USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior Biden administration leaders, top Pentagon officials and members of Congress were unaware for days that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had been hospitalized since Monday, U.S. officials said Saturday, as questions swirled about his condition and the secrecy surrounding it.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A new California law that bans people from carrying firearms in most public places was once again blocked from taking effect Saturday as a court case challenging it continues.

A 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel dissolved a temporary hold on a lower court injunction blocking the law. The hold was issued by a different 9th Circuit panel and had allowed the law to go into effect Jan. 1.

EAGLE PASS, Texas (AP) — Daniel Bermudez’s family had fled Venezuela and was headed to the U.S. to seek asylum when the freight train they were riding through Mexico was stopped by immigration officials.

His wife tried to explain that her family had permission to go to the U.S. Instead, they flew her to Mexico’s southern border as part of a surge of enforcement actions that U.S. officials say have contributed to a sharp drop in illegal border crossings.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 05 (APP): Israeli military forces have have attacked hospitals in Gaza and other vital medical infrastructure nearly 600 times since the war erupted on October 7 last year, the UN health agency said on Friday.

Since then, some 613 people have died within the medical facilities and more than 770 have been injured, according to the latest data on healthcare attacks from the Geneva-based World Health Organization (WHO).

NEW YORK, Jan 5 (NNN-XINHUA) – Two subway trains collided on the Upper West Side of New York City yesterday afternoon, resulting in derailment of one train and multiple injuries.

“There is a major disruption to 1/2/3 service, while emergency teams assist passengers and conduct an investigation, after a train derailed near 96 St. There is no 1/2/3 service in most of Manhattan,” the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said in a post on X.

WASHINGTON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said on Thursday he felt members of the Muslim and Arab communities in the tech industry were uncomfortable speaking about their recent experiences, in an apparent reference to the impact of the ongoing war in Gaza.

"Muslim and arab (especially palestinian) colleagues in the tech community i've spoken with feel uncomfortable speaking about their recent experiences, often out of fear of retaliation and damaged career prospects," Altman wrote on social media network X, formerly known as Twitter.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths on Thursday called for international action to stop fighting in Sudan.

Nearly nine months of war have tipped Sudan into a downward spiral that only grows more ruinous by the day. As the conflict spreads, human suffering is deepening, humanitarian access is shrinking, and hope is dwindling. This cannot continue, said Griffiths in a statement.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada judge was back to work a day after being attacked by a defendant in a felony battery case who was captured on courtroom video charging forward and “supermanning” over the judge’s bench after it became clear that he was being sentenced to prison, a court official said Thursday.

The defendant, Deobra Redden, is scheduled to face Clark County District Court Judge Mary Kay Holthus again Monday morning for his rescheduled sentencing, according to Chief Judge Jerry Wiese.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump will spend Saturday’s third anniversary of the Capitol riot by holding two campaign rallies in leadoff-voting Iowa in his bid to win back the White House.

PERRY, Iowa (AP) — A day after a shooting sent bullets flying inside a small-town Iowa high school, leaving a sixth grader dead and five others wounded, the community of Perry is somber. Yellow crime tape still lined the campus that Perry High School shares with the town’s middle school on the east edge of town, flowers and stuffed toys had cropped up in mini memorials, and classes across the district were canceled Friday in favor of counseling.