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Trump was told not to talk to witnesses in 2020 election conspiracy case. That could be a challenge.

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:55:01 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — It was a routine part of a federal court hearing: The defendant was told not to discuss the case with any witnesses without lawyers present.But there’s nothing routine about this case. The defendant is Donald Trump, accused of orchestrating a conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The potential witness pool is vast and includes members of the former president’s inner circle deeply involved in his reelection campaign, including some currently on his payroll. His lies about the election — which form the basis of the charges — are repeated in nearly every speech he gives.“The standard language may not work here, when you have thousands of Americans who could be witnesses and he continues to have daily contact with people who may be involved,” said Laurie Levenson, a law professor at Loyola Law School of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. “Everything is more complicated in this case because of who the defendant is, what he has don...

A baby was found in the rubble of a US raid in Afghanistan. But who exactly was killed and why?

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:55:01 GMT

The Afghan villager was afraid the American soldiers might come. And one cool night in fall, as his children lay asleep, helicopters roared overhead.At the first sound of gunshots, he yelled for his wife and 10 children to take cover. His young daughter grabbed her sleeping infant sister off the bed. Their mud compound exploded, and a blast sent a huge shock through the home.“My small sister fell away from my arms,” the girl, now a teenager, whispered, so quietly she could barely be heard above the breeze. “The wind blew her out of my hands.”Today, what exactly happened that night is at the center of a bitter international custody dispute over an orphaned baby found amid the rubble. The high-profile legal battle pits an Afghan family against an American one, and has drawn responses from the White House and the Taliban.The Afghan government and the International Committee of the Red Cross determined that the baby belonged to this Afghan villager. Friends and family say he was a farme...

After helping prevent extinctions for 50 years, the Endangered Species Act itself may be in peril

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:55:01 GMT

SHARON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Biologist Ashley Wilson carefully disentangled a bat from netting above a tree-lined river and examined the wriggling, furry mammal in her headlamp’s glow. “Another big brown,” she said with a sigh.It was a common type, one of many Wilson and colleagues had snagged on summer nights in the southern Michigan countryside. They were looking for increasingly scarce Indiana and northern long-eared bats, which historically migrated there for birthing season, sheltering behind peeling bark of dead trees.The scientists had yet to spot either species this year as they embarked on a netting mission.“It’s a bad suggestion if we do not catch one. It doesn’t look good,” said Allen Kurta, an Eastern Michigan University professor who has studied bats for more than 40 years.The two bat varieties are designated as imperiled under the Endangered Species Act, the bedrock U.S. law intended to keep animal and plant types from dying out. Enacted in 197...

Play It Again, Joe. Biden bets that repeating himself is smart politics

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:55:01 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has his zingers (“This is not your father’s Republican Party”). He’s got patriotism (“This is the United States of America, dammit”). He’s got a geometry-based explanation on how grow to the economy (“from the middle out and the bottom up”). Move over, Beyonce and Taylor Swift. Biden has his own greatest hits and he’s keeping them on repeat.If you’ve heard one of the president’s recent speeches, you’ve basically heard them all — and you’re sure to keep hearing the same refrains in the year-plus leading up to Election Day 2024. People in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah will get to sample the playlist starting Tuesday, when Biden makes a three-day swing through the Southwest.Biden knows where the country is in the arc of history (“at an inflection point”). He knows what the middle class needs (“a little bit of breathing room”). Did you know his wife, Jill, is from Philadelphia? Yep, he “married a Philly girl” and will be “sleeping alone” ...

Haitians express skepticism over Kenya’s offer to UN to send police to confront gangs

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:55:01 GMT

PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (AP) — Haitians are expressing skepticism over an offer by Kenya to lead an international police force aimed at combatting the gang violence that has wracked the Caribbean nation.They say the sexual abuse and a devastating cholera outbreak that have accompanied foreign forces in past decades don’t inspire much trust. But Haitians also say uncontrolled bloodshed in their country leaves them with few other options.Florence Casimir, an elementary school teacher, said that while past international interventions have damaged Haiti, their abuses don’t compare to the brutality of gangs, which kidnap her students and force parents to pay hefty ransoms.“It will never be better (than past interventions), but the Haitian people don’t have a choice at this point,” Casimir said. “The Haitian people can’t fight it on their own.”After Primer Minister Ariel Henry urged the world in October to deploy an armed force to fight the gangs, the United Nations has struggled to c...

