Advocates asked lawmakers for funding and resources for missing and endangered American Indians , Alaska Natives and Indigenous people.

Lawmakers expressed willingness to reach across the aisle to find bipartisan solutions.

Homicide rates among American Indian and Alaska Native people were nearly four times higher than homicide rates for white people.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin makes impassioned defense of women in combat.

Comments follow Pete Hegseth , President-elect's pick to lead the Department of Defense , arguing that the U.S. "should not have women" in combat roles.

Women began being able to be in ground combat units in 2013 after the Pentagon rescinded a ban on women in these roles.

Massive crowds estimated by the police at 42,000 gathered at Parliament .

Lawmakers want to reinterpret a 184-year-old treaty signed between the British and Indigenous Maori .

Critics see in it a desire to reverse decades of policies aimed to empower Maori , who make up around 20% of population.

Dallas doctor gets 190 years for tampering with IV bags used in surgeries.

Raynaldo Rivera Ortiz Jr. had history of disciplinary actions against him.

He was arrested in September 2022 and convicted in April .

Ortiz complained to other physicians that the surgical center was trying to “crucify” him.

Rep.-elect Sarah McBride says she's "not here to fight about bathrooms" Rep. Nancy Mace introduced a resolution to ban transgender women from using biological women's restrooms at the U.S. Capitol .

Mace said the resolution was targeted toward McBride , a transgender woman recently elected to represent Delaware .

House Speaker Mike Johnson promised Mace her ban would be included in House rules package.

Nick Begich , a Republican endorsed by Donald Trump , beat Mary Peltola (D-Alaska) for the state’s sole seat in the House of Representatives .

Begich came into the night with a bit over 48% of the vote, though, and was heavily favored to win.

The Alaska Division of Elections tabulated voters’ backup choices under a novel ranked choice voting system.

Bryan Kohberger's defense team had sought to remove the death penalty as a possible punishment should he be convicted, but Ada County Judge Steven Hippler denied their motions in his ruling dated Tuesday .

Kohberger is accused of stabbing four students to death in a home off campus in November 2022 .

Class action lawsuit on AI -related discrimination reaches final settlement in class action lawsuit.

Algorithm designed to score rental applicants discriminated on the basis of race and income.

Company behind algorithm agreed to pay over $2.2 million and roll back certain parts of it's screening products.

Settlement does not include any admissions of fault by company SafeRent Solutions.

“I’m not optimistic that I’m going to catch a break, but I have to keep on keeping, that’s it,” said Louis . “I have too many people who rely on me.” ___ Jesse Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative . Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues..

Ex-officer Amber Guyger used excessive force in the death of Botham Jean in 2018 .

Jurors returned a verdict against her of $98.65 million .

"This verdict stands as a powerful testament to Botham ’s life and the profound injustice of his death," family says.

Guyger was later fired from the Dallas Police Department , found guilty of murder.

Pierre Omidyar is behind a new initiative led by Democrats aiming to champion the second Trump resistance, records show.

The initiative, called Governors Safeguarding Democracy , was profiled in the New York Times last week as a vehicle for Govs . J.B. Pritzker (D-IL), Jared Polis and other governors to push back on the policies of President-elect Donald Trump .

The group calls itself a "nonpartisan alliance" of leaders, though it is unclear what Republican officials, if any, are involved with the effort.