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The Diocese of Camden, NJ, said it will help pay $180 million to resolve clergy sex-abuse claims

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PHILADELPHIA — The Diocese of Camden has agreed to help pay $180 million to more than 300 people who said they were sexually abused by clergy members, the diocese and lawyers for the survivors announced Tuesday.

If the arrangement is approved by a federal judge, it would represent one of the largest sex-abuse settlements involving the Roman ...Read more

Takaichi formally elected PM, eyes expedited budget deliberation

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Sanae Takaichi was formally reelected as Japan’s Prime Minister on Wednesday following her resounding electoral win, a formality that allows her to turn her attention to expediting budget deliberations and implementing a trade deal agreed with U.S. President Donald Trump.

The vote to affirm her as leader was virtually assured after her ...Read more

Harold Cunningham/AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Zelenskyy says Russia dragging out negotiations as talks end

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A second day of U.S.-brokered meetings in Geneva between Russia and Ukraine broke up after barely 90 minutes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Moscow of attempting to prolong the process.

The talks were difficult and businesslike, the head of Russia’s delegation Vladimir Medinsky said on Wednesday, adding the next meeting ...Read more

James Hartley/Star-Telegram/TNS

University of Texas to vote on how race, gender can be discussed in classrooms

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The University of Texas System Board of Regents will meet Wednesday during its quarterly meeting to discuss a policy that will decide how universities are allowed to teach “controversial topics” like race, gender and LGBTQ areas of study.

The University of Texas System, which includes University of Texas at Arlington and UT Dallas, decided ...Read more

Plugging in costs more these days. Devonyu/iStock / Getty Images Plus

How deregulation made electricity more expensive, not cheaper

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American families are feeling the pinch of rising electricity prices. In the past five years alone, the generation portion of the standard service residential electric bill in Columbus, Ohio, has increased by 110%. This is one data point in a national trend.

Energy affordability is quickly shaping up to be a key election issue at all ...Read more

Virtual Health Hub/Virtual Health Hub/TNS

Alabama's 'pretty cool' plan for robots in maternity care sparks debate

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It sounds like something from a science fiction novel, but Alabama officials’ plan to use robots to improve care for rural pregnant women and their babies is real.

During a January White House roundtable touting the first grants to states under a new $50 billion rural health fund, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet ...Read more

Morgan Watkins/KFF HEALTH NEWS/TNS

Louisville found PFAS in drinking water. The Trump administration wouldn't require any action

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Every day, the Ohio River sends billions of gallons of water flowing past Louisville’s pumping station, where the Kentucky city’s utility sucks it up to turn it into tap water.

To ensure it tastes good and is safe to drink, a small team of scientists and technicians is constantly testing the water for pH, odors, heavy metals, and microbes. ...Read more

Ronaldo Bolaños/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Altadena asked Edison to bury power lines. Some fire victims say that could cost them $40,000

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LOS ANGELES — Connor Cipolla, an Eaton wildfire survivor, last year praised Southern California Edison's plan of burying more than 60 miles of electric lines in Altadena as it rebuilds to reduce the risk of fire.

Then he learned he would have to pay $20,000 to $40,000 to connect his home, which was damaged by smoke and ash, to Edison's new ...Read more

A.M. Stewart/KFF Health News/TNS

New Medicaid work rules likely to hit middle-aged adults hard

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Lori Kelley’s deteriorating vision has made it hard for her to find steady work.

The 59-year-old, who lives in Harrisburg, North Carolina, closed her nonprofit circus arts school last year because she could no longer see well enough to complete paperwork. She then worked making dough at a pizza shop for a bit. Currently, she sorts recyclable ...Read more

Paul W. Gillespie/Staff/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Small nuclear reactors move forward. Will Maryland catch up?

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BALTIMORE — Small, possibly portable, nuclear reactors that can’t melt down are moving toward reality in the United States, with what may be the first two coming online or beginning construction this year.

