‘Speed Racer’ Actor Christian Oliver and His Two Young Daughters Killed in Caribbean Plane Crash (variety.com)
A model suspected of recruiting for Epstein was asked whether Bill Clinton's security advisor tipped him off about search warrant (www.businessinsider.com)
Biden Condemns Trump as Dire Threat to Democracy in a Blistering Speech (www.nytimes.com)
President Biden on Friday delivered a ferocious condemnation of Donald J. Trump, his likely 2024 opponent, warning in searing language that the former president had directed an insurrection and would aim to undo the nation’s bedrock democracy if he returned to power....
Sudanese women describe being gang-raped in attacks by Arab forces (www.reuters.com)
Rape is widespread amid the war in Sudan. Young women from the ethnic-African Masalit tribe say they were sexually assaulted at gunpoint by RSF paramilitary and Arab militia forces during attacks on the city of El Geneina in West Darfur.
US supreme court allows Idaho’s strict abortion ban to stand pending hearing (www.theguardian.com)
Biden administration had argued hospitals receiving Medicare funds are required to provide emergency care, including abortion...
Americans living in their cars are finding refuge in ‘safe parking lots’ (www.theguardian.com)
Vatican stands by approval of blessing same-sex couples despite criticism (www.thepinknews.com)
Kentucky governor backs longer list of conditions eligible for treatment under medical marijuana law (apnews.com)
Access to medical marijuana in Kentucky should expand to include a longer list of severe health conditions, Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday in advocating a change that would make hundreds of thousands more people eligible for treatment when the program begins next year....
Unpacking the US December jobs report's mixed signals (www.axios.com)
Supreme Court agrees to weigh whether Trump can be kicked off ballot in Colorado (www.nbcnews.com)
The justices will review a decision by the Colorado Supreme Court that said Trump could be barred from the Republican primary ballot in that state, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruling is likely to have national repercussions, potentially setting guidelines that would determine how every other state would handle the issue....
African elephant populations stabilise in southern heartlands (www.theguardian.com)
Italy divided over new pineapple pizza (edition.cnn.com)
European Supermarket Giant Drops Pepsi and Lay’s Over Price Increases (www.wsj.com)
Ohio governor signs executive order banning gender surgeries for minors (www.nbcnews.com)
Surgeries for minors are rare and are generally not recommended by medical associations, most of which oppose broad bans on transition-related care....
The US just capped off another banner year of job growth. Now it’s at a turning point (www.cnn.com)
Friday’s jobs report marked a fitting end to what was an odds-defying year....
Wayne LaPierre resigns as leader of the NRA days ahead of civil trial (www.cnn.com)
Wayne LaPierre, the leader of the National Rifle Association of America who served for decades as a fierce protector of the Second Amendment, advocating for firearms owners and manufacturers, is resigning days before his civil trial is set to begin....
The teacher shot by a 6-year-old still worries, a year later, about the other students in the room (apnews.com)
A year after she was shot by her 6-year-old student in a Virginia classroom, former teacher Abby Zwerner said she still worries about the other children who saw it happen, and wonders how they’re faring....
Israel tries to appease US with proposals for Gaza as Blinken heads to Middle East (www.theguardian.com)
Israeli officials are scrambling to head off mounting frustration in Washington in the run-up a potentially difficult meeting between the top US diplomat and Benjamin Netanyahu by offering a series of policy proposals on Gaza that critics say lack detail or commitment....
Third batch of Jeffrey Epstein documents unsealed (www.theguardian.com)
A new batch of documents related to the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse were released on Friday afternoon....
Nude man nabbed by police after 'cannonball' plunge into giant aquarium at Bass Pro Shop in Alabama (apnews.com)
The ordeal happened Thursday night in front of shocked shoppers in the town just outside Birmingham, Leeds Police Chief Paul Irwin said....
In southern Mexico, the cost for migrants to reach the US is increasingly death (www.elpasotimes.com)
Migrant deaths along the U.S.-Mexico border, including thousands of migrant deaths in the Arizona desert, have long drawn alarm. Recent federal data shows record numbers of migrant deaths in U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s El Paso Sector, which includes New Mexico and far west Texas. In March, 40 migrants died and several...
U.S. Moves Closer to Filing Sweeping Antitrust Case Against Apple (www.nytimes.com)
Florida abortion rights measure gets enough signatures to go before voters (www.reuters.com)
A state constitutional amendment that would protect abortion access in Florida has received enough signatures of support to appear on ballots in the November election, but a challenge by the state’s attorney general could still block it....
LaPierre to step down as National Rifle Association leader (www.reuters.com)
Wayne LaPierre, the longtime leader of the National Rifle Association, announced his resignation as chief executive on Friday, days before a corruption trial involving the gun rights group begins in a Manhattan courtroom....