President Joe Biden said Monday that Americans are likely being held hostage by Palestinian militant group Hamas after its surprise attack on Israel, and that at least 11 US...

Former President Donald Trump is asking a court to dismiss several criminal charges against him in the Georgia 2020 election interference case.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis described former President Donald Trump as having over-promised and under-delivered on Tuesday, vowing in New Hampshire to "break the swamp" in Washington while faulting Trump for failing to deliver on his 2016 campaign promises to "drain" it.

A Chinese dissident who has been living in a Taiwanese airport since Friday has pleaded for the United States or Canada to grant him asylum after he fled Thailand saying he feared being deported back to China.

Harrison Ford, who will turn 81 next month, is also set to make his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe next year

'There is a special place in hell for women who don't support other women,' Lisa Kennedy Montgomery said

His "thoughts and prayers are with all of those suffering", Buckingham Palace says.

The mother of the six-year-old child who allegedly shot his first grade teacher in Newport News, Virginia earlier this year said in an interview with ABC that she is “willing to take responsibility” for her son’s actions. “That is my son, so I am, as a parent, obviously willing to take responsibility for him — because he can’t take responsibility for himself,” Deja Taylor said. Ms Taylor is facing up to six years in prison on a felony count of child neglect and a misdemeanor count of recklessly leaving a firearm as to endanger a child. She is also facing a federal charge of filing false information on the paperwork she submitted when purchasing the firearm that was used in the shooting of the teacher. Ms Taylor is accused of actively using marijuana when she purchased her gun from a Grafton, Virginia shop, and while marijuana is legal in Virginia, it is one of the controlled substances prospective gun buyers must admit to using on documents before purchasing their weapon. The shooting took place at Richneck Elementary School on January 6, with the teacher, 25-year-old Abigail Zwerner, suffering gunshot wounds to her abdomen and hand. Ms Zwerner survived the shooting and has since filed a $40m lawsuit against the school district and school officials, alleging that they ignored repeated warnings about the danger the student posed. Newport News Public Schools has filed to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming that Ms Zwerner’s injuries should be covered under the district’s workers’ compensation policy. Ms Taylor’s legal approach may be less complicated. Her lawyer, Jimmy Ellenson, told WTKR that she plans to plead guilty to the latest charges filed against her and suggested that she’s already reached a deal with prosecutors. “We’ve come to an agreement and a resolution, which I think will be satisfactory to all parties,” Mr Ellenson said. In her interview with ABC, Ms Taylor said that her son has ADHD and that the week he shot her teacher was the first week he had not been accompanied to class by a parent that year. Ms Taylor said her son liked the teacher, but was frustrated with her during the week of the shooting. “He was talking a lot about how felt like he was being ignored,” Ms Taylor said of that week. “So he would come home and [say], ‘Mom, I don’t think that she was listening to me. I didn’t like that.’ And then he actually ended up getting suspended the next day.” Ms Taylor said that she kept the gun locked, and she and her attorney weren’t willing to elaborate in the ABC interview on how her child got hold of the weapon. The child’s grandfather, who now has custody of him, said he rarely talks about the shooting — preferring to talk about the days leading up to it instead. Ms Taylor said she was beginning to form a relationship with Ms Zwerner given the time she spent in the classroom working with her and said she’s a “great person.” “I would truly like to apologise that out of the incident she did get hurt,” Ms Taylor said. Read More Mother of young boy who shot teacher arrested in Virginia

Yoji Yamada has directed 90 films, including “Tora-san,” which tops the Guinness World Records for the longest-running movie series starring the same actor

Starbucks said on Wednesday former CEO Howard Schultz would step down from the company's board after 41 years

The fanfare around Narendra Modi’s visit to the US has been punctuated by protests over accusations that his right-wing administration is cracking down on human rights in India. Several trucks bearing banners calling upon Joe Biden to question the Hindu leader were seen in the streets of New York on Wednesday even as several Democratic lawmakers urged Mr Biden to “directly” put across questions about human rights violations to Mr Modi. Addressed to Mr Biden, digital posters on the trucks carried slogans like “Did you know mob lynching of Muslims, Christians and Dalits have surged under Modi’s rule. With almost no accountability” and “Hey Joe! Ask Modi why student activist Umar Khalid has been in prison for 1000+ days WITHOUT Trial?” Another banner addressed to Mr Biden asked “Why was Modi banned from the USA from 2005-2014?” and provided an answer for him. It read, for “particularly severe violations of religious freedom” and added that the Indian prime minister was the “only person ever to be denied a visa on these grounds”. The banners also labelled Mr Modi as the “Crime Minister of India”. As Mr Biden and Mr Modi enter the second day of the latter’s high-profile state visit and look to ink new partnerships in defence, semiconductor manufacturing and more, the visit has been overshadowed with calls to address violence and crimes against minorities in India. Notable progressive voices, like Democrats Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, have said they will boycott Mr Modi’s address to the US Congress, stating that a “joint address is among the most prestigious invitations and honours the United States Congress can extend”. “We should not do so for individuals with deeply troubling human rights records – particularly for individuals whom our own State Department has concluded are engaged in systematic human rights abuses of religious minorities and caste-oppressed communities,” Ms Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement. More than 70 lawmakers earlier wrote to Mr Biden and called on him to use his meeting with Mr Modi to raise concerns about the erosion of religious, press and political freedoms. “It is an important country to me, and we must call out some of the real issues that are threatening the viability of democracy in all of our countries,” said representative Pramila Jayapal, who was born in India and helped organise the lawmakers’ letter. “If India continues to backslide, I think it will affect our ability to have a really strong relationship with the country.” A week before Mr Modi was due to arrive in the country, US rights groups planned protests over what they call India’s deteriorating human rights record. The Indian American Muslim Council, Peace Action, Veterans for Peace and Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition planned to gather near the White House when the two leaders were expected to meet. The protesting groups prepared flyers that said “Modi Not Welcome” and “Save India from Hindu Supremacy”. Another event is planned in New York, featuring a show titled “Howdy Democracy”, a play on Mr Modi’s 2019 “Howdy Modi!” rally in Texas with Donald Trump. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch invited policy makers, journalists and analysts to a screening in Washington of India: the Modi Question, a BBC documentary that questioned Mr Modi’s leadership during the 2002 communal Gujarat riots. The documentary was banned in India, with the Indian government calling it a “propaganda piece” that displays “bias, [a] lack of objectivity, and frankly a continuing colonial mindset” on the part of the BBC. The BBC defended itself and said it adhered to the “highest editorial standards”. Since Mr Modi came to power in 2014, India has plummeted from 140th in the World Press Freedom Index, to 161st this year, its lowest dip ever, while also topping the list for the highest number of internet shutdowns globally for five consecutive years. Advocacy groups have also raised concerns over alleged human rights abuses under Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. Read More Biden and Modi to unveil new science and defence cooperation between US and India India's Modi is getting a state visit with Biden, but the glitz is shadowed by human rights concerns Jill Biden is taking Indian Prime Minister Modi on side trip before Thursday's White House visit Biden ‘won’t lecture Modi’ on India’s human rights record even as 75 US lawmakers differ Modi US visit: Amnesty calls for human rights to be central in talks with Joe Biden

TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 25, 2023--