Category: U.S. News

A cabin crew member who was ejected from an Air Canada aircraft during a deadly collision at LaGuardia Airport in New York has miraculously survived the crash, according to her family.

Sarah Lepine described her mother Solange Tremblay’s survival as a “total miracle” when speaking to Canadian television station TVA Nouvelles on Monday.

Lepine reported that Tremblay sustained several fractures in one leg requiring surgical treatment, but is otherwise in stable condition. The flight attendant remained secured in her seat during the ejection from the aircraft.

“I’m still trying to understand how all this happened,” Lepine explained, “but she definitely has a guardian angel watching over her.”

The aircraft was attempting to land Sunday evening with more than 70 passengers aboard when it struck a fire truck that was responding to an emergency involving a different aircraft. The collision completely destroyed the front section of the plane and resulted in the deaths of both the captain and first officer.

Former federal crash investigator Jeff Guzzetti also described Tremblay’s survival as miraculous given the extensive damage to the aircraft’s nose section.

Guzzetti explained that flight attendants use specialized jump seats that fold against the cockpit wall and are secured with four-point harnesses. “It’s a very robust seat,” Guzzetti noted. “It’s designed to withstand probably more crash loads than passenger seats because you need the flight attendant to help passengers get out of an airplane after a crash.”

A similar incident occurred in 2013 when multiple flight attendants were ejected from an Asiana Airlines aircraft that crashed into a barrier wall during landing at San Francisco International Airport. That accident involved 291 people and resulted in three fatalities.

A tragic accident at LaGuardia Airport late Sunday evening claimed the lives of two pilots and left numerous passengers hospitalized after an Air Canada Express aircraft crashed into an emergency fire truck.

The deadly incident occurred at 11:47 p.m. when Air Canada Express Flight 8646, arriving from Montreal and operated by Jazz Aviation, struck a Port Authority Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting vehicle during what should have been a routine landing.

Investigation sources confirmed that both the pilot and co-pilot perished in the crash, with the New York City medical examiner taking charge of the case, NBC News reported.

More than a dozen passengers suffered injuries ranging from minor to serious, according to a senior official briefed on the investigation. Medical teams transported several of the wounded to Elmhurst and Queens Presbyterian hospitals for treatment.

Two other individuals were also reported hurt in the collision, though authorities have not disclosed details about their injuries or conditions.

Conflicting passenger counts emerged from different sources. Airport officials reported 76 passengers and four crew members aboard the CRJ-900 aircraft, while Jazz Aviation’s preliminary manifest showed 72 passengers and four crew members, noting these numbers await final verification.

The emergency vehicle that was struck had been responding to a separate incident elsewhere at the airport when the collision occurred, a Port Authority spokesperson revealed, though no additional information about that original call was provided.

“Emergency response protocols were immediately activated,” the spokesperson stated. “The Port Authority Police Department is on scene along with the agency’s chairman and executive director.”

LaGuardia Airport operations ceased around midnight to accommodate emergency responders and investigation teams. Officials anticipate reopening the facility sometime Monday.

The National Transportation Safety Board announced it will send a specialized investigation team to examine the crash, with federal investigators scheduled to arrive Monday. Port Authority Police indicated they will provide additional information as their investigation develops.

NEW YORK — Two pilots lost their lives when their passenger jet struck a fire truck during landing at LaGuardia Airport late Sunday evening, marking a tragic accident that has shut down one of the nation’s busiest airports.

The fatal incident happened at approximately 11:45 p.m. Sunday as the Air Canada regional aircraft was completing its arrival from Montreal. The emergency vehicle was crossing the runway to assist with an unrelated situation involving another aircraft that had reported strange odors.

Tower communications reveal that air traffic control had originally given permission for the fire truck to cross the runway, but then frantically attempted to halt the vehicle when they realized a collision was imminent. Controllers can be heard repeatedly ordering the truck to stop while simultaneously redirecting other incoming flights away from the runway.

Dramatic images captured after the crash show the aircraft’s front section completely destroyed and angled skyward, with wreckage scattered around the severely damaged cockpit area. Emergency evacuation slides were deployed at the plane’s exits, while the overturned fire truck could be seen lying on its side close to the wreckage.

Both the pilot and copilot died in the collision, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which manages LaGuardia. Officials have not yet identified the crew members, though both were Canadian-based aviators.

Approximately 40 passengers and crew members were transported to local medical facilities, with some sustaining significant injuries, the Port Authority reported. The majority of those hospitalized had been discharged by Monday morning.

The two Port Authority workers who were aboard the fire truck also sustained injuries, though officials say their conditions are not considered life-threatening.

The Jazz Aviation aircraft, flying under the Air Canada banner, was carrying roughly 70 passengers along with four crew members when it departed from Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport.

Airport operations ceased completely following Sunday’s accident, with all air traffic rerouted to other facilities. LaGuardia is expected to stay shuttered until at least 2 p.m. Monday while National Transportation Safety Board officials conduct their investigation.

The closure compounds existing travel difficulties as U.S. airports face disruptions from an ongoing government funding standoff during the peak spring break travel period.

LaGuardia ranks as the nation’s 19th most active airport among more than 500 facilities nationwide, based on 2024 Federal Aviation Administration data.

The facility began serving commercial flights in 1939 and sits in Queens, roughly 9 miles from Manhattan.

While it’s premature to determine what led to this fatal accident, the incident highlights ongoing pressures facing air traffic control personnel in recent years.

Though air traffic controllers aren’t directly impacted by the current government shutdown, they’re classified as essential personnel and have previously been required to perform their high-stress duties without compensation during similar funding lapses.

The current partial shutdown has stretched beyond a month, creating lengthy delays and passenger frustration at airports nationwide.

