North America

WASHINGTON, May 25 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy on Thursday appeared to be nearing a deal to cut spending and raise the government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling, with little time to spare to head off the risk of default.

NASH, Texas (AP) — Authorities in east Texas have jailed an 18-year-old man on capital murder charges in the shootings of his parents, sister and brother.

Police in the small town of Nash, Texas, say officers responding to a report that a man had harmed his family and was threatening to kill himself on Tuesday found Cesar Olalde barricaded inside a home. They were told that multiple people were dead inside.

Olalde later called police, saying “he had pulled the trigger, and shot his family,” according to a probable cause affidavit by Nash Police officer Craig Buster.

BALTIMORE (AP) — During a surprise commencement address to graduates of Johns Hopkins University on Thursday morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told them to take advantage of the time and resources they have to pursue their passions and uphold the democratic values at stake in his country’s war against Russia.

He spoke via livestream from Ukraine, where the ongoing conflict has impacted the futures of countless young Ukrainians, robbing them of opportunities and loved ones, Zelenskyy said. He told Hopkins graduates to make the most of every moment.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The mpox health emergency has ended, but U.S. health officials are aiming to prevent a repeat of last year’s outbreaks.

Mpox infections exploded early in the summer of 2022 in the wake of Pride gatherings. More than 30,000 U.S. cases were reported last year, most of them spread during sexual contact between gay and bisexual men. About 40 people died.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee judge has ruled that a group of parents can have their say in a lawsuit over the writings of a shooter who killed six people at their children’s school.

The judge ruled Wednesday night that the Covenant School parents have a right to intervene against other groups that want the shooter’s writings — along with some other documents in the police investigation — released according to the Tennessee Public Records Act.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Air Force fighter pilot about to be nominated as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff got his call sign by ejecting from a burning F-16 fighter jet high above the Florida Everglades and falling into the watery sludge below.

It was January 1991, and then-Capt. CQ Brown Jr. had just enough time in his parachute above alligator-full wetlands for a thought to pop into his head. “Hope there’s nothing down there,” Brown said in an interview at the Aspen Security Forum last year.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Lawmakers in several states are embracing legislation to let children work in more hazardous occupations, longer hours on school nights and in expanded roles including serving alcohol in bars and restaurants as young as 14.

The efforts to significantly roll back labor rules are largely led by Republican lawmakers to address worker shortages and in some cases run afoul of federal regulations.

Child welfare advocates worry the measures represent a coordinated push to scale back hard-won protections for minors.

NEW YORK (AP) — Two years ago, signing a bill intended to punish Twitter and other major social media companies, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis blasted the platforms as “suppressing ideas” during the COVID-19 pandemic and silencing conservative voices.

What a turnaround.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Thursday sharply limited the federal government’s authority to police water pollution into certain wetlands, the second decision in as many years in which a conservative majority narrowed the reach of environmental regulations.

The outcome could threaten efforts to control flooding on the Mississippi River and protect the Chesapeake Bay, among many projects, wrote Justice Brett Kavanaugh, breaking with the other five conservatives.

DENVER (AP) — Colorado medical providers will need to get patients’ prior consent before medical students can perform pelvic exams on them while they are unconscious for a procedure under a bill signed into law Thursday.