New Ohio law restricts bathroom access for transgender students
(Reuters) — Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed into law on Wednesday a measure prohibiting students from kindergarten through college from using school single-sex bathrooms and locker rooms other than ones of their biological gender.
The law, called Protect All Students Act, is the latest salvo over transgender rights roiling America. Last week, following the election of the first transgender member of the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. House speaker issued a statement reserving all single-sex bathrooms in the Capitol building for “individuals of that biological sex.”
Ohio joins at least a dozen other states with laws that restrict bathroom access for transgender people. Governor DeWine’s office declined comment.
The Ohio law’s restrictions also include private schools and prevents transgender students from sharing overnight accommodations with students of the opposite biological gender.
Aaron Baer, president of the Ohio-based Center for Christian Virtue, applauded the new law on Wednesday.
“Common sense is on a winning streak in America today,” Baer said in a statement. “No student should be forced to go into the bathroom or locker room with a student of the opposite sex, and Ohio’s kids are better protected now because of Governor DeWine’s decision to sign this bill.”
Former NJ senator Menendez seeks new trial, says error tainted conviction
NEW YORK (Reuters) — Former New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez asked on Wednesday that his recent corruption conviction be thrown out and a new trial ordered, after prosecutors admitted that his jury was allowed to review improper evidence during deliberations.
Menendez made his request after prosecutors admitted in a Nov. 13 filing that jurors reviewed nine pieces of evidence containing material that should have been redacted, but that the mistake did not justify setting aside the verdict.
A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in Manhattan, whose office prosecuted Menendez, declined to comment.
DHL plane crash in Lithuania likely due to technical issue, not sabotage, minister says
VILNIUS (Reuters) — Lithuania has found no sign that the crash on Monday of a DHL cargo plane was caused by sabotage, and believes technical issues were a more likely explanation, officials said on Wednesday.
The aircraft crashed as it came in to land at Vilnius airport on Monday, killing one person on board. Germany’s foreign minister later said the incident might have been an accident or a hybrid attack during “volatile times”.
“With all we have and all we know, there are no signs that it could have been an act of sabotage,” Lithuanian Defence Minister Laurynas Kasciunas told reporters on Wednesday.
A visual analysis of the crash showed there was no external impact on the plane as it landed, while surviving crew members said there had been no chaos or concern inside the aircraft preceding the crash, and no smoke or smell, the minister said.
Musk calls for abolishing consumer finance watchdog targeted by GOP
(Reuters) — Billionaire Elon Musk, tasked with slashing government costs by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, on Wednesday called for the elimination of a federal regulatory agency charged with protecting consumers in the financial sector.
The comment on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) follows Musk’s recent appointment to a government efficiency role, further amplifying the influence of the world’s richest man, who donated millions of dollars to helping Trump get elected.
“Delete CFPB. There are too many duplicative regulatory agencies,” Musk said in a post on social media platform X.
The CFPB did not immediately respond to a request for comment.