Today: October 06, 2024
Today: October 06, 2024

Latest From The Los Angeles Post

Political

Presidential centers issue joint statement calling out the fragile state of US democracy

Concern for U.S. democracy amid deep national polarization has prompted the entities supporting 13 presidential libraries dating back to Herbert Hoover to call for a recommitment to the country’s bedrock principles, including the rule of law and respecting a diversity of beliefs. The statement released Thursday, the first time the libraries have joined to make such a public declaration, said Americans have a strong interest in supporting democratic movements and human rights around the world because “free societies elsewhere contribute to our own security and prosperity here at home.” “But that interest,” it said, “is undermined when

Presidential centers issue joint statement calling out the fragile state of US democracy
Political

In Southeast Asia, Harris says 'we have to see the future'

It took more than a day of flying, including two refueling stops, for Vice President Kamala Harris to reach this year’s summit of Southeast Asian countries. And once she arrived, she had less than eight minutes of public speaking time during two meetings. But in Jakarta’s cavernous convention center, adorned with billowing flowers and tropical plants for the occasion, Harris saw an opportunity to shape the future of United States foreign policy. In an interview with The Associated Press, the vice president said that Washington must “pay attention to 10, 20, 30 years down the line,

In Southeast Asia, Harris says 'we have to see the future'
Political

Hundreds of military promotions are on hold as Republican senator demands end to abortion policy

Top defense officials are accusing Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville of jeopardizing America’s national security with his hold on roughly 300 military promotions, raising the stakes in a clash over abortion policy that shows no signs of easing. Tuberville brushed off the criticism, vowing he will not give in. “We’re going to be in a holding pattern for a long time,” he said, if the Pentagon refuses to end its policy of paying for travel when a service member goes out of state to get an abortion or other reproductive care. It’s a classic Washington standoff with rippling

Hundreds of military promotions are on hold as Republican senator demands end to abortion policy
Political

Biden administration cancels remaining oil and gas leases in Alaska's Arctic Refuge

In an aggressive move that angered Republicans, the Biden administration canceled the seven remaining oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on Wednesday, overturning sales held in the Trump administration’s waning days, and proposed stronger protections against development on vast swaths of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. The Department of Interior’s scrapping of the leases comes after the Biden administration disappointed environmental groups earlier this year by approving the Willow oil project in the petroleum reserve, a massive project by ConocoPhillips Alaska that could produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil a day on

Biden administration cancels remaining oil and gas leases in Alaska's Arctic Refuge
Political

Greek shipper pleads guilty to smuggling Iranian crude oil and will pay $2.4 million fine

A Greek shipper has pleaded guilty to a charge over it smuggling sanctioned Iranian crude oil and agreed to pay a $2.4 million fine, U.S. federal court papers seen Thursday by The Associated Press show. Empire Navigation agreed to be put on corporate probation under the plea agreement, according to the federal court filings. The charge stems from the saga over the oil tanker Suez Rajan, which has become mired in the wider tensions between the U.S. and the Islamic Republic even as Tehran and Washington work toward a trade of billions of dollars

Greek shipper pleads guilty to smuggling Iranian crude oil and will pay $2.4 million fine
Political

Biden refuses to grant some of the conditions that 9/11 defendants were seeking in plea negotiations

President Joe Biden has refused to approve some of the conditions that lawyers for the defendants in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks had sought in a possible plea bargain, ruling out a presidential guarantee that the five men would be spared solitary confinement and provided care for the trauma of their torture in CIA custody, a White House National Security Council official said Wednesday. Biden’s refusal on the plea-bargain guarantees leaves it to military prosecutors and defense lawyers to try to hash out an agreement on a plea bargain. The terms under discussion would have the five

Biden refuses to grant some of the conditions that 9/11 defendants were seeking in plea negotiations
Political

George Washington University sheltering in place after homicide suspect escapes from hospital

