COLU @ CONCEPTS

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A New York state lawmaker is demanding a federal investigation into New York state’s care for the disabled following a recent Associated Press story that revealed the case of a man infested with maggots in a state-run group home. Democratic Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, of Utica, told the AP on Saturday that he is asking the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to investigate the group home and other state-regulated facilities for the disabled where there have been allegations of abuse and neglect. “It’s clear from seeing this that New York state cannot be relied on to police itself,” said Brindisi, who is running for Congress. “When you have thousands of cases (of abuse and neglect) happening across the state — this being one of the most egregious — we must give some reassurance to families that their loved ones are being taken care of.” The call for a federal probe comes after the AP published a story Thursday showing that it’s often easier to find...

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Republican-controlled Texas Senate backed a plan Saturday night to restrict insurance coverage for abortions, over the objections of opponents who expressed concern it could force some women to make heart-wrenching choices because no exceptions will be made in cases of rape and incest. The 20-10 party-line vote for preliminary approval requires women to purchase extra insurance to cover abortions except amid medical emergencies. A final vote Sunday will see the measure clear the chamber, meaning it’s now on a fast-track to Gov. Greg Abbott, who is expected to sign it into law. Legislators debated other bills limiting insurance coverage for abortion during Texas’ regular session that ended in May, but Abbott called a special session and revived the issue. Ten states already have laws restricting insurance coverage of abortion in all private insurance plans: Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Utah. A...

LONDON (AP) — A British model who was allegedly abducted in Italy has said she understands why people may doubt her story, but insists she was “terrified” and certain she would die during the ordeal. Chloe Ayling says she was lured to Milan for a fake photo shoot, then drugged, stuffed into a suitcase and held at a rural house by criminals who threatened to auction her on the dark web. In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, 20-year-old Ayling said “I was terrified beyond words. ... I thought, ‘I’m not going to get out of here alive.’” Ayling was freed after six days when a captor took her to the British consulate. Italian police have arrested a 30-year-old Polish man, Lukasz Herba. Explaining why she did not try to escape — and even went shopping with her captor — Ayling said she was told she would be killed by a criminal syndicate called Black Death if she tried to flee. On a website, the group purports to sell weapons and drugs, arrange murders and conduct human traffic...

LONDON (AP) — A British model who was allegedly abducted in Italy has said she understands why people may doubt her story, but insists she was “terrified” and certain she would die during the ordeal. Chloe Ayling says she was lured to Milan for a fake photo shoot, then drugged, stuffed into a suitcase and held at a rural house by criminals who threatened to auction her on the dark web. In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, 20-year-old Ayling said “I was terrified beyond words. ... I thought, ‘I’m not going to get out of here alive.’” Ayling was freed after six days when a captor took her to the British consulate. Italian police have arrested a 30-year-old Polish man, Lukasz Herba. Explaining why she did not try to escape — and even went shopping with her captor — Ayling said she was told she would be killed by a criminal syndicate called Black Death if she tried to flee. On a website, the group purports to sell weapons and drugs, arrange murders and conduct human traffic...

BEDMINSTER, N.J. (AP) — President Donald Trump is drawing criticism from Republicans and Democrats for not explicitly denouncing white supremacists in the aftermath of violent clashes in Virginia, with lawmakers saying he needs to take a public stand against groups that espouse racism and hate. Trump, while on a working vacation at his New Jersey golf club, addressed the nation Saturday soon after a car plowed into a group of anti-racist counter-protesters in Charlottesville, a college town where neo-Nazis and white nationalists had assembled for march. The president did not single out any group, instead blaming “many sides” for the violence. “Hate and the division must stop, and must stop right now,” he said. “We have to come together as Americans with love for our nation and ... true affection for each other.” Trump condemned “in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides.” He added: “It’s been going o...

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Chanting “Death to America,” Iran’s parliament voted unanimously Sunday to increase spending on its ballistic missile program and the foreign operations of its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, part of a sanctions bill mirroring a new U.S. law targeting the country. While offering hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding, the lawmakers’ bill offered a tactic as old as the slogan shouted since the 1979 Islamic Revolution — using America’s own tactics against it. The vote salves public anger in Iran over U.S. President Donald Trump’s constant threats to renegotiate or abandon the nuclear deal struck by world powers under his predecessor. While lawmakers stressed the bill wouldn’t violate that agreement, it ensures those both home and abroad know Iran will continue confronting America either in the Persian Gulf or legislatively, analysts say. “They want to show that the pressure that the U.S. is exerting on Iran, they can respond with similar measures,...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Seeking leverage with Russia, the Trump administration has reopened consideration of long-rejected plans to give Ukraine lethal weapons, even if that would plunge the United States deeper into the former Soviet republic’s conflict. The deliberations put pressure on President Donald Trump, who’s fighting perceptions he is soft on the Kremlin amid investigations into whether his campaign colluded with Moscow to interfere in the 2016 U.S. election. The proposal, endorsed by the Pentagon and the State Department, reflects his administration’s growing frustration with Russian intransigence on Ukraine and a broader deterioration in U.S.-Russian ties. The tensions were seen most recently in Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s order for America to eliminate more than half its diplomatic personnel in Russia. Awaiting Trump and his closest advisers is an authorization to provide Ukraine with anti-tank and potentially anti-aircraft capabilities, according to U.S. officials f...