AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EDT

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This article was published 06/07/2022 (1502 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One scandal too many: British PM Boris Johnson resigns

LONDON (AP) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his resignation Thursday after droves of top government officials quit over the latest scandal to engulf him, marking an end to three tumultuous years in which he tried to bluster his way through one ethical lapse after another.

Months of defiance ended almost with a shrug as Johnson stood outside No. 10 Downing St. and conceded that his party wanted him gone.

“Them’s the breaks,” he said.

The brash, 58-year-old politician who took Britain out of the European Union and steered it through COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine was brought down by one scandal too many — this one involving his appointment of a politician who had been accused of sexual misconduct.

The messiest of prime ministers did not leave cleanly. Johnson stepped down immediately as Conservative Party leader but said he would remain as prime minister until the party chooses his successor. The timetable for that process will be announced next week. The last leadership contest took six weeks.

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WNBA’s Griner pleads guilty at her drug trial in Russia

MOSCOW (AP) — American basketball star Brittney Griner pleaded guilty Thursday to drug possession charges on the second day of her trial in a Russian court in a case that could see her sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.

The abrupt guilty plea by the Phoenix Mercury center and two-time Olympic gold medalist came amid a growing chorus of calls for Washington to do more to secure her freedom nearly five months after her arrest in February amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Russia over Ukraine.

A senior Russian diplomat said earlier that no action could be taken by Moscow on Griner’s case until the trial was over, and her guilty plea could be an effort by her and her advisers to expedite the court proceedings.

Griner, 31, was detained at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport while returning to play basketball in Russia, and police said they found vape canisters containing cannabis oil in her luggage.

Speaking through an interpreter, Griner told the court she had no intention of committing a crime and had acted unintentionally because she had packed for Moscow in a hurry. The trial was then adjourned until July 14.

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Putin to Ukraine: Russia has barely started its action

MOSCOW (AP) — With Russia’s military action in Ukraine in its fifth month, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday warned Kyiv that it should quickly accept Moscow’s terms or brace for the worst, adding ominously that Russia has barely started its action.

Speaking at a meeting with leaders of the Kremlin-controlled parliament, Putin accused Western allies of fueling the hostilities, charging that “the West wants to fight us until the last Ukrainian.”

“It’s a tragedy for the Ukrainian people, but it looks like it’s heading in that direction,” he added.

“Everybody should know that largely speaking, we haven’t even yet started anything in earnest,” Putin said in a menacing note.

He declared that Russia remains ready to sit down for talks to end the fighting, adding that “those who refuse to do so should know that the longer it lasts the more difficult it will be for them to make a deal with us.”

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‘New normal’ for 8-year-old twin wounded in July 4 shooting

Sports-loving Cooper Roberts and his 8-year-old twin brother, Luke, loved the Fourth of July parade in their bucolic Chicago suburb.

But now the family is envisioning a “new normal” for Cooper who was struck in the chest in a hail of gunfire that left dozens of others wounded and seven dead when a gunman opened fire on the parade in Highland Park, said Tony Loizzi, a family spokesperson, during a Zoom call with reporters Thursday.

Luke and the boys’ mother, Keely Roberts, who is the superintendent of the 2,300-student Zion Elementary School District, also were hurt but not as seriously. Only the boys’ father, Jason Roberts, was unscathed.

Already, Cooper has undergone several surgeries, and is on a ventilator at the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital, his spine severed and his condition critical. He is unconscious and unable to speak to his family, Loizzi said.

“It sounds as if that he’ll have significant issues moving forward,” he explained. The family later confirmed that Cooper was paralyzed from the waist down.

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Lone Mississippi abortion clinic seeks legal path to reopen

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Attorneys for Mississippi’s only abortion clinic filed papers Thursday asking the state Supreme Court to block a new law that bans most abortions and to let the clinic reopen next week.

The clinic, Jackson Women’s Health Organization, is at the center of the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and took away women’s constitutional protection for abortion nationwide.

A Mississippi law that took effect Thursday bans most abortions, and the clinic performed its last procedures Wednesday. Clinic attorneys are making the same arguments that a trial court judge rejected Tuesday as the clinic tried to block the law from taking effect. They said that in 1998, the Mississippi Supreme Court ruled that the state constitution has a right to privacy that includes abortion.

“Absent relief, Mississippians will continue to be denied their rights under the Mississippi Constitution to privacy and bodily autonomy, as they are compelled by the State to endure the risks of pregnancy and bear children against their will,” clinic attorney Rob McDuff wrote.

It was not immediately clear when the conservative state Supreme Court would consider the appeal.

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Biden trip promotes budding Arab-Israeli security ties

WASHINGTON (AP) — Once-unthinkable coordination between Israeli and Arab militaries is in the spotlight as Joe Biden makes his first Middle East trip as president, heightening debates over whether the U.S.-backed initiative between former enemies strengthens defenses against Iran or makes a regional war more likely.

Israeli-Arab security overtures have multiplied since the 2020 Abraham Accords negotiated under the Trump administration normalized relations between Israel and four Arab League nations. They have have grown further since the Pentagon switched coordination with Israel from U.S. European Command to Central Command, or CENTCOM, last year. The move grouped Israel’s military with former Arab opponents, including Saudi Arabia and other nations that have yet to recognize Israel.

