendants about content moderation; they also regularly consulted with outside experts.”

    Barrett joined Chief Justice John Roberts, conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh and liberal Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson in siding with the Biden administration.

    Conservative Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas dissented. 

    The case is among several before the court this term that affect social media companies in the context of free speech. In February, the court heard arguments over Republican-passed laws in Florida and Texas that prohibit large social media companies from taking down posts because of the views they express. In March, the court laid out standards for when public officials can block their social media followers.

    This is a developing story. Check back later for updates.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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    Justin Tasolides

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  • Election uncertainty is weighing on car sales

    Election uncertainty is weighing on car sales

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    Uncertainty about the upcoming election is stifling car sales, according to a new report from Cox Automotive. Almost 75% of consumers expect vehicle prices to change after November, prompting a wait-and-see mentality in the market.

    What You Need To Know

    • 75% of consumers expect vehicle prices to change after November, according to new election research from Cox Automotive

    • While consumers expect things will get somewhat or much better after the election, car dealers expect things to get worse

    • Interest rates are the No. 1 factor depressing car sales

    • Concern about the political climate has been growing among car dealers for the last three quarters


    “No matter what side of the political aisle you sit on, a majority agree that change is coming, good or bad, and change is causing paralysis,” Cox Automotive Executive Analyst Erin Keating said Tuesday.

    For its 2024 election research, Cox surveyed 529 consumers who were in the market for a car in February and 1,026 car dealers in April and May. The report found that consumers are more likely to believe things will get “somewhat” to “much better” after the election, while dealers expect things to get worse for the auto industry.

    Already the automotive market has been sagging as consumer sentiment about the economy and buyers’ confidence wanes, with loans for new cars averaging 10% and average transaction prices at $48,389.

    “Consumers are cautious and growing more price sensitive, while believing that rates will be lower soon,” Cox Automotive Senior Economist Jonathan Smoke said during a briefing about where the auto industry is headed for the second half of the year.

    Smoke said three of the four factors that affect consumers’ ability to afford cars are in their favor, including declining prices for cars, higher incentives and higher incomes. But financing costs are on the rise.

    “The U.S. election is looking to be a close call with a very wide range of policy implications,” Smoke said. “Consumers believe things will be better and more certain after the election is over, which adds to the hesitancy in buying.”

    Cox analysts project 15.7 million vehicles will be sold in 2024, but they expect volatility in the second half of the year.

    Auto dealer sentiment was even lower than it was for consumers in the second quarter. The majority of dealers cited interest rates as the number one factor depressing car sales, followed by the economy, market conditions and the political climate. Concern over polarized politics has been growing among dealers over the last three quarters, Keating said.

    More than 80% of dealers said the outcome of the U.S. presidential election will impact interest rates in some way, compared with 66% of consumers.

    Most consumers feel the election will not affect their decision to buy an electric, hybrid or gas-powered vehicle, though the majority said they are against government EV mandates.

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    Susan Carpenter

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  • Supreme Court upholds ban on domestic violence offenders owning guns

    Supreme Court upholds ban on domestic violence offenders owning guns

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    The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a ban on domestic abusers owning firearms, the high court’s first major Second Amendment ruling since a 2022 case that drastically expanded gun rights.

    What You Need To Know

    • In an 8-1 decision, the Supreme Court upheld a ban on domestic abusers owning firearms

    • It was the high court’s first major Second Amendment ruling since a 2022 case that drastically expanded gun rights

    • Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion for the nearly unanimous majority

    • Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, who authored the 2022 gun case ruling, was the lone dissent



    Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion for the nearly unanimous majority. Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, who authored the 2022 gun case ruling, was the lone dissent.

    “An individual found by a court to pose a credible threat to the physical safety of another may be temporarily disarmed consistent with the Second Amendment,” Roberts wrote in the 8-1 majority opinion. 

    The case was brough by Zackey Rahimi, a Texas man who was accused of striking his girlfriend during an altercation in a parking lot after an argument and later threatening to shoot her in 2019. Rahimi was issued a restraining order in 2020, but he “repeatedly violated” the order, the federal government wrote in its brief in the case, including being involved in five separate shooting incidents. Police secured a warrant after Rahimi was found to be a suspect in the shootings, and upon a search of his house, officers “found a .45-caliber pistol, a .308-caliber rifle, magazines, ammunition, and a copy of the protective order.”

    Rahimi argued that the federal government was violating his Second Amendment rights by refusing to allow him to have a firearm. But in oral arguments last year, the Biden administration argued that the 1994 restriction at the center of the case — which bans firearms for people under restraining orders to stay away from their spouses or partners — was consistent with the longstanding practice of disarming dangerous people.

