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North Carolina elected leaders have enacted several ineffective and misleading laws over the years, but when it comes to undermining public confidence in government and taking advantage of vulnerable people, the badly misnamed “education lottery” has to be near the bottom of any “worst of” list.

After the 2020 election, Fox News was guilty of professional malpractice and ethical corruption. Faced with a choice — between telling viewers the truth about Donald Trump’s loss, or feeding their fantasies with blatant lies — Fox favored profit over proof, income over integrity.

What’s one good clue that President Joe Biden really intends to run for reelection in 2024? He is trying to distance himself from the Democratic Party’s soft approach to crime. The president, who in 2020 distanced himself from Democrats who advocated defunding the police, stunned many in his…

My own basketball coaching career ended many years ago, when my 13-and-under Billy Mitchell Boys Club squad lost to the Guy Thunderbirds in a one-sided blowout. My guys had laughed their foolish heads off all the way from Little Rock to Guy, a little country town in Arkansas’ Faulkner County.

When the Affordable Care Act was passed it contained an option for states to extend Medicaid coverage to adults with an income up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, beginning in January 2104. To date, 39 states have adopted the expansion, which provides for the federal government t…

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Federal prosecutors have rested their seditious conspiracy case against former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and four lieutenants charged with plotting to stop the transfer of presidential power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 election. Jurors will still hear testimony by defense witnesses before they begin deliberating. Before prosecutors rested Monday, the jury heard over 30 days of testimony by more than 20 prosecution witnesses. A defense attorney told jurors Monday the Proud Boys did not travel to Washington to “cause a riot.” The case against the far-right extremist group’s leaders is among the most serious generated by the Justice Department’s investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

Four people associated with the Oath Keepers were convicted on Monday of conspiracy and obstruction charges stemming from the attack on the U.S. Capitol in the latest trial involving members of the far-right antigovernment extremist group.A Washington D.C. jury found Sandra Parker, of Morrow, Ohio; Laura Steele, of Thomasville, North Carolina; William Isaacs, of Kissimmee, Florida and Connie Meggs, of Dunnellon, Florida guilty of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and other felony charges. In a rare loss for prosecutors, Sandra Parker’s husband, Bennie Parker, was acquitted of obstruction as well as one conspiracy charge. A sixth defendant — Michael Greene, of Indianapolis — Indiana, was also acquitted of two conspiracy charges.

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Increased punishments for rioting in North Carolina will become law as Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper says he won't veto a measure containing them. Cooper on Friday announced he would let the bill become law without his signature. The governor successfully vetoed a similar bill in 2021. But now Republicans have padded their House and Senate majorities and a half-dozen House Democrats voted for this year's measure. That raised prospects of a successful override. Republicans have advanced the bills following the 2020 demonstrations about racial injustice that at times turned violent. Cooper says changes had been made to this year's bill but he still had First Amendment concerns.

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A retired Air Force officer who stormed the U.S. Capitol dressed in combat gear and carried zip-tie handcuffs into the Senate gallery has been sentenced to two years in prison. U.S. District Judge John Bates also sentenced Larry Brock on Friday to two years of supervised release after prison and 100 hours of community service. Brock declined to speak in court before the judge imposed his sentence. Brock joined other rioters on the Senate floor only minutes after then-Vice President Mike Pence, senators and their staff evacuated the chamber to escape the mob attacking the building on Jan. 6, 2021.

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Texas and Florida are being led by tough-talking Republican governors weighing presidential runs as their state lawmakers debate especially strict legislation on border security. Republican proposals in the Texas Legislature build on Gov. Greg Abbott’s $4 billion border project Operation Lone Star that includes increased patrols near the border. His aides have confirmed he's considering a presidential run. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is considered the strongest possible GOP competitor so far to Donald Trump in his new presidential bid. DeSantis has proposed increasing penalties for human smuggling. Hospitals would be required to collect data on patients’ immigration status and people in the U.S. illegally would be denied state ID cards

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Eleven of the biggest banks in the country have announced a $30 billion rescue package for First Republic Bank. It's an effort to stop the California-based bank from becoming the third to fail in less than a week. Shares of First Republic had fallen sharply this week, dropping 60% on Monday alone. For the package, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo would each put $5 billion in uninsured deposits into First Republic. Meanwhile Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs would deposit $2.5 billion each. The remaining $5 billion would come from five other banks.

