May 8, 2022 2:45 pm
KYIV, Ukraine — Leaders from the Group of Seven developed democracies pledged Sunday to phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil, as they met with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, for online talks to stress their support and to display unity among Western allies on Victory in Europe Day, which marks Nazi Germany’s surrender in 1945. Cutting out Russian oil supplies “will hit hard at the main artery of (President Vladimir) Putin’s economy and deny him the revenue he needs to fund his war,” the G-7 countries, which include the U.S., Britain, Canada, Germany, France and Italy and Japan, said in a statement. “We will ensure that we do so in a timely and orderly fashion, and in ways that provide time for the world to secure alternative supplies,” they added. Casting a look back at World War II, the leaders stressed unity in their resolve that Putin must not win. “We owe it to the memory of all those who fought for freedom in the Second World War, to continue fighting for it today, for the people of Ukraine, Europe and the global community,” they said. U.S. President Joe Biden’s call with the G-7 leaders and Zelenskyy lasted about an hour.
May 8, 2022 6:12 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A San Francisco judge tossed out former President Donald Trump’s lawsuit challenging his permanent ban from Twitter. U.S. District Judge James Donato said Friday that Trump failed to show Twitter violated his First Amendment right to free speech. Free speech rights don’t apply to private companies and Trump failed to show Twitter was working as a state actor on behalf of Democrats, the judge wrote. “The amended complaint merely offers a grab-bag of allegations to the effect that some Democratic members of Congress wanted Mr. Trump, and ‘the views he espoused,’ to be banned from Twitter because such ‘content and views’ were ‘contrary to those legislators’ preferred points of view,’” Donato wrote. “But the comments of a handful of elected officials are a far cry from a ‘rule of decision for which the State is responsible.’ Legislators are perfectly free to express opinions without being deemed the official voice of ‘the State.’” Trump sued Twitter, Facebook and Google’s YouTube in July 2021, claiming they illegally censored him.
May 8, 2022 6:11 am
LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP) — With the worst of the thick wildfire smoke having blown out of town, residents of this small northern New Mexico city tried to recapture a sense of normalcy Saturday as their rural neighbors hunkered down amid predictions of extreme fire conditions. Shops and restaurants reopened, the historic center was no longer just populated by firefighters, but there was a widely felt sense of anxiety, loss, and wariness of what lay ahead. While the city, for now, seemed spared of danger, rural areas were still threatened as the fire was driven by winds so fierce all firefighting aircraft had to be grounded. And the worst could be yet to come. A combination of strong winds, high temperatures and low humidity were forecast by the National Weather Service to create an “exceptionally dangerous and likely historic stretch of critical to extreme fire weather conditions” for several days.
May 8, 2022 6:10 am
ZAPORIZHZHIA, Ukraine (AP) — Dozens of Ukrainians were feared dead Sunday after a Russian bomb destroyed a school sheltering about 90 people in the basement as Moscow’s invading forces kept up their barrage of cities, towns and villages in eastern and southern Ukraine. The governor of Luhansk province, one of two areas that make up the eastern industrial heartland known as the Donbas, said the school in the village of Bilohorivka caught fire after Saturday’s bombing. Emergency crews found two bodies and rescued 30 people, he said. Since failing to capture Ukraine’s capital, Russia has focused its offensive in the Donbas, where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting since 2014 and occupy some territory. The largest European conflict since World War II has developed into a punishing war of attrition due to the Ukrainian military’s unexpectedly effective defense.
May 8, 2022 6:06 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — All four leading Republicans in Pennsylvania’s governor’s race have vowed to ban abortion if given the chance. In Georgia, one top Republican candidate for governor wants to outlaw all abortions. The sitting Republican governor is backed by the anti-abortion lobby, but refuses to clarify his position. And in Michigan, all but one of the five leading Republicans running for governor oppose abortion even in cases of rape or incest. The fight for Congress often dominates midterm elections, but the revelation this week that the Supreme Court may soon overturn its landmark Roe v. Wade decision has thrust candidates for governor — and their positions on abortion — into the forefront of the 2022 campaign. Some states, including Pennsylvania and Georgia, have primary elections this month, but the ultimate fight won’t be decided until the November general election. In a handful of battleground states with Republican-controlled state legislatures, every GOP candidate for governor supports severe abortion restrictions, if not a complete ban with no exceptions. That’s prompting urgent warnings from Democrats that women’s access to abortion in some states may rest almost entirely on which party wins the governor’s race this fall.
May 7, 2022 4:24 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – South Korea’s military says North Korea has fired a suspected ballistic missile designed to be launched from a submarine, apparently continuing a provocative streak in weapons demonstrations that may culminate with a nuclear test in the coming weeks or months. The launch came three days after the South Korean and Japanese militaries detected the North firing a suspected ballistic missile from near its capital, Pyongyang, on Wednesday, and three days before the inauguration of South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol, who has vowed to take a tougher approach over the North’s nuclear ambitions.
May 7, 2022 4:23 am
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Willie Nelson is cancelling an upcoming performance at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage festival and postponing other shows after a positive case of the coronavirus in his band. The 89-year-old musician posted on his band’s website on Friday that “due to a positive Covid case in the Willie Nelson Family Band” two upcoming shows slated to happen May 6 and May 7 would be postponed and that Nelson’s Sunday performance at Jazz Fest would be cancelled. The news comes after Melissa Etheridge announced Thursday that she would not be able to perform Saturday at Jazz Fest due to “COVID hitting my crew.” The festival started April 29 and ends Sunday.
May 7, 2022 4:21 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Mehmet Oz’s rivals in Pennsylvania’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate are escalating their attacks on the celebrity heart surgeon’s connections to his parents’ native country of Turkey, raising it as a possible national security issue. Oz, best known as TV’s Dr. Oz, has rejected any suggestions he is a threat to national security and has accused his opponents, particularly GOP rival David McCormick, of making “bigoted attacks.” If elected, Oz would be the nation’s first Muslim senator. The criticism of Oz and his ties to Turkey has mushroomed in the weeks after Oz won the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, who remains deeply popular with conservative voters.
May 7, 2022 4:21 am
HAVANA (AP) – A powerful explosion apparently caused by a natural gas leak has blown away outer walls from a five-star hotel in the heart of Cuba’s capital, killing at least 22 people and injuring dozens. Havana Gov. Reinaldo García Zapata told the Communist Party newspaper Granma that no tourists had been staying at the 96-room Hotel Saratoga because it was undergoing renovations. Officials say about a dozen people are missing and that searchers are hunting for people who may be trapped. Cuban state TV blamed the blast on a truck carrying natural gas that it was supplying to the hotel. The blast happened as Cuba tries to revive its tourism sector. (Photo: AP)
May 7, 2022 4:18 am
UNDATED (AP) – President Joe Biden on Friday authorized the shipment of another $150 million in military assistance for Ukraine for artillery rounds and radar systems in its fight against Russia’s invading forces. Biden says the latest spending means his administration has “nearly exhausted” what Congress authorized for Ukraine in March and called on lawmakers to swiftly approve a more than $33 billion spending package that will last through the end of September. A U.S. official says the latest tranche of assistance includes 25,000 artillery rounds, counter-artillery radars, jamming equipment, field equipment and spare parts.