    “When a restraining order contains a finding that an individual poses a credible threat to the physical safety of an intimate partner, that individual may—consistent with the Second Amendment—be banned from possessing firearms while the order is in effect,” Roberts wrote in his ruling. “Since the founding, our Nation’s firearm laws have included provisions preventing individuals who threaten physical harm to others from misusing firearms.”

    “Taken together, the surety and going armed laws confirm what common sense suggests: When an individual poses a clear threat of physical violence to another, the threatening individual may be disarmed,” he added.

    At the arguments last year, some justices voiced concern that a ruling for Rahimi could also jeopardize the background check system that the Biden administration said has stopped more than 75,000 gun sales in the past 25 years based on domestic violence protective orders.

    Thomas, who authored the landmark 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen that struck down the state’s requirement to show “proper cause” for a concealed carry permit, argued that “not a single historical regulation justifies the statute at issue.”

    “The Framers [of the U.S. Constitution] and ratifying public understood ‘that the right to keep and bear arms was essential to the preservation of liberty,’” Thomas wrote. “Yet, in the interest of ensuring the Government can regulate one subset of society, today’s decision puts at risk the Second Amendment rights of many more.”

    Several justices penned concurring opinions, including liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who wrote that Friday’s ruling “correctly concludes that ‘the Second Amendment permits the disarmament of individuals who pose a credible threat to the physical safety of others,’” while criticizing Thomas’ dissent.

    “The dissent reaches a different conclusion by applying the strictest possible interpretation of Bruen,” Sotomayor, joined by fellow liberal Justice Elena Kagan, wrote. “It picks off the Government’s historical sources one by one, viewing any basis for distinction as fatal.”

    “If the dissent’s interpretation of Bruen were the law, then Bruen really would be the ‘one-way ratchet’ that I and the other dissenters in that case feared, ‘disqualify[ing] virtually any ‘representative historical analogue’ and mak[ing] it nearly impossible to sustain common-sense regulations necessary to our Nation’s safety and security,’” she continued. “Thankfully, the Court rejects that rigid approach to the historical inquiry.”

    Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson also penned concurring opinions.

    “Despite its unqualified text, the Second Amendment is not absolute,” Barrett wrote. “It codified a pre-existing right, and preexisting limits on that right are part and parcel of it. Those limits define the scope of ‘the right to bear arms’ as it was originally understood; to identify them, courts must examine our ‘historical tradition of firearm regulation.’”

    In this case, Barrett noted, “the Court settles on just the right level of generality: ‘Since the founding, our Nation’s firearm laws have included provisions preventing individuals who threaten physical harm to others from misusing firearms.’”

    Despite the favorable ruling, President Joe Biden’s campaign warned of the “startling reality” behind the case’s consideration in the first place.

    “No American should overlook the startling reality behind today’s decision: Protecting domestic abuse survivors from gun violence should never be a question, but the fact it even had to be considered shows just how extreme Donald Trump and the gun lobby are,” a senior Biden campaign advisor said in a statement to Spectrum News. “There’s only one candidate in this race fighting to save lives from gun violence and that’s Joe Biden.”

    The high court last week struck down a federal ban on bump stocks — gun attachments that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire rapidly like machine guns — that was put into place by the administration of then-President Donald Trump after the 2017 Las Vegas massacre. But that case was not determined by the Second Amendment; rather, it centered around the authority of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to enact that restriction.

    Advocates for domestic violence victims and gun control groups had called on the court to uphold the law.

    Firearms are the most common weapon used in homicides of spouses, intimate partners, children or relatives in recent years, according to data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Guns were used in more than half, 57%, of those killings in 2020, a year that saw an overall increase in domestic violence during the coronavirus pandemic.

    Seventy women a month, on average, are shot and killed by intimate partners, according to the gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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    Justin Tasolides

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  • Supreme Court upholds ban on domestic violence offenders owning guns

    Supreme Court upholds ban on domestic violence offenders owning guns

    [ad_1]

    The Supreme Court on Friday upheld a ban on domestic abusers owning firearms, the high court’s first major Second Amendment ruling since a 2022 case that drastically expanded gun rights.

    What You Need To Know

    • In an 8-1 decision, the Supreme Court upheld a ban on domestic abusers owning firearms

    • It was the high court’s first major Second Amendment ruling since a 2022 case that drastically expanded gun rights

    • Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion for the nearly unanimous majority

    • Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, who authored the 2022 gun case ruling, was the lone dissent



    Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the opinion for the nearly unanimous majority. Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, who authored the 2022 gun case ruling, was the lone dissent.

