Nation & world news – at a glance – for Friday, December 29, 2023

Supreme Court urged to move fast on Trump’s ballot eligibility

The Supreme Court was asked Thursday to fast-track its review of the Colorado Supreme Court ruling that former President Donald Trump was ineligible to appear on the state’s primary ballot. The request was made by the six voters who won in the state court, which ruled that Trump is subject to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars officials who promised to support the Constitution from holding office again after engaging in insurrection. Cases challenging Trump’s eligibility on the same grounds are pending in several states. The Colorado Republican Party asked the justices Wednesday to hear its own appeal of the decision.

Crews demolish site of Idaho murders as some families object

Demolition crews have torn down a house near the University of Idaho where four college students were killed last year. The removal comes despite objections from some family members of the victims who believe the site should be preserved in case it is needed for a future trial. Bryan Kohberger is accused of killing four college students in November 2022 and faces four murder charges. Prosecutors have said they planned to seek the death penalty. Both the prosecution and defense lawyers have told university officials they are OK with the demolition.

University chancellor fired after making pornographic videos with his wife

The chancellor of a state university in Wisconsin was fired this week after posting pornographic videos with his wife online. The University of Wisconsin System’s Board of Regents unanimously decided to dismiss Joe Gow, who had led the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse since 2007. Carmen Wilson, Gow’s wife, was also removed from her unpaid position as associate to the chancellor. In an interview Thursday, Gow and Wilson argued that punishing them over the videos infringes on their free speech rights. Jay Rothman, the president of the University of Wisconsin System, said Gow had caused the university “significant reputational harm.”

Justice Dept. threatens to sue Texas over migrant arrest law

The Justice Department on Thursday threatened to sue Texas if it enforced a sweeping new law that would allow state and local police to arrest migrants who enter the United States from Mexico without authorization. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed the measure this month in his most direct challenge yet to the Biden administration’s handling of immigration. In a letter obtained by The New York Times, Brian Boynton, an assistant attorney general with the DOJ, gave Abbott until Wednesday to retract his intention to enforce the law, which takes effect in early March.

‘I feel like I don’t matter’: East Palestine waits for a presidential visit

When Jessica Conard heard that President Joe Biden would visit her community in East Palestine, Ohio, she felt his presence, would signal to the world that nothing short of disaster happened there in February, when a Norfolk Southern train skipped the tracks and spilled thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals into the environment. She’s still waiting for him. “I feel like I don’t matter,” said Conard. The White House insists that Biden still plans to visit “when it is most helpful for the community,” according to a White House spokesperson. But for many residents, Biden’s absence feels like disrespect.

A pint of wine? Britain plans to bring back an old-fashioned measure

In 2024, the Brits will be able to drink like Winston Churchill again. The government announced Wednesday it would allow stores and pubs to sell pints of wine, famously said to be the former prime minister’s favorite quantity of Champagne. It’s a side effect of Brexit, Britain’s official exit from the European Union in 2020, after which, among other things, the country no longer had to conform to European rules about weights and measurements. In the announcement introducing pint-size wine bottles Wednesday, Britain’s Conservative government boasted that the move was part of the country’s “new Brexit freedoms.”

Apple resumes sales of its newest smartwatches, for now

Apple resumed sales of its newest smartwatches Thursday, a day after a federal appeals court temporarily reversed an earlier ban on their import and sale in the United States. But the watches’ fate will ultimately depend on how a continuing legal fight plays out in federal court over the next few weeks. The company paused sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 in its flagship stores on Dec. 21 and at retail locations on Christmas Eve. The company said Wednesday that it would restart retail sales of the two new watches at some Apple stores that day, and in more stores by Saturday.

California pushes electric trucks as the future of freight

Trucking, an outsize source of carbon emissions, is where California’s green revolution is meeting some of its biggest challenges. Electric trucks, with their huge batteries, can cost more than $400,000, and they can’t do long hauls without stopping for long charging periods, which can undermine the economics of a trucking fleet. But California sees the port trucks as an opportunity to take a big step forward. The electric trucks on the market today can travel from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach — the nation’s busiest hub for container cargo — to many of the warehouses inland without stopping to charge.

Israel expresses regret for ‘unintended harm’ to civilians in Gaza airstrike

The Israeli military said Thursday that it had caused “unintended harm” to “uninvolved civilians” in two strikes this week on a densely packed Gaza Strip neighborhood, where, the local health authorities said, dozens were killed. It was a rare admission of fault by the military over its conduct of the war. The military said it was targeting Hamas on Sunday when it launched two strikes on the central Gaza community of Al Maghazi, which has been flooded with Palestinians uprooted by war and crammed into homes by the dozen. Israel has come under growing international pressure to scale back its air and ground campaign.

Russia recaptures land as Ukraine scales back

Russia has recaptured land hard won by Ukrainian troops at the peak of their summer counteroffensive in the south, making progress around the southern village of Robotyne. With their counteroffensive stalled, Ukrainian troops are now on the back foot in many places. Besides Robotyne in the south, they are also struggling in the east, having all but retreated from the town of Marinka, officials said this week. Deepening their challenges, Ukraine is increasingly worried that its military will not have the resources to keep up the fight. Washington announced Wednesday that it was releasing the last remaining Congress-approved package of military aid available to Ukraine.

Rush to scoop up gas in Liberia turns fatal

Dozens of people were killed on a roadside in Liberia after they rushed to scoop up fuel from an overturned tanker before it exploded, officials said. Officials have said more than 40 people died in the blast Tuesday, but the country’s health minister, Wilhelmina Jallah, said in a telephone interview that the number of fatalities could rise because an additional 83 people were injured. A video circulating on social media showed people running from the explosion, some of them in flames The tanker overturned while it was overtaking another car in the town of Totota, drawing people to the scene before the vehicle exploded.

Actor’s death highlights South Korea’s drug policy

Lee Sun-kyun, the “Parasite” actor who was found dead Wednesday, was far from the only celebrity entangled in South Korea’s latest anti-drug crackdown. The recent accusations against high-profile entertainers like actor Yoo Ah-in and rapper G-Dragon have highlighted the continuation of a strict anti-drug policy and attitudes in South Korea that have drawn a hard line against anything other than total abstinence from drug use. Some officials hail that toughness as critical to keeping drug use under control. But the policies have also come under criticism from treatment experts who say that authorities focus too much on punishment rather than rehabilitation.

If you criticize the military in Burkina Faso, prepare to be drafted

Burkina Faso has been torn apart in the past eight years by violence from extremist groups loosely affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. In the ensuing chaos, the country went through two coups in 10 months, the second last year by a military junta vowing to contain militant groups by any means. At least 15 people active in public life have recently either disappeared or been forcibly conscripted into the army, according to human rights groups and lawyers. The list includes journalists, civil society activists, an anesthesiologist and an imam, all of whom had criticized the junta for its failure to defeat the insurgents.

By wire sources