- A U.S. judge on Tuesday ruled that a customs officer improperly canceled the visa of a Russian-born scientist and Harvard University researcher charged with smuggling frog embryos in the U.S. The opinion said Customs and Border Protection officers have limited authority to cancel visas and can’t do so for suspected smuggling of biological samples. The […]
- NASHVILLE (AP) — Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Ray Stevens broke his neck and is recovering at home after being briefly hospitalized, according to a statement published Tuesday. The 87-year-old country star, who is known for his topical satire, fell late last month, according to the statement released on his X account. He will need to wear a […]
- INDIANOLA, Iowa (AP) — Before Michigan U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin spent Tuesday afternoon supporting Democratic congressional candidates in Iowa, she was picking the brains of a table of President Donald Trump’s voters. Slotkin, a potential Democratic 2028 presidential contender, peppered five Iowa voters with questions about divisiveness in U.S. politics and issues affecting their communities. […]
- AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas health regulators told Camp Mystic’s owners Tuesday they are investigating hundreds of complaints following last year’s devastating floods that killed 27 girls as the state considers whether to allow the all-girls camp to reopen this summer. The Texas Rangers are also helping look into allegations of neglect, according to the […]
- By Kristina Cooke and Ted Hesson WASHINGTON, April 7 (Reuters) – The FBI warned U.S. state and local law enforcement of an elevated threat posed by Iran’s government to targets in the United States last month even as the White House sought to downplay the likelihood of an attack, a law enforcement intelligence report reviewed by […]
- How Trump went from threatening Iran’s annihilation to agreeing to a two-week ceasefire with Tehran
on April 8, 2026 at 6:18 amWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump over the course of a day went from threatening Iran with “annihilation” to proclaiming that the battered Islamic Republic’s leadership had presented a “workable” plan that led him to agree to a 14-day ceasefire that he expects to pave the way to end the nearly six-week-old war. The dramatic shift in tenor came as intermediaries, led by Pakistan, worked feverishly to head off a further escalation of the conflict. Even China — Iran’s biggest trading partner and the United States’ most significant economic competitor — quietly pulled strings to find a pathway toward a ceasefire, according to two officials briefed on the matter who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. “The reason for doing so is that we have already met and exceeded all Military objectives, and are very far along with a definitive Agreement concerning Longterm PEACE with Iran, and PEACE in the Middle East,” Trump declared in a social media post announcing the temporary ceasefire, about 90 minutes before his deadline for Tehran to open the critical Strait of Hormuz or see its power plants and other critical infrastructure obliterated. The president is set to meet at the White House on Wednesday with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte. The emerging ceasefire and plan to reopen the strait is expected to be at the center of talks. As the deadline neared, Democratic lawmakers decried Trump’s threat to wipe away an entire civilization as “a moral failure” and Pope Leo XIV warned strikes against civilian infrastructure would violate international law, calling the president’s comments “truly unacceptable.” But in the end, Trump may have ultimately backed down because of a simple truth: Escalation could risk involving the United States in the sort of “forever war” that had bedeviled his predecessors and that he had vowed he’d keep the United States out of if voters sent him back to the White House. As Trump boasted about U.S. and Israeli military success over the last six weeks, he appeared to be working from the premise that he could bomb Iran into capitulation. Starting with the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the opening salvos of the war, he seemed to discount that the Iranian leadership could opt for a long, bloody war. The Islamic Republic over the last 47 years has repeatedly shown it’s willing to dig in, even when it appears to America they’re working against their own self-interest. The clerical leadership held Americans hostages for 444 days, from late 1979 to early 1981, at the cost of the country’s international standing. The mullahs allowed the ruinous Iran-Iraq war to go on for years, leaving hundreds of thousands dead. It stood by Hamas after the Oct. 7 attack that spurred a war with Israel that would defang the Iran-backed group in Gaza as well as Hezbollah in Lebanon, and created the conditions that led to the collapse of Tehran-backed Bashar Assad’s authoritarian rule in Syria. Iran’s leadership — battered and outgunned — exuded confidence that it could very well bog down the world’s superpower in a costly, extended conflict even if