RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Election officials in Virginia have announced plans to withdraw the state from a bipartisan effort designed to ensure accurate voter lists and combat fraud — but that also has been caught up in conspiracy theories spread since the 2020 presidential election. When Virginia formally withdraws later this year, it will become […]

SEATTLE (AP) — The city of Seattle will pay $2.3 million to settle a lawsuit brought by employees who helped reveal that thousands of then-Mayor Jenny Durkan’s text messages had been deleted in 2020 amid protests over George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police. The terms of the city’s settlement with Stacy Irwin […]

OTTAWA — Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos was warned that pharmaceutical companies had steadfastly refused to engage on drug-price reforms before he urged an independent federal agency to pause those reforms in favour of more consultation, a 2021 memo shows. The NDP, which obtained the memo through access-to-information law and shared it with The Canadian Press, […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s nominee to head the National Archives was confirmed Wednesday by the Senate after a months-long partisan battle over the agency’s role in the investigation into sensitive documents seized at Donald Trump’s Florida home. Colleen Shogan, a political scientist, was confirmed as archivist of the United States in a 52-45 […]

LONDON (AP) — The breathtaking development of artificial intelligence has dazzled users by composing music, creating images and writing essays, while also raising fears about its implications. Even European Union officials working on groundbreaking rules to govern the emerging technology were caught off guard by AI’s rapid rise. The 27-nation bloc proposed the Western world’s […]

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina Republicans are pushing new abortion restrictions in a late attempt to curtail access after a near-total ban failed last month. A Senate bill that would ban abortion except in the earliest weeks of pregnancy is moving quickly through the South Carolina House in the first sign that Republican leaders […]

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Former Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant on Thursday released what he said were all of his text and email messages related to a welfare fraud investigation — including money spent on building a university volleyball arena that was pushed by NFL Hall of Famer Brett Favre. The 436 pages of messages had […]

OTTAWA — The federal privacy commissioner says it would be a mistake to give political parties the ability to govern the way they manage Canadians’ personal information. Changes proposed in the latest Liberal budget would let parties collect, use, retain and dispose of data in accordance with their own policies. Philippe Dufresne told a Senate […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top House Republican subpoenaed FBI Director Chris Wray on Wednesday for what he claimed are bureau records related to President Joe Biden and his family, basing the demand on newly surfaced allegations he said an unnamed whistleblower made to Congress. The White House said it was the latest example in the […]

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — You may soon be required to prove you’re older than 18 to watch porn in Utah, if adult websites comply with a law that took effect Wednesday. A new state law requiring adult websites verify the ages of their users took effect on Wednesday, making the state at least the […]

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — At a time when Republican-led states are restricting or banning abortion and limiting gender-affirming care, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed measures into law on Wednesday to protect abortion rights and expand Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming treatment in the heavily Democratic state. Maryland voters will decide a constitutional amendment next year to […]

QAB ELIAS, Lebanon (AP) — Lebanese officials are cracking down on Syrian refugees against the backdrop of a worsening economic crisis and political stalemate, an escalation that has caused a panic among Syrians in the country. In recent weeks, the army has raided refugee camps and set up checkpoints to review the documentation of non-Lebanese […]