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Judge considers accusations that New Mexico Democrats tried to dilute votes with redistricting map

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:13:41 GMT

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — FROM MOVEMENT AT 12:30 AM ET WEDNESDAY. EDITED BY CBLAKEAccusations that New Mexico’s Democratic-led Legislature unfairly diluted the vote of a politically conservative oil-producing region with its redistricting map are heading to trial on Wednesday, despite a last-minute flurry of motions that included an effort by the governor’s attorneys to delay the proceedings.The outcome is likely to have a big influence on which party represents a congressional swing district along the U.S. border with Mexico where partisan control has flipped back and forth three times in three elections. New Mexico’s 2nd District is one of about a dozen that are in the spotlight nationally as Republicans campaign to hold onto their slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2024.Democrats got a potential boost for the 2024 congressional elections as courts in Alabama and Florida ruled recently that Republican-led legislatures had unfairly diluted the voting powe...

Expert ruling that Colorado supermarket shooting suspect is competent for trial set to be debated

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:13:41 GMT

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A hearing begins Wednesday to determine if the man accused of killing 10 people at a Colorado supermarket in 2021 is mentally competent to stand trial. Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 24, was found mentally competent by experts at the state mental hospital in August, but his defense attorney Kathryn Herold asked for the determination to be debated in court. Judge Ingrid Bakke was required to schedule the two-day hearing that will include testimony, but denied Herold’s requested for another evaluation from the mental hospital. Bakke’s ruling could come as soon as Thursday.Herold argued at the time that Alissa, who has schizophrenia, is not competent and cited the psychiatric evaluations describing him as “profoundly mentally ill.” Schizophrenia can shake someone’s grasp on reality, potentially interfering in a legal defense in court. Mental competency to move toward trial entails Alissa being able to understand court proceedings and help Herold with his...

Race to replace Mitt Romney heats up as Republican Utah House speaker readies to enter

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:13:41 GMT

Republican Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson is poised to formally announce at a Wednesday night rally that he is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mitt Romney, who recently announced he won’t run for reelection.Romney announced earlier this month that he won’t seek a second term, saying younger people needed to step forward. In so doing, he threw open a wider door for those seeking to enter the race and led to speculation about whether Utah voters will choose a politically moderate successor similar to him or a farther-right figure such as Utah’s other U.S. senator, Mike Lee, a Donald Trump supporter. Wilson would likely fall somewhere between Romney and Lee in that regard, said Damon Cann, head of Utah State University’s political science department.“I think most people are expecting Brad Wilson would govern somewhat more conservatively. I think he would be toward the political center from where Mike Lee’s at but I think he would be more conservative...

In a win for Black voters in redistricting case, Alabama to get new congressional lines

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:13:41 GMT

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama is headed to the first significant revamp of its congressional map in three decades after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the state’s bid to keep using a plan with a single majority-Black district.The decision on Tuesday sets the stage for a new map with greater representation for Black voters to be put in place for the 2024 elections. The ruling marks a victory for Black voters in the state who had challenged the existing districts as racially discriminatory. Advocates said they hope it will bolster similar redistricting challenges elsewhere around the country. WHAT HAPPENEDJustices denied Alabama’s emergency request to keep Republican-drawn congressional lines in place and stop a three-judge panel from drawing new lines as the state appeals. The three-judge panel had ruled the state plan — with one majority-Black district out of seven in a state that is 27% Black — likely violated the U.S. Voting Rights Act. The three-judge panel said th...

A hard-right party gathers strength in Poland, pushing a new, less friendly course on Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:13:41 GMT

KATOWICE, Poland (AP) — Poland’s hard-right Confederation party opened its electoral campaign convention as if it were a rock concert, with a singer riding up on a motorcycle, its engine revving, and a pyrotechnic show of flames and sparklers.The party has been growing in popularity, especially among young men fed up with the political parties that have dominated Poland for most of the post-Communist era. Its convention in Katowice on Saturday, billed as its largest ahead of parliamentary elections on Oct. 15, was aimed at energizing more voters and at playing down antisemitism and other extreme views among some of its members.Through smoke and fire, Confederation’s leaders made their case for lower taxes, less regulation and an anti-European Union and anti-Ukraine foreign policy.Confederation has turned up the heat on the Polish political establishment, riding a wave of support for nationalist conservative parties across Europe. Similar political forces have surged on opposit...

