Donald Trump will get juror names at New York criminal trial but they’ll be anonymous to the public
NEW YORK — Donald Trump will be allowed to know the names of jurors at his upcoming New York hush-money criminal trial. The public will not. Manhattan Judge Juan Manuel Merchan ruled Thursday to keep the yet-to-be-picked jury anonymous, with limited exceptions for the former president, his defense lawyers, prosecutors,...
United Airlines plane makes a safe emergency landing in LA after losing a tire during takeoff
LOS ANGELES — A United Airlines jetliner bound for Japan made a safe landing in Los Angeles on Thursday after losing a tire while taking off from San Francisco. Fire engines stood by at Los Angeles International Airport but weren’t needed, as the Boeing 777 made an uneventful landing and...
Britain says it will provide 10,000 drones to Ukraine in its fight against Russia
LONDON — Britain said Thursday that it would provide 10,000 drones to arm Ukraine in its fight against Russia. The announcement by Defense Secretary Grant Shapps during a visit in Kyiv with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy includes an investment of 125 million pounds ($160 million) on top of 200 million...
State of the Union guests spotlight divide on abortion and immigration but offer some rare unity
The invitation list for President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Thursday speaks volumes about what Democrats and Republicans want to focus on as the 2024 election season heats up. Biden and Democratic lawmakers have invited several healthcare providers and women whose lives have been impacted by stricter...
Trump is ordered to pay legal fees after failed lawsuit over the Steele dossier
LONDON — Former U.S. President Donald Trump has been ordered to pay a six-figure legal bill to a company founded by a former British spy that he unsuccessfully sued for making what his lawyer called “shocking and scandalous” false claims that harmed his reputation. A London judge, who threw out...
Ditch the pencil, SAT exams go digital
If there’s an SAT exam in your future or that of your child, don’t worry about scrounging up a perfectly sharpened No. 2 pencil. You have outlived the paper era of the college entrance exam. Starting Saturday, an almost-century-old rite of academic passage for high schoolers will have bowed to...
Leading NGOs slam Israel’s halt in visa renewals for aid workers in Gaza and West Bank
JERUSALEM — Israel’s halt in renewing visas for international aid workers in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli occupied West Bank is kneecapping aid work just when it’s needed the most, a coalition of humanitarian and nongovernmental groups says. Israel’s welfare ministry has paused the visa renewal process since early...
Fewer fish and more algae? Scientists seek to understand impacts of historic lack of Great Lakes ice
RACINE, Wis. — Michigan Tech University biologists have been observing a remote Lake Superior island’s fragile wolf population every winter since 1958, but they had to cut this season’s planned seven-week survey short after just two weeks. The ski plane they study the wolves from uses the frozen lake as...
Evidence of traumatic brain injury in shooter who killed 18 in deadliest shooting in Maine history
AUGUSTA, Maine — An Army reservist who shot and killed 18 people in Maine last year had evidence of traumatic brain injuries, according to a brain tissue analysis by researchers from Boston University. There was degeneration in the nerve fibers that allow for communication between different areas of the brain,...
Mexico’s most dangerous city for police refuses to give up or negotiate with cartels
CELAYA, Mexico — A dead man lay on his back in the parking lot of a convenience store in late February when journalists rolled in to the north-central Mexico city of Celaya to interview police. A spray of bullet casings and spent projectiles lay around the corpse, a sight all...
TSA unveils passenger self-screening lanes at Vegas airport as ‘a step into the future’
LAS VEGAS — Federal airport security officials unveiled passenger self-screening lanes Wednesday at busy Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, with plans to test it for use in other cities around the country. “How do we step into the future? This is a step,” said a system designer, Dimitri...
Analysis: First fatal attack on shipping by Yemen’s Houthi rebels escalates risk for reeling Mideast
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The first fatal attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on shipping threatens to further sever a crucial maritime artery for global trade and carries with it risks beyond those just at sea. Already, the White House is warning that there will be a response to Wednesday’s...
