Virginia men who came armed to Philly vote count remain free on bail

By The Associated Press
January 15, 2021 | 6:19 AM

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Philadelphia judge has denied a request to revoke bail for two Virginia Beach, Virginia, men who traveled to the Pennsylvania Convention Center where votes were being counted and were arrested originally on weapons charges, despite prosecutors’ objections that they attended a rally last week that turned into a violent siege of the U.S. Capitol building.

A judge Thursday ordered the two men, 42-year-old Joshua Macias and 61-year-old Antonio LaMotta, to stand trial on elections fraud-related charges.

LaMotta also still faces weapons charges for carrying an unlicensed firearm as he walked toward the Convention Center on Nov. 5.

A look at the history and beliefs behind Japan’s controversial shrine to the war dead

By The Associated Press
August 14, 2026 | 12:56 AM

Emperor Meiji first visited the site that would become one of Japan’s most controversial shrines in 1874. He vowed that the names of those who died for their country would live there forever. More than 2.4 million people are now honored at Yasukuni, a memorial and Shinto shrine in central Tokyo. Among them are 14 war criminals who are also commemorated each Aug. 15, when Japan’s surrender ended World War II. The shrine provides spiritual comfort for some who mourn relatives and others who visit to express gratitude. Yet for Asian countries that endured Japanese imperial rule and expansion, Yasukuni remains a symbol of Japan’s militarism. Visits by Japanese leaders frequently draw criticism from China and South Korea, which see them as a sign of insufficient remorse for Japan’s wartime aggression.

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