The US Army just transported its first small reactor for testing, and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, is working on what ...Read more

A 'fun' friendship: Emails in Epstein files detail his links to Venezuela's elite

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Francisco D’Agostino, a Venezuelan businessman once sanctioned by the United States for helping Caracas evade oil restrictions, maintained a close relationship with disgraced American financier Jeffrey Epstein, pitching business deals, offering political intelligence and proposing introductions to some of Venezuela’s most powerful figures, ...Read more

Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images North America/TNS

Whoopi Goldberg explains why her name appears in Epstein files

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Whoopi Goldberg is setting the record straight about why her name appears in the Epstein files.

“Now, in the name of transparency, can you put up… my name is in the files,” Goldberg said on Tuesday’s episode of “The View” as an email from 2013 was displayed on the screen.

Goldberg went on to explain that her name appears in emails ...Read more

Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Justice Department antitrust chief Slater resigns

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The Justice Department’s top antitrust cop, Abigail Slater, resigned Thursday in a move that raises concerns that the Trump administration will soften its stance on challenging anticompetitive conduct by the biggest companies.

Slater’s announcement, posted to the website X, came after the White House requested her resignation, according to ...Read more

ERIC PAUL ZAMORA/The Fresno Bee/TNS

California High-Speed Rail CEO Choudri goes on leave after Folsom arrest

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High Speed Rail Authority CEO Ian Choudri went on leave Tuesday, one day after it was reported that police arrested him and his fiancée earlier this month.

Rail authorities confirmed Monday that they were investigating Choudri after Folsom police arrested him and Lymudila Starostyuk after someone called 911 and accused Starostyuk of pulling ...Read more

Alex Kormann/Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Should Minneapolis deny liquor licenses to hotels that housed ICE agents? City Council debates it.

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Minneapolis City Council members debated on Tuesday whether to deny renewals of liquor licenses to two downtown hotels that housed federal immigration officers during the crackdown that has rattled the city and captured the attention of the nation.

The hotels at issue are Canopy by Hilton and Depot Renaissance Hotel, which have been the targets...Read more

Matt Stone/Boston Herald/TNS

Massachusetts Republicans blast Gov. Maura Healey's calls to defund ICE

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Massachusetts Republicans are denouncing Gov. Maura Healey’s call to defund ICE as the governor has ramped up her criticism of the federal agency since launching her reelection campaign in January.

Appearing on Sunday’s edition of WCVB’s “On the Record” program, Healey was asked about her recent executive order and legislation she ...Read more

Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Gov. JB Pritzker expected to propose 'maintenance' Illinois budget, legislative leader says

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SPRINGFIELD — One day before Gov. JB Pritzker’s scheduled budget address, Illinois’ four top legislative leaders briefed on the plan Tuesday agreed it will have to hew to the line in a tight fiscal year, with one Democratic leader saying he doesn’t expect the governor to embrace calls by some progressive lawmakers to more aggressively ...Read more

Kate Wolffe/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

Six children-focused bills California lawmakers want to pass in 2026

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When Assemblymember Mia Bonta, D-Alameda, came to the Legislature after a long tenure at educational nonprofits, she realized she could no longer say she works with children.

“I work with adults who work with adults who work with adults who work with children,” she said Tuesday.

The mother of three said the state’s ballooning child ...Read more

Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

More than $1.1 billion in medical debt erased in Illinois, with the help of a state program

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Illinois residents have seen more than $1.1 billion in medical debt erased, with the help of a state program that launched less than a year-and-a-half ago.

More than 500,000 Illinois residents have so far benefited from the program, with average debt relief of about $1,200 per person, according to the governor’s office. In some cases, the ...Read more

Hector Amezcua/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

Hundreds of young Chinook salmon found dead in Yuba River. What happened?

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Hundreds, and possibly thousands, of juvenile Chinook salmon were found dead in the lower Yuba River after a large water pipe burst at the New Colgate Powerhouse on Friday, according to a local conservation group.

Aaron Zettler-Mann, executive director of South Yuba River Citizens League, explained that flows on the lower Yuba River briefly ...Read more