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BY JIM SALTER A judge on Tuesday prohibited several federal agencies and officials of the Biden administration from working with social media companies about "protected speech," a decision called "a blow to censorship" by one of the Republican officials whose lawsuit prompted the ruling. U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty of Louisiana granted the injunction in response to a 2022 lawsuit brought by attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri. Their lawsuit alleged

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) - A North Carolina state trooper who was trying to help a stranded driver was shot in his protective vest before he killed the motorist who fired at him, authorities said. Trooper Jeffrey Dunlap stopped on Interstate 26 near Asheville on Monday night to help motorist Wesley Scott Taylor, 57. Taylor pulled out a gun and shot Dunlap in the chest, the highway patrol said. Dunlap's ballistic

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A former North Carolina legislative leader and appellate court judge has been named the next chairman of the state parole commission. Gov. Roy Cooper announced Monday that he's elevated Darren Jackson to lead the North Carolina Post-Release Supervision & Parole Commission. The governor had just appointed Jackson to the commission in May. Jackson said he became chairman effective over the weekend, succeeding the retiring Bill Fowler,

BY COLLEEN LONG AND MICHAEL BALSAMO WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House was briefly evacuated Sunday evening while President Joe Biden was at Camp David after the Secret Service discovered suspicious powder in a common area of the West Wing, and a preliminary test showed the substance was cocaine, two law enforcement officials said Tuesday. Secret Service agents were doing routine rounds on Sunday when they found the white powder in

BY NICHOLAS RICCARDI STAR, Idaho (AP) - Once he and his wife, Jennifer, moved to a Boise suburb last year, Tim Kohl could finally express himself. Kohl did what the couple never dared at their previous house outside Los Angeles - the newly-retired Los Angeles police officer flew a U.S. flag and a Thin Blue Line banner representing law enforcement outside his house. "We were scared to put it up," Jennifer

BY MELINA WALLING AND SETH BORENSTEIN The entire planet sweltered for the two unofficial hottest days in human recordkeeping Monday and Tuesday, according to University of Maine scientists at the Climate Reanalyzer project. For two straight days, the global average temperature spiked into uncharted territory. After scientists talked about Monday's dramatic heat, Tuesday soared 0.17 degrees Celsius (0.31 degrees Fahrenheit) even hotter, which is a huge temperature jump in terms of

BY PAUL WISEMAN WASHINGTON (AP) - The reprieve is over. Just as the American economy is struggling with high inflation and interest rates, the coming resumption of student loan payments poses yet another potential challenge. The suspension of federal student loan payments, which took effect at the height of the pandemic in 2020, expires late this summer. Interest will start accruing again in September. Payments will resume in October. Though many

BY SHARON LURYE AND ANNIE MA Whitney Jean Alim, a 27-year-old educator in Chicago, dreamed of buying a house sooner with the room in her budget from President Joe Biden's student loan cancellation plan. It would have cut in half the $40,000 she owes on loans taken out for college and a master's degree. On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the forgiveness plan, dashing the hopes of Alim and

Millions of Americans will attend parades, fireworks and other Independence Day events on Tuesday, celebrating the courage of the nation's 18th century patriots who fought for independence from Great Britain and what they considered an unjust government. Those events also will honor the military and those who sacrificed in other conflicts that helped preserve the nation's freedom over its 247-year history. That is only one version of a "patriot." Today,

North Carolina Supreme Court Associate Justice Mike Morgan, who announced last month he won't seek reelection to the court next year, says he's weighing a 2024 bid for governor. Morgan, one of two registered Democrats on the state's highest court, said this week that many within the party are asking him to look at a gubernatorial candidacy. Attorney General Josh Stein has been the only high-profile Democrat to get into