it might not defeat a mighty U.S. military. Defense analysts largely agreed that the U.S. military could quickly take control of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow Persian Gulf waterway between Iran and Oman through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil flows on any given day. But maintaining security over the waterway would require a high-risk, resource-intensive operation that could be a years-long American commitment. Ben Connable, executive director of the nonprofit Battle Research Group, said securing the strait would require the U.S. military to maintain control of about 600 kilometers (373 miles) of Iranian territory, from Kish Island in the West to Bandar Abbas in the East, to stop Iran from firing missiles at ships passing through the strait. It’s a mission that Connable said would likely require three U.S. infantry divisions, roughly 30,000 to 45,000 troops. “This would be an indefinite operation — so, you know, think: be ready to do this for 20 years,” said Connable, a retired Marine Corps intelligence officer. “We didn’t think we were going to be in Afghanistan for 20 years. We didn’t think we’re going to have to be in Vietnam as long as we were, or Iraq.” The two-week ceasefire plan includes allowing both Iran and Oman to charge fees on ships transiting through Hormuz, a regional official said. The official said Iran would use the money it raised for reconstruction. It wasn’t immediately clear what Oman would use its money for. The strait is in the territorial waters of both Oman and Iran. The world had considered the passage an international waterway and never paid tolls before. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said after the ceasefire was announced that Trump was effectively giving Tehran “control” of the strait and delivering “a history-changing win for Iran.” “The level of incompetence is both stunning and heartbreaking,” Murphy said. The ceasefire announcement came after Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged Trump to extend his deadline by two weeks to allow diplomacy to advance while also asking Iran to open the strait for two weeks. Two weeks has become Trump’s favorite interval to buy himself time when making major decisions. Last summer, the White House said he’d decide about launching an initial bombing campaign against Iran within two weeks — only to have the president order airstrikes that he said “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program before that interval was up. Trump has also repeatedly used two weeks to set deadlines that ultimately led to very little during negotiations to end Russia’s war with Ukraine and even going back to his first term, suggesting he’d have major policy issues like health care solved over such a timeframe. Trump has repeatedly made maximalist demands throughout the first 15 months of his second White House term only to dial them back. The president backed off many of the sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs he first announced in April 2025 after they caused the financial markets to go haywire. Perhaps the most spectacular example came during a January meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, where Trump insisted that he wanted the U.S. to take control of Greenland “including right, title and ownership” only to switch course and abandon his threat to impose widespread tariffs on Europe to press his case. The pretext for backing down that time was Trump saying he’d agreed with the head of NATO on a “framework of a future deal” on Arctic security — even though the U.S. already enjoyed widespread military latitude in Greenland, which is part of the kingdom of Denmark. The White House celebrated on Tuesday evening with aides crediting the U.S. military’s prowess and Trump’s maneuvering for setting conditions for the ceasefire. “The success of our military created maximum leverage, allowing President Trump and the team to engage in tough negotiations that have now created an opening for a diplomatic solution and long-term peace,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declared. She added, “Never underestimate President Trump’s ability to successfully advance America’s interests and broker peace.” ___ Associated Press writers Samy Magdy in Cairo and Farnoush Amiri in New York contributed reporting. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Rex Heuermann to plead guilty in the Gilgo Beach killings, ending long search for a serial killer
