A jury has been asked to decide whether a 44-year-old Danville cheer coach was sexually abusing teen girls, or if he was the victim of false accusations and prosecution cherrypicking after accidentally sending a masturbation video to a 15-year-old girl that was meant for a prostitute. Nicholas Moseby, a former biology teacher at San Ramon Valley High School who also coached cheerleading for a private group called Nor*Cal Elites, has been on trial for the past six weeks.
The speech was ultimately broadcast on the presidency's official Facebook page but not on national TV. They were Rajoelina's first public comments since the CAPSAT military unit turned against his government in an apparent coup and joined thousands of protesters rallying in a main square in the capital, Antananarivo, over the weekend. Rajoelina called for dialogue "to find a way out of this situation" and said the constitution should be respected.
In arguments Wednesday, lawyers for Louisiana and the Trump administration will try to persuade the justices to wipe away the state's second majority Black congressional district and make it much harder, if not impossible, to take account of race in redistricting. "Race-based redistricting is fundamentally contrary to our Constitution," Louisiana Attorney General Elizabeth Murrill wrote in the state's Supreme Court filing.
President Trump laid off about 4,200 federal employees Friday night, claiming the government shutdown left him no choice. No previous shutdown has resulted in layoffs. ( Government Executive) The layoffs affected the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, HUD, the IRS, EPA, and other agencies. ( NPR) The layoffs were conducted without much precision in hundreds of cases: Some at CDC "were mistakenly fired through a 'coding error,'" two sources told Politico; and they and others will be rehired by HHS. ( Politico)
U.S. equity markets ended the week lower as a mix of trade tensions and political uncertainty unsettled investors. The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 initially held firm, supported by continued enthusiasm for artificial intelligence-related companies. A major boost came from Advanced Micro Devices' announcement of a strategic partnership with OpenAI, which lifted AMD's shares by more than 20% early in the week.
By the numbers: 337 mass shootings have occurred so far this year in the U.S. as of Oct. 11, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Any incident involving more than four people being shot, not including the shooter, is considered a mass shooting by GVA standards. There is no standard definition for what constitutes a mass shooting, but Axios has consistently used GVA's definition in its analysis and coverage of mass shootings and gun violence in recent years.
"Those areas where we had large seas or oceans between us and adversaries are no longer the boundary conditions that we have experienced," she said, noting that the U.S. has adversaries that operate in "domains" beyond land, sea, and air, but also cyber and space.
At the midpoint of the season, no team has made a bigger playoff statement than Indiana. They tried to reassert themselves with a historic 63-10 beatdown of Illinois, but the Illini aren't Ohio State or Oregon. And then the Hoosiers beat Oregon -- by double digits -- in Autzen Stadium, where the Ducks hadn't lost in 18 straight games. Indiana forced Heisman Trophy hopeful quarterback Dante Moore into two interceptions and sacked him six times.
"Although these circumstances were unfortunate, it is critical for availability reports to be accurate," a Big Ten spokesperson said. "Consequently, the conference is imposing a $5,000 fine and admonishes all institutions to use the "out" designation only if there are no circumstances under which a student-athlete could participate in a game. The conference considers the matter closed and will have no further comment."
The NFL on Monday suspended Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch for one game without pay for unsportsmanlike conduct, after he struck Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and set off a brief fight Sunday night. "Your aggressive, non-football act was entirely unwarranted, posed a serious risk of injury, and clearly violated the standards of conduct and sportsmanship expected of NFL players. Your conduct reflected poorly on the NFL and has no place in our game,"
Departures to LaGuardia (LGA) Airport in New York are experiencing an average delay of over two hours, with some flights being held for nearly four hours. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warned that there is up to a 60 percent chance that these delays will be extended. The alert is due to heavy rains and strong winds from the nor' easter hitting the East Coast.
Then, before boarding the team bus, Diggs was one of the last remaining players in the locker room and already looking ahead to Sunday's road game against the Tennessee Titans. "We'll enjoy this for 12 hours and then we have a big one next week," Diggs said. Why so big? "People are going home, I guess," he said with a touch of humor.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.
In a new "Switch to Verizon" promo, the carrier is inviting customers from its two major rivals to present their latest mobile phone bill information, either in-store or online. In response, Verizon claims that it will find a comparable plan at a cheaper price. If you want to try this in-store, the website will point you to nearby locations. If you go the online route, Verizon will ask for all the details of your current plan and then see if it can undercut the price.
The Tigers and manager AJ Hinch quietly agreed to a long-term contract extension during the 2025 season, president of baseball operations Scott Harris announced today at his end-of-season press conference ( video link). Harris and Hinch did not specify the length of the contract, but Hinch ostensibly is now signed through at least 2027. Harris effused praise for Hinch, calling him one of the best managers in the sport and saying he hopes to continue working with him "as long as I can possibly work with him."
Florida is coming off a dominating 6-2 divisional win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. Brad Marchand, Aaron Ekblad and Anton Lundell each had a goal and an assist and Evan Rodrigues, Mackie Samoskevich and Sam Reinhart also lit the lamp for the undefeated Panthers, who scored twice in each period to make what was expected to be their first real test of the season a bit of a laugher.
"The fact that it was in Latin that really just gave us pause, right?" said Daniella Santoro, a Tulane University anthropologist. "I mean, you see something like that and you say, 'Okay, this is not an ordinary thing.'" Intrigued and slightly alarmed, Santoro reached out to her classical archaeologist colleague Susann Lusnia, who quickly realized that the slab was the 1,900-year-old grave marker of a Roman sailor named Sextus Congenius Verus.
In a court filing, attorneys for Mangione said the death penalty must be dismissed because it does not meet the legal threshold. Mangione's legal team is also arguing that evidence, including a gun and ammunition, allegedly found in a backpack Mangione was carrying when he was arrested at a Pennsylvania McDonald's should be suppressed at trial because the search occurred without a warrant. They further claim that Mangione, 27, was not read his rights before he was questioned by law enforcement officers.
Also, it seems that somebody in the N.F.L.'s league office likes them, because the Chiefs are scheduled to play in more high-profile games this season than any other team. They started the season in São Paulo, Brazil, playing the Los Angeles Chargers, on the vanguard of the N.F.L.'s imperial ambitions. They played the Eagles in Week Two, in a rematch of the Super Bowl on Fox. They play in the prime Sunday-night slot three times, and on Monday Night Football twice.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Penn State quarterback Drew Allar, who left the Nittany Lions' stunning 22-21 loss to Northwestern on Saturday, is out for the season, coach James Franklin said in his postgame media availability. Allar hobbled off the field after a third down play in the fourth quarter, and was eventually carted off to the locker room. He was replaced by Ethan Grunkemeyer. "Drew will be done for the year," Franklin said.
