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Hawking was among 21 internationally renowned scientists who attended a conference hosted by Epstein on his island and nearby St Thomas in 2006. He was also previously accused of having 'participated in an underage orgy' on the island by late Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre, according to emails sent by the financier. Epstein furiously denied the allegation and appears to have instructed his associate Ghislaine Maxwell to offer money to Giuffre's friends if they could help disprove the claims against Hawking, according to court documents made public two years ago.

Imagine that.

Vermont has agreed to a policy change that allows Christian foster parents to care for children without being forced to endorse gender ideology. The state’s decision comes after a lawsuit essentially forcing it to back down from revocation of foster-care licenses for families holding traditional religious beliefs on sex and gender. The decision made it difficult for Christian foster parents to adopt children while staying true to Christian and normal biological views that boys and girls are different. The settlement in Wuoti v. Winters and a related case finalized today comes after the Department for Children and Families (DCF) revised...

Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Tuesday dismissed viral videos of New Yorkers pelting NYPD officers with snow – contending it was just a “snowball fight.” The frozen fracas in Washington Square Park on Monday had drawn wide outrage from pro-police pols and unions, with NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch deeming it “criminal” and saying the department was investigating. But when Mamdani was asked if he agreed, he effectively waved off the snowy skirmish as childish mischief gone overboard. ---SNIP--- “This was not just a ‘snowball fight.’ This was an assault — by adults throwing chunks of ice and rocks — that landed...

For the second straight day, CNN This Morning host Audie Cornish served up carefully curated anecdotal voices to suggest broad economic discontent under President Trump. On Monday, we caught Cornish spotlighting one Republican voter — out of tens of millions nationwide — to imply GOP unease over the economy. On Tuesday, she swapped that single poll respondent for a montage of social media complaints. The segment opened with a young woman declaring, “Everything is so expensive, and our wages haven’t changed.” Minutes later, viewers saw a trio of social media clips — including that same young woman again — lamenting...

Explanation: Look up this week and see a whole bunch of planets. Just after sunset, looking west (mostly), planets Mercury, Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter will all be visible to the unaided eye simultaneously. If you have a telescope, planets Uranus and Neptune can also be seen. In order up from the horizon, the lineup this week will be Venus (the brightest), Mercury, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, and Jupiter (second brightest). It doesn't matter where on Earth you live because this early evening planet parade will be visible through clear skies all around the globe. The planets will appear to be nearly...

Team USA women's hockey stars are headed to Las Vegas to celebrate Winter Olympics gold with Flavor Flav - despite shunning Donald Trump over 'previously scheduled... commitments.' That is according to the rap icon, who claims Hilary Knight and Co accepted his offer to throw a party in Sin City after they appeared to be mocked by the president. In a leaked clip from inside the locker room in Milan, Trump phoned the men's hockey team after they defeated Canada to win a first gold medal in 46 years. As FBI director Kash Patel partied with Mike Sullivan's players, Trump...

The Mexican newspaper El Financiero reported on Monday that CJNG’s wave of terrorist violence forcefully left 1,080 tourists stranded at the Guadalajara Zoo. The stranded visitors reportedly came from other states neighboring Jalisco and had arrived on Sunday morning before the violent acts broke out. The visitors were unable to return to their places of origin due to the “narco-blockade” roadblocks that CJNG deployed across the city and were reportedly placed under law enforcement protection at the zoo. “We have 1,080 people of all ages, from babies to seniors, sheltered at the Guadalajara Zoo. They are people from other states...

Transgender individuals commit “disproportionate shares of mass public and active shooting attacks,” a Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) report shows.

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, is expected to arrive off Israel’s coast and dock in Haifa on Monday, the latest addition to US reinforcements in the Middle East as Jerusalem and Washington gear up for a potential war against Iran. As part of the reinforcements, US tankers, as well as cargo and refueling aircraft, have arrived at Israeli airports and docks. The Ford carrier strike group, officially known as Carrier Strike Group 12, entered the Mediterranean after transiting the Strait of Gibraltar, a movement reported by multiple outlets tracking US naval deployments. The US Navy...

