Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is denied bail after mixed verdict clears him of top charges in sex crimes case
NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs dropped to his knees and prayed in the courtroom after he was acquitted Wednesday of sex trafficking and racketeering charges that could have put one of hip-hop’s celebrated figures behind bars for life. The rapper was convicted of lesser prostitution-related offenses and denied bail as he awaits sentencing.
His lawyer Marc Agnifilo called the verdict a “great victory” and said the jury “got the situation right — or certainly right enough” as he stood outside Manhattan federal court at a stand of microphones. “Today is a victory of all victories.”
The mixed verdict capped a sordid legal odyssey that shattered Combs’ affable “Puff Daddy” image and derailed his career as a Grammy-winning artist and music executive, fashion entrepreneur, brand ambassador and reality TV star.
“I’ll see you when I get out,” Combs told family members including his mother and children just before leaving the courtroom to return to jail. "We’re going to get through this.”
Combs stands convicted of two counts of a crime — transportation to engage in prostitution — that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. But jurors cleared him of three charges, two of which carried a mandatory 15 years and a maximum of life.
___
Bryan Kohberger admits to killing 4 Idaho students but motive remains unclear
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A criminal justice student who avoided a potential death sentence by pleading guilty Wednesday to the brutal stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students carefully planned the attack for months and took multiple steps to cover his tracks, the lead prosecutor said.
Bryan Kohberger, who was a graduate student at nearby Washington State University, pleaded guilty to murder in the killings that terrified the Idaho campus and set off a nationwide search, which ended weeks later when he was arrested in Pennsylvania.
Kohberger remained impassive as he admitted to breaking into a rental home through a kitchen sliding door and killing the four friends who appeared to have no connection with him. Prosecutors did not reveal a motive behind the slayings.
The killings initially baffled law enforcement and unnerved the rural college town of Moscow, which hadn’t seen a murder in five years until Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen were found dead near campus on Nov. 13, 2022. Autopsies showed each was stabbed multiple times.
In the two years since Kohberger’s arrest, his attorneys unsuccessfully attempted to bar prosecutors from seeking the death penalty and challenged DNA evidence, leaving a plea deal their final alternative to spare his life before the start of a trial in August.
___
A Q-tip and spotless car were key evidence linking Bryan Kohberger to murders of 4 Idaho students
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The lead prosecutor tasked with finding justice for four University of Idaho students killed in a grisly quadruple stabbing more than two years ago laid out his key evidence Wednesday at a court hearing for Bryan Kohberger, who agreed to plead guilty earlier this week to avoid the death penalty.
The evidentiary summary — recited by lead prosecutor Bill Thompson before Kohberger entered his pleas — spun a dramatic tale that included a DNA-laden Q-tip plucked from the garbage in the dead of the night, a getaway car stripped so clean of evidence that it was “essentially disassembled inside" and a fateful early-morning Door Dash order that may have put one of the victims in Kohberger's path.
These details offered new insights into how the crime unfolded on Nov. 13, 2022, and how investigators ultimately solved the case using surveillance footage, cell phone tracking and DNA matching. But the synopsis leaves hanging key questions that could have been answered at trial — including a motive for the stabbings and why Kohberger picked that house, and those victims, all apparent strangers to him.
The small farming community of Moscow, in the northern Idaho panhandle, had not had a homicide in about five years when Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen were found dead at a rental home near campus.
Kohberger, now 30, had begun a doctoral degree in criminal justice at nearby Washington State University — across the state line from Moscow, Idaho — months before the crimes.
___
House back to work as GOP leaders try to win over holdouts on Trump's tax bill
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House sprang back to action late Wednesday after a prolonged stalemate as Republican leaders spent the afternoon and evening working furiously to convince skeptics to support President Donald Trump's tax and spending cuts package and send it to his desk by the Fourth of July deadline.
The day evolved into one of fast starts and hard stops, as Speaker Mike Johnson recalled lawmakers to Washington. GOP leadership vowed immediate consideration of the 887-bill, eager to seize on the momentum of its passage the day before in the Senate.
But after a quick procedural vote in the morning, the chamber stood idle for more than seven hours as GOP lawmakers met with Trump at the White House and others shuttled in and out of the speaker's office for private meetings.
“The American people gave us a clear mandate, and after four years of Democrat failure, we intend to deliver without delay,” the top four House GOP leaders said after the Senate passed the bill Tuesday, thanks to Vice President JD Vance's tiebreaking vote.
It's a risky gambit, one designed to meet Trump's demand for a holiday finish. Republicans have struggled mightily with the bill nearly every step of the way this year, often succeeding by the narrowest of margins, only one vote. Their slim 220-212 majority, leaving little room for defections.
___
US contractors say their colleagues are firing live ammo as Palestinians seek food in Gaza
BEERSHEBA, Israel (AP) — American contractors guarding aid distribution sites in Gaza are using live ammunition and stun grenades as hungry Palestinians scramble for food, according to accounts and videos obtained by The Associated Press.
