Hezbollah, allies lose majority in parliament

Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group and its allies lost their parliamentary majority, final elections results showed Tuesday, while more than a dozen independent newcomers gained seats. The outcome signaled a shift in a country devastated by an ongoing financial meltdown and soaring poverty.

The Hezbollah-led coalition won 61 seats in the 128-member legislature, a drop of 10 members since the last vote was held four years ago. It’s a loss largely due to setbacks suffered by the Iran-backed group’s political partners and was not expected to weaken its own domination of Lebanese politics. All 13 Hezbollah candidates who ran got elected.

Still, the results were hailed as a major breakthrough for groups opposed to Hezbollah and the country’s other powerful political parties blamed for the collapse, introducing more new independent faces than was expected.

Archdiocese settles sex abuse suit for $1.2M

The Archdiocese of Chicago has agreed to pay $1.2 million to a man who alleged that he was sexually abused when he was 12 years old by a defrocked priest who was convicted of sexually abusing several boys, the man’s attorney announced on Tuesday.

The settlement of the case before a lawsuit was filed was announced in a news release by attorney Lyndsay Markley and marks the latest chapter in the story of Daniel McCormack, one of the most notorious pedophiles in the history of Chicago’s archdiocese. McCormack, who pleaded guilty in 2007 to sexually abusing five children while he was a priest at St. Agatha’s parish in Chicago, was released from prison last fall and has registered as a sex offender with the Illinois State Police.

Federal judge strikes down Tennessee’s bathroom signage law

A federal judge on Tuesday struck down Tennessee’s first-of-its-kind law requiring businesses to post special signs if they allow transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice.

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger makes permanent her previous decision from July 2021 that blocked enforcement of the law just days after it took effect. Businesses had sued over the law, arguing the signs would violate their First Amendment rights by compelling them to communicate language they find offensive.

In her latest decision, the judge deemed the law “a brazen attempt to single out trans-inclusive establishments and force them to parrot a message that they reasonably believe would sow fear and misunderstanding about the very transgender Tennesseans whom those establishments are trying to provide with some semblance of a safe and welcoming environment.”

— The Associated Press