USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden opened his 2020 presidential run at a Pittsburgh union hall, declaring, “I’m a union man. Period.” As he gears up for reelection, the president’s first political rally is being held at a union gathering on the other side of Pennsylvania, punctuating just how much Biden is counting on labor support to carry him to a second term — especially in a critical battleground state.

(AP) --- As Donald Trump became the first former president to face federal charges, he and his supporters went through a familiar routine of mounting a victimhood defense in the face of unprecedented allegations of wrongdoing. But this time, the stakes are higher.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Justice Department accused Minneapolis police Friday of engaging in a pattern of violating constitutional rights and discriminating against Black and Native American people following an investigation prompted by the killing of George Floyd.

The sweeping two-year civil rights investigation concluded that systemic problems in the Minneapolis Police Department “made what happened to George Floyd possible.”

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 15 (APP): UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Thursday called on countries to phase out coal and other fossil fuels to avert climate “catastrophe”, saying the world’s response to deal with the impending disaster was “inadequate”.

“We are hurtling towards disaster, eyes wide open”, he said. “It’s time to wake up and step up.”

UNITED NATIONS, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council on Wednesday unanimously adopted a resolution calling on the international community to condemn hate speech, racism and acts of extremism.

The Security Council says that hate speech, racism, xenophobia, intolerance, gender discrimination and extremism can lead to conflict. Resolution 2686 was adopted to address the issue, calling on member states to publicly denounce such acts.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — One of just two Albuquerque Republicans left in the New Mexico Legislature will not be seeking reelection next year, setting up what could be a free-for-all in a Republican-leaning district that covers the city’s northeast heights.

The decision by state Sen. Mark Moores brings the list of incumbent senators headed for the door to at least three.

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — Jurors in federal court have awarded $25.6 million to a former Starbucks regional manager who alleged that she and other white employees were unfairly punished after the high-profile arrests of two Black men at a Philadelphia location in 2018.

Shannon Phillips won $600,000 in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages on Monday after a jury in New Jersey found that race was a determinative factor in Phillips’ firing, in violation of federal and state anti-discrimination.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI investigators who searched Harold Martin’s Maryland property in the fall of 2016 found classified documents — including material at the top secret level — strewn about his home, car and storage shed.

NEW YORK (AP) — A man charged with manslaughter for putting an agitated New York City subway rider in a fatal chokehold has been indicted by a grand jury, an expected procedural step that will allow the criminal case to continue.

Daniel Penny was charged by Manhattan prosecutors last month in the May 1 death of Jordan Neely, a former Michael Jackson impersonator who struggled in recent years with homelessness and mental illness.

SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — A former manager at the Harvard Medical School morgue, his wife and three other people have been indicted in the theft and sale of human body parts, federal prosecutors in Pennsylvania announced Wednesday.

Cedric Lodge, 55, of Goffstown, New Hampshire, stole dissected portions of cadavers that were donated to the school in the scheme that stretched from 2018 to early 2023, according to court documents. The body parts were taken without the school’s knowledge or permission, authorities said, adding that the school has cooperated with the investigation.