Ten days before his inauguration, on Friday, President-elect Donald Trump's request to postpone the sentencing hearing in his criminal case in New York was denied by a New York judge on Monday. The court should postpone the sentencing hearing set for January 10, 2025, and all subsequent deadlines in the case until President Trump's immunity appeals are finally and completely resolved, according to a filing made public earlier in the day by Trump's lawyers to state Judge Juan Merchan. In a decision issued late Monday, Merchan dismissed that argument. "This Court has considered Defendant's arguments in support of his motion and finds that they are for the most part, a repetition of the arguments he has raised numerous times in the past," wrote Merchan. In a decision last week, Merchan denied...

WASHINGTON — In response to President-elect Donald Trump's demand that his agenda be passed in a single, massive measure, House Speaker Mike Johnson is outlining a very ambitious proposal that would put his razor-thin Republican majority to the test. Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, stated on Sunday that the party-line plan will include elements pertaining to energy, border security, promoting manufacturing, and taxation. In addition, he demanded that the package be passed out of the House as early as the first week of April and that the debt ceiling be extended. With two GOP lawmakers resigning to join the Trump administration, the House's slim majority of 219–215 is predicted to get much smaller in the upcoming months, making that an exceedingly high order. Until those seats are fil...

The extraordinary action taken by two of the 37 federal prisoners whose death sentences were reduced by President Joe Biden last month, sparing them from the capital penalty, is that they are refusing to sign documents acknowledging his compassionate action. Inmates Len Davis and Shannon Agofsky of the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, filed emergency motions in federal court in the southern district of the state on December 30 to prevent their death sentences from being converted to life in prison without the possibility of parole. As they attempt to appeal their cases on the grounds of innocence, the guys feel that getting their sentences modified will damage them legally. The courts meticulously review death penalty appeals through a judicial process called "heightened scrutiny...

At least 66 instances of bird flu have been reported in the United States, marking the somber milestone of the country's first human fatality from the illness. Considered the nation's first serious human H5N1 infection, the patient, who was over 65 and had underlying medical issues, was admitted to a Louisiana hospital in December. The patient was exposed to both wild and backyard birds, according to the Louisiana Department of Health. In a statement, the Department offered its sincere condolences to the patient's friends and family as they grieve the loss of a loved one. This will be the patient's last update due to patient confidentiality and family respect. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all but one of the documented human bird flu cases in the United Stat...

The subject of whether fluoride in drinking water is associated with lower IQ scores in youngsters is once again brought up by a recent study. A review of 74 previous studies examining the potential effects of the mineral on children's IQ scores was published in JAMA Pediatrics on Monday. The study discovered a statistically significant correlation between children's IQ scores and increased fluoride exposure. In an email, Kyla Taylor, the study's author and a health scientist at the National Institute of Environmental Health Studies at the National Institutes of Health, stated that the more fluoride a child is exposed to, the more likely it is that their IQ will be lower than if they were not exposed. It was not possible to interview Taylor. According to Taylor, children's IQs drop by 1.63...

In a court petition released on Monday, President-elect Donald Trump is requesting a delay of his Friday sentencing in the hush money case. In the submission to New York State Judge Juan Merchandated on Sunday, Trump's lawyers requested that the Court should revoke the sentence hearing set for January 10, 2025, and postpone all subsequent dates in the case until President Trump's immunity challenges are concluded. In a decision last week, Merchan rejected Trump's attempt to have the case dismissed and mandated that his sentencing on 34 felony charges of fabricating business records take place this week, just in time for his inauguration. According to Trump's filing, he is entitled to a "automatic stay" and will appeal those rulings to the state Appellate Division later on Monday. The appea...

At least five NFL teams are currently searching for new head coaches after Black Monday axes fell in Jacksonville and slightly earlier in New England, while another unemployment sword hung in Dallas. In the NFL's gloomy yearly practice of selecting fall men, the Jacksonville Jaguars fired Super Bowl-winning coach Doug Pederson on Monday after a dismal 2024 regular season that ended on Sunday night. Just moments after finishing their 4-13 season, the New England Patriots made a bold move on Black Monday by firing rookie head coach Mayo on Sunday. By late Monday afternoon, it remained unclear if Mike McCarthy would be fired by the Dallas Cowboys following their poor 7-10 campaign. The New Orleans Saints, Chicago Bears, and New York Jets were already using temporary coaches and are anticipate...

Rudy Giuliani, a top Trump attorney, was convicted in contempt of court by a federal judge in New York for failing to provide two former Georgia election workers he defamed with information about his holdings. After Giuliani testified for two days to answer questions about why he had not turned over assets and court-ordered discovery information to help satisfy Ruby Freeman and Wandrea Shaye Moss's $146 million defamation judgment against him, U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman made the contempt finding Monday afternoon. The judge said that the former mayor of New York City and U.S. attorney "willfully violated an unambiguous order of the court" by not providing information when he was required to. "The defendant has attempted to run the clock by stalling," stated Liman. "Discovery is not sup...

Following the president's announcement that he was obstructing a potential sale for the venerable American producer, U.S. Steel and the Japanese company that had attempted to purchase it are suing the Biden administration. When President Joe Biden declared on Friday that he would not permit the transaction to proceed, U.S. Steel and Japan's Nippon Steel said in a statement on Monday that Biden "ignored the rule of law" to curry favor with United Steelworkers, the union that represents many of U.S. Steel's employees. In addition, U.S. Steel and Nippon announced that they were suing David McCall, the union president, and Cleveland-Cliffs, the leader of a competing mining company in Ohio, alleging that they had unlawfully conspired to thwart the deal. A $14 billion offer by Nippon Steel to ac...