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LOCALIZE IT: The nation’s voting landscape 10 years after the Supreme Court’s Shelby decision

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:32 GMT

EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS:This month marks the 10th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Shelby v. Holder, which dismantled a key provision of the Voting Rights Act requiring certain jurisdictions to submit voting-related changes for federal review.In the ruling, the majority on the Supreme Court found the formula for identifying which jurisdictions would be subject to federal review was outdated and pointed to increased minority participation in voting as a primary reason.The decision, a decade later, continues to reverberate across the country as Republican-led states pass new voting restrictions that, in several cases, would have been subject to federal review. Meanwhile, conservative-leaning justices remain interested in weighing other elements of the landmark 1965 law, with one case pending before the court that could make it harder for minority groups to gain fair representation.Here are some tips for localizing the story:___READ AP’S LATEST Supreme C...

Poland’s state media criticized for its coverage of huge anti-government march

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:32 GMT

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s state broadcasting authority has received multiple complaints over the way state media covered a huge anti-government protest over the weekend, an official said Tuesday.State broadcaster TVP played down the size and significance of the protest led by the main opposition leader, Donald Tusk. Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in Warsaw, making it possibly the largest demonstration in decades in Poland. Organizers estimated that 500,000 people took part. The number is impossible to verify but the march stretched for kilometers through the streets of Warsaw along the main route and down side streets. Protests were also held in other Polish cities.TVP, which has long vilified Tusk in its reports, said there were no more than 150,000 people.Unlike independent broadcasters, TVP didn’t show the march live. At one point, however, it did offer viewers live coverage of the National Parade of the Circles of Rural Areas’ Housewives.It referre...

New Jersey utilities float solar panels on reservoir, powering water treatment plant

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:32 GMT

MILLBURN, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey’s Canoe Brook Water Treatment plant produces 14 millions gallons of drinking water a day.Each one of those gallons weighs seven pounds, so it is quickly apparent that a large amount of energy is needed to move water from a reservoir to the treatment plant and into the 84,000 homes and businesses that the New Jersey American Water Company serves in the area.So the water utility partnered with NJR Clean Energy Ventures, the renewable energy subsidiary of the natural gas firm New Jersey Resources, for a solution.NJR Clean Energy Ventures built a vast array of solar panels, linked them together, and placed them on the surface of the water at Canoe Brook Reservoir.The companies say the 17-acre solar array, consisting of 16,510 solar panels, is the largest floating solar array in North America — about twice the size of the next-largest facility, an array of floating panels on a body of water in Sayreville, New Jersey owned by that municipality.The Mi...

CONCACAF reverting to Champions Cup from Champions League

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:32 GMT

MIAMI (AP) — CONCACAF is changing the name of its top club competition back to the Champions Cup, what the tournament was called from 1962 through 2008.The Confederation of North and Central American and Caribbean Association Football announced the change Tuesday, two days after Mexico’s León won this year’s title. Twenty-two teams will play in the first round and five teams will receive byes, with first-round winners advancing to a round of 16. The first round, round of 16, quarterfinals and semifinals will be home-and-home, total-goals series. The final will be one match.CONCACAF had eliminated a format utilizing a first-round group stage after the 2016-17 tournament. It had been called the Champions League since 2008.The tournament winner advances to the Club World Cup.Mexican clubs have won 17 of the last 18 titles. Seattle won in 2022.___AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsSource

Merck demanda al gobierno federal y llama “extorsión” a plan de precios de medicamentos de Medicare

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:32 GMT

Merck está demandando al gobierno federal por un plan para negociar los precios de los medicamentos de Medicare, llamando al programa una farsa equivalente a la extorsión.El fabricante de medicamentos está tratando de detener el programa, que se estableció en la Ley de Reducción de la Inflación y se espera que ahorre a los contribuyentes miles de millones de dólares en los próximos años.Merck dijo en una denuncia presentada este martes que el programa no implica una negociación genuina. En cambio, dijo que el Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos de EEUU selecciona los medicamentos que se incluirán y luego dicta el precio, amenazando a los fabricantes de medicamentos con “un impuesto diario ruinoso” si se niegan a aceptar. La FDA aprueba uso de emergencia de píldora de Merck contra el COVID-19 Investigan hallazgo de frascos de “viruela” en laboratorio de Merck en Pensilvania “Es equivalente a extorsión”, dijo el fabricante de ...