Numerous Transportation Security Administration workers have either called out sick or resigned rather than continue working without pay.

In response, President Donald Trump authorized the deployment of immigration enforcement personnel to assist TSA operations on Monday.

Congressional leaders remain at an impasse over funding approval for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees TSA operations.

WASHINGTON — The nation’s highest court declined Monday to hear an appeal from a Texas death row prisoner who has spent decades trying to get DNA testing on evidence he claims would prove his innocence.

The Supreme Court’s decision leaves standing a federal appeals court ruling that went against Rodney Reed for the second time in under three years.

Three liberal justices disagreed with the majority’s decision.

Reed received a death sentence for murdering 19-year-old Stacey Stites in 1996. Texas prosecutors have consistently blocked DNA analysis of the woven belt used to strangle Stites as she traveled to her job at a grocery store in Bastrop, located roughly 30 miles southeast of Austin in a rural area.

While prosecutors claim Reed sexually assaulted Stites, he insists they were involved in a consensual romantic relationship.

Reed has consistently argued that Stites’ fiancé, ex-police officer Jimmy Fennell, committed the murder. According to Reed, Fennell was enraged about the interracial relationship. Stites was white while Reed is Black. Fennell, who completed a prison sentence for sexual assault in 2018, has denied any involvement in Stites’ death.

“The killer held that belt tight against her throat for minutes, and must have left his sweat and skin cells—and thus his DNA—where he gripped the belt, both on the surface and deep within the webbing,” Reed’s attorneys wrote.

Both state courts and lower federal courts have supported prosecutors in blocking the testing, even though Reed’s legal team would cover all costs.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor called it “inexplicable” that prosecutors would prevent testing of the belt, “despite the very substantial possibility that such testing would exculpate Reed and identify the real killer.”

Because the Supreme Court refused to intervene, “the State will likely execute Reed without the world ever knowing whether Reed’s or Fennell’s DNA is on the murder weapon,” Sotomayor wrote in a dissenting opinion supported by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Texas’s highest criminal court determined that the state’s DNA testing statute doesn’t cover potentially contaminated items. However, Reed’s legal team argued that Texas regularly uses contaminated evidence in criminal cases, and regardless, the state bears responsibility for how the evidence was handled.

In 2023, the justices voted 6-3 to return Reed’s case to a lower court regarding his constitutional challenge to Texas’s DNA testing law.

The previous Supreme Court issue centered on whether Reed, who received his death sentence over 25 years ago, had waited too long to file his lawsuit arguing that untested evidence would clear him. Both Texas courts and the New Orleans federal appeals court determined he had missed the filing deadline.

Reed’s campaign to halt his execution has drawn backing from high-profile figures including Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian and Oprah Winfrey.

The nation’s highest court on Monday rejected an appeal from a Texas citizen journalist who challenged her arrest after publishing information she received from law enforcement sources.

The justices refused to consider Priscilla Villarreal’s case seeking to overturn a lower court decision that shielded police officers and prosecutors from her lawsuit through qualified immunity protections. By declining to hear the appeal, the court allowed the previous ruling to stand.

Only Justice Sonia Sotomayor disagreed with the decision to reject the case.

Villarreal had received backing from major media organizations and advocates for free speech rights.

The legal principle of qualified immunity can protect government workers from being held liable in civil lawsuits concerning their official duties. Villarreal wanted the Supreme Court to rule that this protection shouldn’t apply when officials use state laws in ways that clearly breach First Amendment rights, which she claimed happened during her arrest.

Operating as one of Laredo’s most followed news sources, Villarreal has built an audience of more than 200,000 followers on her Facebook page where she regularly covers criminal cases, local happenings and municipal affairs.

Authorities filed two felony charges against her for improper use of information after she posted the names of people who died in a suicide and vehicle accident on Facebook in 2017, details she confirmed through conversations with a Laredo police officer.

The Texas law used to charge her criminalizes requesting non-public information from government workers with the goal of gaining an advantage. Officials claimed she sought the information to grow her Facebook following.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled 10-5 last year that the officers and prosecutors deserved qualified immunity protection and that police weren’t expected to determine if the Texas statute was constitutional before making the arrest.

In the court’s opinion, Judge Edith Jones stated it was wrong to “portray her as a martyr for the sake of journalism,” noting that Villarreal had circumvented Texas law “to capitalize on others’ tragedies to propel her reputation and career.”

Attorneys from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression representing Villarreal argued to the Supreme Court that the 5th Circuit’s decision “doubled down on granting officials free rein to turn routine news reporting into a felony.”

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press supported her appeal. Leading news organizations including ABC, the New York Times and the Washington Post also encouraged the Supreme Court to review Villarreal’s case.

Flight operations came to a temporary standstill at Newark Liberty International Airport on Monday morning when air traffic controllers were forced to evacuate their control tower because of a burning odor emanating from an elevator, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The source of the smell remained unclear, though officials confirmed no actual fire took place. The disruption lasted under one hour with no reported injuries.

While flights were suspended, FAA personnel moved operations to an alternate control tower at the facility, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey reported. Controllers eventually returned to their main tower location.

This incident follows a similar situation from earlier in January when airports in the Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Richmond areas suspended all air traffic for more than an hour due to a powerful chemical odor that affected air traffic control operations. Federal Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy later identified an overheated circuit board as the culprit, which was subsequently replaced.

Monday’s flight suspension at Newark Liberty had no connection to the deadly collision at LaGuardia Airport on Sunday evening. That tragic incident resulted in two fatalities and multiple serious injuries when an Air Canada regional aircraft collided with a fire truck during landing, according to authorities.

WASHINGTON – Federal immigration enforcement officers started arriving at major airports across the country Monday to assist with security operations as widespread absences among unpaid TSA workers create extensive flight delays.

