Gunmen attack airport in Niger’s capital as explosions, gunfire heard
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Gunmen attacked the main airport in Niger’s capital of Niamey early Thursday morning, leading to an exchange of fire and explosions, witnesses and a security official said. Security forces were deployed to repel the attack after the...
Billionaire tax greenlit for California ballot
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — A one-time 5% tax on California billionaires has qualified for the November ballot after supporters submitted enough valid signatures to place the measure before voters. The 2026 Billionaire Tax Act needed roughly 875,000 valid signatures to...
Japanese mother sues state over teen’s ‘hostage justice’ death
TOKYO (AFP) — The mother of a 16-year-old girl who died from emaciation following lengthy detention and menacing interrogations by Japanese authorities is seeking compensation, in the latest so-called “hostage justice” case. The lawsuit, filed with western...
Fossils show earliest four-legged animals skipped the tadpole stage
(CN) — New fossils from an Illinois site are forcing scientists to rewrite one of evolution’s biggest chapters: The first four-legged animals never went through a tadpole stage. They hatched from their eggs already looking like miniature adults and ready to feed, swim...
Justices open escape hatch for far-out criminal sentences under appellate waivers
WASHINGTON (CN) — The Supreme Court on Thursday said criminal defendants who waive rights to appeal shouldn’t lose those privileges when faced with outlandish sentences. In an 8-1 ruling, the high court said appeal waivers were unenforceable when they would...
Nebraska judge sentences Chinese citizen to time served for photographing military aircraft
OMAHA, Neb. (CN) — A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a Chinese man who pleaded guilty to photographing sensitive U.S. military aircraft at a Nebraska Air Force base to time served, rejecting the prosecutors’ request for a harsher sentence. Authorities...
In Luigi Mangione’s psychiatric defense, the American healthcare system is on trial
MANHATTAN (CN) — What could have been a straightforward Manhattan murder case may now be confounded by the politics of the for-profit healthcare system in the United States, thanks to the revelation that Luigi Mangione will be mounting an “extreme emotional...
Giving up the gavel: New York upholds mandatory retirement age for judges
(CN) — New York’s mandatory retirement age for judges will remain in place after the state’s top appellate court determined on Thursday that newly instated ageism protections don’t repeal the longstanding age limit. State law requires judges to lay...
Federal regulators back Trump’s plan to speed power to energy-hungry AI data centers
WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators on Thursday agreed to let large energy users connect more quickly to the nation’s inefficient and electric transmission system to accommodate surging demand from power-hungry artificial intelligence data centers. Energy...