Top UN court opens hearings on South Africa's allegation that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The United Nations’ top court is opening hearings into South Africa’s allegation that Israel’s war with Hamas amounts to genocide against Palestinians, a claim that Israel strongly denies. In two days of preliminary hearings that begin Thursday, South Africa is initially asking the International Court of Justice to order an immediate suspension of Israel’s military offensive in the Gaza Strip. The full case is likely to take years to resolve. The dispute strikes at the heart of Israel’s national identity as a Jewish state created after the Nazi genocide in the Holocaust. It also involves South Africa’s identity: Its governing party has long compared Israel’s policies in Gaza and the West Bank to its own history under the apartheid regime of white minority rule.
In his 1st interview, friend who warned officials of Maine shooter says 'I literally spelled it out'
LEWISTON, Maine (AP) — For 17 years, Sean Hodgson was best friends with the man who would commit Maine's deadliest mass shooting. Hodgson and Robert Card were both Army reservists. Hodgson watched Card unravel, becoming increasingly angry and paranoid. Knowing Card had access to guns and wouldn't get help, Hodgson texted an Army supervisor that he feared Card would snap and commit such a shooting. Now, in his first interview, Hodgson exclusively tells The Associated Press it was the hardest thing he's ever done. He says officials should've done more to intervene. An independent review for law enforcement calls Hodgson alarmist. But he says given his relationship with Card and history in threat detection, he should've been taken seriously. Army officials wouldn't comment, citing pending investigations.
Haley and DeSantis tear into each other's records in a hostile head-to-head Republican debate
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republican presidential candidates Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis attacked each other early and often in Wednesday’s primary debate rather than focus on Donald Trump, the absent front-runner. DeSantis and Haley called each other liars and insulted each other’s records and character in the opening minutes. They drilled into each other’s policy ideas and directed viewers to dueling fact-checking websites their campaigns set up. The one-on-one format displayed their sharp differences over issues ranging from foreign policy to abortion less than a week before the Republican primary process begins in Iowa. Trump had the stage to himself at a separate Fox News event in Des Moines.
Chris Christie ends his Republican presidential bid, criticizing his rivals on his way out
WINDHAM, N.H. (AP) — Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has dropped out of the Republican presidential race. He made the announcement Wednesday night at a town hall in New Hampshire just hours before the fifth debate of the 2024 election cycle kicked off without him. Christie has been under intense pressure to exit the race as Trump critics work to unify behind a viable Republican alternative to the former president. Christie did not endorsing any of his rivals and continued to criticize them in his exit speech. He was overheard on a live mic ahead of the event saying that Nikki Haley is “going to get smoked.”
Israeli military says it found traces of hostages in an underground tunnel in Gaza
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Israeli military says it has found evidence that hostages were present in an underground tunnel in the Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, which has become the focus of Israel’s ground offensive. The military on Wednesday showed the tunnel to journalists who were escorted into a neighborhood near the ruins of destroyed homes and streets. A corrugated tin hut covered the tunnel’s entrance in a residential yard. The tunnel was hot and humid, with walls lined with concrete and electrical wires. Farther inside was a bathroom, where the military said it found evidence that hostages had been there, including their DNA. A military spokesman did not elaborate.
Donald Trump's civil fraud trial in New York heads to closing arguments, days before vote in Iowa
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump is returning to court for closing arguments in his New York civil fraud trial. The former president had been planning to deliver his own summation Thursday, but a judge nixed that. Judge Arthur Engoron was initially keen on the idea, but yanked permission after Trump’s lawyer missed a deadline for agreeing to limits on his remarks. Among other things, Engoron warned Trump “may not deliver a campaign speech” or impugn him, his adversaries and court staff. Trump’s return to the civil trial, just days before the Iowa caucuses kick off the presidential primary season, is part of a busy legal and political stretch for him.
What we know about 'Fito,' Ecuador’s notorious gang leader who went missing from prison
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — José Adolfo Macías Villamar, leader of one of Ecuador's most dangerous gangs, was discovered missing from his cell in a prison where he was serving a sentence for drug trafficking. Since his disappearance Sunday, the government says at least 30 attacks have taken place around the country, including one at a TV station in Guayaquil, in which armed gang members invaded a television station during a live broadcast. Born 44 years ago in a coastal city in the province of Manabí, Macías, also known by the alias Fito, is on the country's most wanted list. He heads the Los Choneros gang.
Avalanche kills 1, injures 3 at California ski resort that once hosted Winter Olympics
RENO, Nev. (AP) — An avalanche has roared through a section of expert trails at a California ski resort near Lake Tahoe. It killed one person and left three others with minor injuries. The avalanche prompted Palisades Tahoe to close 30 minutes after it opened Wednesday. Search crews combed the area to see if anyone was injured or trapped. A spokesperson for the Placer County sheriff says one person died and three others sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Officials say nobody else is missing. The avalanche happened as a powerful storm was expected to bring as much as 2 feet of snow to the highest elevations by early Thursday.
FACT FOCUS: Discovery of a tunnel at a Chabad synagogue spurs false claims and conspiracy theories
News of a secret underground tunnel found connected to a historic Brooklyn synagogue was picked up quickly on social media, with posts spreading baseless claims about the passage, many laced with antisemitism. Those supporting the tunnel said they were carrying out an “expansion” plan long envisioned by the former head of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. But that hasn’t stopped a proliferation of social media posts falsely suggesting the passage is proof of child sex trafficking or other illicit activities.
Republicans push ahead with Hunter Biden contempt charge after his surprise visit to Capitol Hill
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans have taken the first step toward holding Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress for defying a congressional subpoena, hours after the president’s son made a surprise visit to Capitol Hill. The House Oversight and Judiciary committees each passed contempt charges against the younger Biden with unanimous Republican support and all Democrats opposed. It sets up the likelihood that the U.S. House will recommend criminal charges against a member of President Joe Biden’s family. It comes as the GOP advances into the final stages of an impeachment inquiry into the president himself. The charges will now go to the full House for consideration and if approved it will be up to the Department of Justice to decide whether to prosecute.