The Department of Homeland Security has confirmed the deployment of hundreds of ICE personnel to help with airport security screening at facilities experiencing severe staffing shortages.

Officials report that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents along with Homeland Security Investigations personnel are being sent to 14 airports nationwide. The affected locations include major hubs such as Atlanta, New York’s JFK, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Phoenix, and Fort Myers.

Meanwhile, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport – which handles more passenger traffic than any other U.S. airport – issued advisories Monday recommending travelers plan to arrive a minimum of four hours before their scheduled departure times.

Two flight crew members died in a tragic runway accident at New York’s LaGuardia Airport late Sunday evening. The fatal incident occurred when an Air Canada regional aircraft crashed into an emergency fire vehicle on the tarmac following a completed landing.

The collision claimed the lives of both the aircraft’s pilot and co-pilot. Airport authorities are investigating the circumstances that led to the deadly crash between the passenger jet and the fire truck on the runway.

Recent research conducted by the Pew Research Center reveals significant differences in how men and women view the morality of several key social issues. According to the study’s findings, male respondents showed higher rates of moral opposition to certain practices compared to their female counterparts.

The data shows that men express stronger moral objections to divorce than women do. Similarly, male participants were more inclined to view abortion as ethically wrong when compared to female respondents in the survey.

However, the research also highlighted areas where women held more conservative moral positions. The study found that 58 percent of female participants consider pornography consumption to be morally objectionable, while only 47 percent of men shared this view.

Capital punishment also revealed a gender divide in moral perspectives. Women showed greater opposition to the death penalty, with 36 percent calling it immoral, compared to 31 percent of men who held the same position.

NEW YORK — A runway incident at New York’s LaGuardia Airport involved an Air Canada aircraft and a Port Authority ground vehicle late Sunday evening, officials confirmed.

The collision occurred after the commercial flight had touched down at the busy metropolitan airport. Airport authorities reported the incident between the passenger aircraft and the ground support vehicle on the runway.

Visual documentation of the accident scene has been compiled by Associated Press photographers showing the aftermath of the collision.

NEW YORK — A commercial Air Canada aircraft struck a Port Authority vehicle following its arrival at LaGuardia Airport late Thursday evening, prompting an emergency response and temporary airport closure.

New York Police Department officials have verified the incident occurred but have not yet released further details about the circumstances surrounding the crash.

Emergency crews from the New York City Fire Department rushed to the scene after receiving reports of an aircraft striking a vehicle on the airport’s runway at 11:38 p.m., though fire department representatives said additional details were not yet available.

LaGuardia Airport has been temporarily shut down following the incident, according to information posted on the Federal Aviation Administration’s National Airspace System website.

Eyewitness footage captured by onlookers and shared across social media platforms reveals extensive damage to the front section of the aircraft.

Streaming platforms are rolling out exciting new content this week, featuring a Hannah Montana celebration with Miley Cyrus and new musical releases from Charlie Puth and Robyn.

Entertainment highlights selected by Associated Press journalists include the Academy Award-winning Norwegian family film “Sentimental Value,” a hitman comedy starring James Marsden called “Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice,” and Netflix’s inaugural Major League Baseball game broadcast.

James Marsden takes on the role of assassin Mike in “Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice” (debuting Friday, March 27 on Disney+), working alongside Vince Vaughn’s character Nick, a time traveler seeking to eliminate his former self to avoid a major life error. The comedy from writer-director BenDavid Grabinski recently screened at SXSW.

After claiming the Oscar for best international film, Joachim Trier’s Norwegian family story “Sentimental Value” arrives on Hulu Monday. The nine-Oscar nominee features Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas as siblings reconnecting with their director father (Stellan Skarsgård), who’s creating a personal film with an American star (Elle Fanning). AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr noted the movie’s “emotional scope is downright cosmic” despite focusing on “one Norwegian family struggling to connect and communicate.”

Daniel Day-Lewis ends his acting hiatus in “Anemone” (arriving Saturday, March 28 on Netflix), a family story helmed by his son Ronan Day-Lewis. The legendary actor portrays a recluse living in North England’s wilderness who receives a visit from an old companion (Sean Bean) tasked with reuniting him with his child. AP’s Jocelyn Noveck described the film as “bleak, somber, absorbing but also sometimes frustratingly opaque.”

Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea surprises fans with his first solo album Friday – a jazz record centered around trumpet performances. Before his rock fame with the California-themed band, Flea was deeply passionate about jazz, which he explores on “Honora.” The album features creative improvisations and notable collaborations with Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Nick Cave.

Singer-songwriter Charlie Puth has experienced major life changes since releasing “Charlie” in 2022 – marriage, expecting his first baby, a Super Bowl performance, and recognition from Taylor Swift on “The Tortured Poets Department.” His new album “Whatever’s Clever!” captures these transformative experiences through upbeat pop tracks about life’s pivotal moments, including a Kenny G collaboration.

Swedish pop artist Robyn returns after an eight-year absence with “Sexistential,” delivering nine tracks of sparkling synthesizers (“Dopamine,” “Really Real”), soaring choruses (“Into the Sun”), and rebellious anthems serving as emotional lifelines (“Sucker for Love”). The collection explores themes of freedom, single parenthood, romance and desire, creating what many pop artists attempt but Robyn achieves with apparent ease.

Disney+ premieres the “Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special” on Tuesday, honoring two decades since the show launched Miley Cyrus to stardom. The celebration, recorded before a live audience, includes musical performances, behind-the-scenes clips, and a Cyrus interview conducted by podcast personality Alex Cooper.

