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Prosecutors accuse Sen. Bob Menendez of introducing Qatari royal family member to aid NJ businessman

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:29 GMT

By LARRY NEUMEISTER (Associated Press)NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez introduced a member of the Qatari royal family and principal in a company with ties to the government of Qatar to a New Jersey businessman before the company invested millions of dollars in the businessman’s real estate project, a rewritten indictment alleged Tuesday.The latest version of the indictment against the Democrat in Manhattan federal court did not identify the member of the Qatari royal family, but it said the individual was a principal of the Qatari Investment Co.The indictment said the Qatari investor then considered and negotiated a multimillion-dollar investment in the real estate project planned by Fred Daibes, one of three businessmen charged in the indictment along with the senator and his wife. All of them have pleaded not guilty.Messages left with lawyers and a spokesperson for Menendez were not immediately returned.Tim Donohue, a lawyer for Daibes, said he had no immediate c...

Harvard President Claudine Gay resigns after antisemitism testimony, plagiarism claims

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:29 GMT

Harvard President Claudine Gay is resigning following the intense backlash over comments she made about antisemitism on campus, along with claims that she has plagiarized.Gay’s resignation comes only six months into her presidency, which is the briefest presidency in Harvard’s history.“It is with a heavy heart but a deep love for Harvard that I write to share that I will be stepping down as president,” Gay wrote to the Harvard community on Tuesday. “This is not a decision I came to easily. Indeed, it has been difficult beyond words because I have looked forward to working with so many of you to advance the commitment to academic excellence that has propelled this great university across centuries.“But, after consultation with members of the Corporation, it has become clear that it is in the best interests of Harvard for me to resign so that our community can navigate this moment of extraordinary challenge with a focus on the institution rather tha...

Best restaurants for 11 cuisines in San Diego

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:29 GMT

CanvaAmerica is often described as a melting pot—a place where different cultures have come together over the centuries to form a new set of customs while maintaining the ones their ancestors have long held dear. For a lot of cultures, a major part of their identity is food.Walk down any main street in the United States and you're likely to see the cuisines of many countries that, despite being nowhere near each other on the globe, are sitting side by side. You could start in Egypt with some falafel, get a taste of Taiwan with a cup of bubble tea next door, pick up a side of fries at an old-fashioned American diner down the block, and finish it off with sopaipillas from the Mexican restaurant in town.Of course, we all have our favorite dishes: a juicy cheeseburger from a local pub, a savory bowl of tempura udon at a beloved Japanese restaurant, or some chicken tikka masala from your nearby Indian spot. But maybe you're looking to get out of your comfort zone a little, whether to try...

Trial of man charged with stabbing Salman Rushdie may be delayed until author’s memoir is published

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:29 GMT

MAYVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — Salman Rushdie’s plans to publish a book about a 2022 attempt on his life may delay the trial of his alleged attacker, which is scheduled to begin next week, attorneys said Tuesday.Hadi Matar, the man charged with repeatedly stabbing Rushdie as the author was being introduced for a lecture, is entitled to the manuscript and related material as part of his trial preparation, Chautauqua County Judge David Foley said during a pretrial conference.Foley gave Matar and his attorney until Wednesday to decide if they want to delay the trial until they have the book in hand, either in advance from the publisher or once it has been released in April. Defense attorney Nathaniel Barone said after court that he favored a delay but would consult with Matar. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Jan. 8.“It’s not just the book,” Barone said. “Every little note Rushdie wrote down, I get, I’m entitled to. Every discussion, every recording, anything he did in reg...

Ex-NBA G League player, former girlfriend to face charges together in woman’s killing in Vegas

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:29 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A prosecutor said Tuesday that separate murder, kidnapping and conspiracy cases will be combined so a former NBA developmental league player and his ex-girlfriend can be tried together in the killing of a woman whose body was found last month in southern Nevada.Chance Comanche, 27, a Los Angeles native who played for the Stockton Kings before his Dec. 15 arrest in Sacramento, California, made an initial court appearance Tuesday. He stood in shackles and responded, “Yes, ma’am,” to a judge’s questions about whether he understood the charges against him.Comanche’s defense attorney, Gary Guymon, did not immediately seek bail and declined to comment following the brief court appearance. But he said Comanche intends to plead not guilty during hearings to come.Comanche’s’ former girlfriend, Sakari Harnden, 19, also is jailed in Las Vegas pending a separate hearing Wednesday on a theft charge related to the disappearance and death of Marayna Rodgers...