Legal advice from state attorneys general sought by other government officials often has been treated as a public record — but not in every state. Wyoming's attorney general has declined to publicly release the advice she provided to local officials about how to handle citizen requests for election recounts. The attorney general says that's closed as a matter of attorney-client privilege. An Associated Press review found that about one-fifth of states haven't publicly posted attorney general's opinions in recent years. Some attorney general offices say they haven't provided any recent formal opinions.

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Police says one student was fatally shot and another injured when a third student opened fire outside a Dallas-area high school before being arrested Monday morning Police and school district officials says the shooting began Monday on a high school campus in the suburb of Arlington around 6:55 a.m., before many students arrived for the first day back to classes after the spring break. One student was injured by gunfire and later died. Another student was hurt by debris and is receiving care for injuries that aren’t life threatening. Police say the suspected shooter never entered the Lamar High School building and was arrested soon after officers arrived.

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Wall Street is rising after regulators pushed together two huge banks over the weekend and made other moves to build confidence in the struggling industry. The S&P 500 was 0.7% higher Monday. Financial stocks were among the many to rise. Much attention has been on banks because they may be cracking under the fastest series of interest rate hikes in decades. Regulators announced a deal on Sunday where Swiss banking giant UBS would buy rival Credit Suisse. Treasury yields also climbed ahead of a looming decision on interest rates by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday.

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A bill that would allow Idaho to execute condemned inmates by firing squad is headed to the governor’s desk after passing the Legislature with a veto-proof majority. Firing squads will be used only if the state cannot obtain the drugs needed for lethal injections. One death row inmate has already had his scheduled execution postponed multiple times because of drug scarcity. Republican Gov. Brad Little has voiced his support for the death penalty but generally does not comment on legislation before signing or vetoing it. The Death Penalty Information Center says only Mississippi, Utah, Oklahoma and South Carolina have laws allowing firing squads.

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A firebrand Israeli minister says there’s “no such thing” as a Palestinian people. The remarks came as Israel’s new coalition government, its most hard-line ever, plowed ahead on Monday with a part of its plan to overhaul the judiciary. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition said it was pushing a key part of the overhaul — which would give the coalition control over who becomes a justice or a judge — before the parliament takes a monthlong holiday break next week. Also on Sunday, an Israeli and Palestinian delegation at a meeting in Egypt, mediated by Egyptian, Jordanian and U.S. officials, pledged to take steps to lower tensions roiling the region ahead of the sensitive holiday season.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has welcomed Chinese leader Xi Jinping to the Kremlin, sending a message to Western leaders allied with Ukraine that their efforts to isolate Moscow have fallen short. Putin welcomed China’s plan for what he called “settlement of the acute crisis in Ukraine.” Xi's visit shows off Beijing’s new diplomatic swagger and gives a welcome political lift to Putin. The two major powers have described Xi’s trip as part of efforts to further deepen their “no-limits friendship.” China looks to Russia as a source of oil and gas and as a partner in opposing what both see as American domination of global affairs.

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President Vladimir Putin wasn’t waiting at the end of the red carpet to greet Chinese leader Xi Jinping upon his arrival in Russia for a high-profile visit. But it wasn’t a snub. Russia’s standard protocol for visiting dignitaries calls for them to be welcomed at the airport by a lower-ranking Cabinet official. Many observers argue that the fighting in Ukraine has made Russia increasingly dependent on China for support as the country becomes isolated from the West. But Putin didn’t deviate from the script and the start of Xi’s trip on Monday was like that of any visiting leader.