Baseball fans can catch Netflix’s debut MLB game Wednesday as the San Francisco Giants welcome the New York Yankees. Former Giants player Barry Bonds joins the streaming platform’s broadcast team for this historic opener.

“Something Very Bad is Going to Happen” follows a future bride experiencing ominous feelings about her wedding day on Netflix Thursday. The unsettling limited series stars Camila Morrone (“Daisy Jones & The Six”) and Adam DiMarco (“The White Lotus”) as viewers question whether her concerns stem from pre-wedding jitters or genuine premonition.

Gaming enthusiasts can revisit Life Is Strange: Reunion Thursday on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S, and PC. The series returns to original characters Max and Chloe, with Max now working as an educator whose school faces destruction by fire. When she manipulates time again, Chloe appears with potentially new supernatural abilities, leading to questions about saving both their institution and their bond.

TUCSON, Ariz. — NBC Today Show anchor Savannah Guthrie is making another heartfelt appeal to Arizona residents, asking them to search their memories for any clues that might help locate her missing mother, Nancy.

The television host shared a new family message on her Instagram account Sunday morning, reaching out specifically to Tucson area residents and those throughout southern Arizona.

In their statement, the family expressed appreciation for community support while emphasizing their belief that someone in the region may “hold the key to finding the resolution in this case.”

“Someone knows something. It’s possible a member of this community has information that they do not even realize is significant,” the family wrote.

The Guthrie family is asking residents to carefully review their recollections from January 31 — the last day Nancy Guthrie was seen — through February 1, as well as the evening of January 11.

“Please consult camera footage, journal notes, text messages, observations, or conversations that in retrospect may hold significance,” the statement said “No detail is too small.”

In a particularly emotional portion of their message, the family acknowledged the possibility that their 84-year-old matriarch may have died.

“We cannot grieve; we can only ache and wonder,” they stated.

Nancy Guthrie was officially reported as a missing person on February 1. Law enforcement officials suspect the elderly woman was taken from her home involuntarily through kidnapping or abduction. Federal investigators have released security camera footage showing a masked individual at Guthrie’s front entrance on the evening she disappeared.

The family is offering a substantial $1 million reward for information that leads to Nancy’s safe return.

Savannah Guthrie made her first appearance back at NBC’s New York studios on March 5 since her mother went missing. Network officials say she will eventually resume her regular broadcasting schedule but is currently prioritizing family matters and efforts to locate Nancy.

The disappearance occurred in Tucson’s Catalina Foothills neighborhood, an upscale residential area known for its hiking paths. The city sits roughly 100 miles south of Phoenix and about 70 miles from the Mexican border.

Savannah Guthrie has served as co-anchor of NBC’s morning program since 2012. Her former co-host Hoda Kotb has stepped in to cover her duties during this difficult time.

Nearly twenty years have passed since labor rights pioneer Dolores Huerta stood alongside Mónica Ramírez at a Chicago gathering to support the Bandana Project, Ramírez’s initiative designed to spotlight sexual violence targeting female agricultural workers.

During that event, Huerta emphasized the importance of teaching women farmworkers about their legal protections and encouraging them to report sexual exploitation – a problem that remains both rampant and underreported in agricultural communities. Attendees had no idea that Huerta herself had experienced sexual abuse from César Chavez, the legendary figure who established what is now called the United Farm Workers alongside Huerta in 1962.

The accusations against Chavez from Huerta and additional women and girls demonstrate that the atmosphere of fear and control that allows sexual abuse to flourish in farm fields had also permeated the highest levels of the male-dominated labor organization that championed farmworker protections.

However, advocates such as Ramírez believe that Huerta’s decision to come forward – along with other women who first shared their stories with the New York Times – demonstrates significant progress since Chavez’s era. During the thirty years following Chavez’s death in 1993, grassroots organizations headed by female farmworkers have expanded, demanding federal and state probes into agricultural sexual abuse and legislation requiring sexual harassment education, while also securing promises from growers and food purchasers to implement women-focused policies.

For Ramírez, the alleged abuse by Chavez represents a betrayal since she and fellow advocates respected him and viewed him as the inspiration behind the movement that energized their own advocacy work. However, his damaged reputation cannot diminish the progress that women farmworkers and their supporters have achieved independently.

“It feels a little bit bewildering because so many of us have grown up looking up to César Chavez,” said Ramírez, founder and president of the advocacy group Justice for Migrant Women whose own parents were migrant farmworkers in Ohio. “But we have to remind each other that this is a long-standing movement that is made of many, many people, including women leaders.”

Approximately 25% of the nation’s more than one million hired agricultural workers are women, based on government data, though population estimates for farm workers differ. Determining the extent of sexual harassment and abuse proves challenging since incidents frequently go unreported, but field research by Human Rights Watch, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the University of California-Santa Cruz found that roughly 80% or more of female crop workers experienced some type of sexual harassment.

A turning point in raising awareness occurred in 1999 when the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal body responsible for enforcing workplace anti-discrimination laws, secured a $1.85 million settlement against a major U.S. lettuce producer on behalf of a California worker who faced sexual advances from supervisors and termination after filing complaints.

This case resulted from years of outreach by EEOC investigator Bill Tamayo to farmworker labor organizations, including Líderes Campesinas, a women-directed group that had been organizing for years. Women described sexual abuse so common that they frequently referenced “fields of panties” due to what they endured to obtain and maintain employment.

Tamayo, who shared his experiences in the 2013 PBS documentary “Rape in the Fields” that helped spotlight the problem, explained that Líderes Campesinas and other community groups became the EEOC’s “eyes and ears” in efforts to inform workers about their rights and submit complaints. Subsequently, the EEOC has obtained millions more in compensation for farmworkers who reported sexual harassment or abuse.