    “An individual found by a court to pose a credible threat to the physical safety of another may be temporarily disarmed consistent with the Second Amendment,” Roberts wrote in the 8-1 majority opinion. 

    The case was brough by Zackey Rahimi, a Texas man who was accused of striking his girlfriend during an altercation in a parking lot after an argument and later threatening to shoot her in 2019. Rahimi was issued a restraining order in 2020, but he “repeatedly violated” the order, the federal government wrote in its brief in the case, including being involved in five separate shooting incidents. Police secured a warrant after Rahimi was found to be a suspect in the shootings, and upon a search of his house, officers “found a .45-caliber pistol, a .308-caliber rifle, magazines, ammunition, and a copy of the protective order.”

    Rahimi argued that the federal government was violating his Second Amendment rights by refusing to allow him to have a firearm.

    But in oral arguments last year, the Biden administration argued that the 1994 restriction at the center of the case — which bans firearms for people under restraining orders to stay away from their spouses or partners — was consistent with the longstanding practice of disarming dangerous people.

    “When a restraining order contains a finding that an individual poses a credible threat to the physical safety of an intimate partner, that individual may—consistent with the Second Amendment—be banned from possessing firearms while the order is in effect,” Roberts wrote in his ruling. “Since the founding, our Nation’s firearm laws have included provisions preventing individuals who threaten physical harm to others from misusing firearms.”

    Despite the favorable ruling, President Joe Biden’s campaign warned of the “startling reality” behind the case’s consideration in the first place.

    “No American should overlook the startling reality behind today’s decision: Protecting domestic abuse survivors from gun violence should never be a question, but the fact it even had to be considered shows just how extreme Donald Trump and the gun lobby are,” a senior Biden campaign advisor said in a statement to Spectrum News. “There’s only one candidate in this race fighting to save lives from gun violence and that’s Joe Biden.”

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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    Justin Tasolides

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  • NCAA presents options to expand March Madness tournaments

    NCAA presents options to expand March Madness tournaments

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    The NCAA has presented a plan to Division I conference commissioners that would expand the lucrative men’s and women’s basketball tournaments by four or eight teams alongside an option to leave each field at 68 teams, according to a person familiar with the details.

    What You Need To Know

    • The NCAA has presented a plan to Division I conference commissioners that would expand the lucrative men’s and women’s basketball tournaments by four or eight teams alongside an option to leave each field at 68 teams.
    • If approved, the NCAA would keep its 64-team bracket but would add play-in games involving the 10 through 12 seeds

    • The earliest the NCAA Tournament could expand would be the 2025-26 season and more meetings are scheduled

    • The men’s tournament last expanded in 2011 when it went from 64 to 68 teams, and the women’s tournament matched that in 2022

    The proposals were outlined to the commissioners this week by NCAA Senior Vice President of Basketball Dan Gavitt and NCAA Vice President for Women’s Basketball Lynn Holzman, the person told The Associated Press on Thursday on condition of anonymity because no official announcements have been made. The news was first reported by Yahoo! Sports.

    Under the proposal, expansion of the 68-team field included both four- and eight-team models. The NCAA would keep its 64-team bracket but would add play-in games involving the 10 through 12 seeds.

    If the men’s tournament were to expand, it is expected the women’s tourney would as well.

    “It is appropriate to look at expansion, and we need to do that,” Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner James Phillips said Thursday during the Associated Press Sports Editors summer conference. “We’re looking at it.”

    He didn’t go into details on the proposal, which he said now “goes in front of the basketball committee, basketball oversight.”

    “When do you get to the point when the regular season doesn’t matter?” he added. “Modest expansion is something I would prefer.”

    Many in college basketball have said they believe the 68-team fields and three weekends of play are ideal but pressure has grown to add teams and games to one of the most popular sports events on the U.S. calendar. Last year, the NCAA Division I board of directors approved recommendations that included allowing one quarter of teams in larger sports to compete in championship events; in that scenario, March Madness tourneys could expand to nearly 90 teams.

    The NCAA is currently in the midst of an eight-year extension of its TV deal for the men’s tournament worth $8.8 billion that runs through 2032. That would not be expected to change if a handful of teams are added.

    More games would provide a small boost through ticket sales and merchandise, but the pool of money the NCAA uses to pay out conferences and member schools would essentially stay the same. What could change, however, is how that money would be divided up if the tournament broadens.

