The Supreme Court on Friday rejected an emergency appeal from Republicans that could have led to thousands of provisional ballots not being counted in Pennsylvania as the presidential campaigns vie in the final days before the election in the nation’s biggest battleground state.

The justices left in place a state Supreme Court ruling that elections officials must count provisional ballots cast by voters whose mail-in ballots were rejected.

The ruling is a victory for voting-rights advocates, who had sought to force counties — primarily Republican-controlled counties — to let voters cast a provisional ballot on Election Day if their mail-in ballot was to be rejected for a garden-variety error.

While the Supreme Court action was a setback for Republicans, the GOP separately claimed victory in a decision by Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court. That court rejected a last-ditch effort by voting rights advocates to ensure that mail-in ballots that lack an accurate, handwritten date on the exterior envelope will still count in this year’s presidential election.

The rulings are the latest in four years of litigation over voting by mail in Pennsylvania, where every vote truly counts in presidential races. Republicans have sought in dozens of court cases to push the strictest possible interpretation for throwing out mail-in ballots, which are predominantly cast by Democrats.

Taken together, Friday’s near-simultaneous rulings will ensure a heavy emphasis on helping thousands of people vote provisionally on Election Day if their mail-in ballot was rejected — and potentially more litigation.

As of Thursday, about 9,000 ballots out of more than 1.6 million returned have arrived at elections offices around Pennsylvania lacking a secrecy envelope, a signature or a handwritten date, according to state records.

Jury convicts ex-cop in Breonna Taylor raid

A federal jury on Friday convicted a former Kentucky police detective of using excessive force on Breonna Taylor during a botched 2020 drug raid that left her dead.

The 12-member jury returned the late-night verdict after clearing Brett Hankison earlier in the evening on a charge that he used excessive force on Taylor’s neighbors.

It’s the first conviction of a Louisville police officer who was involved in the deadly raid.

Some members of the jury were in tears as the verdict was read around 9:30 p.m. Friday. They had earlier indicated to the judge in two separate messages that they were deadlocked on the charge of using excessive force Taylor but chose to continue deliberating.

Hankison fired 10 shots into Taylor’s glass door and windows during the March 2020 raid, but didn’t hit anyone.

The death of the 26-year-old Black woman, along with the May 2020 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, sparked racial injustice protests nationwide.

A separate jury deadlocked on federal charges against Hankison last year, while in 2022, a jury acquitted Hankison on state charges of wanton endangerment.

Friday’s conviction carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Pentagon bolstering forces in Middle East

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is sending additional bomber aircraft and Navy warships to the Middle East to bolster the U.S. presence in the region as an aircraft carrier and its warships are preparing to leave, U.S. officials said Friday.

Austin ordered several B-52 Stratofortress bomber aircraft, tanker aircraft and Navy destroyers to deploy to the Middle East, according to four U.S. and defense officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss troop movements.

The moves come at a critical time as Israel’s wars with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon rage, even as officials press for a cease-fire. The U.S. has repeatedly said it will defend Israel and continue to protect American and allied presence in the region, including from Yemen-based Houthi attacks against ships in the Red Sea.

Adams gets April trial date, for now

New York City Mayor Eric Adams returned to court Friday, sitting stoically as his lawyers fought to eliminate a key charge in the federal corruption indictment that threatens his political future.

The Democrat is fighting to throw out a bribery charge, one of five counts in a case that U.S. District Judge Dale E. Ho said will go to trial April 21, 2025, in the thick of Adams’ promised reelection campaign.

The mayor’s lawyers argued at a Manhattan federal court hearing that the bribery charge doesn’t meet the federal standard of a crime and is “insufficiently specific,” particularly after recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions redefined how it is prosecuted.

Prosecutors countered that Adams’ lawyers were splitting hairs because, they allege, Adams was taking bribes and exerting influence while holding a prior elected office and as he anticipated becoming mayor.

Pakistan bombing targets polio efforts

A powerful bomb attached to a motorcycle exploded near a vehicle carrying police officers assigned to protect polio workers in restive southwest Pakistan on Friday, killing nine people including five nearby children, and wounding 17 other people, officials said.

Local police chief Fateh Mohammad said a motorized rickshaw carrying schoolchildren was nearby when the bombing happened, resulting in the deaths of five children, a police officer and two passersby.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on police, but suspicion is likely to fall on separatist groups and Pakistani Taliban that have stepped up attacks on security forces and civilians in recent months.

Japan, EU form defensive alliance

Japan and the European Union announced a security and defense partnership on Friday as they seek to step up military ties, including joint exercises and exchanges between their defense industries, amid growing tensions with China, North Korea and Russia.

It is the first security partnership that the EU has concluded with an Indo-Pacific country, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told reporters.

Borrell is in Tokyo as part of an East Asia tour that includes South Korea, where he will also hold a strategic dialogue, underscoring the EU’s increasing engagement with the Indo-Pacific region, as China and Russia step up joint military activities and North Korea sends troops to Russia.

Idaho health district nixes COVID vaccines

A regional public health department in Idaho is no longer providing COVID-19 vaccines to residents in six counties after a narrow decision by its board.

Southwest District Health appears to be the first in the nation to be restricted from giving COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccinations are an essential function of a public health department.

While policymakers in Texas banned health departments from promoting COVID vaccines and Florida’s surgeon general bucked medical consensus to recommend against the vaccine, governmental bodies across the country haven’t blocked the vaccines outright.

The six-county district along the Idaho-Oregon border includes three counties in the Boise metropolitan area.

On Oct. 22, the health department’s board voted 4-3 in favor of the ban — despite Southwest’s medical director testifying to the vaccine’s necessity.

IRS ups retirement contribution limits

The IRS on Friday announced an increase to the amount individuals can contribute to their 401(k) plans in 2025 — to $23,500, up from $23,000 in 2024.

The Internal Revenue Service detailed the increases in its annual cost-of-living adjustments for pension plans and other retirement accounts.

Workers who participate in 403(b) and the federal government’s Thrift Savings Plan will also be able to increase their annual contribution to $23,500 in 2025, up from $23,000 in 2024.

Some annual contributions remain the same. The limit on annual contributions to an IRA will remain at $7,000 and the IRA catch-up contribution limit for people 50 and over remains $1,000 for 2025.

— From news services