North America

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Republicans who control the North Carolina legislature with veto-proof majorities are close to wresting supervision of elections from the governor and the governor’s party — almost always the Democrats for over a century.

A bill that could reach Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk this week would, among other changes, take away from him and future governors the power to appoint members of the State Board of Elections. It would give that authority to legislative leaders instead.

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump repeatedly declined in an interview aired Sunday to answer questions about whether he watched the Capitol riot unfold on television, saying he would “tell people later at an appropriate time.”

Trump, the current front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, refused to say on NBC’s “Meet the Press” how he spent Jan. 6, 2021, once the insurrection began and whether he made phone calls as his supporters stormed the seat of American democracy.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama high school band director was shocked with a stun gun and arrested after Birmingham police said he wouldn’t tell his band to stop playing.

Local news outlets report that Minor High School’s band director was arrested Thursday night after a football game between Minor and Jackson-Olin High School. He’s charged with disorderly conduct, harassment and resisting arrest.

MORGANTOWN, Pa (AP) — Nine juveniles who escaped from a detention center in Pennsylvania have been captured, state police said Monday.

“We’re going to interview all nine of them,” “I know there’s stuff in the works right now to decide where they are going to go after that takes place,” Pennsylvania State Police Trooper David Beohm.

All will be charged with escape.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge who rejected efforts by former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to move his charges in the Georgia election subversion case to federal court is set to hear arguments on Monday from former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark on the same issue.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — In 2020, North Carolina seemed the model of an evenly-divided swing state. Then-President Donald Trump barely won, beating Democrat Joe Biden by just over a percentage point. Meanwhile, the state’s Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, won reelection by a relatively comfortable 5 points.

Even last year, as Republicans won two seats on the state Supreme Court, North Carolina’s congressional delegation split evenly between Democrats and the GOP.

MEXICO CITY, Sept 16 (Reuters) - For Jaime Maussan, a Mexican journalist and longtime UFO enthusiast, they are one of the most important discoveries in the history of humankind.

But for many scientists these two tiny mummified bodies with elongated heads and three fingers on each hand, images of which were beamed around the world this week when they were presented to Mexico's Congress, are an already-debunked - perhaps criminal - stunt.

NEW YORK, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- American veteran diplomats have made a united call for revitalizing U.S.-China relations at a reception celebrating the 74th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Speaking at the event held Wednesday evening, 80-year-old Robert Hormats, former under secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, lamented the status quo.

"Unfortunately, this is not one of those good times. This is a very difficult time and it's a very sad time for all of us who believe in the relationship," he said.

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Once upon a time, the moderates, the mavericks and the underdogs in presidential politics had a chance to break through in New Hampshire.

BAR HARBOR, Maine (AP) — No longer bearing the title of hurricane but almost as strong as one, Lee toppled trees, swamped boats and streets, and cut power to tens of thousands Saturday as it lashed a huge swath of New England and eastern Canada with high winds, rough surf and torrential rains.

The storm, now a post-tropical cyclone, was expected to make landfall near hurricane strength in Atlantic Canada on Saturday afternoon, then weaken as it moved farther into the region.