U.S.

Senator Ben Cardin will serve as chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, replacing Bob Menendez, who faces felony bribery charges, after the Senate agreed to a resolution on Wednesday naming him to the position. Menendez pleaded not guilty to the charges earlier on Wednesday. It is the second time Cardin, a senior senator known for human rights advocacy, replaces fellow Democrat Menendez in committee leadership. Cardin also stepped in from April 2015 to February 2018 after Menendez faced federal corruption charges that were later dropped. At that time Menendez was ranking member, the panel's top member from the minority party.

President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that a government shutdown is not evitable, but that if there is one, a lot of vital work could be impacted in science and health. Speaking to reporters after remarks to a group of science and technology advisers in San Francisco, Biden said he did not think anything was inevitable in politics. A government shutdown is looming as a possibility this weekend unless lawmakers can reach a budget deal.

Ohio on Wednesday urged the state's highest court to let a ban on abortion at about six weeks of pregnancy take effect, just weeks before voters in the state will decide whether to enshrine a right to abortion in the state constitution. While the arguments before the Ohio Supreme Court focused on procedural questions and will not lead to a final ruling in the case, a decision reviving the ban even temporarily could draw attention to abortion rights in the weeks before the November referendum.

Philip Morris International has registered new lobbyists in at least 19 U.S. states this year, and plans to add some in four more in the next two weeks, according to a Reuters' review of public records and information provided by the company. The world's biggest cigarette maker by market value is expanding its lobbying firepower as it gears up to launch its flagship IQOS heated tobacco device in a long-awaited entry to the United States, where vaping is already an established alternative to smoking.

The United Auto Workers union could strike additional Detroit Three automotive facilities on Friday if there is no serious progress in labor negotiations, a source familiar with the talks said. The union did not elaborate ahead of a planned video address by UAW President Shawn Fain at 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT) on Friday. Bargaining continues at Ford, General Motors and Chrysler parent Stellantis. If Fain triggers walkouts at more plants starting at noon (1600 GMT) on Friday, the UAW is expected to continue work stoppages currently underway until a new contract is ratified, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Baltimore police and U.S. marshals continued searching on Wednesday for the man suspected of killing Pava LaPere, a 26-year-old tech executive who was found dead at her apartment building on Monday. EcoMap Technologies, the company that LaPere cofounded, announced it would hold a vigil in her honor at Baltimore's Washington Monument on Wednesday evening. Baltimore acting Police Commissioner Richard Worley on Tuesday said that an arrest warrant had been issued for Jason Billingsley, 32, of Baltimore, for first-degree murder, assault, reckless endangerment and other unspecified charges.

Record-breaking NASA Astronaut Frank Rubio is back on terra firma. Would he have gone to space for 371 days knowing he would miss important family milestones? And what does that much time in zero gravity do to the human body? Our story for Scripps News.

The New York judge who found Donald Trump liable for fraud on Wednesday stopped short of addressing whether his scathing decision would force the former U.S. president to sell his prized real estate. Justice Arthur Engoron at a hearing on Wednesday was asked by Trump's lawyer Christopher Kise about what he intended a day earlier by ordering the cancellation of business certificates that let some of Trump's businesses operate.

A U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday voted to advance a marijuana banking bill, raising hopes for the cash-dependent cannabis sector to get access to regular banking services. Most banks in the country do not service cannabis companies as marijuana remains illegal at the federal level despite several states legalizing its medicinal and recreational use. The Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation Banking Act (SAFER) bill, introduced by a bipartisan group of senators last week, will now move to the Senate floor.