Two U.S. contractors, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were revealing their employers’ internal operations, said they were coming forward because they were disturbed by what they considered dangerous and irresponsible practices. They said the security staff hired were often unqualified, unvetted, heavily armed and seemed to have an open license to do whatever they wished.
They said their colleagues regularly lobbed stun grenades and pepper spray in the direction of the Palestinians. One contractor said bullets were fired in all directions — in the air, into the ground and at times toward the Palestinians, recalling at least one instance where he thought someone had been hit.
"There are innocent people being hurt. Badly. Needlessly,” the contractor said.
He said American staff on the sites monitor those coming to seek food and document anyone considered “suspicious.” He said they share such information with the Israeli military.
___
Judge blocks order barring asylum access at border and gives administration two weeks to appeal
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge said Wednesday that an order by President Donald Trump suspending asylum access at the southern border was unlawful, throwing into doubt one of the key pillars of the president's plan to crack down on migration at the southern border. But he put the ruling on hold for two weeks to give the government time to appeal.
In an order Jan. 20, Trump declared that the situation at the southern border constitutes an invasion of America and that he was “suspending the physical entry” of migrants and their ability to seek asylum until he decides it is over.
U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss in Washington said his order blocking Trump's policy will take effect July 16, giving the Trump administration time to appeal.
Moss wrote that neither the Constitution nor immigration law gives the president “an extra-statutory, extra-regulatory regime for repatriating or removing individuals from the United States, without an opportunity to apply for asylum” or other humanitarian protections.
The Homeland Security Department did not immediately respond to a request but an appeal is likely. The president and his aides have repeatedly attacked court rulings that undermine his policies as judicial overreach.
___
Some education grants in limbo were used for ‘leftwing agenda,’ Trump administration says
The Trump administration has accused states and schools of using federal education grants earmarked for immigrants’ children and low-income students to help fund “a radical leftwing agenda.”
The administration this week withheld more than $6 billion intended for after-school and summer programs, English language instruction, adult literacy and more, saying it would review the grants to ensure they align with President Donald Trump’s priorities. The freeze sent schools and summer camp providers scrambling to determine whether they can still provide programs like day camps this summer or after-hours child care this fall.
On Wednesday, the Office of Management and Budget said an initial review showed schools used some of the money to support immigrants in the country illegally or promote LGBTQ+ inclusion. The administration said it hadn't made any final decisions about whether to withhold or release individual grants.
“Many of these grant programs have been grossly misused to subsidize a radical leftwing agenda,” the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement.
It said New York schools had used money for English language instruction to promote organizations that advocate for immigrants in the country illegally. Washington state used the money to direct immigrants without legal status toward scholarships the Trump administration says were “intended for American students.” Grant funds also were used for a seminar on “queer resistance in the arts,” the office said.
___
FDA vaccine official restricted COVID vaccine approvals against the advice of agency staff
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government’s top vaccine official working under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently restricted the approval of two COVID-19 vaccines, disregarding recommendations from government scientists, according to federal documents released Wednesday.
The new memos from the Food and Drug Administration show how the agency’s vaccine chief, Dr. Vinay Prasad, personally intervened to place restrictions on COVID shots from vaccine makers Novavax and Moderna.
Both vaccines were approved by the FDA in May after months of analysis by rank-and-file FDA reviewers.
But internal correspondence show Prasad disagreed with staffers who planned to approve the shots for everyone 12 and older, similar to previous COVID vaccines. The scientists had concluded the benefit from the vaccines and the risk of COVID-19 outweighed the risk of possible side effects, which are rare.
Instead Prasad decided the shots should be limited to those who face special risks from the virus— seniors or children and adults with underlying medical issues.
___
7 missing after explosion at California fireworks warehouse sets off massive blaze
ESPARTO, Calif. (AP) — Seven people were missing Wednesday following an explosion at a fireworks warehouse in rural Northern California that caused a massive fire that spread to farm fields and forced evacuations in the surrounding community, authorities said.
Two people were injured and received medical care, Esparto Fire Chief Curtis Lawrence said at a news conference Wednesday. Lawrence provided no further information other than to say the two were “OK,” and it wasn't known if the victims worked at the facility.
Emergency crews and investigators were working with the property’s owner and monitoring the area using drones to find the missing individuals, said the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. It was not immediately clear if those missing worked at the warehouse or lived nearby.
People were urged to avoid the area after the Tuesday night blast, which set off a barrage of fireworks and caused a blaze that led to other spot fires and collapsed the building near Esparto in Yolo County about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Sacramento.
The cause of the explosion was under investigation.
___
Knicks offer coaching job to Mike Brown and are working on a deal, AP source says
NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Knicks have offered their coaching job to Mike Brown and are working to finalize a deal with the two-time NBA Coach of the Year, a person with knowledge of the details said Wednesday.
Brown would replace Tom Thibodeau, who was fired last month despite leading the Knicks to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 25 years.
Brown had his second interview with the Knicks on Tuesday before the job was offered, the person told The Associated Press.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the search were to remain private.
The plan to hire Brown was first reported by ESPN.
The Associated Press
