News briefs
Venezuela earthquakes: Staggering destruction signals urgent warning for California
The devastation from two massive earthquakes that struck Venezuela on Wednesday offers a stark warning for California and other seismically vulnerable areas of the toll catastrophic shaking can bring to urban areas.
It will take days to assess the full scope of the damage; at least 188 were dead and nearly 1,500 were injured, with both numbers expected to climb, The Associated Press reported early Thursday, with dozens of buildings collapsing in the state of La Guaira, about 20 miles north of the capital. Videos show horrifying, but now predictable, images of entire blocks flattened and basic infrastructure in shambles.
The death toll was expected to rise considerably as rescuers sift through the rubble. Many sleeping in local parks and cities in the quake zone were hit by power outages and losses in cellphone service.
"This is one of the very damaging earthquakes, because you combined a very large event with residences of a lot of people," seismologist Lucy Jones, a Caltech research associate, said at a briefing.
-Los Angeles Times
Judge blocks Trump order to restrict mail voting
WASHINGTON- A federal judge in Massachusetts on Thursday blocked President Donald Trump's executive order seeking to restrict mail voting in federal elections in the states that challenged it, finding the executive branch and mail service did not have the power to do so.
Judge Indira Talwani of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts wrote in a 37-page opinion that the Constitution gives states the primary power to determine election rules, with the opportunity for Congress to make some changes.
Talwani wrote that Congress did not authorize the steps outlined in Trump's March order, and directed the administration not enforce the order in the more than one dozen states that challenged it.
"The Constitution does not grant the President any specific powers over elections," Talwani wrote.
-CQ-Roll Call
Democrat James Talarico seeks records as he presses AG Ken Paxton over child sexual abuse case
WASHINGTON - Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico said Thursday he has requested records from Attorney General Ken Paxton's office related to the Adam Hoffman child sexual abuse case, opening a new front in his criticism of the attorney general's handling of the case.
Talarico said he recently filed a Public Information Act request seeking emails, communications and other records related to the prosecution, as he presses Paxton to explain why the Waco attorney served about a month in jail after originally facing charges that could have sent him to prison for life.
"Adam Hoffman should've served 25 years to life for sexually assaulting a young boy," Talarico said. "Instead, the well-connected Waco lawyer served less than a month in jail. Texans deserve answers about this Epstein-style sweetheart deal."
The case became a major line of attack for Sen. John Cornyn during the Republican runoff, but Paxton dismissed the criticism and went on to win the Senate nomination.
Talarico, an Austin state representative who now faces Paxton in the November election, has sought to renew scrutiny of the AG's work.
-Dallas Morning News
NY prosecutors dismiss rape count against Harvey Weinstein as victim says she can't handle another trial
NEW YORK- Manhattan prosecutors moved to dismiss their rape case against Harvey Weinstein on Thursday after Jessica Mann- among the first women to come forward against the once-powerful Hollywood producer - said she could not bear the brutality of taking the stand a fourth time.
The move announced at a Manhattan Supreme Court hearing came after jurors last month could not agree about whether Weinstein was guilty of raping Mann inside a Midtown hotel room in March 2013. The outcome was a repeat of the disgraced producer's 2025 prosecution that ended in a partial mistrial.
The Miramax founder, 74, was found guilty of raping Mann at his first trial in 2020 - in addition to sexually assaulting Miriam Haley, a former "Project Runway" assistant - but that conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeals in 2024 after New York's highest court determined in a split decision that the jury shouldn't have heard sexual assault allegations from other women that didn't make up part of the charges.
In a statement read aloud by Assistant District Attorney Nicole Blumberg, Mann said her participation in Weinstein's prosecutions had stolen a decade of her life and left her feeling "fragmented, silenced, defamed and traumatized."
-New York Daily News
Burnham would make better UK premier than Farage, Britons say
Britons said Andy Burnham would make a better prime minister than Reform U.K. Leader Nigel Farage, according to a poll on Thursday that highlights how Labour's likely new leader can provide the governing party with an electoral edge.
Some 43% of people surveyed in a YouGov poll said Burnham would make a better premier, compared with 23% who preferred Farage. That 20-point advantage for Burnham is double the lead over the Reform leader enjoyed last month by Keir Starmer, who on Monday said he's stepping down as prime minister.
Starmer's resignation triggered a leadership contest, with nominations due to open July 9. So far Burnham is the only candidate to declare they're running, with several potential rivals saying they won't stand, making it increasingly likely he'll be unopposed.
YouGov's numbers show how Labour could revive their flagging fortunes by choosing Burnham as their new leader, following his triumphant return to Westminster in a House of Commons by-election last week. The now former Greater Manchester Mayor defeated the candidate for Reform by a wider-than-expected margin in an area where Farage's party had swept all seats available in a round of local elections just six weeks earlier.
In the YouGov survey, Labour's position also improved under a potential Burnham premiership against leaders of the country's three other major national parties.
-Bloomberg News
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