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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 party recently when he announced his opposition to a lenient local law in the District of Columbia that would reduce sentences for carjackers and other criminals who use guns in the commission of their crimes. Read moreByron York: Biden, Democrats have a chronic crime problem

State AP Stories

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Wyoming has pushed to the front of efforts to prohibit the most common type of abortion with the nation's first explicit ban on abortion pills. In many states women can now get abortion pills prescribed online and delivered to be taken at home. Increased availability has helped pill abortions now account for more than half of abortions in the U.S. Yet while many states effectively ban abortion pills by prohibiting abortion, none had taken direct aim at abortion laws before Wyoming. The bill passed alongside a new, sweeping abortion ban and observers say both measures are likely to be challenged in court.

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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 — was also acquitted of two conspiracy charges.

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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.

National & World AP Stories

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Health experts proposed detailed plans for a gradual end to anti-virus controls, but the Chinese government rebuffed them and dropped restrictions in December with no preparations to cope with the chaotic aftermath, The Associated Press has found. Over a year ago, scientists called on authorities to begin preparations for reopening. But Beijing took none of the steps experts said were needed before dropping controls. Millions of older people weren’t vaccinated, and hospitals weren’t reinforced for a possible surge in cases. Experts and scientific models estimate China’s lack of preparation led to hundreds of thousands of deaths that could have been avoided.

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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida began a surprise visit to Ukraine early Tuesday, hours after Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in neighboring Russia for a three-day visit. The dueling summits come as the longtime rivals are on diplomatic offensives. Kishida will meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Ukrainian capital. He will “show respect to the courage and patience of the Ukrainian people who are standing up to defend their homeland under President Zelenskyy’s leadership, and show solidarity and unwavering support for Ukraine as head of Japan and chairman of G-7,” during his visit to Ukraine, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in announcing his trip to Kyiv.

Asian stock markets are higher ahead of a Federal Reserve decision on another possible interest rate hike amid worries about global banks. Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul advanced. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday. Oil prices declined. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index rose after U.S., European and Japanese central banks announced measures to ease strains on the financial system. The collapse of two U.S. banks and the takeover of troubled Credit Suisse raised fears other lenders might crack under the strain of repeated rate hikes to cool economic activity and inflation that is near multi-decade highs.

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TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A firebrand Israeli minister claimed there’s “no such thing” as a Palestinian people 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.