Israel’s high court orders the army to draft ultra-Orthodox men, rattling Netanyahu’s government
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that the military must begin drafting ultra-Orthodox men for military service, a decision that could lead to the collapse of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition as Israel continues to wage war in Gaza. The court ruled Tuesday that in the absence of a law that distinguishes between Jewish seminary students and other draftees, Israel’s compulsory military service system applies to the ultra-Orthodox like any other citizen. Under longstanding arrangements, ultra-Orthodox men have been exempt from the draft, which is compulsory for most Jewish men and women. These exemptions have long been a source of anger among the secular public, a divide that has widened during the eight-month-old war.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange’s plane leaves Bangkok on his way to a US court and later freedom
BANGKOK (AP) — A plane with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has departed Bangkok after refueling and he is on the way to Saipan to enter a plea deal with the U.S. government in Saipan. The agreement will free him and resolve the legal case over the publication of a trove of classified documents. The chartered flight from London that Assange’s wife, Stella, confirmed was carrying her husband left Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok on Tuesday evening. The official WikiLeaks account on X said Assange is heading toward Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth in the Pacific, where he’s scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.
Who is Julian Assange, the polarizing founder of the secret-spilling website WikiLeaks?
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Before he emerged as an eccentric internet publisher of state secrets, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was born in Townsville, Australia. He experienced an itinerant childhood and attended dozens of schools, becoming a computer hacker as a teenager. He was arrested in the 1990s for hacking a server in Melbourne and studied mathematics and physics at Australian universities. Assange went on to transform his radically anti-secrecy views into a document-leaking website that revealed U.S. and other countries’ military secrets. He spent seven years in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London and five in a British prison while he fought his extradition to the U.S.
Judge alters Trump’s gag order, letting him talk about witnesses, jury after hush money conviction
NEW YORK (AP) — A judge has modified Donald Trump’s gag order, freeing the former president to comment about witnesses and jurors in his New York hush money criminal trial but keeping court and prosecution staff off limits. Judge Juan M. Merchan issued his decision on Tuesday. Trump’s lawyers had wanted the gag order fully lifted. They argued there was nothing to justify continued restrictions on Trump’s First Amendment rights after the trial ended May 30 in his conviction for falsifying records to cover up a potential sex scandal. Prosecutors had urged Merchan to keep most of the gag order in place at least until Trump is sentenced on July 11, but said they’d be OK with modifying it.
Laugh (or cringe) at these history-making moments from presidential debates
WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s debate prep time for President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Their teams are no doubt looking back at how past memorable debate moments came together, for good or ill. Those signature moments may be well-rehearsed zingers or offhand reactions like a too-loud sigh or a glance at a wristwatch. Past debates demonstrate how the candidates’ words and body language can make them look especially relatable or hopelessly out-of-touch. They can also showcase candidates at the top of their policy game or provide an indication they’re out to sea. As one debate expert puts it, “Anything can happen.”
Norfolk Southern botched decision to blow open vinyl chloride cars in East Palestine, NTSB says
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (AP) — The National Transportation Safety Board says Norfolk Southern and its contractors botched the decision to blow open five vinyl chloride tank cars after last year’s disastrous derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and trackside detectors that might have prevented the crash failed to accurately detect the temperature of a burning wheel bearing 20 miles beforehand, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation. Investigators said the railroad and its contractors ignored data about the tank cars and failed to accurately present information to decisionmakers from the chemical manufacturer. The NTSB also recommended that federal standards be established for the trackside detectors that are supposed to catch mechanical problems that cause derailments.
Kenya’s president calls the storming of parliament a security threat, vows calm ‘at whatever cost’
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya’s president is calling the storming of parliament on Tuesday a national security threat, and he vows that such unrest won’t happen again “at whatever cost.” President William Ruto spoke in a national address hours after part of Kenya’s parliament building was burned as thousands of protesters against a new finance bill entered and legislators fled. It was the most direct assault on the government in decades. Journalists saw at least three bodies outside the complex where police had opened fire. Medical workers reported five others killed. Clashes spread to other cities. The military has been deployed to support police.
More than 500 people have been charged with federal crimes under the gun safety law Biden signed
WASHINGTON (AP) — Gun safety groups are praising President Joe Biden now that more than 500 people have been charged with federal crimes under the landmark gun safety legislation he signed two years ago Tuesday. A White House report obtained by The Associated Press on the implementation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act shows some of the people charged are linked to organized crime rings and cartels. Biden’s Democratic reelection campaign believes gun control is a motivating issue for voters, particularly suburban college-educated women. The group Moms Demand Action urges Congress to prioritize gun safety laws. Biden signed the legislation following mass shootings including the massacre of 19 students and two teachers at a Texas elementary school.
Shot in 1.6 seconds: Video raises questions about how trooper avoided charges in Black man’s death
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Dash camera video and investigative documents are raising new questions about the fatal shooting of a Black motorist by a Georgia state trooper nearly four years ago. Trooper Jake Thompson was charged with murder after shooting Julian Lewis mere seconds after sending his car spinning into a ditch following a chase. He pursued Lewis in August 2020 over a broken taillight. Thompson ultimately avoided a trial because a grand jury declined to indict him. Authors of a new book shared the video with The Associated Press, which verified its authenticity and obtained additional records. Two use-of-force experts who reviewed the video said the shooting appeared unjustified. Thompson declined to comment through his attorney.
Karen Read’s jurors must now decide: Was it deadly romance or police corruption?
DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — The fate of Karen Read is now in the hands of jurors. They must decide whether the Massachusetts woman angrily struck her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV and left him for dead. Her defense says she’s been framed in the killing of John O’Keefe, and that he was actually beaten inside a fellow officer’s home and then dumped outside in the snow. True crime bloggers and pink-shirted supporters have been tracking every detail. A prosecutor said in closing Tuesday that “there is no conspiracy.” But a defense lawyer told jurors that they’re the “only thing standing between Karen Read and the tyranny of injustice.”
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