Líderes Campesinas, which emerged from a Coachella Valley organization that previously advocated for naming a local elementary school after Chavez, stated its members are “heartbroken” for abuse survivors but emphasized that “the pursuit of social justice never was, nor ever will be attributed to one individual.”

Determining how much sexual violence against female farmworkers has decreased due to government enforcement and expanding outreach and educational initiatives remains difficult. Fear, field isolation, language obstacles, and immigration status continue making farmworkers especially susceptible to exploitation. More than 40% of agricultural workers lacked work authorization between 2020 and 2022, according to government estimates, and many hold H2-A visas connected to their jobs, heightening their fear of dismissal and deportation if they speak up.

Darlene Tenes, executive director of Farmworker Caravan, a California advocacy organization, reported that during meetings, most women still describe being sexual abuse victims, and that the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement forced them to cancel education conferences and attempt direct community visits to quietly provide resources.

Nevertheless, in areas where the strongest legal protections and support programs exist, female farmworkers report improvements have begun.

Nelly Rodriguez described sexual abuse as “bread and butter” during her field work decades ago, but she didn’t fully comprehend her rights until joining the Florida-based Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which operates the Fair Food Program, a partnership with major produce purchasers including Walmart and McDonald’s that commit to sourcing food from growers who enter legally binding agreements to follow a conduct code.

This conduct code includes sexual harassment training and systems for investigating complaints and holding perpetrators responsible. It also mandates installing portable restrooms near fields – a significant change for women who were often forced to accept rides from managers to distant bathrooms and assaulted during transit, Rodriguez explained.

For many female advocates, the most significant change has been breaking the silence in farmworker communities about discussing sexual abuse.

Maria Ines Catalan, who worked packing broccoli, cauliflower and lettuce in Monterey, California from 1988 to 1994, described it as a period of substantial improvements for farmworkers who gained regulatory guarantees including water and bathroom breaks. However, nothing addressed the sexual abuse Catalan said was routine and that she personally experienced, recalling how foremen in packing facilities would pass by women in confined spaces, touch them and claim it was accidental.

“You had to stay quiet,” she said.

That has changed.

“That is precisely what nonprofit organizations are currently doing: providing information, making farmworkers aware of their rights, and offering referrals — letting them know that they can now speak out,” Catalan said.

In her statement revealing that Chavez raped her in the 1960s, Huerta, now 96 years old, explained she maintained her secret for so long because she feared that “exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement” but today, she recognizes that she is a “survivor — of violence, of sexual abuse, of domineering men who saw me, and other women, as property, or things to control.”

Patricia Campos-Medina, executive director of the Worker Institute at Cornell University, said the accusations against Chavez remind us that the labor movement “is not immune” to power abuses and for her, it was particularly painful that Huerta “had to keep that secret for that long so that she could keep her respectability within the movement.”

“You cannot expect the victim to be the one that holds the person accountable, because it takes a lot of personal courage,” Campos-Medina said. “I can imagine when she was trying to co-create this union with him, how much it would have cost her to speak up.”

When Ramírez began her legal advocacy work in Florida in 2003, she said both men and women in the movement dismissed sexual abuse allegations as “gossip” or argued that with limited resources, they needed to focus on larger issues affecting most workers.

However, by the time the #MeToo movement emerged globally in 2017, farmworker women had been speaking out for years, though with much less attention. Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, a national organization that Ramírez co-led then, wrote an open solidarity letter with Hollywood women that became viral and further brought farmworker women’s struggles into national focus.

The “Dear Sisters” letter, as it’s called, and the ongoing efforts by women-led farmworker groups, were key factors behind the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund, which provides legal assistance to low-income women who are sexual harassment and abuse victims, said Jennifer Mondino, the fund’s director, operated by the National Women’s Law Center.

Mily Treviño-Sauceda, a former farmworker and executive director of the Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, expressed anger upon hearing the allegations against Chavez. It reminded her of her own sexual harassment experiences and the numerous stories she’s heard from other women during three decades working on this issue and the backlash she and other advocates have faced.

“We’ve been accused of so many different things and that has not stopped us,” she said.

Ramírez believes the #MeToo movement helped provide victims, including Huerta, with the vocabulary to discuss abuse.

“Do I think it’s still a widespread problem? Yes. Do I think that there are many survivors who do not feel like they can come forward? Yes,” she said. “But farmworker women have exerted their power and shown their leadership on this issue, and I don’t want that to get lost.”

A joyous wedding celebration turned into a terrifying scene Saturday afternoon when the floor gave way at a New Hampshire reception venue, sending approximately 70 guests plummeting into the basement below.

Emergency responders transported six individuals to local hospitals following the incident at The Preserve at Chocorua in Tamworth, New Hampshire, which occurred around 4:30 p.m. Officials from the New Hampshire State Fire Marshal’s Office confirmed that all injuries were non-life-threatening, and four patients had been discharged from the hospital by Saturday evening.

The wedding celebration was taking place in a structure known as the Sap House when disaster struck. With more than 100 guests gathered inside for the festivities, the flooring suddenly buckled and created a massive 20-foot by 20-foot hole, according to a joint statement from Tamworth Fire/Rescue Department and the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

The situation became more complicated as fallen support beams and farm equipment stored in the basement trapped several victims. However, quick-thinking wedding guests and venue staff immediately sprang into action, using ladders to help those who had fallen climb back to safety and providing basic medical care to the injured before professional help arrived.

Images released by the Fire Marshal’s Office revealed the devastating scene – elegant white decorations and a chandelier still hanging above the destroyed floorboards, with wedding seating scattered around the gaping hole where guests had been celebrating moments before.

Emergency scanner communications captured the urgency of the response, with first responders describing approximately half the building’s floor as having collapsed into the basement. The responder noted that about 145 people were present at the event and requested additional personnel to interview witnesses while carefully extracting victims from the basement area.