Weight-loss drugs like Wegovy are meant for long-term use. Some patients want to stop
Millions of Americans who have dropped pounds and boosted their health using popular obesity drugs like Wegovy are facing a new dilemma: What happens if they stop taking them? Many worry, rightly, that they’ll regain weight and revert to old habits. In clinical trials, patients who paused the drugs put...
Why are clocks set forward in the spring? Thank wars, confusion and a hunger for sunlight
DALLAS — Once again, most Americans will set their clocks forward by one hour this weekend, losing perhaps a bit of sleep but gaining more glorious sunlight in the evenings as the days warm into summer. Where did this all come from, though? How we came to move the clock...
Biden uses feisty State of the Union to contrast with Trump, sell voters on a second termVideo
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden turned his State of the Union speech Thursday night into an animated argument for a second term as he laced into GOP front-runner Donald Trump for espousing “resentment, revenge and retribution” and jeopardizing freedom at home and abroad. Over and over, Biden delivered broadsides at...
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signs legislation protecting IVF providers from legal liability into law
MONTGOMERY — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation into law Wednesday shielding in vitro fertilization providers from potential legal liability raised by a court ruling that equated frozen embryos to children. The decision by the Alabama Supreme Court last month raised concerns about civil liabilities for clinics and prompted an...
After Ohio train derailment, tank cars didn’t need to be blown open to release chemical, NTSB says
The decision to blow open five tank cars and burn the toxic chemical inside them after a freight train derailed in Eastern Ohio last year wasn’t justified, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board told Congress on Wednesday. But she said the key decision-makers who feared those tank cars...
New York sends National Guard to subways after a string of violent crimesVideo
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced plans Wednesday to send the National Guard to the New York City subway system to help police search passengers’ bags for weapons, following a series of high-profile crimes on city trains. Hochul, a Democrat, said she will deploy 750 members of the National Guard...
Jury convicts movie armorer of involuntary manslaughter in fatal shooting by Alec BaldwinVideo
SANTA FE, N.M. — A jury convicted a movie weapons supervisor of involuntary manslaughter on Wednesday in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by actor Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal on the set of the Western movie “Rust.” The verdict against movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed assigns new blame in the...
Mike Pence to speak at Grove City College conference on antisemitism
Former Vice President Mike Pence will travel to Grove City College next month to deliver the keynote address at The Institute for Faith & Freedom (IFF) 2024 Conference “Confronting Antisemitism,” campus officials announced Wednesday. He will speak at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 11 in Crawford Hall Auditorium. In announcing his...
House passes $460 billion package of spending bills. Senate expected to act before shutdown deadline
WASHINGTON — The House passed a $460 billion package of spending bills Wednesday that would keep money flowing to key federal agencies through the remainder of the budget year. The Senate is expected to take up the legislation before a midnight Friday shutdown deadline. Lawmakers are negotiating a second package...
Ex-Google software engineer charged with stealing AI technology while working with Chinese companies
WASHINGTON — A former software engineer at Google has been charged with stealing artificial intelligence technology from the company while secretly working with two companies based in China, the Justice Department said Wednesday. Linwei Ding, a Chinese national, was arrested in Newark, Calif., on four counts of federal trade secret...
County exec sues New York over an order to rescind his ban on transgender female athletes
MINEOLA, N.Y. — A Republican official in New York City’s suburbs who prohibited transgender athletes from participating in girls and women’s sports competitions has asked a federal court to affirm that he has the power to implement the ban. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday...
Texas man arrested in alleged scam attempt against disgraced former congressman George Santos
NEW YORK — A Texas man was arrested Wednesday on accusations that he schemed to dupe George Santos into wiring him money with the false promise that he could get the criminal corruption charges against the disgraced congressman dropped. Federal prosecutors said Hector Medina of El Paso concocted a fake...
Alabama legislation to protect IVF providers moves toward final approval
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama lawmakers racing to restart in vitro fertilization services in the state are set to weigh final approval for legislation shielding providers from the fallout of a court ruling that equated frozen embryos to children. The state Senate and House will consider identical bills Wednesday that would...
