North America

PANAMA CITY (AP) — Panama’s Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously declared unconstitutional a 20-year concession for a Canadian copper mine that had sparked weeks of protests by environmentalists and others who argued it would damage a forested coastal area and threaten water supplies.

The announcement by the nine-justice court, after four days of deliberations, set off cheers among demonstrators waiting outside and waving Panamanian flags.

PHOENIX (AP) — A Texas border crossing was closed to vehicles Monday, and traffic at an Arizona crossing was limited to shift more resources to illegal entries, U.S. authorities said in the latest sign of how fast-changing migration routes are challenging the government to keep up.

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Three college students of Palestinian descent out for a walk in Vermont were seriously injured over the weekend when a man shot them at close range on a city street — an attack being investigated as a possible hate crime, authorities said Monday.

Jason J. Eaton, 48, made his initial court appearance by video from jail on three counts of attempted murder, and a plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf on Monday. He was ordered held without bail.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hunter Biden on Tuesday offered to testify publicly before Congress in response to a subpoena from Republicans investigating nearly every aspect of his business dealings as they pursue an impeachment inquiry into his father, President Joe Biden.

The Democratic president’s son slammed the inquiry as a “fishing expedition” and refused to give closed-door testimony but said he would “answer any pertinent and relevant question” in front of the House Oversight Committee next month, setting up a potential high-stakes face-off.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump had a “good faith” basis to question the results of the 2020 election, his lawyers said in demanding that prosecutors turn over any evidence related to voting irregularities and potential foreign interference in the contest won by Democrat Joe Biden.

KANEOHE BAY, Hawaii (AP) — The U.S. Navy said Monday that it has removed nearly all of the fuel from a large plane that overshot a Hawaii runway and landed in an environmentally sensitive bay, but it doesn’t have a timetable for when it will get the aircraft out of the water.

Rear Adm. Kevin Lenox said there was an estimated 2,000 gallons (7,500 liters) of fuel on board the P-8A.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump threatened over the weekend to reopen the contentious fight over the Affordable Care Act after failing to repeal it while in the White House, saying he is “seriously looking at alternatives” if he wins a second term.

Trump’s comments drew rebuke from Democratic President Joe Biden ‘s campaign, which cast them as another “extremist” proposal from the GOP front-runner. And they rapidly moved to mobilize a response, including new advertising in battleground states contrasting Biden’s efforts to lower drug costs with Trump’s comments.

(AP) --- For years, South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh looked his anguished clients in the eyes and promised to help them with their medical bills, their suffering or simply to survive. Then he stole most, if not all, of what he won for many of them.

On Tuesday, those folks get to look right back at Murdaugh, in a prison jumpsuit, and tell him whatever they want as the disgraced lawyer, also convicted of murder, is sentenced for a decade worth of thefts from clients and his law firm.

WASHINGTON, November 27. /TASS/: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) meeting of foreign ministers in Skopje this week, but it is not clear whether he will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov there, US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O'Brien said at a special telephone briefing on Blinken’s trip to Europe.

"On the OSCE. Secretary Blinken is leading our [US] delegation," the diplomat noted.

WASHINGTON/RIYADH, Nov 26 (Reuters) - A U.S. Navy warship responded to a distress call from a commercial tanker in the Gulf of Aden that had been seized by armed individuals and the vessel is now safe, U.S. officials said on Sunday.

The tanker, which had been carrying a cargo of phosphoric acid, was identified as the Central Park by the vessel's company. The officials did not identify the attackers.

In a statement, the U.S. military said the USS Mason, with help from allied ships, demanded that the commercial ship be released by the attackers.