International

International


A 5-year-old was murdered by her father. Her fateful custody hearing will be made public

The public has a right to hear audio recordings from the custody hearing of Harmony Montgomery, a 5-year-old New Hampshire girl who was murdered by her father and vanished in 2019 after being placed in his care, the highest court in Massachusetts ruled Wednesday. The father, Adam Montgomery, was found guilty in her death last […]

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Student loans in default will be sent for collection. Here’s what to know for borrowers

NEW YORK (AP) — Starting next month, the Education Department says student loans that are in default will be referred for collections. Roughly 5.3 million borrowers are in default on their federal student loans and soon could be subject to having their wages garnished. Referrals for collection had been put on hold since March 2020 […]

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Inside the investigation, seizure and death of Peanut the social media star squirrel

New York environmental workers who came with a warrant looking for Peanut the squirrel found the scampering social media star on a bathtub. His housemate, Fred the raccoon, was in a suitcase in a bedroom closet. Soon after the Oct. 30 seizure, both animals were euthanized and Peanut became a martyr – held up as […]

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Seattle officers who attended Jan. 6 rally ask US Supreme Court to keep their identities anonymous

SEATTLE (AP) — Current and former Seattle police officers who attended President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” political rally on Jan. 6, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol are asking the nation’s highest court to keep their identities anonymous in public court records. Using “John Doe” pseudonyms, they sued over whether the investigation into their activities […]

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Dutch leader of party in fragile ruling coalition quits politics, citing burnout

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch centre-right leader Pieter Omtzigt announced Friday evening he is quitting both the fragile four-party ruling coalition and national politics. Citing his mental health, the 51-year-old said in a social media video that he is unable to recover from burnout in the current political climate. “It was a huge honor […]

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IRS whistleblower on Hunter Biden is out as acting commissioner just days after getting the job

WASHINGTON (AP) — Just days after being promoted to acting IRS commissioner, the whistleblower who testified publicly about investigations into Hunter Biden’s taxes is out of the job, according to three people familiar with the decision. Gary Shapley, who previously testified to Congress as Republicans reviewed the business dealings of Joe Biden’s son, will be […]

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Judges warn Congress that more money is needed for security at a time of escalating threats

WASHINGTON (AP) — The federal judiciary is warning that Congress is not providing enough money for judges’ security, at a time of escalating threats and chilling efforts at intimidation. More than five dozen judges handling lawsuits against the Trump administration are receiving “enhanced online security screening” that typically includes scrubbing their personal information from the […]

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10,000 pages of records about Robert F. Kennedy’s 1968 assassination are released, on Trump’s order

WASHINGTON (AP) — About 10,000 pages of records related to the 1968 assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy were released Friday, including handwritten notes by the gunman, who said the Democratic presidential candidate “must be disposed of” and acknowledged an obsession with killing him. Many of the files had been made public previously, while others […]

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Judge dismisses lawsuit against Mormon church over how it uses donations

A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit alleging that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints arm misused hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations by investing it instead of using it for charitable purposes. U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby said a three-year statute of limitations on fraud claims in Utah passed before […]

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Why Elon Musk installed his top lieutenants at a federal agency you probably haven’t heard of

WASHINGTON (AP) — On the rooftop patio of the General Services Administration headquarters, an agency staffer recently discovered something strange: a rectangular device attached to a wire that snaked across the roof, over the ledge and into the administrator’s window one floor below. It didn’t take long for the employee — an IT specialist — […]

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Federal judge in Baltimore temporarily limits DOGE access to Social Security data

BALTIMORE (AP) — A federal judge on Thursday imposed new restrictions on billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, limiting its access to Social Security systems that hold personal data on millions of Americans. U.S. District Judge Ellen Hollander issued a preliminary injunction in the case, which was brought by a group of labor unions […]

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Slovak lawmakers loyal to populist premier Fico approve law critics claim will harm civil groups

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia’s parliament on Wednesday passed legislation that critics claim will be detrimental for many nongovernmental organizations. It was drafted by coalition lawmakers and approved by the government of populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, who has frequently attacked NGOs. The organizers of a protest rally this month in Bratislava against the legislation […]

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