US economy likely generated 200,000 new jobs in July, showing more resilience in face of rate hikes

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:55:01 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The American economy has generated at least 200,000 new jobs for a record 30 straight months. And the streak likely continued into July. But just barely.The Labor Department’s latest jobs report, out Friday, is expected to show that employers tacked on exactly 200,000 jobs last month, according to a survey of forecasters by the data firm FactSet. That would be fewest since December 2020 – but still a healthy number and a sign that the U.S. labor market remains sturdy despite markedly higher interest rates.In another sign of strength, the unemployment rate is expected to stay at 3.6%, not far off a half-century low.The U.S. economy and job market have repeatedly defied predictions of an impending recession. Increasingly, economists are expressing confidence that inflation fighters at the Federal Reserve can pull off a rare “soft landing’’ – raising interest rates just enough to rein in rising prices without tipping the world’s largest economy into recession. Consume...

SKY5 LIVE: Authorities pursue motorcyclist in Los Angeles County

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:55:01 GMT

Authorities are pursuing a motorcyclist in Los Angeles County on Thursday night.The suspect was initially wanted for speeding, according to the California Highway Patrol. The biker was seen hitting speeds up to 120 miles per hour while dangerously weaving through highway traffic and surface streets.Sky5 is overhead.

Police search for missing toddler in South Los Angeles

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:55:01 GMT

Authorities are searching for an at-risk missing toddler out of South Los Angeles on Thursday night.The female suspect who may have taken the toddler was identified as Daisy “Lady CK” Serrano, 29.The baby was identified as Joseph Mister III, 14 months old, according to the California Highway Patrol. He was last seen with Serrano on Wednesday morning around 10 a.m., authorities said.Serrano is described as a black woman standing 5 feet 2 inches tall, weighing 200 pounds with blond hair and brown eyes. She was last seen wearing a black tank top and gray shorts.The infant is described as a Black male about 2 feet 5 inches tall, weighing 35 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. 1 dead after shooting in Irvine neighborhood Daisy “Lady CK” Serrano and Joseph Mister III in undated photos from the California Highway Patrol. He was last seen wearing a white polo shirt, black pants, and stud earrings.No further details were released regarding the circumstances surrounding their disappearan...

Big Bear man's terroristic threats lead to arrest of four others on several unrelated charges 

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:55:01 GMT

Deputies with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department arrested five people after an investigation into a man making terroristic threats turned up four other suspects. According to a SBSD release, an unidentified victim informed deputies that the initial suspect, later identified as 44-year-old Big Bear resident Jeramie Bourgeois, pointed a firearm toward the victim and threatened to kill them for telling people that Bourgeois was a registered sex offender. When deputies were able to serve a search warrant at Bourgeois’ residence in the 1000 block of Mount Doble Drive in Big Bear later in the day on Wednesday, they located a suppressed AR-15 style rifle, a revolver with an “obliterated” serial number, a .45 caliber handgun, .50 caliber ammunition and methamphetamine, as well as a piece of paper with racist insignia. Bourgeois was not home when authorities served the search warrant. However, deputies discovered that two other individuals, identified as 39-year-old Shady Da...

'Bridgefest LA' takes over 6th Street Bridge in downtown Los Angeles

Published Mon, 16 Dec 2024 15:55:01 GMT

A free music, arts and food festival will take over the 6th Street Bridge in downtown Los Angeles this weekend.Bridgefest LA 2023 will take over the iconic viaduct and feature free live musical performances, food, drinks, unique shopping and family-friendly activities.The free festival is presented by the Los Angeles River Artists & Business Association and will run Aug. 4, 5 and 6.Saturday, Aug. 5 is the only day the 6th Street Bridge will be shut down to traffic and open to visitors on foot. The bridge festival will run from 1 p.m. - 9 p.m.Visitors can enjoy food trucks, a beer and cocktail garden, an auto show, a picnic area and more.On Aug. 4 and 6, happy hour specials and live entertainment will take place at participating businesses in the nearby Arts District and Boyle Heights. Six Flags Magic Mountain announces new mazes for Fright Fest 2023 Bridgefest LA 2023 will take over the 6th Street Bridge in downtown Los Angeles on Aug. 5, 2023. (Bridgefest LA)Bridgefest LA 202...