Al Roker jetted off to visit his daughter to a location which he kept a secret from his followers

In a victory for voting rights and Alabama voters, the US Supreme Court has ruled that the state likely violated the Voting Rights Act with a congressional redistricting plan that diluted the voting power of Black voters. The state likely discriminated against Black voters with a newly drafted map that packs most of the state’s Black residents into a single district, out of seven, despite Black residents making up 27 per cent of the state’s population. A key ruling in the case of Allen v Milligan means that the state will have to re-draw its congressional map to include a second majority-Black district. The surprise 5-4 decision on the conservative-majority panel was written by Chief Justice John Roberts, joined by liberal Justices Elena Kagan, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor, with partial but crucial concurrence from conservative Brett Kavanaugh. In January, a lower court determined that the map significantly dilutes Black residents’ political power and ordered the state to draw new political boundaries that would create at least two districts in which Black voters would be more likely to elect a representative that more closely resembles the state’s demographics. The Voting Rights Act was drafted to prevent that kind of race-based dilution of Black voters. But attorneys for the state argued the opposite – that considering race to redraw political boundaries would mark an unconstitutional consideration of “racial targets” and “race-based sorting”, in violation of the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. A decision that sided with Alabama attorneys would have radically reduced Black voters’ political power and landed a critical blow to a state with a long history of racist violence and discrimination. Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act prohibits voting laws and election policies from discriminating on the basis of race. The state’s suggestion that “race should play no role whatsoever” to determine whether redistricting plans violate Section 2 would “rewrite” the law and “overturn decades of settled precedent,” according to the map’s challengers. Attorneys for President Joe Biden’s administration argue that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act should be considered when “pervasive racial politics would otherwise deny minority voters equal electoral opportunities.” The map’s challengers argued that is precisely what is at stake in Alabama. This is a developing story Read More Main suspect in 2005 disappearance of Natalee Holloway due to be extradited to US Alabama senator says Space Command prefers Huntsville for HQ, but command has no comment Missouri governor signs ban on transgender health care, school sports

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ZURICH UBS will not need to tap the Swiss government's 9 billion Swiss franc ($10.27 billion) backstop agreed

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Some members of the Screen Actors Guild — American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) have reportedly written a letter to union leadership urging the negotiating committee not to settle with the Hollywood studios on a deal that does not represent their demands.

Germany notified Monday the European Union's executive branch of temporary border controls at its frontiers with Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland, going a step beyond a move last month to strengthen checks on its eastern border. The notification would enable Germany to carry out the same systematic checks at the border that it has conducted on its frontier with Austria since 2015. The government has responded over the past week to intense pressure to address the arrival of large numbers of migrants following a pair of state elections that brought poor results for the governing parties and gains for the far-right Alternative for Germany. It has announced draft legislation to ease deportations of unsuccessful asylum-seekers as Chancellor OIaf Scholz met Friday with the opposition leader and two leading state governors for what he called a “friendly and constructive exchange” on migration issues. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser last month ordered border checks on Germany’s eastern frontiers with Poland and the Czech Republic strengthened, but the conservative opposition urged her to formally notify border checks — a move she has now taken. Faeser said in a statement that “the smugglers' business is becoming ever more brutal and unscrupulous,” pointing to a crash on a Bavarian highway Friday in which seven people were killed after a van overloaded with migrants overturned when the driver and suspected smuggler accelerated to avoid a police check. “It is now necessary to take all possible measures to stop this cruel business in people's lives,” she said. “At the time, we need an effective limitation of irregular migration to relieve our municipalities.” She said that police “can now flexibly use the whole package of stationary and mobile border policing measures, according to the current situation.” Shelters for migrants and refugees across Germany have been filling up in recent months as significant numbers of asylum-seekers add to more than 1 million Ukrainians who have arrived since the start of the war in their homeland. ___ Follow AP’s coverage of global migration at https://apnews.com/hub/migration Read More A top EU official convenes a summit to deal with a fallout in Europe from the Israel-Hamas war Used clothing from the West is a big seller in East Africa. Uganda's leader wants a ban Sunak meets King of Jordan as Gaza offensive looms

Brian Harman is one round away from becoming a major champion at the British Open

PHILADELPHIA & STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 4, 2023--