George Washington University issued a shelter-in-place order Wednesday afternoon after a homicide suspect escaped from police custody at the university hospital. The Metropolitan Police Department announced on the X social media platform that Christopher Haynes had “escaped custody” at the hospital just after 3:30. In a news release, police said Haynes, 30, had been arrested earlier Wednesday and charged with a “homicide offense.” Further details were not immediately available. The police notice did not say if Haynes was armed, but it advised people not to engage if they saw him and to call 911. The university sent

George Washington University sheltering in place after homicide suspect escapes from hospital
Political

Mar-a-Lago worker struck cooperation deal with prosecutors in Trump documents case, ex-lawyer says

An information technology director at Mar-a-Lago struck a cooperation agreement with federal prosecutors last summer in their investigation of Donald Trump’s retention of classified documents at the former president’s Florida property, according to the worker’s ex-lawyer. Stanley Woodward, a former attorney for the IT manager, made the revelation in a court filing responding to Justice Department arguments that he had a potential conflict-of-interest because of his representation of another key figure in the Mar-a-Lago probe, Trump valet Walt Nauta. A cooperation agreement generally requires an individual to assist a criminal investigation in exchange for not being prosecuted.

Mar-a-Lago worker struck cooperation deal with prosecutors in Trump documents case, ex-lawyer says
Political

McConnell tries to reassure colleagues about his health, vows to serve out term as Senate GOP leader

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell declared again Wednesday that he plans to finish his term as leader despite freezing up at two news conferences over the summer, brushing off questions about his health as he sought to reassure colleagues he’s still up to the job. At a weekly, closed-door lunch with fellow GOP senators on Wednesday, McConnell pointed to the statement released a day earlier by attending physician Brian P. Monahan about his health. He said he was ready to move forward with the Senate’s busy fall agenda. Monahan’s statement, released by McConnell’s office, said there was

McConnell tries to reassure colleagues about his health, vows to serve out term as Senate GOP leader
Political

Prosecutors seeking new indictment for Hunter Biden before end of September

Federal prosecutors plan to ask a grand jury to indict President Joe Biden’s son Hunter by the end of the month, according to court documents filed Wednesday. The exact charges the president’s son would face were not immediately clear, but appeared related to a gun possession charge in which he was accused of having a firearm while being a drug user. He has also been under investigation by federal prosecutors for his business dealings. U.S. Attorney for Delaware David Weiss, newly named a special counsel in the case, referred to a seeking an indictment before Sept. 29

Prosecutors seeking new indictment for Hunter Biden before end of September
Political

Pence rails against Trump's 'siren song of populism' as he tries to energize his 2024 campaign

Former Vice President Mike Pence cast the 2024 election as a fight for the future of conservatism and called on fellow Republicans to reject the “siren song of populism” championed by former President Donald Trump and his followers. “Should the new populism of the right seize and guide our party, the Republican Party we’ve long known will cease to exist and the fate of American freedom would be in doubt,” Pence said in what his campaign plugged as a major speech at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College Wednesday afternoon. The speech

Pence rails against Trump's 'siren song of populism' as he tries to energize his 2024 campaign
Political

Prosecutors in Trump's Georgia election subversion case estimate a trial would take 4 months

Prosecutors in the Georgia election subversion case involving former President Donald Trump said Wednesday that a trial would likely take four months. The estimate from special prosecutor Nathan Wade came during a hearing Wednesday before Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee on attempts by two of those indicted to be tried separately. The hearing was broadcast live on television and on the judge’s YouTube channel, a marked difference with the other three criminal cases against Trump, where cameras have not been allowed in the courtroom during proceedings. Wade said his estimated trial length did not include

Prosecutors in Trump's Georgia election subversion case estimate a trial would take 4 months
Political

A Trump backer has a narrow lead in Utah's congressional primary, buoyed by strong rural support

