North America

USA: Republican opts not to seek reelection to the New Mexico Senate

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — One of just two Albuquerque Republicans left in the New Mexico Legislature will not be seeking reelection next year, setting up what could be a free-for-all in a Republican-leaning district that covers the city’s northeast heights.

The decision by state Sen. Mark Moores brings the list of incumbent senators headed for the door to at least three.

USA: Jury awards $25.6 million to white Starbucks manager fired after the arrests of 2 Black men

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — Jurors in federal court have awarded $25.6 million to a former Starbucks regional manager who alleged that she and other white employees were unfairly punished after the high-profile arrests of two Black men at a Philadelphia location in 2018.

Shannon Phillips won $600,000 in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages on Monday after a jury in New Jersey found that race was a determinative factor in Phillips’ firing, in violation of federal and state anti-discrimination.

How much prison time could Trump face? Past cases brought steep punishment for document hoarders

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI investigators who searched Harold Martin’s Maryland property in the fall of 2016 found classified documents — including material at the top secret level — strewn about his home, car and storage shed.

USA: Grand jury indicts Daniel Penny in chokehold death of New York City subway rider Jordan Neely

NEW YORK (AP) — A man charged with manslaughter for putting an agitated New York City subway rider in a fatal chokehold has been indicted by a grand jury, an expected procedural step that will allow the criminal case to continue.

Daniel Penny was charged by Manhattan prosecutors last month in the May 1 death of Jordan Neely, a former Michael Jackson impersonator who struggled in recent years with homelessness and mental illness.

USA: Former Harvard morgue manager stole brains, skin and other body parts to sell them, indictment says

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — A former manager at the Harvard Medical School morgue, his wife and three other people have been indicted in the theft and sale of human body parts, federal prosecutors in Pennsylvania announced Wednesday.

Cedric Lodge, 55, of Goffstown, New Hampshire, stole dissected portions of cadavers that were donated to the school in the scheme that stretched from 2018 to early 2023, according to court documents. The body parts were taken without the school’s knowledge or permission, authorities said, adding that the school has cooperated with the investigation.

USA: Suspect in mass shooting at Colorado gay nightclub is expected to take a plea deal

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The suspect in a mass shooting at a Colorado Springs gay nightclub is expected to strike a plea deal to state murder and hate charges that would ensure at least a life sentence for the attack that killed five people and wounded 17, several survivors told The Associated Press.

Word of a possible legal resolution of last year’s Club Q massacre follows a series of jailhouse phone calls from the suspect to the AP expressing remorse and the intention to face the consequences at the next scheduled court hearing this month.

‘Stand with Trump’ becomes a rallying cry as Republicans amplify attacks on the US justice system

WASHINGTON (AP) — Moments after Donald Trump pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he hoarded classified documents and then conspired to obstruct an investigation about it, the Republicans in Congress had his back.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy dashed off a fundraising email decrying the “witch hunt” against the former president and urging donors to sign up and “stand with Trump.”

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell steered clear of criticizing the former president, refusing to engage in questions about the unprecedented indictment.

Supreme Court preserves law that aims to keep Native American children with tribal families

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday preserved the system that gives preference to Native American families in foster care and adoption proceedings of Native children, rejecting a broad attack from some Republican-led states and white families who argued it is based on race.

The court left in place the 1978 Indian Child Welfare Act, which was enacted to address concerns that Native children were being separated from their families and, too frequently, placed in non-Native homes.

UN rights chief calls for action to enable ‘equal, meaningful’ participation of women in public life

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 14 (APP): Urgent action is needed to end gender-based bias in public and political life against women which remain deeply entrenched around the world, Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said on Wednesday.

“Patriarchy must be a thing of the past. Our future depends on women and girls being at the table everywhere when decisions are made,” he said.

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