Shootout with UNLV gunman heard in new Las Vegas police body camera video

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:29 GMT

LAS VEGAS (AP) — New police footage released Tuesday includes audio of the shootout that ended a gunman’s deadly rampage a month ago at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.The shootout near the main entrance to UNLV’s five-story business school isn’t shown in the body camera footage, but the video provides the first audio recording of the police gunfire that authorities say killed the 67-year-old shooter about 10 minutes after he first opened fired on the upper floors of the building.Three professors were killed in the Dec. 6 shooting, and a fourth was critically wounded. Police said the shooter had a “ target list ” of faculty members, though none on the list were shot in the attack that unfolded around lunchtime as students and staff members were eating and playing games in a courtyard just outside the school.In the video, an officer walks through the first floor of the business school while a security alarm blares. The officer begins to climb a set of stairs to ...

Lawsuit aims to keep Pennsylvania congressman off ballot over Constitution’s insurrection clause

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:29 GMT

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A liberal activist asked a Pennsylvania court on Tuesday to bar U.S. Rep. Scott Perry from the state’s primary ballot, arguing that Perry isn’t eligible because of his efforts to keep President Donald Trump in office and block the transfer of power to Democrat Joe Biden.The seven-page lawsuit asks Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court to declare that Perry engaged in insurrectionist activity and cannot hold public office under the Constitution’s insurrection clause. The lawsuit by activist Gene Stilp names Perry and Pennsylvania’s secretary of state, Al Schmidt.Perry, a Republican, is running for a seventh term.In part, the filing cites Perry’s role in trying to use the Department of Justice to help Trump stall the certification of the election by installing an acting attorney general who would be receptive to Trump’s false claims of election fraud.The challenge comes on the heels of Maine’s Democratic secretary of state removing Trump from the s...

As Atlantic City adds more security cameras, 2 men are killed in areas already covered by them

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:29 GMT

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — One man was fatally stabbed while another was found bleeding to death on New Year’s Day in Atlantic City, the gambling resort that’s currently adding hundreds of new security cameras to the thousands already keeping an electric eye on this busy tourist destination.The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said police responded to a 911 call at 6:15 a.m. Monday of a man found bleeding on a street near the beach who later died at a hospital. Little more than an hour later, police got a second 911 call about a 22-year-old man was pronounced dead from multiple stab wounds near the Boardwalk.The deaths do not appear to be related, and no arrests had been made as of Tuesday afternoon, authorities said. But it is cases like these that have raised calls for new cameras amid heightened demands for increased public security in a gambling resort visited by 27 million people a year.In October, the city announced a $5 million state-financed program to i...

Thompson and Guest to run for reelection in Mississippi, both confirm as qualifying period opens

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:29 GMT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Two influential members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Mississippi — Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson and Republican Rep. Michael Guest — confirmed to The Associated Press that they will run for reelection as a state qualifying period began Tuesday for candidates seeking federal office. Thompson, the top Democrat on the House Committee on Homeland Security who also chaired the now dissolved House Jan. 6 committee, has represented central Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District since 1993. Guest chairs the House Ethics Committee and recently oversaw the committee’s probe into former Rep. George Santos of New York. Guest has represented Mississippi’s 3rd Congressional District, which covers parts of central and east Mississippi, since 2019. Qualifying began Tuesday for candidates seeking one U.S. Senate seat and all four of the state’s U.S. House seats in the 2024 election. Jan. 15 is the qualifying deadline for presidential candidates, and Jan. ...

In Texas case, federal appeals panel says emergency care abortions not required by 1986 law

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 12:19:29 GMT

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Biden administration cannot use a 1986 emergency care law to require hospitals in Texas hospitals to provide abortions for women whose lives are at risk due to pregnancy, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday. It’s one of numerous cases involving abortion restrictions that have played out in state and federal courts after the U.S. Supreme Court ended abortion rights in 2022. The administration issued guidance that year saying hospitals “must” provide abortion services if there’s a risk to the mother’s life, citing the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act of 1986, which requires emergency rooms to provide stabilizing treatment for anyone who arrives at the emergency room.Abortion opponents have challenged the guidance in multiple jurisdictions. In Texas, the state joined abortion opponents in a lawsuit to stop the guidance from taking effect and won at the district court level. The Biden administration appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Cou...