Some California lawmakers want to eventually ban all tobacco sales in the nation's most populous state, filing legislation to make it illegal to sell cigarettes and other products to anyone born after Jan. 1, 2007. If signed into law, it would mean by 2073 people wanting to buy cigarettes would...
Alec Baldwin Pleads Not Guilty in Shooting, Can Still Work
Actor Alec Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to felony charges of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie and waived his first formal court appearance, in court documents filed Thursday. Baldwin and a weapons supervisor were charged last month with felony involuntary...
Israel’s Rightward Shift Is Straining Its Ties With US Jews
An array of U.S. Jewish leaders are sounding alarms about what they see as a threat to Israel’s democracy posed by its new government, fearing it will erode the independence of its judiciary and legal protections for minority groups. While some Jewish leaders dismiss such fears are overblown, a solid majority...
North Korea Says It Fired Cruise Missiles as Rivals Trained
North Korea said Friday it test-fired long-range cruise missiles off its eastern coast a day earlier, adding to a provocative streak in weapons demonstrations as its rivals step up military training. The launches, which were later confirmed by South Korea’s military, were intended to verify the reliability of the missiles...
Ukraine Leader Pledges Push for Victory on War Anniversary
Ukraine’s leader pledged to push for victory in 2023 as he and other Ukrainians on Friday marked the somber anniversary of the Russian invasion that upended their lives and Europe's security. It was Ukraine's "longest day," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, but the country's dogged resistance a year on has proven that "every tomorrow is...
States Look to Remove Legal Protections for Gun Industry
Mass shootings in America invariably raise questions of fault. The police's delayed response outside an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. A district attorney's failure to prosecute the alleged Club Q shooter a year before five were killed in the LGBTQ nightclub. That finger of blame, however, rarely lands on the manufacturer of the guns...
Dems Consider Break With Tradition to Get Biden More Judges
Even as Democrats celebrated the 100th judicial confirmation of Joe Biden's presidency, they are clamoring for more — and some are flirting with ending a century-long Senate practice to help make it happen. The rising friction over what in Washington parlance is known as the “blue slip” is creating tensions on the...
US Revises Down Last Quarter’s Economic Growth to 2.7% Rate
The U.S. economy expanded at a 2.7% annual rate from October through December, a solid showing despite rising interest rates and elevated inflation, the government said Thursday in a downgrade from its initial estimate. The government had previously estimated that the economy grew at a 2.9% annual rate last quarter....
New Drone Footage Shows Scale of Bakhmut’s Destruction
Amid the smoking ruins, a lone dog pads in the snow, surely unaware — or perhaps too hungry to care — that death rains down regularly from the skies on the remnants of this Ukrainian city that Russia is pounding into rubble. But for now Bakhmut stands — growing as a symbol of...
California Bill Penalizing Oil Profits Makes Little Progress
After gas prices in California spiked to more than $6.40 per gallon last summer, Gov. Gavin Newsom led a charge against an industry he says is “ripping you off." Months later, it's not clear if California's Legislature is following him. Newsom called lawmakers into a rare special session in December...