National News - Page 202

Ed Litton Elected SBC President Amid Conservative Tensions

By Michael Warren Alabama pastor Ed Litton will be the next president of the Southern Baptist Convention following a narrow election win Tuesday — a victory for the more moderate establishment against a conservative insurgency in an ongoing fight within the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. The vote comes as the SBC has been grappling with questions about racial reconciliation, gender roles within the clergy and how to handle sex abuse cases. Litton defeated the favored candidate of conservative Southern Baptists, Georgia pastor Mike Stone, in a runoff, receiving support from 52% of the delegates (called “messengers”) to the SBC’s annual meeting

DOT Seeks $25M Fine Against Air Canada Over Refund Delays

By Gregory Wallace US officials are seeking a $25 million fine from Air Canada, accusing the airline of failing to provide timely refunds to more than 5,000 passengers during the coronavirus pandemic. The formal complaint is the first enforcement action that the Department of Transportation has announced against an airline since the pandemic upended the travel industry in the spring of 2020. Air Canada said it would dispute the allegations and believes the DOT argument “has no merit.” US rules set the minimum standards for airline refunds, requiring that tickets be paid back in cash when an airline cancels a

Senate Passes Bill to Make Juneteenth a Federal Holiday

By Ted Barrett, Ali Zaslav and Alex Rogers The Senate unanimously passed a resolution on Tuesday establishing June 19 as Juneteenth National Independence Day, a US holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. The legislation has gained momentum since the massive Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd last year and the Democrats’ takeover of the White House and Congress. But Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson blocked the bill in 2020, saying that the day off for federal employees would cost US taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Johnson dropped his objection

Freedom Ride 2021: Black Voters Matter Fight Voting Laws

By Fredreka Schouten This week, voting right activists Cliff Albright and LaTosha Brown will board a 53-foot bus and kick off a tour through the South. Their task: Rally public support for federal legislation to combat the raft of new state laws aimed at restricting voting rights. They face big obstacles. Among them: Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a centrist who is a key vote in a 50-50 Senate and has opposed a sweeping voting rights bill, in its current form, that the Senate is slated to consider this month. He also has resisted changing Senate rules to allow

Kamala Harris Hosts Bipartisan Dinner for Women Senators

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By Jasmine Wright and Veronica Stracqualursi Vice President Kamala Harris held a private dinner Tuesday night for the female US senators, a show of bipartisanship among a deeply divided Congress. It was the first known time that Harris hosted lawmakers in the vice-presidential residence at the Naval Observatory since moving in April, a process that was delayed due to renovations. CNN previously reported that Harris had invited all 24 female senators — 16 Democrats and eight Republicans. “What a wonderful bipartisan women Senators dinner at our @VP ‘s residence!” Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Democrat from Michigan tweeted. In photos Stabenow shared, Harris is

Senators demand action on DACA delays affecting Dreamers

By Daniella Diaz A group of Democratic senators, led by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, sent a letter to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services demanding an explanation on processing delays for applications related to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program on the day of the program’s ninth anniversary, CNN has learned. The request for information comes after the program, which was established in 2012 — following multiple failed legislative efforts — to address a portion of the undocumented population that came to the US as children, faced a turbulent few years in the Trump administration. “DACA processing delays have significant consequences,

Garland unveils national strategy to combat domestic terrorism

By Kate Sullivan, Maegan Vazquez and Christina Carrega Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday announced a new strategy to combat domestic terrorism after the Biden administration completed a sweeping assessment of the threat posed by domestic violent extremism following the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. Garland tied the new policy directly to the attack on the US Capitol. The Justice Department, he said, has an “enormous task ahead to move forward as a country, to punish the perpetrators, to do everything possible to prevent similar attacks, and to do so in a manner that affirms and values on which our justice system

Southern Baptists Battle Over Race, Power and Leadership

By Michael Warren There’s a political fight brewing inside the nation’s largest Protestant denomination as the Southern Baptist Convention gathers in Nashville this week for its annual meeting. On one side is a hardcore vanguard of conservatives seeking to beat back what’s viewed as a move toward “wokeness.” On the other is the SBC establishment that’s adopted a more conciliatory approach on progressive social issues such as Black Lives Matter, critical race theory and ordaining female ministers — all in an attempt to attract a broader group of adherents. The battle, which culminates in a vote for a new president on Tuesday,

Second Man Charged in Shooting of Activist Sasha Johnson

By Lindsay Isaac and Dakin Andone A second man has been charged in the shooting last month of Black Lives Matter activist Sasha Johnson, the London Metropolitan Police said in a statement Saturday. Devonte Brown, 18, of Southwark, was charged Friday with conspiracy to murder Johnson and was expected to appear at the Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Saturday, the statement said. Johnson — a 27-year-old mother and a vocal campaigner for equal rights — was shot in the head during the early hours of May 23 in south London, though police said they do not believe she was specifically targeted. Johnson,

Southwest, Delta, Alaska Airlines face outages, flights delayed

By Tina Burnside, Amanda Jackson and Hollie Silverman Southwest Airlines said it is beginning to resume flight operations after the airline’s third-party weather data provider experienced intermittent performance issues Monday evening, grounding planes and delaying travel across the US. Delta and Alaska Airlines also reported experiencing computer issues that impacted their ability to sell tickets. Passengers across the country took to social media to express their frustration and demand answers after the issue left some people grounded, stranded and stuck on planes. As the world has returned to pre-pandemic era air travel, flights have seen an uptick in issues, with the

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