Tennessee, Kentucky battery plants for Ford electric vehicles on track for $9.2B federal loan
The U.S. Department of Energy says massive battery plants planned in Tennessee and Kentucky for Ford’s electric vehicles are on track to receive up to a $9.2 billion federal loan
2023-06-24 07:58
New York City leans on public for help with e-bike crackdown after deadly fires
New York City officials said they would renew efforts to crack down on unsafe e-bike shops following a spate of deadly fires caused by lithium ion batteries
2023-06-24 07:55
Why Chinese students are taking graduation photos looking 'more dead than alive'
One photo shows the young woman sprawled facedown on the ground in a graduation gown, her tasseled cap discarded to the side. Others show her slumped over a chair, collapsed against a wall, and hanging listlessly over a staircase banister.
2023-06-24 07:53
Suspect in Minneapolis crash that killed 5 charged with vehicular homicide
A Minnesota man faces 10 counts of criminal vehicular homicide for a crash in Minneapolis that killed five people last Friday.
2023-06-24 07:52
US special counsel seeks delay to start of Trump documents trial until December
WASHINGTON U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith on Friday asked a federal judge to delay the start of former
2023-06-24 07:45
Federal court halts Florida’s drag ban, calling it attempt to ‘suppress the speech’ rights of performers
A federal court temporarily halted Florida’s controversial restrictions on drag performances, warning the law was overbroad and could risk infringing on free speech rights. The SB1438 law, signed in May by Republican governor Ron DeSantis, is “dangerously susceptible to standardless, overbroad enforcement which could sweep up substantial protected speech,” US judge Gregory Presnell wrote in his ruling. Far from a neutral attempt to protect children, as its backers have sometimes claimed, the law is an admitted attempt to “specifically suppress the speech of drag queen performers,” Judge Presnell wrote. The governor’s office told Reuters the ruling was “dead wrong.” “Of course it’s constitutional to prevent the sexualization of children by limiting access to adult live performances,” spokesperson Jeremy Redfern said. The suit against the state comes from Hamburger Mary’s, a restaurant chain that features family-friendly drag performances. An Orlando franchise of the restaurant filed suit in May. It claimed the law, which levies criminal penalties at food establishment for admitting children to an “adult live performance,” would “explicitly restrict or chill speech and expression protected by the First Amendment.” “This bill has nothing to do with children, and everything to do with the continued oppression of the LGBTQ+ community,” Hamburger Mary’s Orlando wrote in a Facebook post. Florida governor Ron DeSantis has made limiting the rights of LGBTQ+ people a key part of his agenda, signing bills that restrict gender-affirming care, protections for trans people in schools, and access to youth education on gender and sexuality. This month, courts struck down a Florida rule and statute banning Medicaid payments for transgender healthcare, and partially blocked a state law banning people under 18 from getting gender-affirming medicine. Earlier this month, a federal judge in Tennessee declared the state’s drag ban to be “unconstitutionally vague and substantially overbroad.” “There is no question that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment,” Judge Thomas Parker wrote. “But there is a difference between material that is ‘obscene’ in the vernacular, and material that is ‘obscene’ under the law.” “Simply put, no majority of the Supreme Court has held that sexually explicit — but not obscene — speech receives less protection than political, artistic, or scientific speech.” Read More Trump faces questions about whether he'll drag down the Republican Party after his indictments Group with Nazi flags protest outside Florida children’s museum days after similar stunt at Disney World Here are the restrictions on transgender people that are moving forward in US states Florida's law targeting drag shows is on hold under federal judge's order Evangelical leader hopes conference is 'testosterone booster shot' for anti-abortion 2024 candidates Trump, DeSantis interviews show Fox influence on GOP field still strong despite troubled year
2023-06-24 07:28
In losing Titan, St John's mulls a familiar tragedy
"Joy and sorrow were always communal rights in small maritime communities," said one Newfoundlander.
2023-06-24 07:28
Florida's law targeting drag shows is on hold under federal judge's order
A federal judge has temporarily blocked a new Florida law targeting drag shows that was championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis
2023-06-24 06:29
Biden slams Republicans on abortion rights a year after Roe repeal
By Nandita Bose and Steve Holland WASHINGTON U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday marked the one-year anniversary of
2023-06-24 06:24
Russia opens criminal probe into Wagner Group head over alleged threats to oust defense minister
The owner of the Wagner private military contractor has escalated his direct challenge to the Kremlin, calling for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia’s defense minister
2023-06-24 06:23
In Jerusalem's Armenian Quarter, a controversial land deal pits a community against its religious leaders
The property controversy comes as Christian Armenians have felt squeezed by Jewish extremists and the ongoing and worsening Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
2023-06-24 05:48
U.S. court blocks Florida law restricting drag performances
By Daniel Trotta A U.S. judge on Friday blocked a new Florida law restricting drag performances, the third
2023-06-24 05:47