    Expansion would also mean the men’s tournament would have to find an additional site besides Dayton for its First Four games. The Ohio city already has games on Tuesday and Wednesday and wouldn’t be able to host additional play-in games ahead of the tourney’s traditional first-round opening on Thursday. Women’s play-in games are at the same campus sites as the first two rounds of the tournament.

    Expansion is largely backed by larger conferences and smaller leagues do not want to lose the automatic bids that come with a conference tournament championship or face the prospect of always being slotted for the play-in games.

    The earliest the NCAA Tournament could expand would be the 2025-26 season, the person told AP. The NCAA basketball oversight committee meets next week, and the tournament selection committee has a meeting next month.

    The men’s tournament last expanded in 2011 when it went from 64 to 68 teams. The women’s tournament matched that in 2022.

    The women’s tournament is coming off its most successful year ever that included a record audience of 18.7 million for the title game win by South Carolina over Iowa, the highest for a basketball broadcast of any kind in five years. It outdrew the men’s championship game — UConn winning its second consecutive title with a win over Purdue — by nearly 3 million viewers. The women’s tournament also had record attendance.

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    Associated Press

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  • Record-breaking heat likely for most of the country this week

    Record-breaking heat likely for most of the country this week

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    Summer may officially begin on Thursday, but Mother Nature isn’t waiting around until then. Nearly 84% of the U.S. population will experience temperatures 90 degrees or higher this week.

    What You Need To Know

    • The heat will encompass nearly two-thirds of the country

    • Cities could break decades to even century-old records

    • “Extreme Heat Risk” will be experienced by millions of people

    Notable cities that will experience “Extreme Heat Risk” include Chicago, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York, Albany and Boston. The heat is expected to last most of the week, potentially the longest duration of heat experienced in decades in some locations.

    Extreme Heat is the number one weather killer, resulting in hundreds of deaths each year.. A heat wave is not formally declared until we have three or more straight days of highs in the 90s.

    Heat dome

    The reason for the heat is thanks to a large ridge of high pressure and the position of the high. With it located along the east coast, the winds in the middle part of the country and Midwest will be out the south and southwest.

    This warm fetch of air will bring the heat and humidity on Monday to those locations. As the high shifts further east off the coast of the eastern seaboard, the hot air will move into Ohio River Valley, northeast and New England regions.

    Meanwhile, areas located along the outer periphery of the ridge will see daily isolated rain and storm chances. Known as “ridge-rider” storms as the ridge blocks the storms from entering regions dominated by it. 

    Tuesday’s highs

    The heat moves further east into New England and along the east coast by Tuesday. 

    Here are the potential records that could be compromised. 

    Wednesday’s heat

    The heat looks to be most extreme by Wednesday, putting millions more at “Extreme Heat Risk.”

    Here are the records with the best chance of falling on Wednesday. 

    Friday will be even hotter for some

    The heat dome will shift westward by late week, bringing a return to the upper 90s for the Mississippi River Valley. Temperatures in the 90s look to stick around through the weekend into next week. 

    Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.

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    Meteorologist Stacy Lynn

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  • Israeli officials say Netanyahu has dissolved War Cabinet

    Israeli officials say Netanyahu has dissolved War Cabinet

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    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dissolved the influential War Cabinet tasked with steering the war in Gaza, Israeli officials said Monday, a move that comes days after a key member of the body bolted the government over frustrations surrounding the Israeli leader’s handling of the war.

    What You Need To Know

    • Israeli officials said Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dissolved the influential War Cabinet that was tasked with steering the war in Gaza

    • The War Cabinet was dissolved following the departure from the government of Benny Gantz, an opposition lawmaker who had joined the coalition in the early days of the war

    • He had demanded that a small Cabinet be formed as a way to sideline far-right lawmakers in Netanyahu’s government

    • Gantz, Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant were its members and made key decisions together throughout the war

    The move was widely expected following the departure of Benny Gantz, a centrist former military chief, earlier this month. Gantz’s absence from the government makes Netanyahu more dependent on his ultranationalist allies to govern and the dissolution of the War Cabinet underlines that shift as the eight-month-long war in Gaza drags on.

    The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the change with the media, said that going forward Netanyahu would hold smaller forums with some of his government members for sensitive issues surrounding the war. That includes his security Cabinet, where far-right governing partners who oppose cease-fire deals and have voiced support for reoccupying Gaza, are members.