Encouraging Arab nations to strengthen security ties and overall relations with Israel is one of the aims of Biden’s travels to Israel and Saudi Arabia next week, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday.

Already this year, robed Gulf Arab princes and other dignitaries watched from the deck of a warship as the U.S. launched training that had Israeli frogmen, sailors and defense technology splashing through the Red Sea in one of the increasing Israeli exercises alongside U.S. and Arab militaries.

An Israeli liaison officer is set to be assigned to U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, a Gulf nation that recognized Israel only in 2020. Arab and Israeli defense officials increasingly consult around the region, exploring areas for security coordination and how to align the expertise, intelligence and weapons to implement it.

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Yellowstone floods reveal forecasting flaws in warming world

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The Yellowstone National Park area’s weather forecast the morning of June 12 seemed fairly tame: warmer temperatures and rain showers would accelerate mountain snow melt and could produce “minor flooding.” A National Weather Service bulletin recommended moving livestock from low-lying areas but made no mention of danger to people.

By nightfall, after several inches of rain fell on a deep spring snowpack, there were record-shattering floods.

Torrents of water poured off the mountains. Swollen rivers carrying boulders and trees smashed through Montana towns over the next several days. The flooding swept away houses, wiped out bridges and forced the evacuation of more than 10,000 tourists, park employees and residents near the park.

As a cleanup expected to last months grinds on, climate experts and meteorologists say the gap between the destruction and what was forecast underscores a troublesome aspect of climate change: Models used to predict storm impacts do not always keep up with increasingly devastating rainstorms, hurricanes, heat waves and other events.

“Those rivers had never reached those levels. We literally were flying blind not even knowing what the impacts would be,” said Arin Peters, a senior hydrologist with the National Weather Service.

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James Caan, Oscar nominee for ‘The Godfather,’ dies at 82

James Caan, the curly-haired tough guy known to movie fans as the hotheaded Sonny Corleone of “The Godfather” and to television audiences as both the dying football player in the classic weeper “Brian’s Song” and the casino boss in “Las Vegas,” has died. He was 82.

His manager Matt DelPiano said he died Wednesday. No cause was given and Caan’s family, who requests privacy, said that no further details would be released at this time.

Al Pacino wrote in an emailed statement that, “Jimmy was my fictional brother and my lifelong friend. It’s hard to believe that he won’t be in the world anymore because he was so alive and daring. A great actor, a brilliant director and my dear friend. I loved him, gonna miss him.” Robert De Niro also wrote that he was, “very very sad to hear about Jimmy’s passing.”

A football player at Michigan State University and a practical joker on production sets, Caan was a grinning, handsome performer with an athlete’s swagger and muscular build. He managed a long career despite drug problems, outbursts of temper and minor brushes with the law.

Caan had been a favorite of Francis Ford Coppola since the 1960s, when Coppola cast him for the lead in “Rain People.” He was primed for a featured role in “The Godfather” as Sonny, the No. 1 enforcer and eldest son of Mafia boss Vito Corleone.

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Spectacle in Michigan race threatens GOP’s bid for governor

WASHINGTON (AP) — A leading contender for the Republican nomination for governor in Michigan was sued in the 1990s, accused of using racial slurs about Black people in the workplace and sexually harassing his employees.

One of his rivals pleaded not guilty in federal court on Thursday to misdemeanor charges after authorities said he rallied Donald Trump’s supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection. Another candidate is a chiropractor and self-help guru who hawked supplements he falsely claimed treated COVID-19.

And even the contender who has garnered mainstream support had an “admittedly lame” hobby acting in low-budget horror pictures, one of which included a zombie biting off a man’s genitals.

In one of the most politically consequential states in the U.S., the Republican primary for governor is shaping up as a battle of whose personal baggage is the least disqualifying. In an otherwise favorable election year for Republicans, the spectacle surrounding the Aug. 2 contest could hobble the party’s effort to defeat Democratic incumbent Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in the fall.

“Whitmer can attack every one of them,” said Bernie Porn, a Lansing-based pollster with more than three decades experience surveying the state. “There are skeletons in the closet of most of the Republican candidates.”

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Nipsey Hussle’s legacy inspires 3 years after his murder

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Even though Nipsey Hussle was gunned down outside a Los Angeles clothing store three years ago, the sting of his death remains fresh for those who revered the widely beloved rapper and community activist.

Several paid homage to Hussle’s positive influence during a murder trial that ended Wednesday with a conviction for his killing. Some shed tears. One of his closest friends regrets being unable to protect Hussle. A witness battles with ongoing nightmares as if Hussle’s fatal shooting happened yesterday. Some in the hip-hop community still look to his rap lyrics for teachable moments.

Like Hussle’s popular catchphrase “The Marathon Continues,” the memory of his impactful legacy is still at the forefront of many people’s minds.

“I feel like we’ll never forget the work that he put in and everything that he did for the community,” said Slim Jxmmi of the rap group Rae Sremmurd in a recent interview. “That’s why he’s such a big figure in our community. Nipsey was tight. He was hard.”

Rapper Rick Ross said Hussle is admired “more than ever” these days for his forward-thinking mentality as an entrepreneur and teaching through his thought-provoking rap lyrics.