This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 6 LONDON (AP) — Queen Elizabeth II traveled to her official residence in Scotland on Monday to open a week of traditional events, starting with an ancient ceremony at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The 96-year-old monarch, who has cut back on public appearances in recent months because of ongoing problems in moving around, took part in the “Ceremony of the Keys” in Edinburgh. She was symbolically offered the keys to the city and welcomed to her “ancient and hereditary kingdom of Scotland.” Tradition dictates that she returns them, entrusting their safekeeping to the city's elected officials. A smiling Elizabeth stood in the forecourt at the palace, with a member of her entourage holding an umbrella over her head. The monarch was joined by her youngest son, Prince Edward, and his wife Sophie. The queen is expected to attend a military ceremony in the palace … [Read more...] about Queen Elizabeth II travels to Scotland for week of events
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Airports battle long lines, cancelled flights
At Toronto's Pearson International Airport, staffing shortages in security and at customs and immigration have caused delays and long lines. (Photo: Reuters) Delays, cancellations, long lines and lost baggage are plaguing air travel worldwide, as airlines and airports struggle with soaring summer demand and staff shortfalls. London's Gatwick Airport has told airlines to cut back on inbound flights as it struggles with staff shortages and cancelled flights. Over a four-day weekend celebrating Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee earlier this month, lines of passengers waiting to check in stretched out of the terminal. Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport is limiting the number of passengers allowed inside, asking travellers not to show up more than four hours before their flights. It is also warning them to wear comfortable shoes for the hours long wait once inside. The two airports -- both gateways for European vacations this summer -- are struggling, like the rest of the industry, … [Read more...] about Airports battle long lines, cancelled flights
How Texas reacted to and benefited from World War II
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 54 The entrance of the United States into World War II after the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor set in motion an industrial boom across Texas. According to the Texas Historical Commission, before the war started in the European and Pacific theaters the state was sparsely populated. Most Texans lived in small towns and rural areas, and only 40 percent of residents even had a high school education. MYSTERY SOLVED: The World War II story behind two giant, mysterious columns in Hitchcock During the war nearly 1,500,000 military personnel came to the state for work and training. … [Read more...] about How Texas reacted to and benefited from World War II
Witnesses drag feet at trial of Nipsey Hussle shooter
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 12 LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge issued a warrant Thursday for an eyewitness to the shooting death of rapper Nipsey Hussle for failing to appear to testify at the trial of the man charged in the slaying, and in his absence a police detective testified on the reluctance of witnesses that has marked the case. Evan “Rimpau” MacKenzie, a close friend of Hussle's who was a pallbearer at his funeral and was standing next to him when he was shot, has repeatedly ignored subpoenas ordering him to appear and testify for the prosecution, resulting in Judge H. Clay Jacke II issuing the bench warrant with $500,000 bail. “Mr. Mackenzie, did he express a reluctance to testify?” Aaron Jansen, attorney for defendant Eric Holder, asked Los Angeles police Detective Cedric Washington, who answered that MacKenzie had said as much in phone conversations. … [Read more...] about Witnesses drag feet at trial of Nipsey Hussle shooter
Jury is chosen to decide Florida school shooter’s sentence
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 6 FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A jury of seven men and five women was chosen Tuesday for a penalty trial to decide whether Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz should be sentenced to death or get life in prison for the 2018 attack, capping a nearly three-month winnowing process that began with 1,800 candidates. The jurors were picked from a final group of 53 candidates by prosecutors and defense attorneys. Those chosen survived three rounds of questioning that began on April 4 and dragged on through numerous delays. Eight to 10 alternates were still being chosen Tuesady. The jury will decide whether Cruz, 23, receives the death sentence or life in prison without parole for the murders of 14 students and three staff members at Parkland's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Feb. 14, 2018. Cruz pleaded guilty in October to those murders and 17 counts of attempted … [Read more...] about Jury is chosen to decide Florida school shooter’s sentence
GOP’s Kathy Salvi to face Sen. Tammy Duckworth in November
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 8 SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Kathy Salvi, a suburban Chicago personal injury lawyer, won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Illinois on Tuesday, topping a field of seven candidates. Salvi, 63, of Mundelein, will take on first-term incumbent Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth in November. Duckworth, a veteran of the Iraq War, is highly popular and was unopposed in the primary. She will be the clear favorite as she seeks a second term in November in a place where Democrats control all statewide offices and voters twice rejected President Donald Trump by double digits. Salvi, who works in a Chicago-area law firm, is a former Lake County assistant public defender who ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2006. She campaigned this year on a pledge to work to unify her party and maintains Duckworth is beatable because the fall election will be about the … [Read more...] about GOP’s Kathy Salvi to face Sen. Tammy Duckworth in November
Florida jury sworn in to determine school shooter’s penalty
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 8 FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The jury that will decide whether Nikolas Cruz should get the death penalty for killing 17 people in the 2018 shooting rampage at a Parkland, Florida, high school was finally selected Wednesday, after a painstaking, stop-and-start process that took nearly three months. The defense wound up using all 10 of its peremptory challenges, eliminating candidates for any reason other than race or gender, while the prosecution used four. On Wednesday, the defense used its final strikes to eliminate a retired insurance company executive and a banking executive who had been tentatively on the panel when court adjourned Tuesday. Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherer shot down the defense’s attempt to use a peremptory to eliminate a Black man who said during jury selection he did not believe in the existence of “white privilege” — the argument … [Read more...] about Florida jury sworn in to determine school shooter’s penalty
Antiabortion legislators want to block patients from crossing state lines
This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 Several national antiabortion groups and their allies in Republican-led state legislatures are advancing plans to stop people in states where abortion is banned from seeking the procedure elsewhere, according to people involved in the discussions. The idea has gained momentum in some corners of the antiabortion movement in the days since the Supreme Court struck down its 49-year-old precedent protecting abortion rights nationwide, triggering abortion bans across much of the Southeast and Midwest. The Thomas More Society, a conservative legal organization, is drafting model legislation for state legislators that would allow private citizens to sue anyone who helps a resident of a state that has banned abortion from terminating a pregnancy outside of that state. The draft language will borrow from the novel legal strategy behind a Texas abortion ban enacted last year in which private … [Read more...] about Antiabortion legislators want to block patients from crossing state lines
Defense rests in corruption trial of Delaware state auditor
DOVER, Del. (AP) — Delaware State Auditor Kathy McGuiness declined to testify Wednesday as the defense rested its case in her criminal corruption trial. “I am confident that my team has conveyed reasonable doubt, so no thank you, your honor,” McGuiness told Superior Court Judge William Carpenter Jr. McGuiness, a Democrat elected in 2018, is responsible as state auditor for rooting out government fraud, waste and abuse. She is being tried on felony counts of theft and witness intimidation, and misdemeanor charges of official misconduct, conflict of interest and noncompliance with procurement laws. McGuiness is the first statewide elected official in Delaware to be prosecuted while in office. Prosecutors allege, among other things, that McGuiness orchestrated a no-bid communications services contract for My Campaign Group, a consulting firm she used when running for lieutenant governor in 2016, then kept the contract payments under $5,000 to avoid having to get them approved by … [Read more...] about Defense rests in corruption trial of Delaware state auditor