    The War Cabinet was formed in the early days of the war, when Gantz, then an opposition party leader and Netanyahu rival, joined the coalition in a show of unity following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel. He had demanded that a small decision-making body steer the war, in a bid to sideline far-right members of Netanyahu’s government.

    It was made up of three members — Gantz, Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant — and together they made important decisions throughout the course of the war.

    The move to scrap the War Cabinet comes as Israel faces more pivotal decisions.

    Israel and Hamas are weighing the latest proposal for a cease-fire in exchange for the release of hostages taken by Hamas during its attack. Israeli troops are still bogged down in the Gaza Strip, fighting in the southern city of Rafah and against pockets of Hamas resurgence elsewhere. And violence continues unabated between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah militant group — with a Biden administration envoy in the region in a bid to avert a wider war on a second front.

    Netanyahu has played a balancing act throughout the war between pressures from Israel’s top ally, the U.S., and the growing global opposition to the war and from his government partners, chief among them Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

    Both have threatened to topple the government should Israel move ahead on a cease-fire deal. The latest proposal being considered is part of the Biden administration’s most concentrated push to help wind down the war. For now, progress on a deal appears to remain elusive.

    Critics say Netanyahu’s wartime decision-making has been influenced by the ultranationalists in his government and by his desire to remain in power. Netanyahu denies the accusations and says he has the country’s best interests in mind.

    Gantz’s departure, while not posing a direct threat to Netanyahu’s rule, rocked Israeli politics at a sensitive time. The popular former military chief was seen as a statesman who boosted Israel’s credibility with its international partners at a time when Israel finds itself at its most isolated. Gantz is now an opposition party leader in parliament.

    Netanyahu’s government is Israel’s most religious and nationalist ever. In Israel’s fractious parliamentary system, Netanyahu relies on a group of small parties to help keep his government afloat and without the support of Gantz’s party, Netanyahu is expected to be more beholden to the far-right allies.

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    Associated Press

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  • LGBTQ soldiers in Ukraine hope their service will help the push for legal rights

    LGBTQ soldiers in Ukraine hope their service will help the push for legal rights

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    Several hundred LGBTQ Ukrainian servicemen and their supporters marched in central Kyiv Sunday to demand more rights and highlight their service to their country in its war with Russia.

    The servicemembers — many wearing rainbow and unicorn patches on their uniforms — called on the government to grant them official partnership rights. They described the event as a pride march but it did not have the celebratory atmosphere of peacetime events and took place in the rain and under a heavy police guard amid threats from counterprotesters.

    What You Need To Know

    • Several hundred LGBTQ Ukrainian servicemen and their supporters have marched in central Kyiv to demand more rights and highlight their service to their country in its war with Russia
    • They had encountered difficulties in being granted a venue and threats from counterprotests
    • The servicemembers — many wearing rainbow and unicorn patches on their uniforms — called on the government to grant them official partnership rights
    • They described the event as a pride march but it did not have the celebratory atmosphere of peacetime events
    • The role of LGBT members in the military has been credited with shifting public attitudes toward same-sex partnerships in the socially conservative country

    The role of LGBTQ members in the military has been credited with shifting public attitudes toward same-sex partnerships in the socially conservative country.

    “We are ordinary people who are fighting on an equal footing with everyone else, but deprived of the rights that other people have,” Dmitriy Pavlov, an army soldier who used a cane to walk, told The Associated Press.

    Campaigners are seeking legal reforms to allow people in same-sex partnerships to take medical decisions for wounded soldiers and bury victims of the war that extended across Ukraine more than two years ago.

    They argue that an improvement in gay rights would create a further distinction between Ukraine and Russia, where LGBTQ rights are severely restricted.

    Staff from the U.S. Embassy and several European embassies attended the pride rally.

    Organizers had faced difficulties in organizing the rally. City authorities turned down a petition to allow it to be held at a metro station, and it was condemned by one of the main branches of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

    “This action is part of a left-wing radical political movement and is aimed at imposing a political ideology, and also aimed at destroying the institution of the family and weakening Ukrainian society in the conditions of war and repelling Russian aggression,” the church said in a statement.

    Police set up cordons in central Kyiv to keep the marchers clear of a counterdemonstration, ushering protesters into a central metro station at the end of the event.

    Protesters in the counterdemonstration, some wearing face masks and carrying anti-gay signs, marched to a memorial for fallen soldiers in the center of the city.

    An injured soldier, in Kyiv for physical therapy, said he attended the counter rally out of concern that divisive societal issues should not be raised during the war.

