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☆ British Museum Sues Former Curator for Return of Stolen Items
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-27 | by ( Alex Marshall | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A judge has ordered a former curator who the British Museum says stole hundreds of artifacts to return any gems or jewelry from the institution that are in his possession. Officials also want Mr. Higgs to explain the whereabouts of other artifacts that they says the former curator sold online. The court documents state that Mr. Higgs disputes the accusations against him. At a High Court hearing in London, the presiding judge, Heather Williams, ordered Mr. Higgs to return any items within four weeks. Judge Williams also ordered PayPal, the online payments company, to disclose data relating to Mr. Higgs’s eBay accounts, including his transaction history.

Persons: Peter Higgs, Higgs, Heather Williams, Judge Williams Organizations: British Museum, eBay, PayPal Locations: London

Marilyn Lands, a Democrat, won a special election Tuesday for a State House seat in Alabama after campaigning on access to abortion and in vitro fertilization, underscoring the continued political potency of reproductive rights. Ms. Lands defeated her Republican opponent, Teddy Powell, by about 25 percentage points — an extraordinary margin in a swing district where she lost by seven points in 2022. The special election was called when David Cole, the Republican who had held the seat, resigned and pleaded guilty to voter fraud. “Today, Alabama women and families sent a clear message that will be heard in Montgomery and across the nation,” Ms. Lands, a licensed counselor, said Tuesday night. And last month, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos were people with rights — upending I.V.F.

Persons: Marilyn Lands, Teddy Powell, David Cole, ”, Roe, Wade, — upending, Kay Ivey, Powell, Heather Williams, ” Ms, Williams, Biden’s, Donald J, Trump, Mr, Julie Chavez Rodriguez Organizations: Democrat, House, Lands, Republican, Republicans, Alabama Legislature, Democratic Legislative, Committee, “ Locations: Alabama, Montgomery, “

☆ Eyeing state legislative gains, Democrats are making an early $750,000 push to counter the GOP in key battlegrounds
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee on Wednesday announced that it had already made early investments of almost $750,000 for the 2024 election cycle thus far. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Tony Evers has faced sizable GOP legislative majorities during his tenure despite its closely-contested statewide elections. North Carolina represents a major challenge for Democrats, as they're aiming to keep the governorship in the party's hands and erase the GOP legislative supermajority. Advertisement"We've seen Republicans try to wiggle their way around new language about their perspective around abortion, but voters are not hearing them," Williams told Business Insider.

Persons: —, Tony Evers, Heather Williams, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Trump, Roe, Wade, We've, Williams Organizations: Service, GOP, Democratic Legislative, Wednesday, Business, Democratic Gov, Democratic, Michigan Democrats, Minnesota DFL Party, Biden, Republicans Locations: Wisconsin, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New Hampshire

DETROIT (AP) — Henry Fambrough, the last surviving original member of the iconic R&B group The Spinners, whose hits included “It’s a Shame,” “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love" and “The Rubberband Man,” died Wednesday, a spokesperson for the group said. Fambrough died peacefully of natural causes in his northern Virginia home, spokesperson Tanisha Jackson said in a statement. Along with Fambrough, Billy Henderson, Pervis Jackson, Bobby Smith, Philippé Wynne and John Edwards were listed as inductees. It “was a long time ago,” Fambrough said at the time of the 1960s, when he first walked into the studio. The Spinners joined Motown Records 10 years later.

Persons: — Henry Fambrough, “, ”, Fambrough, Tanisha Jackson, Billy Henderson, Pervis Jackson, Bobby Smith, Philippé Wynne, John Edwards, ” Fambrough, Dionne Warwick, Norma, Heather Williams Organizations: DETROIT, Roll Hall of Fame, Motown Museum, Motown, Atlantic Records, The Spinners, Motown Records Locations: Virginia, Detroit, Ferndale

☆ Suburbs Were Democratic Turf on Tuesday. What About in 2024?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Jonathan Weisman | More About Jonathan Weisman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Abortion was dominant; suburban voters outside Ohio’s biggest cities voted overwhelmingly to establish the right to an abortion in the state’s constitution. Kentucky’s incumbent Democratic governor, Andy Beshear, who ran hard on abortion rights and kitchen-table issues like infrastructure spending, won not only Jefferson County, home to Louisville, and Fayette County, home to Lexington. He also beat his Republican challenger, Daniel Cameron, in Kenton and Campbell Counties, once reliably Republican redoubts across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. “The Republican Party has to modernize its message on this issue if we’re going to convince Democrats and independents to cross over and vote Republican. This time, she said, some of the same parents recoiled from Republican efforts to ban books with L.G.B.T.Q.

