US charges Hamas leader, other militants in connection with Oct. 7 massacre in Israel
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department announced criminal charges Tuesday against Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and other senior militants in connection with the Oct. 7, 2023, rampage in Israel, marking the first effort by American law enforcement to formally call out the masterminds of the attack.
The seven-count criminal complaint filed in federal court in New York City includes charges such as conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization resulting in death, conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals and conspiracy to finance terrorism. It also accuses Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah of providing financial support, weapons, including rockets, and military supplies to Hamas for use in attacks.
The impact of the case may be mostly symbolic given that Sinwar is believed to be hiding in tunnels in Gaza and the Justice Department says three of the six defendants are believed now to be dead. But officials say additional actions are expected as part of a broader effort to target a militant group that the U.S. designated as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997 and that over the decades has been linked to a series of deadly attacks on Israel, including suicide bombings.
The complaint was originally filed under seal in February to give the U.S. time to try to take into custody then-Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and other defendants, but it was unsealed Tuesday after Haniyeh's death in July and other developments in the region lessened the need for secrecy, the Justice Department said.
"The charges unsealed today are just one part of our effort to target every aspect of Hamas’ operations,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a video statement. “These actions will not be our last.”
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Federal judge rejects Donald Trump's request to intervene in wake of hush money conviction
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday swiftly rejected Donald Trump’s request to intervene in his New York hush money criminal case, spurning the former president’s attempt at an end-run around the state court where he was convicted and is set to be sentenced in two weeks.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein’s ruling — just hours after Trump’s lawyers asked him to weigh the move — upends the Republican presidential nominee’s plan to move the case to federal court so that he could seek to have his conviction overturned in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling.
Trump’s lawyers challenged the decision, filing a notice of appeal late Tuesday in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Trump and his lawyers “will continue to fight to move this Hoax into federal court where it should be put out of its misery once and for all," his campaign spokesperson, Steven Cheung, said in a statement.
Hellerstein, echoing his denial of Trump’s pretrial bid to move the case, said the defense failed to meet the high burden of proof for changing jurisdiction and that Trump's conviction for falsifying business records involved his personal life, not official actions that the Supreme Court ruled are immune from prosecution.
In a four-page ruling, Hellerstein wrote that nothing about the high court's July 1 ruling affected his previous conclusion that hush money payments at issue in Trump’s case “were private, unofficial acts, outside the bounds of executive authority.”
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Pope has packed first full day in Indonesia with visits to president, clergy in a test of stamina
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Pope Francis has a packed day of meetings on his first full day in Indonesia on Wednesday, seeing political and religious leaders and setting a rigorous pace for an 11-day, four-nation trip through tropical Southeast Asia and Oceania that will test his stamina and health.
Cannons boomed at the presidential palace, setting a flock of white pigeons aflutter, as Francis joined Indonesian President Joko Widodo for the welcome ceremony along with President-elect Prabowo Subianto. A marching band, stiff-legged troops and children in traditional Indonesian dress welcomed the first pope to visit in 35 years.
After their private meeting, Widodo and Francis were addressing government authorities and the diplomatic corps. Francis was expected to press his hopes for continued interfaith harmony in a country with a tiny Catholic minority and the world's largest Muslim population.
In the afternoon, Francis meets with Indonesian clergy and nuns in Jakarta’s Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral for his traditional pep talk to the local church. Indonesia is home to the world's largest Catholic seminary and has long been a top source of priests and nuns for the Catholic Church, though their numbers today are not keeping pace with the growth in the overall Catholic population.
Francis' final appointment for the day was an encounter with schoolchildren who participate in after-school programs run by a foundation he has backed since his days as an Argentine archbishop.
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Former aide to 2 New York governors is charged with being an agent of the Chinese government
A former aide to two New York governors was charged Tuesday with acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government who used her state positions to subtly advance Beijing’s agenda in exchange for financial benefits worth millions of dollars.
Linda Sun, who held numerous posts in New York state government, including deputy chief of staff for Gov. Kathy Hochul and deputy diversity officer for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was arrested Tuesday morning along with her husband, Chris Hu, at their $4 million home on Long Island.
Federal prosecutors said Sun, at the request of Chinese officials, blocked representatives of the Taiwanese government from having access to the governor's office and shaped New York governmental messaging to align with the priorities of the Chinese government, among other things.
In return, her husband got help for his business activities in China — a financial boost that prosecutors said allowed the couple to buy their multimillion-dollar property in Manhasset, New York, a condominium in Hawaii for $1.9 million, and luxury cars including a 2024 Ferrari, the indictment said.
Sun also received smaller gifts, the indictment said, including tickets to performances by a visiting Chinese orchestra and ballet groups and “Nanjing-style salted ducks” that were prepared by the personal chef of a Chinese government official and delivered to Sun’s parents’ home in New York.
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Russian missiles blast Ukrainian military academy and hospital, killing more than 50, officials say
POLTAVA, Ukraine (AP) — Two ballistic missiles blasted a military academy and nearby hospital Tuesday in Ukraine, killing more than 50 people and wounding more than 200 others, Ukrainian officials said, in one of the deadliest Russian strikes since the war began.
The missiles tore into the heart of the Poltava Military Institute of Communication's main building, causing several stories to collapse. It didn't take long for the smell of smoke and word of the deadly strike to spread through the central-eastern town.
“People found themselves under the rubble. Many were saved,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video posted on his Telegram channel. He ordered an investigation.
Shattered bricks were visible inside the closed gates of the institution, which was off-limits to the media, and small pools of blood could be seen just outside hours later. Field communications trucks were parked along the perimeter. Roads were covered in glass from shattered apartment windows.
