Judge OKs federal intervention in struggling water system

In a rare move, the North Carolina Supreme Court decided Friday that two high-profile political lawsuits with major consequences for voters in the state need a do-over. The cases have to do with voting districts and voter identification laws, and they're the first major orders by the state’s highest court since Republicans gained a majority on the bench.

RALEIGH, N.C. — The new Republican majority on North Carolina's Supreme Court agreed on Friday to rehear redistricting and voter identification cases less than two months after the court's previous edition, led by Democrats, issued major opinions going against GOP legislators who had been sued. The extraordinary decisions, granted...

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden's top economic adviser, Brian Deese, is leaving his post. Biden said Thursday in a statement that Deese would step down as director of the White House National Economic Council. That position had him coordinating policy across the government and negotiating with Congress on coronavirus aid, the budget, infrastructure, the tax code, clean energy incentives, investments in computer chip plants and other measures that the president counts as key victories.

WASHINGTON — Going into Tuesday's State of the Union address, President Joe Biden sees a nation with its future aglow. Republicans take a far bleaker view — that the country is beset by crushing debt and that Biden is largely responsible for inflation. And the GOP now holds a House majority intent on blocking the president.

Here's a look at how North Carolina members of Congress voted over the previous week. Along with roll call votes this week, the House also passed the following measures: the Commercial Remote Sensing Amendment Act (H.R. 290), to provide for transparent licensing of commercial remote sensing systems; and the Expanding Access to Capital for Rural Job Creators Act (H.R. 298), to expand access to capital for rural small businesses.

NEW YORK — He had been brought from the battlefields of Syria to a New York lockup, a U.S. citizen charged with serving as a sniper and weapons trainer for the Islamic State group. And even in jail, Ruslan Maratovich kept a makeshift version of the militants' black flag...

WASHINGTON — A huge, high-altitude Chinese balloon sailed across the U.S. on Friday, drawing severe Pentagon accusations of spying on sensitive military sites despite China's firm denials. Secretary of State Antony Blinken abruptly canceled a high-stakes Beijing trip aimed at easing U..S.-China tensions. Aside from the government response, fuzzy...

CNN — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has postponed his upcoming trip to China in response to the flying of a suspected Chinese spy balloon over the United States, according to two US officials. The postponement marks a significant new phase in the tensions between Washington and Beijing.

HILDALE, UTAH — The tea tasted bitter and earthy, but Lorenzo Gonzales drank it anyway. On that frigid night in remote Utah, he was hoping for a life-changing experience, which is how he found himself inside a tent with two dozen others waiting for the psychedelic brew known as ayahuasca to kick in.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. military on Saturday shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast after it traversed sensitive military sites across North America. China insisted the flyover was an accident involving a civilian aircraft and threatened repercussions. President Joe Biden issued the order but had...