Investigators are now examining the cause of the structural failure, with preliminary findings suggesting the building may have exceeded its safe capacity when the floor collapsed. The Fire Marshal’s Office continues to work with local fire officials to determine the full scope of the incident.

Tamworth, home to roughly 2,800 residents, sits about 115 miles north of New Hampshire’s capital city of Concord, close to the Maine state line. Attempts to reach The Preserve at Chocorua and the treating hospital for comment were unsuccessful Saturday evening.

WASHINGTON (TV Delmarva) — America’s designated national mammal is being honored with a special tribute as the country prepares to mark its 250th anniversary.

A trio of bronze bison sculptures has been permanently installed outside Washington’s Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. The oversized statues, which exceed the dimensions of actual bison, were unveiled to the public on Friday in the nation’s capital.

The bison received its designation as America’s official mammal through legislation signed into law by former President Obama in 2016. These massive creatures once numbered in the millions across the Great Plains before hunting nearly wiped them out during the 19th century.

“It’s a wonderful story of conservation working, it’s a story of people seeing a need and getting behind that to conserve an animal that is specific to North America,” said Gary Staab, a paleoartist who made the statues.

Working from his studio in Kearney, Missouri, Staab creates animal sculptures and historical replicas for museums worldwide. For this project, he crafted the life-sized figures using foam and clay before sending them to a Colorado foundry where they were cast in bronze and put together. The installation features three figures representing a bull, cow, and calf.

According to Staab, the entire project took approximately four months from start to finish — a timeline he described as “lighting fast” considering the massive scale of the work.

“They really represent a really unbelievably beautiful and unique thing about North America,” Staab said.

Newly released police footage shows pop star Justin Timberlake having difficulty completing sobriety tests during his drunk driving arrest last June in New York’s exclusive Hamptons area.

The eight hours of video, made public Friday, captures Timberlake’s traffic stop by Sag Harbor police after officers say he failed to stop at a stop sign, drifted from his lane, and exited his BMW with the smell of alcohol on his breath.

During the roadside tests, Timberlake comments to officers, “these are like really hard tests.”

The former NSYNC member and current solo artist informed officers he had drunk one martini and was driving behind friends to their destination in the wealthy coastal community, located roughly 100 miles east of New York City.

In an awkward exchange captured on camera, an officer inquires about Timberlake’s reason for visiting the area. “I’m on a world tour,” Timberlake responds.

“Doing what?” the officer questions.

“Hard to explain,” Timberlake answers.

After hesitating, he clarifies: “World tour. I’m Justin Timberlake.”

The officer eventually replies: “You are Justin Timberlake? Do you have a license with you?”

The footage shows Timberlake attempting to walk in a straight line and balance on one foot as requested by officers. He appears confused by the directions at times and expresses his anxiety to the officers, saying his heart rate has increased.

“I’m a little nervous,” Timberlake admits during the encounter.

While seated in the patrol car, he questions: “Why are you arresting me?”

At the police facility, when informed he would spend the night in custody, Timberlake responds, “I’m going to be here all night? You guys are wild, man.”

He requests that officers leave the cell light on before they secure the door.

Sag Harbor Police released the footage after reaching an agreement with Timberlake’s legal team to provide a censored version. Multiple news organizations, including The Associated Press, had formally requested access to the recordings.

Timberlake’s attorneys had initially filed a lawsuit to prevent the video’s release, claiming it would “devastate” his privacy by exposing “intimate, highly personal, and sensitive details.” They argued the footage would cause “severe and irreparable harm” to his public image through “public ridicule and harassment.”

However, in a joint court document filed Friday, Timberlake’s lawyers conceded the video “does not constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy under” New York’s freedom of information statutes and consented to its publication.

Representatives for Timberlake did not respond to requests for comment Friday.

Village officials, through their attorney Vincent Toomey, expressed satisfaction that the dispute was settled while allowing them to follow state transparency laws.

“From the beginning of this matter, after Mr. Timberlake’s arrest, the Village has attempted to comply with the mandates of the Freedom of Information Law,” their statement explained. “As would be true in any case involving records or video footage from our Police Department, such material is reviewed and redacted to address public and officer safety concerns as well as personal privacy considerations.”

In September 2024, Timberlake entered a guilty plea to impaired driving charges.

As part of his plea agreement, which reduced his original misdemeanor charge to a non-criminal traffic offense, the Tennessee-born entertainer agreed to record a public service message warning about the dangers of drunk driving.

His sentence included a $500 fine, 25 hours of community service, and a 90-day driver’s license suspension.

A mother of two from Georgia is facing murder charges after she took abortion medication at home and delivered a baby who died shortly after birth, according to police records and court documents.

Alexia Moore, 31, was taken into custody earlier this month by Camden County authorities near the Florida border following the December 30 incident.

Georgia prohibits nearly all pregnancy terminations after six weeks of gestation. Following the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision that overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated federal abortion protections, numerous states have implemented similar restrictions.

Although some states have pursued legal action against women who obtained abortions, murder charges like those filed against Moore are uncommon. State prosecutors will determine whether to proceed with the case.

According to police documentation, Moore, who has two young children, consumed misoprostol medication at her residence before being transported to Southeast Georgia Health System Camden Campus on December 30 due to intense pain.

Medical personnel were told about her pregnancy status and that she had consumed 200 mg of misoprostol prior to her emergency room visit. A friend later informed investigators that Moore used the medication because she did not wish to have another child.

During her hospital stay, the 31-year-old delivered a premature female infant whom officers noted had “major health issues.” Authorities also reported that Moore had consumed illegal oxycodone, an opioid substance.