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has ruled that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) can share tax information with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to aid immigration enforcement efforts. The unanimous decision struck down the plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction, which attempted to block the IRS from providing addresses of suspected criminal illegal immigrants to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The three-judge panel, comprised of Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan, Senior Circuit Judge Harry Edwards, and Circuit Judge Patricia Millet, ruled on Tuesday that the appellants "are unlikely to succeed on the merits of...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are betting that Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s affordability-focused message, which helped her flip a Republican-held office last November, will resonate with the country when she delivers their party’s response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night. The rebuttal gives Democrats a prime opportunity to make their case against Trump and his policies ahead of the midterm elections. Spanberger’s double-digit victory in Virginia last November was viewed by party leaders as validation of a disciplined message centered on lowering costs — one they now want to elevate in campaigns nationwide. “Virginians and...

'Tucker in hot water after Huckabee interview.' WAYNE ALLYN ROOT (GUEST): Well, look, I think Tucker is getting paid by somebody to divide our movement, to divide MAGA, the GOP, and most importantly, to divide America. Because one thing I know about America, Greg, is America has always been wonderful to the Jewish people, wonderful to Israel. We're a Judeo-Christian nation. There are more important issues to worry about than hammering on Israel and asking for DNA tests to find out if you're a descendant from 3000 years ago. It's the most ridiculous, ludicrous thing I've ever heard. It's the...

In yet another story showing why statism is ridiculous, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is under fire over a rule requiring emergency snow shovelers to show two forms of ID to help clear the roads amid a severe storm. The rule is so absurd that even CNN’s Jake Tapper appeared to take Mamdani to task over it. During a recent broadcast, Tapper brought up criticisms coming from Republicans because Mamdani requires two forms of ID to shovel snow but is a vocal opponent of voter ID laws requiring voters to show one form of ID to vote in federal...

Dean Kamen resigned from the Beta Technologies board of directors Wednesday, following revelations surrounding his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. “It has become clear that while I have done nothing wrong, my association with the recent release of documents has the potential to create additional distractions for this now publicly traded company,” Kamen said, in part, in a statement Thursday. “For that reason, I have decided to step down from the board.” The South Burlington-based electric airplane company confirmed Kamen had “voluntarily” left his role in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Thursday morning. Files recently released by...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — America's national security received a significant boost this week, as President Donald Trump announced that he had hired the goalie of the U.S. men's Olympic hockey team to guard the southern border. Trump made the announcement from the White House on Tuesday, telling the media that goaltender Connor Hellebuyck had been enlisted to stop all illegal aliens from crossing into the U.S. from Mexico. "He's unbeatable. Nothing gets past him," Trump told reporters. "I watched him on Sunday against Canada, and he was unbelievable. Pucks flying everywhere. Those Canadians didn't know what to do. He's the best...

Plymouth — In the wake of Team USA’s gold medal win over Team Canada in the 2026 Olympic Hockey Tournament, it’s worth mentioning this stunning victory—our first since the 1980 Miracle team—wasn’t an accident. It came from decades in development right here in Metro Detroit. Twenty-two of the 25 players on the team are products of the USA Hockey National Development Team (NTDP), spending time in their teenage years on the big sheet at USA Arena in Plymouth. Originally birthed in 1996 in Ann Arbor, the program was housed at The Ice Cube, where American-born players began matriculating into the...

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Zohran Mamdani have sparked backlash after urging undocumented migrants to sign up for free childcare in a Spanish advertisement. The New York mayor was joined by his socialist congressional ally in a video warning migrant parents that this is the last week to sign their kids up for free childcare in NYC 'My Spanish is not very good,' Mamdani says before introducing AOC. 'But the fight for universal childcare? That is very good. So I brought a friend to help me share why signing up for free 3-K and Pre-K this week matters.' Ocasio-Cortez then steps into...

Apple is beginning to bring its semiconductor manufacturing supply chain back to the United States. Nearly all of the most advanced chips are made in Taiwan, which China has threatened to annex. Concentrating chip supplies on an island that could be invaded, or face steep U.S. tariffs from Trump, is a big risk to Apple's business. To find out how far the company still has to go, WSJ reporter Rolfe Winkler visited several of the company's suppliers including TSMC, ASML and Foxconn in the Southwest. Inside Apple's Multibillion-Dollar Push to Make Chips in the U.S. | WSJ | 10:37 The...

A three-member panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed the U.S. military to reinstate its enlistment ban for HIV-positive people, ruling on Wednesday that the ban was based on “rational concerns.” The Department of Defense (DOD) has a “rational basis” to exclude people with HIV from enlisting in the armed forces, Judge Paul V. Niemeyer wrote in his opinion, even those with undetectable viral loads whose treatment renders them unable to transmit the virus. The ruling reverses a Virginia district court’s 2024 injunction blocking the DOD’s enlistment ban, which had been in effect since the Pentagon instituted...