Graham effort to delay testimony in election probe rejected
A federal judge says Sen. Lindsey Graham’s appearance before a special grand jury should not be delayed while he continues to challenge it in court. The grand jury is investigating whether then-President Donald Trump and others illegally tried to influence the 2020 election in Georgia. Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May ordered the South Carolina Republican to honor his subpoena for the grand jury. Graham’s attorneys appealed that order to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and asked May to stay her ruling while that appeal plays out. May declined that request Friday. Graham is currently scheduled to appear before the special grand jury on Tuesday. Representatives for Graham did not immediately respond Friday to messages seeking comment on May’s ruling.
Pence says he didn’t leave office with classified material
Former Vice President Mike Pence says he didn’t take any classified information with him when he left office. The disclosure — which would typically be unremarkable for a former vice president — is notable given that FBI agents seized classified and top secret information from his former boss’s estate on Aug. 8 while investigating potential violations of three different federal laws. Former President Donald Trump has claimed that the documents seized by agents were “all declassified.” Pence also told The Associated Press in an interview Friday that he didn’t want to “prejudge” the contents seized by the government “until we know all the facts.”
North Dakota school board reinstates Pledge of Allegiance
The school board in North Dakota’s most populous city has reversed course on its decision to stop reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at its monthly meetings. The group decided to reconsider at a special meeting Thursday following complaints from conservative lawmakers and widespread bashing from citizens. Seven of the nine members of the Fargo Board of Education, including four newcomers who took office in June, had voted last week to cancel a previous board edict to recite the pledge that passed a couple of months before the election. The new board said the oath did not align with the district’s diversity and inclusion code. All but one of the board members voted to reinstate the pledge, saying the controversy was a distraction to the district.
Judge: Prosecutors cannot enforce Michigan’s abortion ban
A Michigan judge has blocked county prosecutors from enforcing a pre-Roe v. Wade abortion ban that would have allowed providers to be charged with a felony. The preliminary injunction Friday follows a state Court of Appeals ruling this month that a May preliminary injunction applies only to the attorney general’s office, not county prosecutors, who handle most criminal cases. Friday’s ruling followed two days of witness testimony. Prosecutors in some of the state’s most populous counties have said they wouldn’t charge providers regardless of the decision, but Republican prosecutors in Kent, Jackson and Macomb counties have said they should be able to enforce the 1931 law. David Kallman, an attorney for two Republican county prosecutors, says an appeal is planned.
Vanessa Bryant testifies in trial over Kobe Bryant crash photos
Vanessa Bryant had found a measure of closure in February 2020 after the emotional, tribute-rich memorial for her late husband, basketball star Kobe Bryant. Then, days later, as she relaxed at home with friends and her younger daughters, Bryant learned that sheriff’s deputies had privately shared photos of victims’ remains at the site of the helicopter crash that killed her husband and their 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, along with seven other people. Bryant bolted from her home, she testified in a Los Angeles federal courthouse Friday. Friday’s testimony was a pivotal moment in a trial stemming from Bryant’s lawsuit against Los Angeles County over the handling of crash-site photos.
Drink up, Japan tells young people. I’ll pass, many reply.
Among the casualties of the pandemic is one that many young people in Japan say they do not miss: the drinking culture. That’s why a new message from the Japanese government — drink up! — seems to be putting few in the spirit. To bolster its ailing alcohol industry, Japan’s National Tax Agency has kicked off a contest inviting those ages 20 to 39 to submit ideas for encouraging people to consume more alcohol. But its entreaty is clashing with more than two years of actions by the government to stem the pandemic.
Kenyan power broker loses his stronghold, then the presidency
For decades, Kenyan opposition politician Raila Odinga has been the chief political power broker in the western counties around Lake Victoria, relying on his fellow Luo ethnic voters to back him in five successive elections for president. They stuck with him as he challenged entrenched corruption and fell short of the presidency four times — twice in contested votes too close to call. But the loyalty of his Luo stronghold came into question last week, as Odinga, 77, was pronounced the loser of his fifth, and possibly last, bid for the presidency.
Russia replaces the commander of its damaged Black Sea fleet
Russia has replaced the commander of its Black Sea Fleet, the country’s state news agency reported Friday, after a series of setbacks that include a recent powerful strike on one of its Crimean bases and the losses of its flagship vessel in April and control of a tiny island in June that served an outsize role in Russia’s naval operations. The shake-up suggested the gravity of the setbacks to the Black Sea Fleet’s operations. Although there have been unconfirmed reports of similar major changes in the leadership of other forces, they have not been made public by the Russian government.
Mexico arrests ex-attorney general in missing students case
Prosecutors in Mexico say they have arrested the attorney general in the previous administration. The arrest Friday was on charges that Jesús Murillo Karam committed abuses in the investigations of the 2014 disappearance of 43 students from a radical teacher college. He was attorney general from 2012 to 2015 under then President Enrique Peña Nieto. The current attorney general has accused Murillo Karam of “orchestrating a massive media trick” in leading a cover-up in the case. Murillo Karam announced in 2014 that the students had been killed and burned at a garbage dump by a drug gang. But the investigation allegedly used torture, improper arrest and mishandling of evidence, allowing most of the suspects to walk free. The motive for the abduction remains unclear eight years later.
By wire sources
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