Sen. Bob Menendez will appear in court in his bribery case as he rejects calls to resign

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:13:41 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez is due in court Wednesday to answer to charges that he used his powerful post to secretly advance Egyptian interests and do favors for New Jersey businessmen in exchange for bribes of cash and gold bars.The New Jersey Democrat will make his first appearance in a federal court in Manhattan amid growing calls from colleagues that he resign from Congress.A defiant Menendez — who was forced to step down as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee after the indictment was brought last week — says allegations that he abused his power to line his own pockets are baseless. He has said he’s confident he will be exonerated and has no intention of leaving the Senate.It’s the second corruption case in a decade against Menendez, whose last trial involving different allegations ended with jurors failing to reach a verdict in 2017.Fellow New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker on Tuesday joined the calls for Menendez to resign, saying in a state...

Trump heads to Michigan to compete with Biden for union votes while his GOP challengers debate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:13:41 GMT

As his Republican rivals gather onstage in California for their second primary debate, former President Donald Trump will be in battleground Michigan Wednesday night working to win over blue-collar voters in the midst of an autoworkers’ strike.Trump’s trip comes a day after President Joe Biden became the first sitting president in U.S. history to walk a picket line as he joined United Auto Workers in Detroit. The union is pushing for higher wages, shorter work weeks and assurances from the country’s top automakers that new electric vehicle jobs will be unionized.The dueling appearances reflect what will likely be a chief dynamic of the 2024 general election, which is increasingly looking like a rematch between Trump and Biden. Michigan is expected to be a critical battleground state as both candidates try to paint themselves as champions of the working class.Trump is scheduled to deliver primetime remarks at Drake Enterprises, a non-unionized auto parts supplier in Clinton Township,...

In landmark court case, 6 young activists take on 32 European nations over climate action

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:13:41 GMT

STRASBOURG, France (AP) — Six young people from Portugal will argue that governments across Europe aren’t doing enough to protect people from the harms of climate change at the European Court of Human Rights on Wednesday in the latest and largest instance of activists taking governments to court to force climate action.The lawyers representing the young adults and children will argue that the 32 European governments they’re suing have failed to adequately address global warming and therefore violated some of their fundamental rights. “This is truly a David and Goliath case,” said Gearóid Ó Cuinn, the director of the non-profit organization Global Legal Action Network that’s been crowdfunding to support the group.“It is unprecedented in its scale and its consequences,” he said. “It also makes legal history. Never before have so many countries had to defend themselves in front of a court, anywhere in the world.”Although there have been successful climate cases ...

New Jersey Supreme Court to rule on pandemic-related insurance exclusions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:13:41 GMT

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey’s Supreme Court is expected to consider whether an Atlantic City casino can get payouts from business interruption insurance for losses during the COVID-19 outbreak, potentially providing guidance for policyholders nationwide regarding the scope of coverage for pandemic-related losses.The state’s high court is scheduled to hear arguments Wednesday in a case brought by the owners of the Ocean Casino Resort, which had $50 million in business interruption insurance before the 2020 virus outbreak.Three insurers — AIG Specialty Insurance Co., American Guarantee & Liability Insurance Co. and Interstate Fire & Casualty Co. — largely denied coverage to the casino, saying it did not suffer direct physical loss or damage because of the virus.The casino sued and defeated an attempt by the insurers to dismiss the case. But that decision was reversed by an appellate court.The issue has arisen in state and federal courts around the country, incl...

Trump rivals try to make headway and other things to watch during the GOP presidential debate

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 18:13:41 GMT

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — A growing sense of urgency hangs over Wednesday’s Republican presidential debate as seven candidates fight for momentum on a stage that will not feature the race’s front-runner. Former President Donald Trump says he’s so far ahead that it would only help his competitors if he participated. The former president’s second consecutive absence gives those who do show up more airtime to make their case. But less than four months before Iowa’s kickoff caucuses, they are running out of time to change the trajectory of the primary.Here are some of our biggest questions heading into the debate:IS ANYONE RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT?For much of the year, the Republican contest has felt much more like a race for second place — or even an audition for a Cabinet position or ambassadorship in Trump’s next administration should he win. Conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy was the breakout star of the first debate, but he heaped praise on Trump ...