Rumors are spreading that the U.S. Supreme Court will vote 5-4 to rule that a U.S. president cannot be prosecuted for anything he does while he is president. Some Democrats are suggesting that Joe Biden bring a gun to his first debate with Donald Trump. If he shoots Trump, he would be immune, but if Trump shoots Biden he would be prosecuted because he is not a sitting president.   read more

Today in Slovakia, Hussein al-Marfadi describes permanent headaches and disturbed sleep, plagued by memories of dogs inside a blackened jail. In Kazakhstan, Lutfi bin Ali is haunted by nightmares of suffocating at the bottom of a well. In Libya, the radio from a passing car spurs rage in Majid Mokhtar Sasy al-Maghrebi, reminding him of the CIA prison where earsplitting music was just one assault to his senses. And then there is the despair of men who say they are no longer themselves.   read more

Two Native American tribes in Nevada won an emergency court order late Friday in a federal lawsuit accusing the Republican secretary of state and two counties of discriminating against them under the Voting Rights Act. Like most minorities, Native Americans in general are more likely to vote for Democrats than Republicans. Nevada is considered a key swing state in the upcoming presidential election. A tight contest for the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Harry Reid also hangs in the balance.   read more

Illinois is billions in debt, has billions in overdue bills and can't seem to remove itself from a budget morass, yet it's the nation's worst in reclaiming hundreds of millions of dollars in overpaid unemployment benefits. The abysmal performance is one reason the U.S. Labor Dept said that it would step in to help Illinois meet standards for management, record-keeping and timeliness. Illinois' 37% recovery rate is the worst among all U.S. states and territories.   read more

Its founder president, Ashok Chauhan, was charged with fraud in the 1990s by authorities in Germany, where he ran a network of companies. He returned to India and was never extradited. A plastics company in the U.S. also sued Chauhan in 1995 for failing to pay $20 million in debts. "They are a subsidiary of a conglomerate of companies," said Barmak Nassirian of the American Association of State College and Universities. "This is by no means reassuring, if you ask me."   read more

The attack on the funeral killed 140 people and wounded 525 in the latest in the wave of bombings of hospitals and markets. "The place has been turned into a lake of blood," said a rescuer, Hundreds of body parts were found strewn everywhere and collected in sacks. The strike left the building little more than a shell, with most of its walls and roof gone. The U,S. has backed the coalition with multi-billion dollar arms sales and provided logistical and intelligence support.   read more

Across the nation, 1 in 13 African-American adults cannot vote because of a felony conviction. Three swing states — Florida, Iowa and Virginia — have some of the harshest laws; they impose a lifetime voting ban on felons. “The message that comes across to them is: Yes, you have all the responsibilities of a citizen now, but you’re basically still a second-class citizen because we are not permitting you to be engaged in the political process,” said Christopher Uggen.   read more

Technology companies contend that court-imposed gag orders are being used too often by law enforcement and they violate the Bill of Rights. The companies also complain that law enforcement is casting a wide net over online communications — often too wide — in their investigations. “The Justice Dept is pushing the envelope,” said Jennifer Granick. Big companies like Apple and Microsoft have the wherewithal to push back, but smaller companies may cave rather than risk an expensive fight.   read more

The aviation measure will be voluntary for the first six years, and even countries that commit to it voluntarily will be allowed to opt out on relatively short notice. Some environmental groups said the plan did not go far enough, forecasting that it would fall short of the goal originally set by the aviation organization to offset all of the growth in emissions from air travel after 2020. The measure also exempts many smaller countries that do not have large international air carriers.   read more

An egg industry group's discussions about thwarting the sale of an eggless vegan spread were inappropriate, a yearlong investigation by the USDA has found. The investigation also determined that the American Egg Board should not have paid for pro-egg ads to appear online. While some of the antics involving the egg board and Hampton Creek may seem comic, the investigation underscores the murky and often contentious space occupied by checkoff programs, and the gaps in the USDA's oversight.   read more

Officers trained in mental health are in short supply and often unavailable in a crisis. It's estimated that only 3,000 of the nation's 18,000 law enforcement agencies have mental health response teams. The Treatment Advocacy Center published a study last year showing that police are 16% more likely to shoot and kill mentally ill suspects than other suspects. "It's one of the biggest nightmares for families of people with mental illness ... and for law enforcement, too," said TAC's John Snook.   read more

Several consumer-advocacy groups praised the FCC's plan. The proposal was a good defense "against internet service providers' unpermitted use of personal information," Free Press Policy Counsel Gaurav Laroia said. Drawing on customer information can help broadband providers make more money from digital advertising. Verizon, for example, bought AOL last year for $4.4 billion and is spending $4.8 billion more to buy Yahoo in a bid to build an ad business.   read more

While his wife was delivering the baby, Grassley was asked if they would like to hold their newborn after the procedure. So he held his son between his wife’s neck and chest, while a nurse took pictures. For this, the description on the bill seemed to suggest, he was charged the fee. Grassley posted the bill on Reddit and the story quickly gained steam because it seemed to underscore a national frustration with unexpected hospital fees and arcane medical billing.   read more

"Alaska has some of the highest rates of sexual assault and domestic violence in the nation. We must end this terrible epidemic, and that starts by addressing the thousands of sexual assault kits in the possession of law enforcement," Walker said. "We did not know about this problem before we ordered the audit. It is now a top priority. We owe it to victims and their families to deliver justice to perpetrators and bring closure to these tragic experiences."   read more

Whalen moved to Washington after Obama was inaugurated in 2009 to serve as special assistant to Duncan. The following year, she was named Director of the Implementation Support Unit, which gives technical assistance to states and districts that are putting reform programs in place, including the Race to the Top program. Whalen left government service in 2014 to become Director of Policy for Education Post, a website dedicated to improving public schools.   read more

Law enforcement agencies have mined posts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and other sites during parades, protests and other large events. One company marketing the technology suggested police track hashtags such as #BlackLivesMatter and #ImUnarmed. Police used its software during protests over the death of Freddie Gray, Denver's annual marijuana rally and Martin Luther King Day march and parade. "These programs are a deterrent to free speech," said Baltimore activist Kwame Rose.   read more

Mitchell and Jessen earned $81 million to run the CIA torture program. Lawyer Ladin said allowing CIA officers to be questioned proves that the federal court system can "handle" high-profile cases involving torture. "No victim of terrorism interrogation has ever had their day in court," Ladin said. "The fact this case is moving forward shows that the victims will be able to seek accountability from two men who profited from their pain without the case being ignored due to 'state secrets.'"   read more