WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday refused to consider Texas' challenge to California's ban on state-funded business trips to Texas and other states deemed to discriminate against LGBTQ people. California adopted the ban following a 2017 Texas law that allows foster care and adoption agencies to deny services for...
Supreme Court to Take up Right to Carry Gun for Self-Defense
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear an appeal to expand gun rights in the United States in a New York case over the right to carry a firearm in public for self-defense. The case marks the court’s first foray into gun rights since Justice Amy Coney...
Biden Expanding Summer Food Program for 34M Schoolchildren
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is expanding a program to feed as many as 34 million schoolchildren during the summer months, using funds from the coronavirus relief package approved in March. The Agriculture Department is announcing Monday that it will continue through the summer a payments program that replaced school...
Leaked Recording of Iran’s Top Diplomat Offers Blunt Talk
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A recording of Iran's foreign minister offering a blunt appraisal of diplomacy and the limits of power within the Islamic Republic has been leaked, providing a rare look inside the country's theocracy. Iranian Spokesman Said the Release is 'Illegal' and 'Selectively' Edited The release of...
COVID Treatment Has Improved, but Many Wish for an Easy Pill
If Priscila Medina had gotten COVID-19 a year ago, she would have had no treatments proven safe and effective to try. But when the 30-year-old nurse arrived at a Long Island hospital last month, so short of breath she could barely talk, doctors knew just what to do. They quickly...
Feds Fund Mental Health Crisis Teams to Stand in for Police
WASHINGTON — When police respond to a person gripped by a mental health or drug crisis, the encounter can have tragic results. Now a government insurance program will help communities set up an alternative: mobile teams with mental health practitioners trained in de-escalating such potentially volatile situations. The effort to...
How Struggling Households Can Get Federal Rental Assistance
An estimated 8.8 million Americans are behind on their rent, according the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. While relief efforts have staved off some of the housing crisis, rent is still going to come due. The federal government has approved two rounds of rental assistance, worth more than $46 billion total,...
Biden Recognizes Atrocities Against Armenians as Genocide
WILMINGTON, Del. — The systematic killing and deportation of more than a million Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces in the early 20th century was “genocide,” the United States formally declared on Saturday, as President Joe Biden used that precise word after the White House had avoided it for decades for fear of alienating ally...
Anthony Bourdain Documentary ‘Roadrunner’ Set for Summer
A documentary about the late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain is coming to theaters this summer. Directed by Academy Award winner Morgan Neville, Focus Features said Friday that “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain” will hit theaters on July 16. Bourdain shot to fame after the publication of his frank, behind-the-scenes...
Section of Highway 1 That Collapsed During Storm Reopens
BIG SUR — A section of California's scenic Highway 1 that collapsed during a winter storm reopened to traffic on Friday. Newsom and Work Crews Celebrate the Reopening Gov. Gavin Newsom and work crews stood on the freshly paved and marked roadway to celebrate the reopening of the main artery...