Persons: Andy Beshear, Daniel Cameron, Glenn Youngkin’s, Danica Roem, “, ”, John Whitbeck, Roe, Wade, Heather Williams, recoiled Organizations: Democratic, Republican, Campbell Counties, Democrat, Virginia General, State Senate, Democrats, Republican Party of Virginia, Republican Party, Democratic Legislative, Committee Locations: Ohio’s, Jefferson County, Louisville, Fayette County, Lexington, Kenton, Campbell, Ohio, Cincinnati, Virginia, Loudoun County, Washington, ”

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — In a closing message to voters in this year's closely watched Virginia legislative elections, Republican Gov. Virginia is one of four states — the others are Louisiana, Mississippi and New Jersey — with legislative elections this year. The legislative candidates are running this year under maps redrawn during the last redistricting. He said he was “cautiously confident” about the possibility of a GOP trifecta — both legislative chambers as well as the governorship. Biden, who has not announced any plans to campaign in Virginia before Tuesday, recently sent a fundraising email on behalf of Virginia candidates and issued nearly two dozen endorsements.

Persons: Glenn Youngkin, Youngkin, “, we'll, ” Youngkin, Youngkin's, Virginia's, It's, Roe, Wade, there's, ” Sen, Monty Mason, Danny Diggs, Democrat Joe Biden, Diggs, Virginia doesn't, —, “ We're, ” Kay James, Rich Anderson, “ MAGA, “ MAGA Republicans ”, Donald Trump's “, Biden, ”, Heather Williams Organizations: Republican Gov, Republican, Democratic, Virginians, General Assembly, Supreme, Youngkin's PAC, GOP, Democrat, Republican Party of Virginia, Democrats, U.S . House, “ MAGA Republicans, Biden's, Republicans, Democratic Legislative Locations: RICHMOND, Va, Virginia, Louisiana , Mississippi, New Jersey, Southern, U.S, Richmond, Tidewater, Washington, Yorktown, Commonwealth

But this year, abortion is on the ballot, with party control of the closely divided chambers of the legislature determining whether Virginia will lose its status as the last Southern state where abortion is mostly legal and accessible. Democrats, meanwhile, see the races as critical not only to sustaining abortion rights in swing-state Virginia but as a test of how powerful the issue remains nationally. Predicting winners is always difficult in state legislative races, but especially hard in Virginia. Where Democrats have an edge, experts say, is on the motivating factor of abortion rights. Since Dobbs, pro-abortion rights voters have become more energized, Rackaway says, since they're trying to regain something they lost in the Supreme Court ruling.

Persons: Danica Roem, Danny Diggs, Glenn Youngkin, Youngkin's, Chapman Rackaway, Youngkin –, Zack Roday, Dobbs, Steven Farnsworth, University of Mary Washington, Ohioans, Andy Beshear, Daniel Cameron, Jaime Harrison, Harrison, Kyle Kondick, Biden, Youngkin, Farnsworth, –, Rackaway, you've, Diggs, Roday doesn't, they've, Roday, Heather Williams Organizations: Senate, Republican, Gov, Old Dominion, Republicans, Radford University, U.S . Senate, GOP, Youngkin's PAC, Jackson, Health Organization, University of Mary, Democratic, Bluegrass State, Democratic National Committee, Center, Politics, University of Virginia, Virginia, Democrats, The Washington Post, –, National Democrats, Democratic Legislative, Republican National Committee, Republican Party of Virginia, Campaign Locations: Northern Virginia, Virginia, Southern, Old, Dobbs – California , Kansas , Kentucky, Michigan, Montana, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Kentucky

☆ Americans Are Down on Biden. Why Does His Party Keep Winning Elections?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( Reid J. Epstein | More About Reid J. Epstein | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Taken together, these results suggest that the favorable political environment for Democrats since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade has endured through much of 2023. “Dobbs absolutely changed the way that people thought about and processed things that they had perceived as a given,” said Heather Williams, the interim president of the D.L.C.C. In January 2010, Scott Brown won a shocking upset in a Senate special election in deep-blue Massachusetts by running against President Barack Obama’s health care push. In March 2018, Conor Lamb won a special election to fill a House seat in a deep-red Pennsylvania district by campaigning as a centrist voice against Mr. Trump. Both the Brown and Lamb special elections served as indicators of the wave elections their parties won in subsequent midterm elections.

Persons: Roe, Wade, “ Dobbs, ”, Heather Williams, “, what’s, Scott Brown, Barack, Conor Lamb, Trump, Brown, Lamb Organizations: Democratic Locations: Massachusetts, Pennsylvania

☆ London court throws out lawsuit against Google over medical records
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, May 19 (Reuters) - Google on Friday defeated a lawsuit brought on behalf of 1.6 million people over medical records provided to the U.S. tech giant by a British hospital trust. The Royal Free London NHS Trust transferred patient data to Google's artificial intelligence firm DeepMind Technologies in 2015 in relation to the development of a mobile app designed to analyse medical records and detect acute kidney injuries. Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) unit Google and DeepMind were sued last year by Royal Free patient Andrew Prismall on behalf of 1.6 million people for alleged misuse of private information. Judge Heather Williams ruled on Friday that the case should not proceed, agreeing the case is "bound to fail". "I conclude that each member of the claimant class does not have a realistic prospect of establishing a reasonable expectation of privacy in respect of their relevant medical records," she said in a written ruling.

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