World’s largest tree passes health check

SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, California — High in the evergreen canopy of General Sherman, the world’s largest tree, researchers searched for evidence of an emerging threat to giant sequoias: bark beetles. The climbers descended the towering 2,200-year-old tree with good news on Tuesday. “The General Sherman tree is doing fine right now,” said Anthony Ambrose, executive director…

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Border bill fails Senate test vote as Democrats seek to underscore Republican resistance

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans again blocked a bill meant to clamp down on the number of migrants allowed to claim asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sought Thursday to underscore GOP resistance to the proposal. The legislation, negotiated by a bipartisan group of senators, was already rejected by most Republicans in…

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US Supreme Court backs South Carolina Republicans in race-based voting map fight

Washington — The U.S. Supreme Court handed a victory to South Carolina Republicans on Thursday, ruling against a challenge to an electoral map they devised that moved 30,000 Black residents out of a congressional district. The justices in a 6-3 decision, with the conservative justices in the majority and liberal justices dissenting, reversed a lower court’s…

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Judge in Tennessee blocks effort to put Elvis Presley’s former home Graceland up for sale 

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Tennessee judge on Wednesday blocked the auction of Graceland, the former home of Elvis Presley, by a company that claimed his estate failed to repay a loan that used the property as collateral.  Shelby County Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins issued a temporary injunction against the proposed auction that had been scheduled for Thursday…

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Blinken: Gaza cease-fire still possible, but ICC move complicates efforts  

state department — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas militants in return for the release of hostages remains possible, but the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Israeli leaders hindered ongoing efforts.   “There’s been an extensive effort made in recent months to get that agreement.…

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