on April 8, 2026 at 6:18 amA Long Island architect accused in a string of long-unsolved slayings known as the Gilgo Beach killings is expected to plead guilty on Wednesday, closing a case that bedeviled investigators, agonized victims’ relatives and tantalized a true-crime obsessed public for years. Rex Heuermann, 62, is charged with murdering seven women, many of them sex workers, over a 17-year span. A guilty plea would put him in prison for the rest of his life. His decision to plead guilty was confirmed by three people familiar with it. They spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the plea has yet to be entered in court. Heuermann will be sentenced at a later date. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday afternoon, following a morning court hearing. He will be joined by members of victims’ families and of the Gilgo Beach Homicide Investigation Task Force, which cracked the case with the help of clues that included DNA lifted from a discarded pizza crust. A message seeking comment was left for Heuermann’s lawyer, Michael Brown. The Gilgo Beach investigation began in earnest in 2010 after police found numerous sets of human remains along a remote beach highway on Long Island’s South Shore, setting off a search for a potential serial killer that attracted global interest and spawned a Hollywood movie. Investigators used DNA analysis and other evidence to identify victims. In some cases, they were able to connect them to remains found elsewhere on Long Island years earlier. Remains of six victims — Melissa Barthelemy, Maureen Brainard-Barnes, Amber Lynn Costello, Valerie Mack, Jessica Taylor and Megan Waterman — were found in the scrub along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach. The remains of another victim, Sandra Costilla, were found more than 60 miles (100 kilometers) away in the Hamptons. Police have also identified an eighth woman, Karen Vergata, whose remains were found on Fire Island, more than 20 miles (32 kilometers) west, in 1996, and near Gilgo Beach in 2011. Heuermann has not been charged in Vergata’s killing. But despite the attention, including a documentary series and the 2020 Netflix film, “Lost Girls,” the investigation dragged on for more than a decade, punctuated by fleeting leads and dashed hopes. In 2022, six weeks after a new police commissioner formed the Gilgo Beach task force, detectives identified Heuermann as a suspect by using a vehicle registration database to connect him to a pickup truck that a witness reported seeing when one of the victims disappeared in 2010. Heuermann lived for decades in Massapequa Park, about a 25-minute drive across a causeway spanning South Oyster Bay to the sandy stretch where the women’s remains were found. Some of the victims were believed to have disappeared from that community and their cellphones were found to have pinged towers in the area, authorities said. After the truck discovery, a grand jury authorized more than 300 subpoenas and search warrants, allowing the task force to dig in to Heuermann’s life. Detectives collected billing records for burner phones he allegedly used to arrange meetings with the victims, retested DNA found with the bodies and scoured Heuermann’s internet search history, which showed that he had viewed violent torture pornography and exhibited an intense interest in the Gilgo Beach killings and the renewed investigation. Cellphone data showed Heuermann was in contact with some victims just before they disappeared, investigators said. To obtain Heuermann’s DNA, a task force surveillance team tailed him in Manhattan, where he worked, and watched as he threw the remnants of his lunch — a box of partially eaten pizza crusts — into a sidewalk garbage can. Investigators rushed in, grabbed the box, and sent it to the crime lab, which matched DNA from the crust to a male hair found on burlap used to restrain one of the victims. He was arrested in July 2023. After Heuermann’s arrest, detectives spent more than 12 days searching his yard and home, where they found a basement vault that contained 279 weapons. On his computer, investigators said, they found what they described as a “blueprint” for the killings, including a series of checklists with reminders to limit noise, clean the bodies and destroy evidence. Last year, a judge rejected Heuermann’s bid to exclude DNA evidence obtained through advanced techniques that prosecutors say proves he’s the killer. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Rep. Eric Swalwell vows to push back on ICE in bid for California governor
on April 8, 2026 at 5:18 amSACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Rep. Eric Swalwell on Tuesday promised to aggressively push back on federal immigration officers if elected governor, vowing to make them ineligible for state jobs and take away their driver’s licenses if they refuse to unmask while on duty. “They think they’re invincible. They’re not,” Swalwell told a large crowd at a town hall in Sacramento, the state capital. He didn’t specify how he’d advance those policies, which would likely face legal challenges. The event kicked off a series of campaign functions he’s planned around the state with less than a month to go until mail-in ballots go out to voters ahead of the June 2 primary. Swalwell, a Democrat, is among a crowded field of candidates jostling for advantage in a race in which a small margin could decide who advances to the November general election. The two highest vote-getters advance regardless of party, and Democrats are worried about a possible lock-out if no clear front-runner emerges. Speaking to a friendly crowd, Swalwell painted himself as a “battle-tested” fighter in Congress against President Donald Trump. He served as House manager for Trump’s second impeachment trial and said he wants to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement and has supported taking away the agency’s funding. Los Angeles was the target of one of the administration’s first large-scale immigration sweeps last summer and the first place where it deployed the National Guard. The position comes after Swalwell faced accusations by some of his Democratic rivals for not taking a strong enough stance against the agency. Positioning himself as a labor-friendly and progressive candidate, Swalwell said he wants to address ongoing state budget gaps with a new corporate tax and use state funding to pay for health care for low-income people, including immigrants. He also said he supports letting state employees work remotely, a contentious issue in Sacramento. “I will root for the success of anyone who invests and does business in California, if they work with me to lift the wages of hard-working Californians and expand the benefits,” he said. This year’s election marks the first time since voters approved the state’s “ top two ” primary system more than a decade ago that there has been a governor’s race with no dominant candidate. Swalwell is considered among the leading candidates, alongside billionaire Tom Steyer and former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter on the Democratic side. Republican Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host, won Trump’s endorsement this week. Sheriff Chad Bianco is another prominent Republican in the contest. Swalwell in recent weeks has emerged as a favorite target for fellow Democrats, who have accused him of failing to show up for votes in Congress and questioned whether he actually lives in California. On Tuesday, Swalwell again disputed those criticisms and said he’s “not going to be distracted.” An Iowa native who was elected in 2012 and represents a House district east of San Francisco, Swalwell ran a short-lived presidential campaign in 2019. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is term-limited, hasn’t endorsed anyone to replace him. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- Trial to begin in lawsuit over fatal Los Angeles police shooting of 14-year-old girl in 2021
on April 8, 2026 at 5:18 amLOS ANGELES (AP) — A wrongful-death lawsuit filed against the Los Angeles Police Department for an officer’s fatal shooting of a 14-year-old girl in a clothing store is set to begin trial Wednesday. Valentina Orellana-Peralta was shopping for Christmas clothes with her mother at a Burlington store in the San Fernando Valley’s North Hollywood neighborhood on Dec. 23, 2021, when she was struck by a bullet that had gone through the dressing room wall. Police were responding to calls for help after a man wielding a bike lock attacked two women in the building. As armed officers walked through the store, Officer William Dorsey Jones Jr. fired his rifle three times, killing the man and Orellana-Peralta. The lawsuit filed by the girl’s parents alleges wrongful death, negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress. Her mother Soledad Peralta “felt her daughter’s body go limp and watched helplessly as her daughter died while still in her arms,” the lawsuit states. It alleges that the LAPD failed to adequately train and supervise the responding officers and “fostered an environment that allowed and permitted this shooting to occur.” “Valentina had her entire life in front of her, and it was taken in an instant due to reckless decisions made by the very people who were sworn to protect her,” said Nick Rowley, who represents the family. “We intend to hold LAPD fully accountable for taking an innocent young woman’s life.” The Los Angeles city attorney’s office, representing the LAPD, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. The Los Angeles Police Commission, a civilian oversight board, ruled in 2022 that Jones was justified in firing once but that his two subsequent shots were out of policy. Then-Police Chief Michel Moore previously found in his own review that all three shots were unjustified. Jones told the LAPD’s Use of Force Review Board that he believed someone inside the store was shooting people and mistook the bike lock the man was wielding for a gun. He said he thought a wall behind the man backed up against an exterior brick wall when in fact, the area contained the women’s dressing rooms. Rowley recently secured a $30 million settlement from the city of San Diego for the killing of 16-year-old Konoa Wilson, one of the largest settlements in a police killing case in U.S. history. It surpassed the $27 million settlement that the city of Minneapolis agreed to pay in the lawsuit over the killing of George Floyd. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
- US, Israel and Iran agree to a 2-week ceasefire as Trump pulls back on his threats
