Alabama lawmakers advance legislation to protect IVF providers

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama lawmakers have advanced legislation to protect in vitro fertilization providers. Committees in the state Senate and House approved bills Tuesday to provide legal immunity for clinics. Three major IVF providers paused services after the state Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are considered children under the state’s wrongful death law. Lawmakers are facing public pressure to get IVF services restarted. Lawmakers are aiming to give final approval Wednesday and send the legislation to Gov. Kay Ivey to be signed into law.

US sanctions spyware company and executives

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department says it has sanctioned two people and a Greece-based commercial spyware company headed by a former Israeli military officer that developed and distributed technology used to target U.S. government officials, journalists and policy experts. The sanctions announced Tuesday target Intellexa Consortium, which the U.S. says has sold and distributed commercial spyware and surveillance tools for targeted and mass surveillance campaigns. Other entities associated with Intellexa are sanctioned for their parts in developing and distributing a package of tools known as Predator.

Rewritten indictment against Menendez alleges new obstruction of justice crimes

NEW YORK (AP) — New obstruction of justice crimes have been alleged against Sen. Bob Menendez. The new charges were in a rewritten indictment returned against the Democrat on Tuesday in Manhattan federal court. New charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice were added against Menendez and his wife Nadine. They were added to an indictment that already alleges that the couple conspired with three businessmen to accept bribes of gold bars, cash and a luxury car in return for the senator’s help in projects pursued by the businessmen. Both have pleaded not guilty.

Liberty University will pay $14 million, the largest fine ever levied

(AP) — The U.S. Department of Education says Liberty University has agreed to pay an unprecedented $14 million fine after the large Christian school in Virginia failed to disclose information about crimes on campus. Those crimes included sexual assault. Liberty marketed itself as having one of the safest campuses. The fine is by far the largest under the Clery Act., a federal law that requires universities to collect crime data and notify students of threats. Before Tuesday, the largest Clery Act fine was $4.5 million against Michigan State.

Bitcoin briefly hits an all-time high, less than two years after FTX scandal

NEW YORK (AP) — Bitcoin has hit an all-time high less than two years after the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX severely damaged faith in digital currencies and sent prices plunging. The world’s largest cryptocurrency jumped 4% this week and briefly surpassed $68,800 Tuesday. That’s according to CoinMarketCap. That price is just above bitcoin’s previous record set in November 2021. Gains in recent months have been fueled by the anticipation and eventual U.S. approval of bitcoin exchange traded funds earlier this year, which provided access to a much broader class of investors. The price for bitcoin has surged about 60% since the approval of bitcoin ETFs in January.