Vice President Kamala Harris will lead the U.S. delegation for the state funeral of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, her press secretary Kirsten Allen said in a statement on Wednesday.
The big picture: Harris' visit to Tokyo will "underscore the importance of [Abe's] leadership in championing the alliance between the United States and Japan and advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific," Allen said.
The district attorney prosecuting the man accused of stabbing British author Salman Rushdie at a public event in August on Wednesday asked a judge for more time to process the large amount of evidence involved in the case, the New York Times reports.
Driving the news: Jason Schmidt, the Chautauqua County district attorney, told the judge his office was looking into more than 30,000 files and pieces of evidence while attempting to establish Hadi Matar's motive, per the Times.
The Department of Justice unsealed a charge against a Maryland man who allegedly threatened to kill a member of Congress in emails sent from a government-issued computer.
Why it matters: Justin Kuchta, 39, was charged with one count of interstate communication containing a threat to injure and faces up to five years in prison if found guilty.
Las Vegas police said Wednesday search warrants were being served in relation to the murder of Las Vegas Review-Journal investigate reporter Jeff German last weekend, KLAS reports.
Driving the news: Police reportedly issued a search warrant at the home of Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles, who was the subject of one of German's previous stories, according to both KLAS and FOX 11.
A Michigan judge on Wednesday ruled that the state's 1931 near-total abortion ban is unconstitutional.
Why it matters: The law, which makes abortion illegal unless it is necessary to save the pregnant person's life, was already temporarily blocked. Though it's likely to face an appeal, Wednesday's decision does not affect abortion access; it simply permanently blocks the ban.
President Biden on Wednesday praised former President Obama as one of the "most consequential presidents in our history" at a ceremony unveiling the former president's and former first lady's official White House portraits.
Why it matters: Wednesday's ceremony marks the Obamas' first visit as a couple to the White House since leaving office in 2017 — and brings back a bipartisan tradition that was last held in 2012.
President Biden will outline his plan for reducing cancer deaths and bolstering treatments in a speech next week as part of what he has called "this generation's moonshot," the White House announced Wednesday.
Driving the news: His remarks at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston on Monday, which are timed with the 60th anniversary of Kennedy's speech about reaching the moon, will discuss "the goal of ending cancer as we know it," according to the White House.
Driving the news: "I am running for Governor of Kentucky because I know our best days are ahead of us," Craft wrote on Twitter announcing her candidacy.
Representatives from the men's and women's U.S. national soccer teams officially signed their collective bargaining agreements with U.S. Soccer on Tuesday night, ending a yearslong battle for equal pay.
Why it matters: The agreement — reached in May — ensures equal pay through identical economic terms, including commercial revenue sharing and World Cup prize money, through 2028.
Hundreds of elected officials, military members, and law enforcement officers appear on the membership lists of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, according to a new report published Wednesday by the Anti-Defamation League.
Why it matters: The Oath Keepers have risen to national prominence for their alleged role in the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Senators who are whipping Republican support for a bill to codify marriage equality are bullish on its chances of passing — but some supporters’ names may not be known until the vote occurs, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: With the House passing the bill in July and President Biden expected to sign it if it reaches his desk, the Senate stands as the primary hurdle.
California ISO, the state's grid operator, declared a stage 3 energy alert Tuesday, urging residents to reduce energy use and warning that rotating power outages were "very possible" as record heat wave pummels the western U.S.
The latest: The alert ended at 8pm local time "with no load sheds for the night," the ISO tweeted. It added: "Consumer conservation played a big part in protecting electric grid reliability. Thank you, California!"
Five Texas Department of Public Safety officers have been referred to the state Inspector General's Office for a formal investigation into their actions during the Uvalde school shooting, the Austin American-Statesman first reported Tuesday.
Driving the news: Two of those officers who were on site during the Robb Elementary School shooting, in which 19 students and two teachers died, have been suspended with pay, the DPS confirmed to multiple news outlets.
Steve Bannon, former Trump chief strategist, is expected to surrender to New York prosecutors on Thursday to face a new criminal indictment, the Washington Post first reported on Tuesday.
Driving the news: The Manhattan district attorney's office is investigating a fundraiser to build a wall along the southern border and the state charges are related to a 2020 federal probe into the alleged misappropriation of nonprofit funds, per WashPost and CNN.
Massachusetts' Democratic Attorney General Maura Healey will face the Trump-endorsed former Republican state Rep. Geoff Diehl in the race to replace outgoing Gov. Charlie Baker (R) after both won their respective primaries Tuesday night, AP projects.
The big picture: If Healey wins in November's general election, she would be the first openly gay person and the first woman to elected as the state's governor. Democrats are hoping to flip the GOP-held seat as 10% of the electorate is registered Republican, compared to roughly 31% for Democrats and some 57% for independents, per AP.
Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) urged the Senate on Tuesday to pass the bipartisan Respect for Marriage Act in a Washington Post opinion piece that emphasized same-sex and interracial couples should be guaranteed the same rights and freedoms of every other marriage.
Why it matters: Almost 50 House Republicans joined Democrats in July to pass the bill, which would enshrine marriage equality into federal law. Now Collins and Baldwin, who both co-sponsored the legislation, are calling on their colleagues to do the same.
As elements of his party feud over the FBI's search of Trump's Florida estate Mar-a-Lago, Maryland's Republican Gov. Larry Hogan is using his final weeks in office to launch a new "tough on crime" offensive, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Hogan is seeking to chart a political future as a mainstream alternative to former President Trump by campaigning for and donating the maximum amounts to "pro-law enforcement" gubernatorial candidates in four key states.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) will formally unveil a four-part "Commitment to America" in Pittsburgh on Sept. 19 to tell voters why they should vote for Republicans — not just against Democrats — in November, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Remember the GOP's "Contract with America" in 1994? It made promises on cutting taxes and government and other conservative ideals and was released six weeks before President Clinton's first midterms. Republicans enjoyed massive wins that year and flipped control of the House and Senate.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton fired back at former President Trump's allies who compared her misuse of an email server to his alleged mishandling of classified documents.
By the numbers: Fourteen of the 15 boxes retrieved from the FBI's search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence contained 184 documents with classification markings ranging from "top secret" to "confidential."
