The attorneys general for 36 states and Washington, D.C., sued Google for anticompetitive conduct in its Google Play Store operations that they say harms both consumers and app developers.
Why it matters: This latest lawsuit opens up yet another front in Google's antitrust battles. The giant already faces suits over its search and advertising practices.
Rudy Giuliani has been suspended from practicing law in Washington, D.C., according to a court filing released Wednesday.
Driving the news: This comes two weeks after a New York court ruled that he cannot practice in the state temporarily for making "demonstrably false and misleading statements to courts, lawmakers and the public" while working for former President Trump to try and overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
President Biden is expected to issue an executive order calling on the Federal Trade Commission to adopt rules to limit the use of noncompete clauses, the White House announced Wednesday.
Why it matters: Noncompete clauses "force workers to sign away their right to take jobs in similar fields, often for months after leaving a job. These are increasing income inequality and helping hold down Americans' wage," analysts say.
Tucker Carlson was talking to U.S.-based Kremlin intermediaries about setting up an interview with Vladimir Putin shortly before the Fox News host accused the National Security Agency of spying on him, sources familiar with the conversations tell Axios.
Why it matters: Those sources said U.S. government officials learned about Carlson's efforts to secure the Putin interview. Carlson learned that the government was aware of his outreach — and that's the basis of his extraordinary accusation, followed by a rare public denial by the NSA that he had been targeted.
The U.S. Capitol Police Board on Wednesday notified Congress members and staff that the remaining fence around the Capitol will be removed as early as Friday.
The big picture: The fence had been put in place following the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the building. Capitol Police removed an outer fence in March, but the interior one remained with signs that said the area was closed to the public, per AP.
A federal judge declined on Wednesday to block parts of Georgia's controversial election law that had been challenged in a lawsuit, but didn't rule out the possibility of doing so in the future, ABC News reports.
Why it matters: The ruling comes just as Georgia is slated to hold two runoff elections next week. Wednesday's decision is the first court ruling to uphold the new law, per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Critics argue it curbs voting access, particularly for voters of color.
President Biden urged immediate actions on climate change on Wednesday, saying "[w]e can't wait any longer to deal with climate crisis" during an event promoting his Build Back Better agenda.
The British High Court has granted the U.S. government permission to appeal a decision that barred the extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange Wednesday.
Why it matters: Wednesday's decision comes months after a lower court judge ruled against the request to have Assange sent to the United States to stand trial for charges of espionage. The judge denied the request on health grounds, saying Assange would likely attempt to kill himself if held in U.S. custody.
A Chinese surveillance firm has enlisted the help of a former senior U.S. official at the Treasury Department's sanctions program, just weeks after the company was reported to have ties to the Chinese military, records show.
Why it matters: The company, Hikvision, has disputed its place on a Pentagon blacklist of companies with Chinese military ties. The new hire by its D.C. lobbying firm is just the latest aimed at rolling back U.S. government measures that threaten to deal a body blow to its business.
A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the U.S. Air Force holds most of the responsibility for the 2017 mass shooting in a Texas church, according to court documents.
The big picture: The decision from U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez in San Antonio states that the Air Force holds 60% of the responsibility for the shooting because it failed to enter the shooter's criminal history into a federal background check database used for gun purchases.
Rescue workers pulled 10 more bodies from the rubble of the Surfside condominium collapse on Wednesday, bringing the total death toll to 46, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said at a press briefing Wednesday.
The latest: 32 victims have been identified and next of kin have been notified, Levine Cava said.
Why it matters: It's the latest escalation in Trump's yearslong battle with Twitter and Facebook over free speech and censorship. Trump is completely banned from Twitter and is banned from Facebook for another two years.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) used a Nazi-era comparison on Tuesday in a tweet about the Biden administration's coronavirus vaccine push, calling the individuals leading vaccinations efforts "medical brown shirts."
Why it matters: Greene's comment comes weeks after she visited the Holocaust Museum and apologized for comparing coronavirus face-mask policies to the Nazi practice of labeling Jews with Star of David badges.
Eric Adams, a former NYPD captain who's poised to become New York mayor after winning the Democratic primary last night, points to a new path for Democrats to navigate the police issue.
Why it matters: With homicides up across the country, and cuts to police spending in several major cities, key Democrats fear that last year's defund-the-police rhetoric could haunt them in next year's midterms. And Republicans plan to make crime a top issue.
Rescue crews were working into the night to search among the rubble of the collapsed condo in Surfside, Florida, as winds and rains from the outer bands of Tropical Storm Elsa lashed down. But officials said there was "no new signs of life," per AP.
The latest: The first funeral was held for victims of the June 24 tragedy. Lucia Guara, 10, and her 4-year-old sister, Emma, were buried in the same white coffin in a grave alongside their parents, Marcus andAna Guara, WPLG reports.
Olympic Games organizers said Tuesday two staff members working at the athletes' village in Tokyo have tested positive for COVID-19, per the Tokyo Shimbun news outlet.
Why it matters: Australia's ABC notes that the workers who tested positive last week were found to have been dining with two other staff members — a violation of the organizing committee's pandemic measures.
President Biden issued a statement marking six months since the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot, saying it was "disorder," not dissent, and "posed an existential crisis and a test of whether our democracy could survive."
What he's saying: "Not even during the Civil War did insurrectionists breach our Capitol, the citadel of our democracy. But six months ago today, insurrectionists did," Biden said on Tuesday. "[S]ix months later, we can say unequivocally that democracy did prevail — and that we must all continue the work to protect and preserve it."
A Virginia man charged over the deadly U.S. Capitol riot told an undercover FBI agent he belonged to a militia-style group that had explosives and surveilled the building a month after the insurrection, per a court filing unsealed Tuesday.
The big picture: Fi Duong, 27, who allegedly told the agent the group referred to their meetings as "Bible study," is one of more than 535 defendants arrested in nearly 50 states, the Department of Justice said in a statement marking six months since the Capitol was stormed.
Naval Academy graduate Cameron Kinley will be allowed to pursue a career in the NFL, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Tuesday.
The big picture: Austin said that he had granted a waiver to Kinley so that he can play professional football, adding that "[u]pon completion of his playing time, we look forward to welcoming him back inside the ranks as a naval officer."
The Department of Health and Human Services will reallocate $860 million of funds from National Institutes of Health to cover pandemic-related costs for unaccompanied children and staff at the Southern border, according to a letter obtained by Axios.
Driving the news: Health Secretary Xavier Becerra sent a letter to House and Senate appropriations leadership on Tuesday, saying the pandemic "has placed significant demands" on the HHS unaccompanied migrant children program.
