Tampa Bay Rays shortstop Wander Franco, center, is escorted by police to court in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic Friday, Jan. 5, 2024. Dominican prosecutors on Wednesday accused Franco of commercial sexual exploitation and money laundering following allegations that he had a relationship with a minor whose mother also faces the same charges. (AP Photo/Ricardo Hernández)
A Connecticut woman who pushed for expanded access to Vermont’s law that allows people who are terminally ill to end their lives has died in Vermont. Lynda Bluestein, who had terminal cancer, ended her life by taking prescribed lethal medication on Thursday. Her husband says her last words were that she was so happy that she didn't have to suffer anymore. The group Compassion & Choices filed a lawsuit against Vermont in 2022 on behalf of Bluestein. She claimed Vermont’s residency requirement in its medically assisted suicide law violated the U.S. Constitution. The state settled the case last year, allowing Bluestein and later anyone else in her circumstances to take advantage of the law.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Colombia Matthew Graves speaks about the unfolding of the January 6 attack on the Capitol during a presentation ahead of this year's third anniversary in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Hundreds of protesters calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war interrupted the first day of California’s legisla…
Donald Trump's lawyers are pressing to have special counsel Jack Smith’s team held in contempt. The Republican former president's lawyers said Thursday prosecutors have taken steps to advance the 2020 election interference case against him in violation of a judge’s order that put the case on hold. The attorneys told U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington, D.C., she should consider holding Smith and two of his prosecutors in contempt. A spokesman for Smith has declined to comment. Prosecutors have acknowledged the deadlines in the case are on hold pending an appeal. But prosecutors say they'd continue meeting the deadlines to ensure the prompt resumption of the case once it's returned to the court.
Iran says twin bomb blasts killed at least 95 people at an event honoring a prominent Iranian general slain in a U.S. airstrike in 2020. Iranian state media called the attack, which wounded more than 200, “terroristic.” No one has immediately claimed responsibility for what appears to be the deadliest militant attack to target Iran since its 1979 Islamic Revolution. The blasts on Wednesday struck an event marking the fourth anniversary of the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Iraq. He was the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force. The explosions minutes apart occurred near his grave in Kerman.
A bomb threat emailed to officials in several states has briefly disrupted government affairs and prompted some state capitol evacuations, but no explosives have been found and federal officials quickly dismissed the threats as a hoax. Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi and Montana and are among the states that evacuated statehouse offices or buildings on Wednesday morning. The FBI has said it is aware of numerous hoax bomb threats at state Capitol buildings, but that it has “no information to indicate a specific and credible threat.” The threats follow a spate of false reports of shootings at the homes of public officials in recent days.
Vermont lawmakers have returned to the Statehouse and legislative leaders say recovery from July's catastrophic flooding, climate resiliency, improving public safety and creating more affordable housing are the top priorities of this year's session. Senate President Pro Tempore Philip Baruth told colleagues that the off-session was not a normal one. He says the state had emergencies from flooding to public safety to the opioid epidemic. He says the Legislature is going to have to think bigger about how to avoid and mitigate climate change and flooding as well as balance the budget. He says the challenges are going to be tougher and lawmakers are going to have to work harder this session.
Critics say Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is increasingly using his perch as wartime leader to improve his political fortunes. Netanyahu has long been polarizing. He's served longer than any other Israeli leader, after 17 years in power. Since sinking in opinion polls in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, Netanyahu has been taking steps that show he's looking for political redemption. He's been conducting political messaging, trying to appease his coalition partners and shirking responsibility for the Hamas attack. Netanyahu’s backers say has long been unfairly demonized and that engaging in politics amid war is unavoidable.
The U.S. Treasury has announced that the nation’s gross national debt has surpassed $34 trillion. The record high comes after Republican lawmakers and the White House agreed to temporarily lift the nation’s $31.4 trillion debt limit last year after the government ran up against its legal borrowing capacity and needed to implement “extraordinary measures” to avoid a default. That agreement lasts until January 2025. Congress is gearing up for another funding fight.
