WASHINGTON — In a defeat for gay rights, the Supreme Court's conservative majority ruled on Friday that a Christian graphic artist who wants to design wedding websites can refuse to work with same-sex couples. One of the court's liberal justices wrote in a dissent that the decision's effect is to “mark...
Pence Makes a Surprise Trip to Ukraine and Meets With Zelenskyy
NEW YORK — Former Vice President Mike Pence made a surprise visit to Ukraine on Thursday, meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and touring the war-torn country as it fights Russian aggression. Pence, who this month launched his campaign for the Republican nomination for president, has been deeply critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of...
3 Charged in Insider Trading Case Related to Trump’s Media Firm Public, Accused of Making $22M
NEW YORK — Three Florida men were charged Thursday with making more than $22 million through illegal insider trading before the public announcement that an acquisition firm was going to take former President Donald Trump's media company public. The charges were outlined in an indictment unsealed in New York that did...
Black Reparations Recommendations Move to California Legislature
Members of California's Black reparations task force handed off their historic two-year report to state lawmakers Thursday, beginning the next chapter in the long struggle to compensate the descendants of slavery. The first U.S. panel of its kind met one last time Thursday, urging supporters to press lawmakers into action on more...
Biden Talks Supreme Court and Russia but Also Media and McCain in Rare Network Interview
President Joe Biden rarely gives network interviews, and when he sat down in the MSNBC studio on Thursday, it came at an especially busy time, with the Supreme Court having just overturned the use of affirmative action in college admissions and in the aftermath of a revolt in Russia. The nearly 20-minute conversation addressed...
Black Lives Matter Fraud Lawsuit Dismissed in California
A California judge has dismissed a civil lawsuit that grassroots racial justice activists from around the U.S. brought last summer against a foundation with stewardship of the Black Lives Matter movement’s charitable endowment worth tens of millions of dollars. Black Lives Matter Grassroots Inc., a collective of organizers, claimed Black...
Deputy Acquitted of All Charges for Failing to Act During Deadly Parkland School Shooting
A Florida sheriff’s deputy was acquitted Thursday of felony child neglect and other charges for failing to act during the 2018 Parkland school massacre, concluding the first trial in U.S. history of a law enforcement officer for conduct during an on-campus shooting. Former Broward County Deputy Scot Peterson wept as the verdicts...
Man Wanted on Jan. 6 Charges Arrested With Weapons Near Barack Obama’s Washington Home
A man armed with explosive materials and weapons, and wanted for crimes related to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, was arrested Thursday in the Washington neighborhood where former President Barack Obama lives, law enforcement officials said. Taylor Taranto, 37, was spotted by law enforcement a few blocks from...
US Economic Growth Last Quarter Is Revised up Sharply to a 2% Annual Rate
WASHINGTON — Showing surprising resilience in the face of higher interest rates, the U.S. economy grew at a 2% annual pace from January through March as consumers spent at the fastest pace in nearly two years. Thursday's revised figure from the Commerce Department sharply upgraded its assessment of first-quarter growth...
Russian General Is Believed to Be Detained in Aftermath of Wagner Mutiny, AP Sources Say
WASHINGTON — Gen. Sergei Surovikin, the deputy commander of the Russian group of forces fighting in Ukraine, is believed to have been detained days after mercenaries staged a revolt inside Russia, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Thursday, citing U.S. and Ukrainian intelligence assessments. The...