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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s national security adviser met with China’s foreign minister over the past two days on the Mediterranean island nation of Malta in an effort that the White House said Sunday was intended to “responsibly maintain the relationship” at a time of strained ties and mutual suspicion between the rival powers.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court’s decision siding with Black voters in an Alabama redistricting case gave Democrats and voting rights activists a surprising opportunity before the 2024 elections.

New congressional maps would have to include more districts in Alabama and potentially other states where Black voters would have a better chance of electing someone of their choice, a decision widely seen as benefiting Democrats.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Republicans who control the North Carolina legislature with veto-proof majorities are close to wresting supervision of elections from the governor and the governor’s party — almost always the Democrats for over a century.

A bill that could reach Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk this week would, among other changes, take away from him and future governors the power to appoint members of the State Board of Elections. It would give that authority to legislative leaders instead.

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump repeatedly declined in an interview aired Sunday to answer questions about whether he watched the Capitol riot unfold on television, saying he would “tell people later at an appropriate time.”

Trump, the current front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, refused to say on NBC’s “Meet the Press” how he spent Jan. 6, 2021, once the insurrection began and whether he made phone calls as his supporters stormed the seat of American democracy.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama high school band director was shocked with a stun gun and arrested after Birmingham police said he wouldn’t tell his band to stop playing.

Local news outlets report that Minor High School’s band director was arrested Thursday night after a football game between Minor and Jackson-Olin High School. He’s charged with disorderly conduct, harassment and resisting arrest.

MORGANTOWN, Pa (AP) — Nine juveniles who escaped from a detention center in Pennsylvania have been captured, state police said Monday.

“We’re going to interview all nine of them,” “I know there’s stuff in the works right now to decide where they are going to go after that takes place,” Pennsylvania State Police Trooper David Beohm.

All will be charged with escape.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge who rejected efforts by former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to move his charges in the Georgia election subversion case to federal court is set to hear arguments on Monday from former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark on the same issue.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — In 2020, North Carolina seemed the model of an evenly-divided swing state. Then-President Donald Trump barely won, beating Democrat Joe Biden by just over a percentage point. Meanwhile, the state’s Democratic governor, Roy Cooper, won reelection by a relatively comfortable 5 points.

Even last year, as Republicans won two seats on the state Supreme Court, North Carolina’s congressional delegation split evenly between Democrats and the GOP.

NEW YORK, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- American veteran diplomats have made a united call for revitalizing U.S.-China relations at a reception celebrating the 74th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Speaking at the event held Wednesday evening, 80-year-old Robert Hormats, former under secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment, lamented the status quo.

"Unfortunately, this is not one of those good times. This is a very difficult time and it's a very sad time for all of us who believe in the relationship," he said.

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Once upon a time, the moderates, the mavericks and the underdogs in presidential politics had a chance to break through in New Hampshire.