USA

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The oldest historically Black collegiate fraternity in the U.S. says it is relocating a planned convention in two years from Florida because of what it described as Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration’s “harmful, racist and insensitive” policies towards African Americans.

Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity said this week that it would move its 2025 convention from Orlando to another location that is yet undecided. The convention draws between 4,000 and 6,000 people and has an economic impact of $4.6 million, the fraternity said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s a stunning new allegation in an already serious case: Former President Donald Trump sought to delete Mar-a-Lago surveillance footage to obstruct the Justice Department’s investigation into his handling of classified documents.

PHOENIX (AP) — A historic heat wave that turned the U.S. Southwest into a blast furnace throughout July is beginning to abate with the late arrival of monsoon rains.

Forecasters expect that by Monday at the latest, people in metro Phoenix will begin seeing high temperatures under 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius) for the first time in a month. As of Friday, the high temperature in the desert city had been at or above that mark for 29 consecutive days.

UNITED NATIONS, July 28 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United Nations Security Council relaxed the arms embargo on the Central African Republic, allowing weaponry to flow to government forces, though Bangui still called the decision an “affront.”

The Council said the situation in the country “continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security in the region” and extended the arms embargo — in place since the 2013 civil war — to July 31, 2024.

WASHINGTON, July 28 (Reuters) - Donald Trump on Friday denied wrongdoing in his handling of security tapes sought by federal investigators, a day after prosecutors added new charges alleging the former president ordered employees at his Florida resort to delete the videos.

Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, said in an interview with conservative radio host John Fredericks that he believed he wasn't required to hand over security tapes from his Mar-a-Lago resort but did so anyway.

WASHINGTON, July 27 (Reuters) - Donald Trump ordered employees at his Florida resort to delete security videos as he was under investigation for retaining classified documents, U.S. prosecutors said on Thursday as they broadened the case against the former president and charged a second member of his staff with helping to hide documents.

WASHINGTON, July 28 (Reuters) - Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell's unexplained freezeup while speaking in Congress this week is the latest reminder that America's most powerful political leaders are much older than many in other democracies.

Joe Biden, 80, is the oldest U.S. president to ever serve in the White House, and nearly two decades older than the median age of the world's national leaders, 62, Pew Research found.

ANKENY, Iowa (AP) — Donald Trump and rival Ron DeSantis will appear for the first time at the same campaign event in early voting Iowa on Friday at a pivotal moment for the Republican presidential candidates.

Trump, the early front-runner for the 2024 GOP nomination, is making a rare appearance with the rest of the field at an Iowa Republican Party fundraiser a day after he was charged with additional counts over his retention of classified documents after leaving office. He is also bracing to soon be charged in Washington over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has passed a massive annual defense bill that would deliver a 5.2% pay raise for service members and keep the nation’s military operating, avoiding partisan policy battles with an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden plans to sign an executive order while visiting Maine on Friday to encourage companies to manufacture new inventions in the United States.

Biden is going to Maine for the first time of his presidency, packaging his signing of the executive order with a speech at a textile factory and a fundraiser later in the town of Freeport.