With strong backing from Utah’s rural voters, Donald Trump supporter Celeste Maloy held a slim lead in a Republican special congressional primary — but the race was still too early to call Wednesday. Whoever triumphs in the GOP primary will be heavily favored to win November’s general election, and the race has thrown a spotlight on the rural-urban divide among Republicans in the sprawling district, which encompasses large swathes of southern and western Utah as well as northern Salt Lake City. Many votes had yet to be counted, with thousands of mail-in votes expected to come in over the next

A Trump backer has a narrow lead in Utah's congressional primary, buoyed by strong rural support
Political

Trial opens for Trump White House adviser charged with refusing to cooperate with Jan. 6 Committee

A White House adviser to President Donald Trump acted as if he were “above the law” when he refused to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, prosecutors argued Wednesday as his trial got underway. Peter Navarro, charged with two counts of contempt of Congress, didn’t ignore the House Jan. 6 Committee, instead telling members to contact Trump about what might be protected by executive privilege, Navarro’s attorney said. A judge has found the privilege argument alone isn’t a defense against the charges because Navarro couldn’t show evidence that

Trial opens for Trump White House adviser charged with refusing to cooperate with Jan. 6 Committee
Political

Christie says DeSantis put 'politics ahead of his job' by not seeing Biden during hurricane visit

Republican presidential hopeful Chris Christie says Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had put “politics ahead of his job” by declining to meet with President Joe Biden during the Democrat’s weekend visit to survey Hurricane Idalia’s damage in DeSantis’ state. “Your job as governor is to be the tour guide for the president, is to make sure the president sees your people, sees the damage, sees the suffering, what’s going on and what needs to be done to rebuild it,” Christie said about his rival for the 2024 nomination in an interview Tuesday on Fox News Radio’s “The

Christie says DeSantis put 'politics ahead of his job' by not seeing Biden during hurricane visit
Political

Lawsuit contends Constitution's 'insurrection' clause bars Trump from running again for president

A liberal group on Wednesday filed a lawsuit to bar former President Donald Trump from the primary ballot in Colorado, arguing he is ineligible to run for the White House again under a rarely used clause in the U.S. Constitution aimed at candidates who have supported an “insurrection.” The lawsuit, citing the 14th Amendment, is likely the initial step in a legal challenge that seems destined for the U.S. Supreme Court. It will jolt an already unsettled 2024 primary campaign that features the leading Republican candidate facing four separate criminal cases.

Lawsuit contends Constitution's 'insurrection' clause bars Trump from running again for president
Political

Judge rules Trump in 2019 defamed writer who has already won a sex abuse and libel suit against him

Four months after a jury found that Donald Trump sexually abused and defamed advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, a federal judge ruled Wednesday that still more of the ex-president’s comments about her were libelous. The decision means that an upcoming second civil trial will concern only how much more he has to pay her. The ruling stands to streamline significantly the second trial, set for January. It concerns remarks that Trump made in 2019, after Carroll first publicly claimed that Trump sexually attacked her in a luxury department store dressing room in the 1990s, which he

Judge rules Trump in 2019 defamed writer who has already won a sex abuse and libel suit against him
Political

War sanctions against Russia highlight growing divisions among the Group of 20 countries

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is facing growing skepticism from some leading rich and developing nations as the residual impact of sanctions against Russia is deepening divisions among the Group of 20 countries. With world leaders and finance ministers meeting this week in India for the G20 summit, fractures have came into the open, and alliances are tightening among some nations that have long been resistant to the U.S.-led efforts to exact economic punishment on Moscow for its war in Ukraine. The United States and its allies among the Group of Seven major industrial nations insist that the

War sanctions against Russia highlight growing divisions among the Group of 20 countries
Political

Alabama’s defiant new voting map rejected by federal court — after Republicans ignored the Supreme Court’s directive to add a second majority-Black House district

Evan Milligan, plaintiff in an Alabama case that could have far-reaching effects on minority voting power across the U.S., speaks outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 4, 2022. AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File In a rebuke of the Alabama legislature, a panel of three federal judges rejected on Sept. 5, 2023, the state’s proposed voting districts that failed to create a second district where Black voters could elect a political candidate of their choice. In rejecting the legislature’s proposed voting districts for the second time since 2022, the federal judges wrote they were “deeply troubled” that Alabama lawmakers submitted a