on April 8, 2026 at 4:18 amTEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran, the United States and Israel reached a two-week ceasefire Wednesday as U.S. President Donald Trump pulled back from his threats to destroy Iranian civilization. But questions emerged over what appeared to be dueling proposals to halt the regionwide war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran insisting it would charge tolls to passing ships and continue to enrich uranium. Trump then suggested American warships would be “hangin’ around” the waterway, through which 20% of all oil and natural gas passes in peacetime. That could be a potential flashpoint as the days goes on. Trump initially said had Iran proposed a “workable” 10-point plan that could help end the war he launched with Israel on Feb. 28. But he later called the plan fraudulent without elaborating. Trump has said ending Iran’s nuclear program was a key war goal. Israel backed the U.S. ceasefire with Iran, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday it won’t stop his country’s fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon, which continued through the morning. That contradicted comments from Pakistan, a key mediator, which said the ceasefire included the fighting in Lebanon. Israel’s military said later that Wednesday that it “continues fighting and ground operations” against Hezbollah. Pakistan said that talks over cementing a peace plan would begin in Islamabad as soon as Friday. Pakistan also said the ceasefire was to begin immediately, while Iran launched attacks on Gulf Arab states and Israel soon after. Oil prices fell and stocks rose as Asian markets opened Wednesday after the eleventh-hour agreement to reopen the strait. In the streets of Tehran, pro-government demonstrators screamed: “Death to America, death to Israel, death to compromisers!” after the ceasefire announcement and burned American and Israeli flags. The chants underscored the anger animating hard-liners, who have been preparing for what many assumed would be an apocalyptic battle with the United States. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said passage through the strait would be allowed under Iranian military management. It wasn’t clear whether that meant Iran would completely loosen its chokehold on the waterway. The plan allows for both Iran and Oman to charge fees on ships transiting through the strait, according to a regional official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss negotiations they were directly involved in. The official said Iran would use the money it raised for reconstruction. But that would upend decades of reliance on the strait as an international waterway free for transit and will likely not be acceptable to the Gulf Arab states, which also need to rebuild after repeated Iranian attacks targeting their oilfields. “Big money will be made. Iran can start the reconstruction process,” Trump said on social media. It’s not clear what happens when the two weeks of the ceasefire ends. There’s little public sign that Iran and the United States had resolved disagreements over the fate of Iran’s nuclear program, its ballistic missiles or its regional proxies — among the issues that the United States and Israel cited as justifications for launching the war. In addition to control of the strait, Iran’s demands for ending the war include withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from the region, the lifting of sanctions and the release of its frozen assets. All those likely are nonstarters for Trump and potentially other Western nations. Iran’s chokehold on the strait roiled the world economy and raised the pressure on Trump to reach a deal. Since the war began, Trump has repeatedly backed off deadlines just before they expire. In doing so again Tuesday, Trump said in a social media post he had come to the decision “based on conversations” with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Gen. Asim Munir, Pakistan’s powerful army chief. A senior Israeli official said the United States had coordinated the ceasefire with Israel in advance and said Israel’s government credited “the massive crushing of the regime’s infrastructure” with securing the agreement. Speaking on condition of anonymity because they were discussing private diplomatic conversations, the official said Washington had committed to pressing for the removal of nuclear material and dismantling of Iran’s ballistic missile program. Missile alerts were issued in the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait after the ceasefire announcement. A gas processing facility in Abu Dhabi was ablaze after incoming Iranian fire, officials said. More than 1,900 people had been killed in Iran as of late March, but the government has not updated the war’s toll for days. In Lebanon, where Israel is fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, more than 1,500 people have been killed. and 1 million people have been displaced. Eleven Israeli soldiers have died. In Gulf Arab states and the occupied West Bank, more than two dozen people have died, while 23 have been reported dead in Israel, and 13 U.S. service members have been killed. ___ Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Magdy reported from Cairo and Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank. Associated Press writers Edie Lederer at the United Nations, Natalie Melzer in Jerusalem and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report. Brought to you by www.srnnews.com
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