Category: U.S. News

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.

A Pennsylvania high school student has become the first of five teenagers to resolve his case through a probation program after being arrested during a heated confrontation with the local police chief during an immigration protest.

The incident occurred in Quakertown, located about 40 miles north of Philadelphia, when students attempted to hold an anti-ICE demonstration on February 20th. While three other defendants postponed their juvenile court appearances in Bucks County on Friday, an attorney for the fifth teenager is pushing for complete dismissal of assault charges.

“I think the way these kids have been persecuted for protesting and speaking their minds is absolutely shameful,” attorney Ettore “Ed” Angelo stated before Friday’s court session for his 15-year-old client.

The students, predominantly youth of color, were held in detention facilities for four to eight days following the February altercation and subsequently placed under house arrest with electronic monitoring for one month. Video footage of the confrontation during the anti-ICE demonstration has sparked heated community meetings in the largely white community of Quakertown, while 72-year-old Police Chief Scott McElree, who also holds the position of borough manager, has taken medical leave.

Angelo represents an 80-pound teenager facing felony assault charges for hitting Chief McElree on the shoulder during the struggle. The incident occurred as McElree wrapped his arm around another female student’s neck and both fell to the ground. While the county prosecutor is investigating McElree’s actions, he remains listed as the victim in the juvenile proceedings. Angelo is seeking additional time to review the case before considering any settlement discussions.

“These kids are being taught that we have two systems of justice. There’s one system for those with power and wealth. And then there’s the other system for those who have neither,” Angelo explained.

Students from Quakertown Community High School had originally organized a school-sanctioned walkout protesting federal immigration enforcement policies, similar to demonstrations nationwide this year. However, administrators cancelled the approved event that morning citing safety issues. Approximately 35 students proceeded with a one-mile march through the community instead. According to defense attorneys, opposing students followed them in vehicles, engaging in harassment throughout the demonstration.

Around 10 protesters had gathered near a bakery when McElree, dressed in civilian clothing, suddenly entered the confrontation, as shown in social media videos. Several students engaged in the physical struggle as he placed his arm around the girl’s neck. That student is among those whose cases were delayed Friday.

All defendants face felony assault charges due to McElree’s official position, along with additional lesser offenses. Community members have demanded his resignation through both passionate town hall meetings and online petition drives.

McElree has not responded to multiple messages left at his residence and workplace over the past month, and his legal representative did not return Friday’s request for comment. A representative for District Attorney Joe Khan confirmed only that the investigation into police conduct remains active.

The high school junior who entered probation Friday, whose identity remains confidential, will have his arrest record cleared upon successful completion of six months’ probation. According to his attorney Donald Souders, he is an American-born child of immigrants with military service aspirations. His eyeglasses shattered during the altercation, and he spent four days in detention attempting to remove glass fragments from his eye.

Souders described the case as reflecting broader divisions within American society. Rather than law enforcement working to calm tensions, “things were allowed to get to a fever pitch,” he stated.

“These kids had the courage and the heart to care enough to go out and protest,” Souders said Friday. “The police chief apparently was there watching the protests along the route. He did nothing to stop the anti-protesters who were harassing (them), who were using racial slurs, using veiled threats against the kids. He did nothing.”

Facing eviction warnings, car repossessions, and empty bank accounts, Transportation Security Administration workers across the country are making a difficult choice: quit their jobs or continue working without pay during the ongoing government shutdown.

Federal officials and union representatives report that TSA officers are grappling with severe financial hardships as they endure their third unpaid work period in under six months. The latest shutdown, which started on Valentine’s Day, has already prompted at least 376 officers to resign from their positions, according to Department of Homeland Security data.

The departures are worsening staffing problems at an agency already known for having among the federal government’s highest turnover rates and poorest employee satisfaction levels.

“It’s just exhausting. Every day it just feels like this weight gets heavier and heavier on us,” said Cameron Cochems, a TSA union representative in Boise, Idaho, speaking to The Associated Press.

