Reps meeting Taiwan's Tsai say US seeks peace in region

Constance Wu and boyfriend Ryan Kattner are expecting, again.

The family of a man who was fatally shot by a police officer says his rights under a federal disability discrimination law were violated because he was having a mental health crisis and officers weren’t adequately trained to respond. In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Atlanta, the family of Matthew Zadok Williams alleges “disability discrimination” and says DeKalb County had a “policy of failing to adequately train police officers to safely arrest persons with mental illness.” A county police officer shot and killed Williams on April 12, 2021, in the townhome community where he lived. A county spokesperson declined to comment on pending litigation.

A Georgia House committee approved a bill Tuesday that targets crimes against Jewish people and threatening antisemitic imagery such as swastikas.

The USA TODAY Sports Top 25 men's basketball poll, with first-place votes received, team's RECORDS THROUGH SUNDAY, total points based on 25 for first place through one point for 25th and ranking in last week's poll:

The Biden administration is planning to reverse longstanding policy and allow the use of Medicaid to treat jail and prison inmates' substance use disorders and certain other health conditions. Dr. Rahul Gupta, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, announced Tuesday that states would be encouraged to submit proposals for how to use money from the joint federal-state low-income health insurance program for incarcerated people. Those that do would be required to provide mental health and drug treatment and would have the option to add some other services.

Before Florida’s legislative session even begins, the bill that would allow people to carry concealed weapons without a permit is just a few steps away from becoming law.

A fifth grader at Richneck Elementary, the same Virginia school where a 6-year-old shot and wounded his teacher, was removed from class after threatening to “pop some bullets,” officials said.

AUSTIN, Texas – Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office made its case on Tuesday for state budget writers to fund a $3.3 million whistleblower settlement, saying the cost to keep fighting the lawsuit would be far higher.

Pennsylvania House Democrats are putting their freshly minted majority status to work in shutting down Republican efforts to make changes to legislation designed to let victims of childhood sexual abuse file otherwise outdated lawsuits. After the winners of three Pittsburgh-area special elections were sworn in on Tuesday, the chamber began work on legislation for a two-year “window” for child sexual abuse lawsuits. Three special elections earlier this month gave Democrats a one-seat margin in the chamber. Their leaders are hoping for a final House vote later this week. Republicans say Democrats are wielding the majority to prevent amendments and constrain debate.

Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad:

A 38-year-old Chicago man has been convicted of attempted murder after he shot an Iowa sheriff's deputy during a robbery. A Linn County jury found Stanley Donahue guilty Tuesday in the June 2021 shooting at a Casey's store in Coggon. Prosecutors said Linn County deputy Will Halverson was shot seven times after he responded to a report of a robbery at the store. Prosecutors said Donahue robbed two employees and locked them in a cooler before shooting Halverson seven times. The deputy was seriously injured but recovered and returned to work. No sentencing date was set for Donahue, who faces up to 112 years in prison.

The Biden administration says it will generally deny asylum to migrants who show up at the U.S. southern border without first seeking protection in a country they passed through. That mirrors an attempt by the Trump administration that never took effect because it was blocked in court. The measure stops short of a total ban but imposes severe limitations on asylum for any nationality except Mexicans, who don’t have to travel through a third country to reach the U.S. It doesn't take effect immediately and is almost certain to face legal challenges.

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb 21, 2023--

Legalizing sports betting is back on the agenda of the Minnesota Legislature. And advocates expressed hope Tuesday they’ll find the votes to get a plan through the state Senate, where the idea has died before. The Democratic proposal, introduced Monday, would put the state’s tribes in control of in-person betting at their casinos as well as remote wagering via mobile devices. Similar to a bill that passed the House last year, the state’s two horse tracks would be shut out of the action. This year, tribal casinos and six major-league sports teams have forged an alliance to support the bill.

Yes, “Cocaine Bear” is a real movie. And it might be a hit. Since the trailer first debuted for Elizabeth Banks’ very, very loosely based-on-a-true-story comedy has stoked a rabid zeitgeist. At a time when much in Hollywood can feel pre-packaged, the makers of “Cocaine Bear” think it can be a wild exception. Its makers, including producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, say that it's time Hollywood got bolder and greenlight movies that don't feel like they were dreamed up in a corporate boardroom. And “Cocaine Bear” most definitely didn't originate at the C-suite. It opens in theaters Friday.

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More than a half dozen South and Central Florida mayors have hopped aboard a national travel industry campaign to persuade the U.S. State Department to speed up visa application interviews abroad for international travelers.