The infant lived for approximately one hour. While the police documentation did not specify the gestational age, the Washington Post reported Moore was 22 to 24 weeks pregnant.

Attempts to contact Moore’s legal representation were unsuccessful.

Dana Sussman, senior vice president at Pregnancy Justice advocacy organization, stated the Georgia case lacks legal foundation and should face strong defense arguments.

“Georgia’s abortion law does not contemplate murder charges for someone who has an abortion, and self-managing an abortion is not a criminal act in Georgia. Charging Ms. Moore with murder is cruel and unjust,” Sussman said in a statement.

States that have banned or limited abortion access have primarily focused enforcement efforts on medical providers, including physicians who remotely prescribe abortion medications and distribute them via mail services.

Additionally, several Republican-controlled states including Texas and Florida are challenging federal regulations that have expanded access to abortion medications, including a 2023 rule permitting mail distribution.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A chronological review of significant developments following Breonna Taylor’s death, a Black woman fatally shot by Louisville police officers in her residence:

— March 13, 2020: Taylor dies when officers execute a drug-related search warrant at her apartment.

— March 13, hours afterward: Authorities announce Kenneth Walker’s detention for injuring an officer during a shootout; Taylor remains unnamed during the press briefing, referenced only as “an unresponsive woman who was later pronounced dead.”

— March-April 2020: Media coverage of the incident remains minimal as coronavirus concerns dominate national attention.

— April 27, 2020: Taylor’s relatives initiate a wrongful death claim against the police department and city officials, disputing the official account.

— May 22, 2020: Officials announce the dismissal of attempted murder accusations against Walker, who fired at officers inside his girlfriend’s residence.

— May 28, 2020: Walker’s distressed emergency call becomes public, occurring three days following George Floyd’s death by Minneapolis police, triggering major demonstrations in Louisville.

— May 29, 2020: Mayor Greg Fischer halts Louisville police’s no-knock warrant procedures.

— June 1, 2020: Fischer dismisses Police Chief Steve Conrad following officers’ failure to activate body cameras during the fatal shooting of barbecue vendor David McAtee amid Louisville demonstrations.

— June 11, 2020: Louisville Metro Council unanimously approves “Breonna’s Law,” prohibiting no-knock warrant usage.

— June 23, 2020: Officer Brett Hankison, among three officers who discharged weapons during Taylor’s death, loses his job for “blindly” shooting into Taylor’s residence.

— Sept. 15, 2020: Municipal authorities reveal a civil agreement granting Taylor’s relatives $12 million plus commitments for police department changes.

— Sept. 23, 2020: A Kentucky grand jury charges Hankison for firing into adjacent units, though no officers face charges directly related to Taylor’s death.

— April 26, 2021: Attorney General Merrick Garland reveals a Justice Department investigation into Louisville policing practices regarding Taylor’s death.

— March 3, 2022: Former Kentucky detective Brett Hankison receives acquittal on state charges for endangering residents when he fired into Taylor’s residence during the failed drug operation that caused Taylor’s death.

— Dec. 12, 2022: Walker resolves two legal actions against Louisville. Municipal officials agree to pay $2 million to settle Walker’s federal and state court cases.

— March 8, 2023: The U.S. Justice Department determines Louisville police demonstrated systematic constitutional violations and discrimination against Black residents following an inquiry triggered by Taylor’s death.

— Nov. 16, 2023: Jury members cannot reach consensus on federal civil rights accusations against Hankison, who faced charges in the police operation that killed Taylor. The judge declares a mistrial.

— Dec. 13, 2023: Federal attorneys inform a judge of their intention to pursue a second trial against Hankison.

— Aug. 23, 2024: A federal judge dismisses serious charges against two former Louisville officers, Joshua Jaynes and Kyle Meany, accused of creating false warrant information that brought police to Taylor’s residence before the fatal shooting.

— Oct. 1, 2024: Federal attorneys file fresh charges against Jaynes and Meany.

— Nov. 2, 2024: A federal jury finds Hankison guilty of excessive force against Taylor during the failed 2020 drug operation that resulted in her death. This marks the initial conviction of a Louisville officer involved in the deadly operation.

— Dec. 12, 2024: The Justice Department and Louisville reach a deal to overhaul the city’s police department following an investigation sparked by Taylor’s death.

— May 21, 2025: The Department of Justice, operating under President Donald Trump’s administration, acts to terminate the police reform deal with Louisville, along with a Minneapolis settlement and investigative conclusions regarding six additional police departments that President Joe Biden’s administration had charged with civil rights violations.

— July 21, 2025: A federal judge imposes a 33-month prison term on Hankison, rejecting a Department of Justice recommendation for no incarceration.

— Aug. 20, 2025: A federal judge dismisses serious charges in the updated indictment against Jaynes and Meany.

— Nov. 17, 2025: The Department of Justice contends before the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that Hankison should receive no prison sentence.

— Dec. 31, 2025: A federal judge rejects the proposed Louisville police reform deal with the Department of Justice.

— March 20, 2026: The Department of Justice submits a request to drop the criminal prosecution against Jaynes and Meany.

The U.S. Defense Department will officially integrate Palantir’s Maven artificial intelligence platform across all military branches, according to an internal Pentagon memo obtained by Reuters.

Deputy Defense Secretary Steve Feinberg announced in a March 9 letter to top Pentagon officials and military commanders that the Maven Smart System will become a formal program of record. Feinberg stated that implementing this AI technology will equip military personnel “with the latest tools necessary to detect, deter, and dominate our adversaries in all domains.”

The transition is scheduled to take effect before the fiscal year concludes in September, according to the previously unreported correspondence.