Cochems, who has served as a TSA officer for over four years while also holding the vice president role in his local American Federation of Government Employees chapter, believes the resignation numbers don’t tell the complete story of the agency’s staffing crisis. He suspects many more workers would have left if better job opportunities were available.

“I think more people are staying with the TSA that don’t want to be here,” Cochems explained.

A Government Accountability Office study from 2024 revealed that TSA employees have consistently ranked among the least satisfied federal workers, largely due to historically low wages and ongoing workplace issues. Despite recent salary increases, the research found widespread dissatisfaction continues, with staff members pointing to unpredictable management, lack of appreciation, and poor work-life balance as major concerns.

Entry-level TSA positions start at approximately $34,500 annually, while experienced officers typically earn between $46,000 and $55,000, based on the agency’s official recruitment materials.

The GAO study cautioned that without addressing these fundamental problems, the agency would likely continue facing high departure rates.

For Cochems, the recurring shutdowns have destroyed the job security that originally attracted him to federal employment. He already works additional seasonal hours screening college athletic teams at airports to boost his earnings, but even that extra income isn’t sufficient to cover basic living costs without his regular TSA salary.

His family’s financial situation became even more precarious when his wife unexpectedly lost her job while his government pay remained suspended.

“Every day I come to the airport and I look at the food drive, see what things I can get for my family,” he shared, referencing charitable donations that Atlanta’s airport and other facilities are collecting to assist TSA employees.

The 35-day-old shutdown specifically impacts the Department of Homeland Security. Congressional Democrats have stated they will not approve department funding until new limitations are implemented on federal immigration enforcement, following the deadly shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis this year.

Air travelers are experiencing the consequences of reduced TSA staffing through increasingly unreliable airport conditions. Security checkpoint delays have extended to multiple hours at various airports, with passengers in Houston, Atlanta, and New Orleans reporting waits so lengthy they caused missed flights.

TSA workers missed their first complete paycheck over the past weekend, and nationwide absence rates are climbing, Homeland Security reports indicate. More than half of scheduled personnel were absent Sunday at one Houston airport facility. At Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, 38% of officers didn’t report for work on Wednesday.

“I’ve heard from officers who cannot afford copayments for cancer treatments or office visits for their sick children,” stated Aaron Barker, an Atlanta-based TSA union leader, during a press conference held outside the airport this week.

Personnel shortages have compelled some airports to shut down security checkpoints entirely, causing wait times to fluctuate wildly throughout each day. Early Friday morning, Hartsfield-Jackson’s primary security checkpoint experienced delays exceeding one hour, which dropped to under five minutes by early afternoon before surging back to 75 minutes.

During a Fox News appearance this week, Acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl cautioned that the shutdown might create permanent staffing damage, predicting that both employee departures and new hiring efforts would suffer. He referenced data showing that resignations increased 25% following the previous shutdown, and anticipates conditions will deteriorate further without restored funding and regular paychecks for TSA personnel.

“We saw an uptick of 25% attrition after the last shutdown, and so this is going to continue and worsen — not get better, get worse — if we don’t get a resumption of normal operations, DHS funded and money back into our TSA officers’ pockets,” he stated, noting that the agency has used all available resources, including emergency staffing deployments, to maintain adequate security checkpoint operations.

Former TSA Administrator John Pistole reported that approximately 1,100 officers resigned during last year’s unprecedented 43-day shutdown that concluded in November.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Federal prosecutors on Friday requested a judge drop criminal charges against two former Louisville police officers who allegedly provided false information on the search warrant that resulted in the fatal raid at Breonna Taylor’s home six years ago.

In their court submission, prosecutors stated their case review indicated the charges against ex-Detective Joshua Jaynes and former Sgt. Kyle Meany should be “dismissed in the interest of justice.”