    “I came because I think its not the right time for LGBT (activism),” said the soldier, who asked to be identified by his call sign “Archy.”

    “We need to strengthen our country.”

    Both those on the LGBTQ rally and the counterprotest took the opportunity to demand that foreign countries come to Ukraine’s aid in its war with Russia, chanting “Arm Ukraine now!” ___ Dmytro Zhyhinas in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed.

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    Associated Press

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  • Judge dismisses challenge to federal rules accommodating abortions for workers

    Judge dismisses challenge to federal rules accommodating abortions for workers

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    A lawsuit filed by 17 states challenging federal rules entitling workers to time off and other accommodations for abortions lacks standing, a federal judge in Arkansas ruled on Friday.

    Republican attorneys general from each state, led by Arkansas and Tennessee, sued the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in April, days after the agency published rules for employers and workers to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, a 2022 law requiring many employers to make “reasonable accommodations” for pregnant or postpartum employees.

    What You Need To Know

    • A lawsuit challenging federal rules entitling workers to time off and other accommodations for abortions lacks standing, a federal judge in Arkansas ruled on Friday

    • Republican attorneys general from 17 states, led by Arkansas and Tennessee, sued the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in April, days after the agency published guidance for employers and workers on how to implement the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

    • Eastern District of Arkansas U.S. District Judge D.P. Marshall, Jr. denied the states’ request for a nationwide preliminary injunction on the federal rules, which are scheduled to go into effect on Tuesday

    • Another lawsuit in Louisiana awaiting a ruling could still prove a threat to the regulations

     

    In addition to more routine pregnancy workplace accommodations like time off for prenatal appointments, more bathroom breaks, or permission to carry snacks, the rules say that workers can ask for time off to obtain an abortion and recover from the procedure.

    The lawsuit filed in federal court in Arkansas argued the regulations go beyond the scope of the 2022 law that passed with bipartisan support.

    Eastern District of Arkansas U.S. District Judge D.P. Marshall, Jr., who was appointed to the bench by former President Barack Obama, denied the states’ request for a nationwide preliminary injunction on the federal rules, which are scheduled to go into effect on Tuesday.

    “The States’ fear of overreach by one branch of the federal government cannot be cured with overreach by another,” Friday’s ruling says.

    Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said in a statement provided by a spokesperson that he is “disappointed in the court’s ruling” and “am considering all legal options and remain confident we will ultimately be successful.”

    The other states that joined the lawsuit are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and West Virginia.

    The EEOC regulations are also being challenged in another federal lawsuit in Louisiana that is still awaiting a ruling. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, along with other religious groups, have filed a separate lawsuit over the abortion provision in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana. That case has been consolidated with a lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of Louisiana and Mississippi, which also asks the judge to postpone the enforcement of the EEOC rules pending the outcome of the case.

    The American Civil Liberties Union and more than 20 labor and women’s advocacy groups, including A Better Balance, a non-profit that spearheaded the 10-year campaign for the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act’s passage, filed amicus briefs in both cases arguing the EEOC rules should take effect as scheduled, calling them key to the successful implementation of law.

    “Today’s ruling in Tennessee v. EEOC is a victory for millions of pregnant and postpartum workers across the country, because it allows the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) regulations to go into effect next week, providing important clarity about how the law works in practice,” said Dina Bakst of A Better Balance.

    In their briefs, the groups cited dozens of examples of pregnant workers who have reached out to advocacy groups or filed lawsuits claiming that employers have continued to deny them accommodations in violation of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

    “The relief sought in this case is completely overboard and would have harmed literally millions of people,” said Gillian Thomas, a senior staff attorney in the ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project, referring to the lawsuit in Arkansas. “The law has been in place for a year and employers are violating it in the most egregious way right and left and clearly need guidance.”

    The EEOC in its regulations said it was conforming to decades of legal precedent establishing that pregnancy anti-discrimination laws include abortion.

    Abortion rights defenders have also hailed the protection under the EEOC rules as especially critical in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling that overturned the constitutional right to abortion. Women in states with strict abortion restrictions increasingly have to travel far to obtain the procedure, needing time off to do so.

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    Associated Press

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  • Blinken: Some of Hamas’ proposed changes to plan workable

    Blinken: Some of Hamas’ proposed changes to plan workable

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    U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that the war in Gaza would go on after Hamas proposed “numerous” changes to a U.S.-backed cease-fire plan, some that he said were “workable” and some not.

