Nation & World Glance

ASSOCIATED PRESS Fox, Dominion face off over airing of false election claims

WILMINGTON, Del. – Fox News and a voting machine company that claims the conservative network defamed it by amplifying baseless allegations of fraud following the 2020 presidential election faced off in a courtroom Tuesday during a key hearing over whether journalists have a responsibility to be cautious with explosive and implausible allegations.

Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems argued that Fox recklessly repeated false accusations from supporters of former President Donald Trump that its machines and the software used were responsible for Trump’s 2020 election loss. Documents released during the lawsuit have shown that top Fox executives and personalities didn’t believe the claims but aired them anyway.

“There was a deliberate decision by those responsible for the broadcasts … to let the story be out there,” Dominion attorney Rodney Smolla said, adding that Fox News was desperate to win back viewers infuriated that the network had correctly called Arizona, a key battleground state, on election night for Joe Biden. “What they did to get viewers back was start this new narrative that the election had been stolen and that Dominion was the thief.”

But Fox contended it was simply reporting on newsworthy allegations – a sitting president’s claim that the election was being stolen from him.

“We never reported those to be true,” Fox lawyer Erin Murphy said. “All we ever did was provide viewers the true fact that these were allegations that were being made.”

Man gets 4 years for attacking police on Jan. 6

A Virginia man who assaulted police with a stolen baton and used a flashing strobe light to disorient officers trying to defend the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 was sentenced Tuesday to more than four years in prison.

Geoffrey Sills of Mechanicsville, Virginia, was convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon, obstruction of Congress and robbery for his role in the violence at the Capitol’s Lower West Terrace tunnel, where police were beaten and crushed as as they tried to beat back the angry mob of President Donald Trump supporters.

The 31-year-old has already served a year and a half behind bars since his June 2021 arrest.

In a separate case on Tuesday, a judge declared a mistrial after jurors failed to reach an agreement on whether a man described as the Oath Keepers “operations leader” for Jan. 6 was guilty of obstruction. Michael Greene was acquitted of all other felony charges on Monday, but convicted of a misdemeanor offense. Greene is the only defendant in three trials involving more than a dozen members and associates of the far-right extremist group to not be convicted of a felony charge.

Sills – who arrived at the Capitol with a gas mask and goggles – threw several pole-like objects at police, stole a police baton from an officer and hit at least two officers with it, according to prosecutors. He also pointed a strobe light at a line of officers in the tunnel.

Lawsuit seeks to block abortion pill ban in Wyoming

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – Abortion-rights supporters filed an amended lawsuit Tuesday seeking to block Wyoming’s new abortion pill ban from taking effect.

A group hoping to open what would be the state’s second clinic offering abortions filed the amended lawsuit days after Republican Gov. Mark Gordon signed what is the nation’s first explicit ban on abortion pills. Absent court intervention, that ban would take effect

July 1.

Abortion-rights supporters already were seeking to block a separate sweeping abortion ban that took effect Sunday in Wyoming without the governor’s signature. That law seeks to overcome objections that prompted a judge to suspend a previous ban.

The abortion pill ban and the sweeping ban conflict and create confusion about what is and isn’t permissible under the new laws, according to the lawsuit. If they’re allowed to be in effect, “the fundamental rights of Wyoming women and their families will be taken away by the state government and those rights will cease to exist,” the amended lawsuit said.

Both of the new Wyoming abortion bans make exceptions to save a pregnant woman’s life and for cases of rape or incest that are reported to police.

Oklahoma court OKS abortion to preserve mother’s life

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a portion of the state’s ban on abortion, ruling women have a right to an abortion not just in a medical emergency.

The court on Tuesday ruled that a woman has the right under the state Constitution to receive an abortion to preserve her life if doctors determine that continuing the pregnancy will endanger her life due to a condition she has or is likely to develop during the pregnancy.

The court, however, didn’t rule on whether the state Constitution grants the right to an elective abortion.

The 5-4 ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood and others.

Deputies: Ala. player drove 141 mph to evade traffic stop

BONIFAY, Fla. — Authorities say suspended Alabama freshman defensive back Tony Mitchell drove over 141 mph while trying to evade deputies before his arrest on drug charges in the Florida Panhandle last week.

The Holmes County Sheriff’s Office says Mitchell and his passenger were arrested Wednesday and charged with possession of marijuana with the intent to sell or deliver.

The other man with Mitchell also was charged with carrying a concealed gun without a permit. During the traffic stop, deputies reported smelling marijuana and noted that Mitchell appeared confused.

During a search of the car, deputies say they recovered 8 ounces of marijuana, $7,040 in cash, a set of scales and a loaded 9mm handgun.

Huge fire destroys NJ church, draws 150 firefighters

FLORENCE TOWNSHIP, N.J. — Fire destroyed a large New Jersey church, collapsing its roof as more than 150 firefighters fought to control the blaze.

Video showed the Fountain of Life Center in Florence Township engulfed in flames Monday night.

No injuries were reported in the fire, which started at about 6 p.m. Monday. The cause wasn’t immediately known.

“It’s a devastating loss,” Russell Hodgins, a senior pastor, told Philadelphia’s KYW-TV. He said his grandparents helped build it.

“The church is not brick and mortar, the church is really the body of believers,” Hodgins told the station. “God will help us through this, and I believe the church will be stronger than ever.”

The center describes itself on its website as a multipurpose, 120,000-square-foot facility with a preschool, basketball courts, and a fitness center.