Two separate judges had previously downgraded the felony charges against both officers to misdemeanor level, ruling that prosecutors failed to establish a clear connection between the warrant’s false statements and Taylor’s death. Following the second judicial decision, prosecutors announced their intention to abandon the cases.

“We are elated with this development,” said Travis Lock, an attorney for Jaynes.

Michael Denbow, representing Meany, expressed being “incredibly grateful for today’s filing.”

Denbow added that Meany “is looking forward to putting this matter behind him and moving forward with his life.”

Taylor died from gunshot wounds when officers forced entry into her residence during execution of a no-knock drug search warrant targeting a former romantic partner who had already moved elsewhere.

Her then-boyfriend opened fire on the entering officers, prompting return gunfire that fatally struck Taylor.

The Biden administration’s federal prosecutors had brought charges against these officers. However, under the Trump administration, the Justice Department has requested that Brett Hankison, currently the sole officer imprisoned in connection with Taylor’s death, be released pending his conviction appeal.

Taylor’s mother, Tamkia Palmer, expressed her profound disappointment with Trump’s Justice Department in a Facebook statement.

“Their phone call today informing me that charges against the police are being dropped while implying they have helped me is utterly disrespectful,” Palmer wrote. “This is the first time I’ve heard from them since they took over and it’s clear they have not served me or Breonna well.”

A federal court sentenced Hankison to 2 years and nine months imprisonment plus 3 years supervised release for recklessly discharging 10 rounds through Taylor’s windows during the fatal incident. His bullets struck no one.

The two officers whose gunfire actually killed Taylor faced no charges, as prosecutors determined their actions constituted justified self-defense.

No narcotics or money were discovered in Taylor’s residence. Louisville settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Taylor’s family for $12 million.

The killing of Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, sparked extensive street demonstrations throughout Louisville during 2020, coinciding with the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia and George Floyd in Minneapolis.

BOSTON — An armed individual carrying a large kitchen knife caused chaos at a Massachusetts transit hub on Friday, attacking a bus operator and later engaging in a violent confrontation with law enforcement that left several people injured.

The incident unfolded at Forest Hills station during late morning hours when transit police received emergency calls about a dangerous person wielding a butcher knife. Richard Sullivan, who serves as police superintendent for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, reported that the individual had been attempting to damage bus tires and making violent threats against a driver.

When officers arrived to intervene, a physical altercation broke out during which the armed person attempted to seize a police officer’s firearm, Sullivan explained. During the struggle, the weapon discharged, though fortunately no one suffered gunshot wounds or stab injuries.

Sullivan praised his officers’ response to the dangerous situation. “This was a violent person armed with a butcher knife,” Sullivan said. “These officers, without hesitation, immediately rushed to the danger while other people were running away from it.”

The confrontation resulted in injuries to four individuals: two transit police officers, one Boston police officer, and the suspect. Emergency medical services transported six people from the scene to area hospitals, though Sullivan could not account for the additional two patients.

The violent episode prompted a major emergency response, with numerous police vehicles and ambulances converging on the transportation facility located in Boston’s Jamaica Plain area. The station serves multiple transit modes including buses, trains and subway lines. Operations at the upper bus terminal were suspended at approximately 11:15 a.m., forcing authorities to redirect service to alternative areas of the complex.

Two individuals died when American military forces targeted a vessel suspected of narcotics trafficking in Pacific Ocean waters, according to military officials who announced the operation on Friday.

The U.S. Coast Guard reported receiving notification from Southern Command on Thursday about three individuals requiring rescue assistance in the Pacific. When Coast Guard personnel arrived at the location, they discovered two deceased persons and one surviving individual.

Officials transferred both the survivor and the deceased to Costa Rican Coast Guard authorities, according to a Coast Guard representative.

WASHINGTON — U.S. military forces launched a strike Friday against a boat suspected of drug smuggling in the eastern Pacific Ocean, with three people surviving the attack, according to officials from the Trump administration’s ongoing anti-trafficking operations.