    What You Need To Know

    • U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the war in Gaza will go on after Hamas proposed “numerous” changes to a U.S.-backed cease-fire plan, some that he said were “workable” and some not

    • Speaking to reporters in Qatar on Wednesday, Blinken said the U.S. and other mediators will keep trying to “close this deal”
    • Blinken is in the region to push a cease-fire proposal with global support that has not been fully embraced by Israel or Hamas
    • His comments came as Lebanon’s Hezbollah fired a massive barrage of rockets into northern Israel to avenge the killing of a top commander, further escalating regional tensions

    “A deal was on the table that was virtually identical to the proposal that Hamas made on May 6, a deal that the entire world is behind, a deal Israel has accepted,” Blinken said. Hamas could have answered with a single word. ‘Yes.’ Instead, Hamas waited nearly two weeks and then proposed more changes, a number of which go beyond positions that had previously taken and accepted.”

    He did not spell out what the changes were. Speaking to reporters in Qatar, Blinken said the U.S. and other mediators will keep trying to “close this deal.”

    Blinken is in the region to push a cease-fire proposal with global support that has not been fully embraced by Israel or Hamas. The militant group submitted its first official response late Tuesday, requesting “amendments” to the deal.

    “In the coming weeks, we will put forward proposals for the key elements of a ‘day after plan,’ including concrete ideas for how to manage governance, security, reconstruction,” Blinken said. “That plan is key to turning a cease-fire into an enduring end to the conflict, but also turning an end of a war into a just and durable peace, and using that peace as a foundation for building a more integrated, a more stable, a more prosperous region.”

    “I can’t speak for Hamas or answer for Hamas, and ultimately it may not be the path that Hamas wants to pursue, but Hamas cannot and will not be allowed to decide the future for this region and its people,” he added.

    The American’s comments came as Lebanon’s Hezbollah fired a massive barrage of rockets into northern Israel to avenge the killing of a top commander, further escalating regional tensions.

    Hezbollah, an Iran-backed ally of Hamas, has traded fire with Israel nearly every day since the 8-month-long Israel-Hamas war began and says it will only stop if there is a truce in Gaza. That has raised fears of an even more devastating regional conflagration.

    Air raid sirens sounded across northern Israel, and the military said that about 160 projectiles were fired from southern Lebanon, making it one of the largest attacks since the fighting began. There were no immediate reports of casualties as some were intercepted while others ignited brush fires.

    Hamas asks for ‘amendments’

    Hamas has expressed support for the broad outline of the deal but wariness over whether Israel would implement its terms.

    Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha told the Lebanese news outlet ElNashra that the “amendments” requested by the group include guarantees of a permanent cease-fire and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

    Hamas’s official reply to the proposal, which it conveyed to mediators on Tuesday, appeared to be short of outright acceptance but kept negotiations alive. Qatar and Egypt, which have been key mediators alongside the United States, said they were studying it.

    Blinken is on his eighth visit to the region since the start of the war.

    The proposal has raised hopes of ending a conflict in which Israel’s bombardment and ground offensives in Gaza have killed over 37,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health officials, and driven some 80% of the population of 2.3 million from their homes. Israeli restrictions and ongoing fighting have hindered efforts to bring humanitarian aid to the isolated coastal enclave, fueling widespread hunger.

    Israel launched its campaign after Hamas and other militants stormed into Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage. Over 100 hostages were released during a weeklong cease-fire last year in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Hamas is still holding around 120 hostages, a third of whom are believed to be dead.

    The proposal announced by Biden calls for a three-phase plan that would begin with a six-week cease-fire and the release of some hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Israeli forces would withdraw from populated areas and Palestinian civilians would be allowed to return to their homes.

    Phase one also requires the safe distribution of humanitarian assistance “at scale throughout the Gaza Strip,” which Biden said would lead to 600 trucks of aid entering Gaza every day.

    At the same time, negotiations would be launched over the second phase, which is to bring “a permanent end to hostilities, in exchange for the release of all other hostages still in Gaza, and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.”

    Phase three would launch “a major multi-year reconstruction plan for Gaza and the return of the remains of any deceased hostages still in Gaza to their families.”

    The militant group accepted a similar proposal last month that was rejected by Israel.

    Netanyahu’s far-right coalition allies have rejected the latest proposal and have threatened to bring down his government if he ends the war leaving Hamas intact. But Netanyahu is also under mounting pressure to accept a deal to bring the hostages back. Thousands of Israelis, including families of the hostages, have demonstrated in favor of the U.S.-backed plan.

