WASHINGTON (AP) — The secrecy surrounding Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalizations due to prostate cancer surgery set off a political firestorm, launched multiple reviews and triggered calls for his ouster.  To some, the uproar may be puzzling or even offensive. An individual’s right to privacy, particularly about medical issues, is sacred. And most people have […]

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, who presides over one of the largest and busiest offices of prosecutors in the nation in Manhattan, issued what amounts to a casting call for whistleblowers Wednesday in a bid to discover non-violent crimes his office doesn’t yet know about. The prosecutor whose Southern District of New […]

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly renewed her call Wednesday to expand Medicaid and countered an anticipated single-rate flat income tax for individuals with a plan that would instead cut taxes by doing things like accelerating the phasing out of the state’s sales tax on groceries.  Kelly said in her annual State of the State address that […]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on Wednesday unveiled new legislation designed to protect songwriters, performers and other music industry professionals against the potential dangers of artificial intelligence. Lee made the announcement while standing in the middle of Nashville’s famed RCA Studio A, a location where legends such as Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson […]

DOVER, Del. (AP) — A judge has rejected several claims lodged by Delaware’s attorney general in a lawsuit alleging that the fossil fuel industry has downplayed the risks of climate change. Tuesday’s ruling significantly narrows the scope of the suit seeking to hold the industry liable for the effects of air pollution in the state. […]

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A lawsuit to block enforcement of Louisiana’s new ban on transgender health care procedures for anyone under 18 was announced Monday by LGBTQ+ advocates. The lawsuit was prepared by Lambda Legal and others on behalf of five Louisiana minors and their parents, identified in the filings by pseudonyms. Lambda Legal said […]

BOSTON (AP) — The U.S. retail mortgage lender loanDepot is struggling to recover from a cyberattack that impacted its loan processing and phone service. In a filing on Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said data was encrypted by the “unauthorized third party” who broke into company systems. It said certain unspecified […]

ATLANTA (AP) — Election integrity activists want a federal judge to order Georgia to stop using its current election system, saying it’s vulnerable to attack and has operational issues that could cost voters their right to cast a vote and have it accurately counted. During a trial set to start Tuesday, activists plan to argue […]

NEW YORK (AP) — For nearly two decades, journalists, police detectives, FBI agents, lawyers and amateur sleuths have pried into the depraved world of Jeffrey Epstein. Yet even after the release of thousands of pages of court records in recent days, some questions about the millionaire pedophile remain unanswered. The documents have gotten a lot […]

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The lawyer representing the woman who was allegedly sexually assaulted by Brazilian soccer player Dani Alves has filed a legal complaint with Spanish authorities after a video circulated on social media that reportedly reveals the identity of her client. Ester García, the lawyer of the alleged victim, told The Associated Press […]

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Sharlene Rabang and her calico cat fled the wildfire that destroyed her town on Maui and arrived at a family home on another Hawaii island after a 24-hour odyssey that included sleeping in a car. Dazed, coughing and weak, the frail but feisty 78-year-old headed straight for the bedroom. Her daughter […]

DOVER, Del. (AP) — Delaware’s largest hospital system will pay more than $47 million to settle whistleblower allegations by its former compliance officer that it provided kickbacks to outside doctors in return for patient referrals, resulting in fraudulent Medicaid billing.  The settlement announced Friday comes nearly seven years after Ronald Sherman filed his whistleblower lawsuit, […]