National News

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House has instructed two former aides to President Donald Trump not to appear at a House Judiciary Committee hearing Tuesday, saying Rick Dearborn and Rob Porter are “absolutely immune” from testifying at what the panel is calling its first impeachment hearing. In a letter sent to the panel and obtained […]

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — China and Russia clashed with the U.S. and other Security Council members Monday over China’s insistence on including a reference to Beijing’s $1 trillion “belt and road” global infrastructure program in a resolution on the U.N. political mission in Afghanistan. The mission’s six-month mandate expires Tuesday and council members met behind […]

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A defense attorney says a former Wisconsin nurse is prepared to plead guilty to hurting infants in a Madison hospital’s intensive care unit. Forty-three-year-old Christopher Kaphaem faces 19 felony child abuse counts involving nine infants. WKOW-TV reports Kaphaem’s attorney, Jonas Bednarek, notified the court of the plea in a letter Monday. […]

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Prosecutors have formally charged four ex-employees of a Florida nursing home where a power outage after a hurricane led to 12 patients’ deaths. The Broward County State Attorney’s Office filed a criminal information document Monday listing nine counts of aggravated manslaughter of an elderly person against administrator Jorge Carballo and […]

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A spokeswoman for Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins says newly disclosed allegations of sexual misconduct by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh are not adding anything new to what’s already been reported. Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon, a Democrat who hopes to unseat Collins next year, says she’s “tired of hoping that […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Vape shops in New York are scrambling to respond to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plan to prohibit the sale of flavored vaping products — a ban poised to take effect Tuesday. Cuomo, a Democrat, proposed the ban on Sunday . The emergency regulation will take effect immediately if approved as expected Tuesday […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Chinese government employee was arrested Monday after the Justice Department linked him to a visa fraud scheme intended to help others enter the United States to recruit research talent. Zhongsan Liu, 57, was charged in federal court in Manhattan with one count of conspiracy to commit visa fraud. Prosecutors say Liu […]

PHOENIX (AP) — The free speech rights of two Christian artists who make wedding invitations were violated by an anti-discrimination ordinance in Phoenix that makes it illegal to refuse service to same-sex couples for religious reasons, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Monday. The 4-3 decision reversed lower-court rulings favoring the city. The state Supreme Court […]

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) — Authorities have arrested an 18-year-old Oklahoma woman accused of threatening to carry out a mass shooting at her old high school. Pittsburg County Sheriff Chris Morris says Alexis Wilson, of McAlester, was arrested Monday after a co-worker told investigators that Wilson had said she wanted to shoot 400 people at McAlester […]

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (AP) — Authorities say a southern Michigan sheriff’s deputy who fatally struck an 11-year-old boy with his patrol vehicle will not be criminally charged. Calhoun County Sheriff Matt Saxton tells the Battle Creek Enquirer Monday that a prosecutor reviewed an investigation report and declined to seek charges in the May 28 crash […]