    Revenge for slain commander

    Hezbollah said it fired missiles and rockets at two military bases in retaliation for the killing of Taleb Sami Abdullah, 55. Known within Hezbollah as Hajj Abu Taleb, he is the most senior commander killed since the fighting began eight months ago. The Israeli strike destroyed a house where Abdullah and three other officials were meeting, about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the border, late Tuesday.

    A Hezbollah official told The Associated Press that Abdullah was in charge of a large part of the Lebanon-Israel front, including the area facing the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, which Hezbollah has repeatedly attacked in recent days, causing fires in the area.

    The official, who was not authorized to speak to media and spoke on condition of anonymity, said Abdullah had joined Hezbollah decades ago and took part in attacks against Israeli forces during their 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon that ended in May 2000.

    Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon have killed over 400 people, most of them Hezbollah members, but the dead also include more than 70 civilians and non-combatants. On the Israeli side, 15 soldiers and 10 civilians have been killed since the war in Gaza began.

    Other groups allied with Iran, including powerful militias in Iraq and Syria, and the Houthi rebels in Yemen, have also attacked Israeli, U.S. and other targets since the start of the war, often drawing Western retaliation. In April, Israel and Iran traded fire directly for the first time.

    U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration has said the best way to calm regional tensions is for Hamas to accept a proposal for a phased cease-fire that it says would end of the war in Gaza and bring about the release of the remaining hostages abducted in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that ignited the war. The U.N. Security Council voted overwhelmingly in favor of the plan on Monday.

    Biden says it is an Israeli proposal, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sent conflicting signals, saying Israel remains committed to destroying Hamas. It’s unclear how it would do that if the U.S.-backed proposal, which includes an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, is fully implemented.

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    Associated Press

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  • Jerry West, a 3-time Hall of Fame selection and the NBA logo, dies at 86

    Jerry West, a 3-time Hall of Fame selection and the NBA logo, dies at 86

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    Jerry West, who was selected to the Basketball Hall of Fame three times in a storied career as a player and executive and whose silhouette is considered to be the basis of the NBA logo, died Wednesday morning, the Los Angeles Clippers announced.

    He was 86.

    What You Need To Know

    • Legendary basketball player, coach and executive Jerry West died Wednesday at 86, the Los Angeles Clippers announced

    • West, nicknamed “Mr. Clutch” for his late-game exploits as a player, went into the Hall of Fame as a player in 1980 and again as a member of the 1960 U.S. Olympic Team in 2010; he will be enshrined for a third time later this year as a contributor

    • He was an All-Star in all 14 of his NBA seasons, a 12-time All-NBA selection, part of the 1972 Lakers team that won a championship, an NBA Finals MVP as part of a losing team in 1969 and was selected as part of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team

    • West was general manager of eight NBA championship teams with the Los Angeles Lakers, helping build the “Showtime” dynasty; he also worked in the front offices of the Memphis Grizzlies, the Golden State Warriors and the Clippers


    West, nicknamed “Mr. Clutch” for his late-game exploits as a player, went into the Hall of Fame as a player in 1980 and again as a member of the 1960 U.S. Olympic Team in 2010. He will be enshrined for a third time later this year as a contributor.

    West was “the personification of basketball excellence and a friend to all who knew him,” the Clippers said in announcing his death. West’s wife, Karen, was by his side when he died, the Clippers said.

    He was an All-Star in all 14 of his NBA seasons, a 12-time All-NBA selection, part of the 1972 Lakers team that won a championship, an NBA Finals MVP as part of a losing team in 1969 and was selected as part of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team.

    West was general manager of eight NBA championship teams with the Los Angeles Lakers, helping build the “Showtime” dynasty. He also worked in the front offices of the Memphis Grizzlies, the Golden State Warriors and the Clippers. Among his many, many highlights as an executive with the Lakers: he drafted Magic Johnson and James Worthy, then brought in Kobe Bryant and eventually Shaquille O’Neal to play alongside Bryant.

    Even in the final years of his life, West was considered basketball royalty. He routinely sat courtside at Summer League games in Las Vegas, often watching many games in a day while greeting long lines of players — LeBron James among them — who would approach to shake his hand and pay him respect.

    “The game transcends many things,” West said while attending Summer League last year. “The players change, the style of play may change, but the respect that you learn in this game never changes.”

    He’s 25th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, and while the league has never confirmed that West was in fact the model for its logo — a player dribbling a ball, set against a red-and-blue background — the league has never said otherwise, either.

    “While it’s never been officially declared that the logo is Jerry West,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in 2021, “it sure looks a lot like him.”

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    Associated Press

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