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NEW YORK (AP) — President Barack Obama says the right to vote in the U.S. is under a greater threat than at any time since the Voting Rights Act passed nearly five decades ago. Obama says the idea of "one person, one vote" is the single biggest tool for fighting injustice. He's denouncing Republican efforts to pass voting restrictions, such as photo ID laws. His comments came in an address to Al Sharpton's National Action Network conference in New York -- a day after Obama marked the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. The Supreme Court recently invalidated key provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes says his state will defend a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage. And Reyes says the defense is not motivated by hate. Reyes spoke during a rally at the Capitol attended by about 100 supporters of Utah's same-sex marriage ban. They praised Reyes for his decision. Attorneys general in seven states have declined to defend same-sex marriage bans.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department has slapped sanctions on the former vice speaker of the Ukrainian parliament, six Crimean separatist leaders and a Crimea-based gas company. The penalties are because of Russia's takeover of Ukraine's strategic Crimean Peninsula. President Barack Obama last month imposed new visa restrictions on Russian and other opponents of Ukraine's government and authorized wider financial penalties against those involved in the military intervention or in stealing state assets.
PERTH, Australia (AP) — Up to 10 planes and 14 ships are searching Saturday in the Indian Ocean west of Australia for the Malaysian airliner. There have been no new audio signals detected and there is growing concern that the batteries on the black boxes are dying. The search also continues underwater in a 500-square-mile patch of the seabed.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A computer outage at the International Space Station may require a spacewalk by astronauts. NASA says a backup computer on the outside of the orbiting lab is not responding to commands. The main computer is working fine and the six-man crew is in no danger. But the backup computers control some robotic functions that would be needed for next week's planned visit by a private SpaceX supply ship.
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