US weighs in on Roger Waters antisemitism debate, says artist has long history of denigrating Jews

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:32 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is weighing in on the controversy over Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters, saying his recent performances in Germany were antisemitic, an assessment shared by many in Israel and the pro-Israel community.The State Department said Tuesday that Waters has “a long track record of using antisemitic tropes” and a concert he gave late last month in Germany “contained imagery that is deeply offensive to Jewish people and minimized the Holocaust.” The comments came in a written response to a question posed at Monday’s State Department press briefing about whether the administration agreed with criticism of Rogers from the U.S. special envoy to combat antisemitism, Deborah Lipstadt.“Special Envoy Lipstadt’s quote-tweet speaks for itself,” the department said. “The concert in question, which took place in Berlin, contained imagery that is deeply offensive to Jewish people and minimized the Holocaust,” the department said. “The artist in qu...

Judge rules to release names of Rep. Santos bond cosigners, will stay secret as appeal considered

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:32 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal magistrate ruled Tuesday to make public the names of the cosigners on indicted Rep. George Santos ’ $500,000 release bond, but said she’ll keep them secret for now to give his lawyer time to appeal the decision.U.S. Magistrate Judge Anne Shields’ ruling came a day after Santos’ lawyer said the New York Republican would risk going to jail to protect the identities of his cosigners whose backing enabled his pretrial release.The decision was a victory for news outlets including The Associated Press and The New York Times that petitioned Shields last week to unseal the names, citing a need for “the greatest transparency possible.”Santos’ lawyer, Joseph Murray, urged Shields to keep the names secret. He suggested that the congressman’s cosigners could “suffer great distress,” including possible job losses and physical harm, if they’re identified publicly.Murray said he, Santos and Santos’ staff have been receiving threatening and harassing calls and messages, in...

Federal judge says “gender identity is real” in narrow ruling against Florida ban on gender-affirming care for minors

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:32 GMT

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Federal judge says “gender identity is real” in narrow ruling against Florida ban on gender-affirming care for minors.Source

Miami residents demand for Commissioner Joe Carollo to step down following federal civil case verdict

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:32 GMT

Miami residents, community leaders, and business owners are calling for Miami City Commissioner Joe Carollo to step down from his position following his recent liability in a federal civil case. Carollo was ordered to pay a staggering $63 million after being found guilty of harassing business owners in the Little Havana neighborhood.In a demonstration of solidarity, the community gathered outside Miami City Hall on Tuesday to express their outrage over the actions of their corrupt commissioner. Residents, along with prominent community leaders, delivered impassioned speeches decrying the unethical behavior exhibited by Carollo.“He should be supporting, helping and representing these businesses,” said community activist, Marvin Tapia. “[Carollo] does the complete opposite of that.” Among the crowd were several business owners who had personally experienced Carollo’s harassment. “When one of us is victimized, all of us are victimized,” said Da...

EU fraud buster pushes — again — to enter Parliament offices

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:32 GMT

The EU’s anti-fraud agency is not letting go of its campaign to get onto European Parliament property in the wake of the cash-for-influence Qatargate scandal. OLAF, the EU agency charged with investigating corrupt uses of EU funds, re-upped its plea on Tuesday for Parliament to give it full access. The existing rules often bar OLAF investigators from searching Parliament offices or seizing IT equipment — restrictions that have faced scrutiny in the wake of the Qatargate corruption probe, which involved alleged bribes of European parliamentarians by non-EU countries like Qatar and Morocco.Ville Itälä, head of the European Anti-Fraud Office, at a press conference on Tuesday expressed satisfaction with a recent European Parliament vote to provide OLAF with access to EU lawmakers’ offices and recognize the OLAF code of conduct. “It’s a huge step forward, but it’s not enough yet … It needs to be implemented,” he added.Itälä, a former Finnish MEP, has long lobbied agains...