By WYATTE GRANTHAM-PHILIPS (AP Business Writer) NEW YORK (AP) — Legislation forcing TikTok’s parent company to sell the video-sharing platform or face a ban in the U.S. received President Joe Biden’s official signoff Wednesday. But the newly minted law could be in for an uphill battle in court. Critics of the sell-or-be-banned ultimatum argue it violates TikTok users’ First Amendment rights. The app’s China-based owner, ByteDance, has already promised to sue, calling the measure unconstitutional. But a court challenge’s success is not guaranteed. The law’s opponents, which include advocacy org ..read more

By PAUL WISEMAN (AP Economics Writer) WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s economy slowed sharply last quarter to a 1.6% annual pace in the face of high interest rates, but consumers — the main driver of economic growth — kept spending at a solid pace. Thursday’s report from the Commerce Department said the gross domestic product — the economy’s total output of goods and services — decelerated in the January-March quarter from its brisk 3.4% growth rate in the final three months of 2023. A surge in imports, which are subtracted from GDP, reduced first-quarter growth by nearly 1 percentage point. Gr ..read more

By JIM VERTUNO, ACACIA CORONADO and NICK PERRY (Associated Press) AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Some U.S. universities called in police to break up demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war, resulting in ugly scuffles and dozens of arrests, while others appeared content to wait out student protests Thursday, as the final days of the semester ticked down and graduation ceremonies loomed. At Emerson College in Boston, 108 people were arrested at an alleyway encampment overnight and four police officers suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, Boston police said. Those arrested were expected to ..read more

By DANICA COTO (Associated Press) PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Ariel Henry resigned Thursday as prime minister of Haiti, leaving the way clear for a new government to be formed in the Caribbean country, which has been wracked by gang violence that killed or injured more than 2,500 people from January to March. Henry presented his resignation in a letter signed in Los Angeles, dated April 24, and released on Thursday by his office on the same day that a council tasked with choosing a new prime minister and Cabinet for Haiti was sworn in. Henry’s remaining Cabinet meanwhile chose Economy and Fin ..read more

By MICHAEL R. SISAK and DAVE COLLINS (Associated Press) NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein ’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with “egregious” improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case. “We conclude that the trial court erroneously admitted testimony of uncharged, alleged prior sexual acts against persons other than the complainants of the underlying crimes,” the court’s 4-3 decision said. “The remedy for these egregi ..read more

By JENNIFER PELTZ, MICHAEL R. SISAK, COLLEEN LONG and JAKE OFFENHARTZ (Associated Press) NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors said Thursday that Donald Trump again violated a gag order in his hush money trial, as the criminal case resumed on the same day that the U.S. Supreme Court weighed whether he should be immune from prosecution for actions taken during his time as president. Judge Juan M. Merchan was already considering whether to hold Trump in contempt and fine him for what prosecutors say were 10 different violations of the order that barred the GOP leader from making public statements about wi ..read more

By MARK SHERMAN (Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court seems highly skeptical of former President Donald Trump’s claim of absolute immunity from prosecution, but it’s less clear that the justices are headed for a quick resolution. Chief Justice John Roberts was among at least five members of the court Thursday who appeared likely to reject the claim of absolute immunity that would stop special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of Trump on charges he conspired to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden. Arguments were in their second hour by late morning. The timing ..read more

The hopes of California tenants that a wave of apartment construction might provide more rent relief may be fizzling in early 2024. Construction plans for multifamily housing plunged to a 10-year low, my trusty spreadsheet found after peeking at quarterly California building permit patterns from the Census Bureau complied by the St. Louis Fed. Multifamily housing is primarily apartments plus certain ownership condos or townhomes. California permits approved for multifamily housing in the first quarter fell 22% below 2023’s start to 8,972 units in this year’s first three months. That’s the slow ..read more

OROVILLE — After years of facing staffing shortages and long-empty positions, various Butte County departments have had to get creative with the hiring process. The Butte County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved three new financial incentives, this time for the Behavioral Health Department, during its meeting Tuesday. Following in the footsteps of the Butte County Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney’s Office, Behavioral Health will be offering hiring bonuses, retention bonuses and referral bonuses going forward. Butte County Director of Human Resources Sheri Waters said the reason f ..read more

CHICO — Two years ago, the Jesus Center moved the very first residents into Chico’s Pallet shelters. Its was born from conflicting interests, fulfilling a requirement for Warren v. Chico to provide a suitable place for homeless people to stay without fear of criminal punishment — along with beds at the Torres Community Shelter. But for Jesus Center Director Amber Abney-Bass, the 177 Pallet shelters that her organization manages are part of a continued mission to lift people up. “We are involved in this project today for the same reason we got in it two years ago … we have a very deep, strong b ..read more