U.S. Southern Command, responsible for military operations across much of Latin America, announced on X that it immediately contacted the U.S. Coast Guard to begin search and rescue operations for the three survivors.

The military statement did not confirm whether the survivors had been successfully rescued or if any fatalities occurred during the operation.

Since the Trump administration launched its campaign against what it terms “narcoterrorists” operating small boats in early September, military strikes have resulted in the deaths of at least 157 individuals.

Following the pattern of previous military announcements regarding more than 40 documented strikes across the Eastern Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, U.S. Southern Command stated it had targeted suspected drug smugglers operating along established trafficking corridors. However, the military provided no proof that the vessel was actually transporting narcotics. Officials released footage on X showing a boat bursting into flames while moving through the water.

President Donald Trump has declared the United States is engaged in “armed conflict” with Latin American cartels and has defended these operations as essential measures to reduce drug trafficking into America and prevent overdose deaths among U.S. citizens. However, his administration has provided minimal evidence to back up its assertions about eliminating “narcoterrorists.”

Opposition voices have raised concerns about both the legal basis for these maritime strikes and their actual impact, noting that fentanyl responsible for many overdose fatalities typically enters the U.S. through overland routes from Mexico, where it’s manufactured using chemicals shipped from China and India.

Spring entertainment takes center stage this March at The Meadow Event Park in Caroline County, Virginia, with an exciting array of competitions featuring animals and skilled performers.

Dog enthusiasts can enjoy multiple breed exhibitions throughout the month, starting with the Langley Kennel Club’s showcase on March 20. The festivities continue with the Blue Crab Cluster event, featuring both the Chesapeake Virginia Dog Fanciers Association and Southern Maryland Kennel Club from March 26-29.

Action-packed equestrian excitement comes to life during the 1st Virginia Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association’s 2026 Banquet Shoot and Charlie Otto Memorial Shoot on March 21-22. The thrilling weekend will feature both novice and veteran riders competing with rifles and shotguns, plus a cavalry competition that promises high-energy entertainment.

Bird lovers can explore The Old Dominion Poultry Association Virginia Spring Fling on March 21, showcasing various feathered friends and their dedicated handlers. The event includes multiple contests ranging from youth showmanship demonstrations to creative decorated egg displays.

Those wanting to stay informed about upcoming attractions at The Meadow Event Park can sign up for monthly email notifications through the venue’s subscription service.

A comprehensive national survey conducted by the Pew Research Center has identified which behaviors Americans find most ethically objectionable, with adultery leading the list by a significant margin.

According to the extensive polling data, nine out of ten Americans—specifically 90%—view extramarital affairs as morally unacceptable, making it the most widely condemned behavior examined in the study.

The research also found that just over half of respondents, at 52%, believe consuming pornographic material crosses moral boundaries.

However, the survey revealed that most Americans do not view several other controversial topics as ethical violations. Large majorities expressed no moral objections to end-of-life assistance for terminally ill patients, same-sex relationships, betting and gaming activities, marijuana use, or ending marriages through divorce.

The polling showed Americans remain deeply divided on reproductive rights, with opinions on abortion splitting almost evenly between those who consider it morally acceptable and those who do not.

A recent NPR interview examined how Latino communities across the nation are responding to troubling allegations of sexual violence involving civil rights leader Cesar Chavez.

Host Michel Martin conducted the discussion with Mónica Ramírez, a prominent activist and author, who provided insight into the community’s reaction to these serious accusations against the iconic labor organizer.

The interview focused on understanding the complex emotions and responses within Latino communities as they grapple with allegations against a figure long celebrated as a champion of workers’ rights and social justice.

Residents of a small Tennessee community are mobilizing to prevent the establishment of a uranium processing plant that would operate under federal contract to transform depleted uranium materials.

The proposed facility would be responsible for converting depleted uranium into its metallic state, which the federal government requires for nuclear weapons manufacturing purposes.

Local citizens are now urging their elected officials to take action against the planned construction of this controversial facility in their area.