“I heard explosions ... I was at home at that time. When I left the house, I realized that it was something evil and something bad," said Yevheniy Zemskyy, who arrived to volunteer his help. "I was worried about the children, the residents of Poltava. That’s why we are here today to help our city in any way we can.”
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Harris to propose tenfold startup tax incentive increase she says will spur small business creation
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris plans to propose on Wednesday a tenfold increase in federal tax incentives for small business startup expenses, from $5,000 to $50,000, hoping to help spur a record 25 million new small business applications over her four-year term should she win the presidency in November.
She's set to unveil the plan during a campaign stop in the Portsmouth area of New Hampshire — marking a rare deviation from the Midwestern and Sunbelt battlegrounds the Democrat has focused on in her race against former Republican President Donald Trump.
A Harris campaign official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a policy plan that hadn't been released publicly, said Tuesday the change would cover the $40,000 it costs on average to start a business. The proposal would let new businesses wait to claim that deduction until they first turn a profit, to better maximize its impact lowering their taxes.
Such changes would likely require congressional approval. But a series of tax cuts approved during the Trump administration are set to expire at the end of next year, setting up a scenario where lawmakers may be ready to consider new tax policies. The proposal can help Harris show her support for entrepreneurs even as she's called for higher corporate tax rates.
Since President Joe Biden dropped his reelection bid and endorsed Harris in July, the vice president has focused on campaigning in the “ blue wall ” states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania that have been the centerpiece of Democratic campaigns that have won the White House in recent decades.
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Emhoff 'gutted' after hostages killed by Hamas in Gaza, says he and VP Harris 'both grieving'
WASHINGTON (AP) — Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris — and the first Jewish person married to a nationally elected U.S. leader — said Tuesday that he is “gutted” after the execution of American Hersh Goldberg-Polin and five other Israeli hostages taken by Hamas.
Speaking at a vigil for the hostages at his synagogue in Washington, Emhoff said, “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Hersh and his parents, or about the five others and their families.” He added: “This is hard. I feel raw. I’m gutted.”
Emhoff, who stands to become the nation’s “first gentleman” if Harris is elected president in November, has emerged as a prominent administration liaison to the Jewish community and a voice in countering antisemitism, particularly in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. About 1,200 people, including at least 40 Americans, were killed in the assault, and about 250 more were taken hostage.
“How you feel right now is how I feel,” Emhoff said at the event at the Adas Israel Congregation organized by local and national Jewish groups. “And how we all feel is something Kamala hears directly from me.”
He added: “Hersh’s loss feels personal to the two of us. We’re both grieving.”
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What to know about delta-8 and other common vape shop drugs
They're sold in gas stations, vape shops, online and in other stores around the country in seemingly countless enticing forms: gummies, chocolate bars, chips. Their packaging lists things like delta-8 THC, micro- and macrodoses of “psychedelics” and “nootropics."
These substances are often sold through legal loopholes, despite concerns about potential health risks and a lack of oversight of how they're produced. And in the absence of federal rules, many states have banned or have tried to ban delta-8 THC.
Legal but under-regulated drugs are easy to come by, but experts say there are still a lot of uncertainties. Here's what to know.
Drug laws are often specific to the substance, so federal and state regulators are left chasing the newest chemical concoction.
Delta-8 THC exploded in popularity under the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, more commonly known as the Farm Bill. Under that law, hemp products and the cannabinoids that could be made from them were classified as distinct from marijuana.
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US Open: Navarro's first Grand Slam semifinal will be against Sabalenka. Taylor Fritz wins, too
NEW YORK (AP) — Emma Navarro's first Grand Slam semifinal will come at the U.S. Open against Aryna Sabalenka, someone trying to win her second major trophy of the year and third overall.
Navarro, an American who is seeded 13th, used a stunning turnaround to grab the last six games of her quarterfinal against Paula Badosa for a 6-2, 7-5 victory at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday, following up her upset of defending champion Coco Gauff.
“Sometimes you’re out in the court, and you can kind of picture yourself playing a third set. When I was out there, I didn’t picture myself playing a third set,” despite being down 5-1 in the second, Navarro said. “I felt like ... I could come back and do it in two.”
Sure did.
There was no such drama in No. 2 Sabalenka's 6-1, 6-2 win against No. 7 Zheng Qinwen, the gold medalist at the Paris Olympics last month, in a rematch of Sabalenka's victory in the Australian Open final.
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Lady Gaga, Joaquin Phoenix bring 'Joker: Folie à Deux’ to Venice Film Festival
VENICE, Italy (AP) — The Venice Film Festival is getting ready to welcome Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix for the world premiere of “Joker: Folie à Deux” Wednesday evening.
Todd Phillips’ film is one of the most highly anticipated of the festival, playing in the official competition five years after “Joker” won the Golden Lion. Warner Bros. is giving the dark comic book film the glitzy festival treatment before it’s released in theaters in October.
“Joker: Folie à Deux” finds’ Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck institutionalized at Arkham and awaiting trial for his crimes. There he meets Gaga’s Harley Quinn.
“We knew we had to swing for the fences; we wanted to create something as crazy and fearless as Joker himself,” Phillips wrote in his directors’ statement. “So, Scott Silver and I wrote a script that delved further into the idea of identity. Who is Arthur Fleck? And where does the music inside him come from?”
The Joker sequel is competing for the festival’s main prizes against the likes of Pedro Almodóvar’s “The Room Next Door,”Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer,”Pablo Larraín’s “Maria” and Halina Reijn’s “Babygirl.” Awards will be presented on the final day of the festival, Sept. 7.
The Associated Press