Maven serves as a command-and-control software that processes battlefield intelligence and pinpoints targets. The system currently functions as the military’s primary AI platform and has supported thousands of targeted operations against Iran during the past three weeks.

Making Maven an official program will expedite its implementation throughout all military services while ensuring consistent, long-term funding, Feinberg explained in the memo.

The directive requires transferring Maven’s oversight from the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency to the Pentagon’s Chief Digital Artificial Intelligence Office within 30 days. The Army will handle future Palantir contracts, the letter specified.

“It is imperative that we invest now and with focus to deepen the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) across the Joint Force and establish AI-enabled decision-making as the cornerstone of our strategy,” Feinberg stated in the memo.

Neither Palantir nor the Pentagon provided immediate responses to requests for comment.

This development represents a major victory for Palantir, which has secured an increasing number of government contracts, including a potential $10 billion Army agreement announced last summer. These contracts have contributed to doubling the company’s stock value over the past year, pushing its market capitalization to approximately $360 billion.

The Maven system can quickly process vast quantities of information from satellites, unmanned aircraft, radar systems, sensors and intelligence briefings. It uses artificial intelligence to automatically detect potential threats or targets, including enemy vehicles, structures and ammunition supplies.

At a recent Palantir conference, Pentagon AI office director Cameron Stanley showcased how the Maven platform could support weapons targeting in Middle Eastern operations, displaying heat map images from the system.

“When we started this, it literally took hours to do what you just saw,” Stanley commented during the demonstration, which was recorded in a company YouTube video published last week.

United Nations expert groups have cautioned that AI-powered weapons targeting without human oversight creates ethical, legal and security concerns, as artificial intelligence can inherit unintended biases from its training data.

Palantir maintains that its technology does not make lethal choices and that humans retain full responsibility for target selection and approval.

The company created its AI system for the Pentagon’s Project Maven, which started as a drone image analysis program in 2017. In 2024, the Defense Department granted Palantir a contract valued at up to $480 million. That same year, Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar informed the House Armed Services Committee that Maven served “tens of thousands” of users and requested additional congressional funding. By May 2025, the Pentagon raised the contract limit to $1.3 billion.

A potential challenge for expanded Maven deployment involves the software’s incorporation of Anthropic’s Claude AI technology, as Reuters previously reported. The Pentagon recently classified Anthropic as a supply chain risk following ongoing disputes about AI safety protocols.

A Minnesota family is challenging a court decision that would send them back to Ecuador after an immigration judge denied their asylum request.

The case involves a young father and his 5-year-old son who were taken into custody by federal immigration officials in January. The family had sought protection in the United States through the asylum process.

Immigration attorneys for the family are now working to overturn the judge’s decision that rejected their bid to remain in the country legally. The ruling would result in their deportation to Ecuador if the appeal is unsuccessful.

The detention of the father and young child earlier this year has drawn attention to ongoing immigration enforcement actions affecting families with young children.

An Iranian government-connected cyber group has successfully brought its website back online within 24 hours of federal authorities seizing its internet domains, demonstrating the persistent nature of state-sponsored hacking operations.

Federal investigators on Thursday took control of four web domains belonging to the “Handala Hack Team,” which operates as a front for Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security psychological warfare division, according to the Department of Justice.

The hacking collective had previously taken credit for launching a destructive cyber assault against Michigan-based medical technology corporation Stryker on March 11.

By Friday, the group had posted a defiant message on their newly established website, calling the federal seizures “desperate attempts by the United States and its allies to silence the voice of Handala.”

Cybersecurity expert Ari Ben Am from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation noted that Iranian cyber units have proven remarkably adaptable to law enforcement actions.

“Iranian threat actors, MOIS in particular, are no strangers to takedowns,” Ben Am explained. “Handala alone has had tens of Telegram channels, X accounts and domains taken down, and these takedowns have never slowed them down significantly. It will be trivial for Handala and its MOIS operators to get that content back up on another domain very, very soon.”

Court documents filed by the FBI in support of the domain seizures reference the March 11 attack on what investigators describe as a major American multinational medical technologies company, with details matching the assault on Stryker.

A Justice Department representative confirmed Friday that the FBI’s court filing “asserts that there is probable cause to believe that the operators of the ‘Handala’ persona are members of a conspiracy that carried out a destructive malware attack against a U.S.-based multinational medical technologies firm.”

Stryker acknowledged the cyber incident in a March 19 company statement, reporting progress in restoring critical business systems while emphasizing that their medical products remained safe for patient use.

“We’re grateful to the government for their efforts to seize domains linked to the purported threat actors,” the medical device manufacturer stated.

A shocking revelation has emerged from civil rights activist Dolores Huerta, who recently disclosed that her longtime partner in the farm workers’ movement, Cesar Chavez, sexually assaulted her.

The bombshell allegation was shared during a conversation between NPR host Ailsa Chang and Maria Hinojosa, the host of Latino USA, who conducted the original interview with Huerta.

Huerta, now in her 90s, was a co-founder alongside Chavez of the United Farm Workers union, which fought for the rights of agricultural laborers throughout the 1960s and beyond. The two were considered pillars of the Chicano civil rights movement.

The disclosure marks a significant moment in how the legacy of Chavez, who died in 1993 and has been widely celebrated as a champion of workers’ rights, may be reassessed in light of these serious allegations.

WASHINGTON – Federal law enforcement officials have uncovered evidence that hackers working alongside Russian intelligence agencies are going after individuals who use popular messaging platforms, according to an announcement made Friday.

FBI Director Kash Patel revealed the cybersecurity threat through a social media post, specifically noting that the messaging service Signal is among the commercial applications being targeted by these Russian-connected cyber criminals.

Neither Signal representatives nor officials from the Russian embassy in Washington have provided responses to media inquiries about the FBI’s warning.