Alabama’s defiant new voting map rejected by federal court — after Republicans ignored the Supreme Court’s directive to add a second majority-Black House district
Political

The US committed to meet the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, but like other countries, it's struggling to make progress

Many colonias along the Texas-Mexico border still lack basic infrastructure, including running water. AP Photo/Eric Gay In a Zen parable, a man sees a horse and rider galloping by. The man asks the rider where he’s going, and the rider responds, “I don’t know. Ask the horse!” It is easy to feel out of control and helpless in the face of the many problems Americans are now experiencing – unaffordable health care, poverty and climate change, to name a few. These problems are made harder by the ways in which people, including elected representatives, often talk past each other. Most

The US committed to meet the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, but like other countries, it's struggling to make progress
Political

Former Rep. Mike Rogers enters Michigan Senate race as the first prominent Republican

Republican Mike Rogers, who served in Congress for 14 years and chaired the House Intelligence Committee, is running for an open U.S. Senate seat in Michigan that Democrats have held for over two decades. The announcement, which was provided to The Associated Press in a campaign video on Wednesday, instantly shakes up a Senate race that had been relatively quiet and dominated by Democratic candidates. It’s seen as a recruiting victory for Michigan Republicans, who have struggled to win statewide races with a state party in turmoil. A former Marine and FBI agent, Rogers was elected

Former Rep. Mike Rogers enters Michigan Senate race as the first prominent Republican
Political

The AP Interview: Harris says Trump can't be spared accountability for Jan. 6

Vice President Kamala Harris said Wednesday that those responsible for the effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and the ensuing violence at the U.S Capitol must be held accountable — even if that means Donald Trump. “Let the evidence, the facts, take it where it may,” Harris said in an interview with The Associated Press in Jakarta, Indonesia, where she was attending a regional summit. Federal prosecutors have indicted Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, for his efforts to cling to power in 2020, The former president also has

The AP Interview: Harris says Trump can't be spared accountability for Jan. 6
Political

Texas AG Ken Paxton's impeachment trial begins with a former ally who reported him to the FBI

The impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is underway with live television coverage, a former aide who reported him to the FBI on the witness stand and his wife watching from her desk in the state Senate but prohibited from participating. But how much Paxton himself will take part in the historic trial that resumes Wednesday is up in the air. Facing the gravest threat yet to his political future, Paxton left the start of the proceedings early and cannot be compelled to testify over accusations of corruption that have dogged one of Texas’

Texas AG Ken Paxton's impeachment trial begins with a former ally who reported him to the FBI
Political

EPA delays new ozone pollution standards until after 2024 election

The Environmental Protection Agency is delaying plans to tighten air quality standards for ground-level ozone — better known as smog — despite a recommendation by a scientific advisory panel to lower air pollution limits to protect public health. The decision by EPA Administrator Michael Regan means that one of the agency’s most important air quality regulations will not be updated until well after the 2024 presidential election. “I have decided that the best path forward is to initiate a new statutory review of the ozone (standard) and the underlying air quality criteria,” Regan wrote in a letter

EPA delays new ozone pollution standards until after 2024 election
Political

Kentucky Democrat Beshear links GOP challenger to reality of abortion law in reelection campaign

Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear has pushed his opposition to Kentucky’s abortion ban to the forefront of his reelection campaign by linking his Republican challenger to an extreme scenario of the strict law — requiring young victims of rape or incest to carry their pregnancies to term. Beshear’s campaign released a TV ad featuring a prosecutor denouncing the law’s lack of exceptions for rape or incest. It attacks GOP nominee Daniel Cameron for supporting the measure, which bans all abortions except when carried out to save a pregnant patient’s life or to prevent a disabling injury. The

Kentucky Democrat Beshear links GOP challenger to reality of abortion law in reelection campaign

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