JERUSALEM  — Israeli protesters blocked highways leading to Jerusalem, Haifa and Tel Aviv on Tuesday, at the start of a day of countrywide demonstrations against the government’s planned judicial overhaul that has divided the nation. The demonstrations came the morning after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s parliamentary coalition gave initial approval for a bill to limit the Supreme Court’s oversight powers, pressing forward with the contentious proposed changes to the judiciary despite widespread opposition. The legislation is one of several bills proposed by Netanyahu’s ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox allies. The plan has provoked months of sustained protests by opponents who say it…

by Christina A. Cassidy and Linley Sanders Few Republicans have high confidence that votes will be tallied accurately in next year’s presidential contest, suggesting years of sustained attacks against elections by former President Donald Trump and his allies have taken a toll, according to a new poll. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll finds that only 22% of Republicans have high confidence that votes in the upcoming presidential election will be counted accurately compared to 71% of Democrats, underscoring a partisan divide fueled by a relentless campaign of lies related to the 2020 presidential election. Even as…

by Ed White PONTIAC, Mich.  — Two sons of the late singer Aretha Franklin gave opposing opinions Monday about the Queen of Soul’s final wishes, testifying in an unusual trial that will determine whether a 2014 handwritten document found in couch cushions will lead her estate. Franklin died in 2018 at age 76 without a formal, typewritten will, and five years later her legacy still is tied up in a suburban Detroit court after a niece found different sets of handwritten papers at her home. The issue for a jury: Does a 2014 document count as a will under Michigan law? If so, it could…

by Agency reports EVANSTON, Ill.  — Northwestern fired coach Pat Fitzgerald on Monday amid a hazing scandal that called into question his leadership of the program and damaged the university’s reputation after it mishandled its response to the allegations. Fitzgerald’s dismissal completed a rapid fall from grace for the former All-American linebacker, the star of the 1995 Northwestern team that won the Big Ten and played in the Rose Bowl after years of losing. The 48-year-old Fitzgerald had been firmly entrenched at his alma mater, an annual fixture on any list of college coaches with the most job security. “The…

by Kate Brumback ATLANTA  — A grand jury being seated Tuesday in Atlanta will likely consider whether criminal charges are appropriate for former President Donald Trump or his Republican allies for their efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has been investigating since shortly after Trump called Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in early 2021 and suggested the state’s top elections official could help him “find 11,780 votes,” just enough needed to beat Democrat Joe Biden. The 2 1/2-year investigation expanded to include an examination of a slate of Republican fake electors, phone calls…

by Emeka Obasi What a reunion it was for Kola Adebayo and Kayode Ojo, two cousins who did not know each other until soccer brought them face to face. It was not a pleasant story. Their mothers, Taiwo and Kehinde lived, apart. Adebayo was sent to his aunt’s house in Ibadan by her twin sister. He decided to do that after a game between his school, Federal College of Education, Abeokuta and St. Andrew’s College Oyo. That match continues to haunt Adebayo who won the Gothia Cup, Sweden in 1980 with Youth Sports Federation of Nigeria ( YSFON ) and…

by Jake Bleiberg An Oklahoma judge has thrown out a lawsuit seeking reparations for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, dashing an effort to obtain some measure of legal justice by survivors of the deadly racist rampage. Judge Caroline Wall on Friday dismissed with prejudice the lawsuit trying to force the city and others to make recompense for the destruction of the once-thriving Black district known as Greenwood. The order comes in a case by three survivors of the attack, who are all now over 100 years old and sued in 2020 with the hope of seeing what their attorney called “justice in their lifetime.”…

MADRID – At least 300 people who were travelling on three migrant boats from Senegal to Spain’s Canary Islands have disappeared, migrant aid group Walking Borders said on Sunday. Two boats, one carrying about 65 people and the other with between 50 and 60 on board, have been missing for 15 days since they left Senegal to try to reach Spain, Helena Maleno of Walking Borders told Reuters. A third boat left Senegal on June 27 with about 200 people aboard. The families of those on board have not heard from them since they left, Maleno said. All three boats…

by Kanishka Singh WASHINGTON  –     The U.S. assistant secretary of State for African affairs, Molly Phee, will travel to Addis Ababa on Monday and Tuesday to meet with African leaders and Sudanese civilians on how to end the conflict in Sudan, the State Department said on Sunday. Diplomatic efforts to halt fighting between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have so far proved ineffective, with competing initiatives creating confusion over how the warring parties might be brought to negotiate. The fighting that erupted on April 15 in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, has driven more than 2.9…

by Joe McDonald BEIJING — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Sunday said she agreed Washington will listen to Chinese complaints about security-related curbs on U.S. technology exports and might “respond to unintended consequences” as she ended a visit to Beijing aimed at reviving strained relations. Yellen defended “targeted measures” on trade that China’s leaders complain are aimed at hurting its fledgling tech industries. She said the Biden administration wants to “avoid unnecessary repercussions” but gave no indication of possible changes. Relations between the two biggest economies are at their lowest level in decades due to disputes about technology, security and…