DALLAS — More cameras, greater security lighting with motion detection and additional fencing.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills is touting bipartisanship in signing a supplemental budget into law. The bill makes adjustments to the current budget that runs through the end of June, and Mills touted help for nursing facilities, hospitals and small businesses. The Maine Legislature overwhelmingly approved the roughly $40 million in budget adjustments to account for some surplus revenue. Mills thanked for the Legislature for bipartisan support and said she hopes that spirit continues as work progresses on a two-year, $10.3 billion budget.

Each year, thousands of freshly certified financial planner (CFP) professionals enter the industry.

The daughter of former Wisconsin Gov. Tony Earl says he suffered a stroke this week and is now receiving palliative care. The 86-year-old Earl is a Democrat who served one term as governor from 1983 to 1987. He was a champion of gay rights and a staunch environmentalist. Earl was defeated in 1986 by Republican Tommy Thompson. Earl’s political career ended after he lost a Democratic primary race for U.S. Senate in 1988 to Herb Kohl, but he went on to become a leading advocate for campaign and election finance reforms and a champion of environmental causes. Julia Earl said in a text message Tuesday to The Associated Press that her father was surrounded by loved ones and “is at peace and painfree.”

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has entered home hospice care after a series of short hospital stays. The Carter Center said in a statement Saturday that Carter, 98, “decided to spend his remaining time at home with his family and receive hospice care instead of additional medical intervention.” Hospice care is treatment designed to make patients comfortable and to reduce pain and suffering in their final days. It is usually home-based and reserved for those declared by two physicians to be terminally ill, with six months or less to live. Hospice care may include medicine but only to reduce symptoms, not with the intent to cure any illness.

South Dakota lawmakers have rejected a proposed repeal of the state’s grocery tax — despite Republican Gov. Kristi Noem’s testimony in support of the measure. Noem’s testimony Tuesday before the House Appropriations Committee was an unusual move for the leader who has rarely appeared in public this session. She had opposed the $102 million tax cut in the final days of the 2022 legislative session, but she changed course months later to make it a centerpiece of her reelection campaign. After the measure failed, Noem told reporters she would keep working on the tax cut, and said lawmakers made the “wrong” decision.

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GLENDALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb 21, 2023--

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. & AMSTERDAM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb 21, 2023--

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb 21, 2023--

ATLANTA — An attorney representing one of the 14 defendants charged in the sweeping “Young Slime Life” gang case is seeking a mistrial days after an hourslong police interrogation video was leaked online.

NEW YORK — Mexico’s former top cop used the police force he commanded to help a drug cartel do business, a federal jury in Brooklyn found Tuesday.

A bill advancing in the North Carolina House would change how county commissioners are elected in the state’s most populous county. It has drawn criticism from local Democrats who do not want Republican state lawmakers interfering in their elections. The local bill, which could not be vetoed by the Democratic governor, would make Wake County’s commissioner elections nonpartisan and require that members be elected by district, rather than the county at large. While board members represent seven county commissioner districts, the entire county currently votes for each candidate. Democrats have held every seat on the seven-member panel since 2014.

Testimony from a former ESPN executive is underscoring the high stakes and corruption that has enveloped the world of soccer. Former ESPN President John Skipper told a U.S. District Court in New York Tuesday that his broadcasting company bid $450 million for U.S. broadcasting rights to the two most recent World Cups, including the recent one in Qatar. Fox reportedly bid $425 million, but won the rights anyway. The U.S. government is accusing two former Fox executives of bribing soccer officials to undermine competing bids and help Fox win the rights. The Fox network is not a defendant in the case and has denied any wrongdoing.

Wall Street tumbles to biggest drop since December as concerns deepen about rising rates; Dow off 696 points, or 2.1%.

An Arkansas law enforcement officer who held down a man while two others beat him during an arrest recorded on video is back on the job after he did not face any criminal charges. Mulberry Police Chief Shannon Gregory confirms that Officer Thell Riddle was reinstated and returned to work Friday. A bystander used a cellphone to record the South Carolina man and two former Crawford County sheriff’s deputies during the Aug. 21 arrest of Randal Worcester in the small town of Mulberry. The two deputies face federal charges and remain under investigation by the state. But a grand jury declined to indict Riddle and the state says it won't be charging him.

Few Brazilians can claim to dominate their field as much _ and at such a young age _ as the 39-year-old Carnival impresario Leandro Vieira.  Vieira has become one of the most decorated leaders of the annual parade competition in Rio de Janeiro. This year, as Carnival director of a samba school that hasn’t won in more than two decades, he could cement his name as one of the greatest since the festivities kicked off almost 100 years ago. Vieira’s prestige as an artist _ and his fame as a party animal _ has stretched well beyond Rio, achieving the kind of celebrity a film director might gain.

CHICAGO — It can’t be easy to trade a legend.