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    A judge declared a mistrial after a jury said it was deadlocked and couldn't reach a verdict in the trial of a military contractor accused of contributing to the abuse of detainees at the Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq two decades ago. The mistrial Thursday came in the jury’s eighth day of deliberations. The eight-member civil jury in Alexandria deadlocked on accusations the civilian interrogators who were supplied to the U.S. Army at Abu Ghraib in 2003 and 2004 had conspired with soldiers to abuse detainees as a means of “softening them up” for questioning. The trial was the first time a U.S. jury heard claims brought by Abu Ghraib survivors in the 20 years since shocking photos of detainee mistreatment.

      Gov. Andy Beshear is predicting that his recent economic development trip to Germany and Switzerland will reap more business investments in Kentucky. He says the Kentucky delegation met last week with leaders of companies already established in the state. And he says they cultivated ties with other businesses looking to invest in the U.S. The Democratic governor said Thursday that the response was “overwhelmingly positive.” It was Beshear’s first overseas economic development trip as governor but likely won’t be his last. He says his team is working to arrange a similar trip to Japan and South Korea.

        The North Carolina Senate has approved legislation to set aside roughly $500 million more for now for programs that provide taxpayer money to help K-12 students attend private schools. The majority-Republican Senate voted Thursday along party lines to spend the money, almost all of which will cover a surge in demand for Opportunity Scholarship grants since income caps to receive them were eliminated. The demand has resulted in a waiting list of nearly 55,000 students. The measure could go to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper next week if the House votes to affirm the legislation. Cooper opposes these vouchers, but Republicans hold narrow veto-proof majorities.

          For the past 52 years, the United Methodist Church had officially declared “the practice of homosexuality ... incompatible with Christian teaching.” But that has ended now that church delegates removed that phrase from their official social teachings at their legislative General Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina. The action comes a day after delegates removed a ban on LGBTQ clergy. The delegates have replaced the denomination's non-binding Social Principles with a new document. It defines marriage as a covenant between “two people of faith,” without specifying gender. The progressive shift follows the departure of a quarter of U.S. congregations in the United Methodist Church amid disputes over LGBTQ issues.

            The fate of a decades-old Tennessee policy that does not allow transgender people to change the sex designation on their birth certificates is in the hands of a federal appeals court. A group of four transgender women born in Tennessee wants the policy declared unconstitutional. A federal judge dismissed their case last year. On Thursday, they asked a panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn that ruling. Their attorney argues that a birth certificate is a “critical and foundational” identity document. Attorneys for the state say there is nothing in the Constitution that requires them to amend birth certificates to include gender identity.

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            About a week after legislators brushed off his amendments to bills ensuring the right to contraception and requiring insurance coverage, Gov. Glenn Youngkin said he’s still thinking about what do.

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