Beyond Local

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday signed into law a bill that he says will make Illinois the first state in the nation to outlaw book bans.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested Tuesday that he could order his troops to try to seize more land in Ukraine to protect bordering Russian territory and asserted that Ukrainian forces had suffered “catastrophic” losses in a new counteroffensive.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers wants the Biden administration to punish South Africa for its alleged support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine by relocating an important trade meeting to another country, according to a letter published Tuesday in The New York Times.

TOKYO (AP) — The operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant began tests on Monday of newly constructed facilities for discharging treated radioactive wastewater into the sea, a plan strongly opposed by local fishing communities and neighboring countries.

LAVAL, Que. — The court case of a Quebec man accused of killing two young children by driving a city bus into a Montreal-area daycare was postponed on Tuesday to the end of August.

OTTAWA — Canada's chief justice says he has asked the national body that oversees the conduct of judges to consider making the process for dealing with complaints more transparent.

OTTAWA — An accusation from Tory MP Frank Caputo that the Liberal attorney general tried to intimidate him with an email is "ridiculous," Justice Minister David Lametti argued on Tuesday.

MONTREAL — Quebec’s ban on prayer rooms in public schools is harmful to Muslim students and should be suspended immediately, lawyers for a civil liberties group and a Muslim advocacy organization told a Montreal court Tuesday.

OTTAWA — Rapid population growth is challenging economists' understanding of the economy as they monitor how businesses and consumers are responding to high interest rates.

OTTAWA — Senators are concerned that a long-delayed Liberal bill aimed at unblocking Canadian aid in Afghanistan will bog down development groups in red tape and block access based on prejudicial bureaucracy.