Jury orders Alex Jones to pay $45.2M in Sandy Hook case
A Texas jury ordered conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on Friday to pay the parents of a child killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting $45.2 million in punitive damages for spreading the lie that they helped stage the massacre. The jury announced its decision a day after awarding the parents more than $4 million in compensatory damages and after testimony Friday that Jones and Free Speech Systems, the parent company of his misinformation-peddling media outlet, Infowars, were worth $135 million to $270 million. The size of the award is sure to be contested. Jurors deliberated for about four hours before reaching Friday’s verdict.
Indiana lawmakers pass first post-Roe abortion ban, with limited exceptions
Indiana lawmakers passed a near-total ban on abortion Friday, overcoming division among Republicans and protests from Democrats to become the first state to draw up and approve sweeping new limits on the procedure since Roe v. Wade was struck down in June. The bill’s passage came just three days after voters in Kansas, another conservative Midwestern state, overwhelmingly rejected an amendment that would have stripped abortion rights protections from their state constitution, a result seen nationally as a sign of unease with abortion bans. And it came despite some Indiana Republicans opposing the bill for going too far and others voting no because of its exceptions.
Flash floods strand 1K people in Death Valley National Park
Flash flooding triggered by heavy rainfall forced has officials to close all roads in and out of Death Valley National Park near the California-Nevada line Friday. The sudden rush of water and debris left about 500 visitors and 500 staff members unable to leave the park and buried about 60 vehicles in debris. Death Valley National Park officials said in a statement that the park got at least 1.7 inches of rain. That’s the normal rainfall for nearly a year. The system that provides water to park residents and offices also failed. The California Department of Transportation estimated it would take hours to open a road for visitors to leave.
GOP Rep who voted to impeach advances in Washington primary
Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse, who voted to impeach Donald Trump, advanced to the general election following days of vote counts in Washington state’s primary. But fellow Republican Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler saw her advantage against an opponent endorsed by Trump rapidly shrink to within recount territory. Both drew interparty challenges due to their vote to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Newhouse, the four-term incumbent in the 4th Congressional District in central Washington and Democrat Doug White were essentially tied, with each capturing about 25% of the vote on a crowded ballot. White also advanced to the fall ballot.
Israeli strikes on Gaza kill 10, including senior militant
Israel unleashed a wave of airstrikes on Gaza, killing at least 10 people, including a senior militant. That’s according to Palestinian officials who spoke Friday. Israel says it targeted the Islamic Jihad militant group in response to an “imminent threat” following the recent arrest of another senior militant. Hours later, Palestinian militants launched a barrage of rockets as air-raid sirens wailed in Israel and the two sides drew closer to another all-out war. Islamic Jihad claimed to have fired 100 rockets. Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers have fought four wars and several smaller battles over the last 15 years.
Facing energy crisis, Germans, warily, give nuclear a second look
When Angela Merkel pulled the plug on nuclear power after the Fukushima meltdown, she set Germany on a course to become the only leading industrial nation to abandon atomic energy. Now, 11 years later, with Russia toying with Germany’s gas supply, her successor as chancellor, Olaf Scholz, is staring at the possibility of reversing that momentous decision. Europe’s geopolitical calculations have been turned upside down by the war in Ukraine. As Russia tightens the taps, coal plants are being refired across Europe, and nuclear energy is getting a second look as many on the continent wrangle over whether to sacrifice their sacred cows.
Griner’s sentence renews pressure on Biden
Immediately after a Moscow judge handed down Brittney Griner’s nine-year prison sentence Thursday, calls grew louder for President Joe Biden to bring her home. “We call on President Biden and the United States government to redouble their efforts to do whatever is necessary and possible,” the Rev. Al Sharpton said. U.S. officials and analysts had been resigned to a guilty verdict for the basketball star who plays for a Russian team during the WNBA offseason. But the cold reality of her sentence on a drug charge renewed calls for Biden to secure her release — even as critics fumed that offering to swap prisoners with Moscow rewards Russian hostage-taking.
‘Most severe’ drought grips France as extreme heat persists in Europe
France declared Friday it was in the grip of its “most severe” drought, one that has desiccated large areas of Europe, causing wildfires and imperiling crops as temperature records shatter across the continent. French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne said France had received insufficient rainfall and had been hit in recent weeks by an “accumulation of successive heat waves,” increasing demand for water even as precious reserves evaporated in seemingly endless days of sweltering heat. She urged the French to be “very vigilant” about their water use. Water restrictions are already in place in most of mainland France.
By wire sources