State lawmakers defy governor, approving commission to weigh reparations plan
The Maryland General Assembly on Tuesday voted to override Gov. Wes Moore’s veto of a bill creating a reparations commission, clearing the way for the state to begin formally studying how to address the legacy of slavery and racial discrimination.
The Senate voted 31-14 to override the veto, while the House approved the override 93–35, exceeding the three-fifths majorities required in both chambers.
Moore initially vetoed Senate Bill (SB) 587 in May, arguing that Maryland had already conducted extensive studies on the legacy of slavery and should focus instead on policies that directly narrow racial disparities.
In his veto letter to Senate President Bill Ferguson, Moore noted that Maryland has already launched numerous commissions and study groups over the past 25 years, including one examining lynching and the state’s history of slavery.
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Del. Matthew Morgan, R–St. Mary’s County, spoke on the House floor Tuesday ahead of the vote, calling out his Democratic colleagues for talking about affordability while preparing to set up a commission for “race-bait handouts.”
“This bill betrays the original intention, the unifying event of the civil rights movement. It’s immoral and it’s fiscally ruinous to this state and it sends a message to the generations out there now in Maryland that if you’re concerned about fairness, dignity, opportunity in this state — to flee Maryland,” said Morgan.
HOUSE DEMOCRAT TO INTRODUCE REPARATIONS PUSH, DECLARES ‘MORAL OBLIGATION’ TO SEND TRILLIONS TO BLACK AMERICANS
Del. Terri Hill, D–Howard County, urged colleagues to override the veto, calling the creation of the commission a decision “we still feel is the right one.”
With the veto override, SB 587 will now establish a commission to weigh possible forms of reparations, including official statements of apology, monetary compensation, property tax rebates, child-care support, debt forgiveness and higher education tuition waivers and reimbursements.
A preliminary report is due Jan. 1, 2027, with a final report required Nov. 1, 2027. The commission is set to expire in the summer of 2028.
EVANSTON, ILLINOIS FIRST IN US TO PAY REPARATIONS TO BLACK RESIDENTS
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The Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland hailed the override in a statement posted to social media.
“This landmark action establishes a rigorous and comprehensive plan for reparations and marks Maryland’s first-ever step toward reparations,” the statement read in part. “At a time of growing attacks on diversity and equity, today’s action reaffirms our shared commitment to truth-telling, accountability, and meaningful progress for Black Marylanders.”
One of two remaining Republicans who voted to impeach Trump bows out
Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., one of the few Republicans who voted to impeach President Donald Trump in 2021, announced on Wednesday that he will not seek re-election in 2026.
“This decision comes with no reservations or remorse, only gratitude for the tremendous opportunity to have represented my home state in Congress,” Newhouse wrote in a statement.
“After over 25 years of public service, including more than a decade in the House, I am grateful to the Washingtonians who put their faith in me, as well as the colleagues I have served with on both sides of the aisle,” he added.
Newhouse’s upcoming departure means that Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., could be the only remaining House Republican who voted in favor of Trump’s impeachment in 2021, if Valadao wins re-election.
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Newhouse was one of 10 House Republicans who supported the impeachment effort. In addition to Valadao, the others were Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming; Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio; Jaime Herrera-Beutler of Washington; John Katko of New York; Adam Kinzinger of Illinois; Peter Meijer of Michigan; Tom Rice of South Carolina, and Fred Upton of Michigan.
The latter eight have since left Congress.
Newhouse won re-election in 2024 despite Trump making an effort to oust him.
“Newhouse has to go! He wished he didn’t do what he did, but it’s too late,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform just a week before Election Day.
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Trump also emphasized his support for Newhouse’s rival. “Jerrod Sessler is a fantastic Candidate and will be a GREAT Congressman for Washington State’s 4th Congressional District.”
“He is running against a Weak and Pathetic RINO named Newhouse, who voted to, for no reason, Impeach me,” Trump wrote at the time.
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Sessler, a Navy veteran, unsuccessfully challenged Newhouse for Washington’s 4th Congressional District. In addition to Trump, he was also backed by the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus.
At the time, Newhouse argued his vote to impeach Trump wouldn’t be a problem.
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“I worked very closely and successfully with President Trump and his first administration and I feel very confident that I can do that again,” he told the Yakima Herald-Republic.
Massage therapist’s call reportedly led Nick Reiner’s sister to discover dead father
Prior to discovering her father’s body, Romy Reiner – the 27-year-old daughter of Rob and Michele Reiner – was called by a massage therapist who had arrived at the Reiners’ home for an appointment, but was unable to gain access, according to the New York Times.
Romy, who ran over to her parents’ home with a roommate, discovered her father’s lifeless body and ran outside. Her roommate was the one to call 911, according to the NYT.
She did not see her mother inside, the publication reported. Paramedics were the ones to inform Romy that her mother had died.
Rob and Michele were found dead inside their Brentwood home on Sunday around 3:30 p.m. The couple’s son, Nick, had been living at the family home on-and-off for some time.
Nick was arrested on Dec. 14 at 9:15 p.m. near the University of Southern California campus.
On Tuesday, Nick was officially charged for the murder of his mother and father.
According to a press release shared with Fox News Digital, District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman says “we owe it to their memory to pursue justice and accountability for the lives that were taken.”
“Prosecuting cases involving family violence are some of the most challenging and heart-wrenching we face because of the intimate and often brutal nature of the crimes. Rob Reiner was one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation. His murder and his wife of more than 35 years, Michele Singer Reiner’s murder, are shocking and tragic. We owe it to their memory to pursue justice and accountability for the lives that were taken,” District Attorney Hochman’s statement read.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney who announced Nick Reiner would be charged in his parents’ murder lives nearby the Brentwood home where the couple was found dead.
DA Nathan Hochman was spotted walking by Rob Reiner and his wife Michele’s home Tuesday night, hours after Nick was officially charged.
Hochman, who was out walking his dog, told Fox News that he lives nearby.
Rob and his wife Michele were found dead Sunday around 3:30 p.m. Their bodies were allegedly discovered by their daughter, Romy.
Nick was arrested on suspicion of murder that same day and charged Tuesday in the double homicide.
Fox News’ Matt Finn contributed to this report.
Nick Reiner allegedly asked three strange questions to partygoers at Conan O’Brien’s Christmas party Saturday, hours before Rob Reiner and his wife Michele’s bodies were discovered at their Brentwood home.
“What’s your name? What’s your last name? Are you famous?” Nick asked comedian Bill Hader, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Nick allegedly interrupted the “Saturday Night Live”
comedian, sources told NBC News. After Hader told Nick that he was in the middle of a private conversation, a source told the outlet that Nick just stood there and stared before “storming off.”
Family friends of Rob and Michele told the Los Angeles Times that Nick also got into an argument with his parents at the event, one night before their death.
Fox News Digital’s Tracy Wright contributed to this report.
Footage obtained by the New York Post showing the moment Nick Reiner raised his hands to surrender to Los Angeles authorities has surfaced days after he allegedly murdered his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner.
Nick will reportedly make his first court appearance on Wednesday, according to The Associated Press. This comes after his attorneys said Tuesday that he had not been medically cleared to appear in court.
Nick Reiner was initially scheduled to appear in court Tuesday for the first time, but his lawyer, Alan Jackson, confirmed to Fox News Digital that “he is not medically cleared to be transported to the court.”
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman announced double murder charges against Nick following a press conference with LAPD Chief Jim McDonell.
“These charges will be two counts of first degree murder with a special circumstance of multiple murders,” Hochman said. “He also faces a special allegation that he personally use a dangerous and deadly weapon that being a knife. These charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.”
Additionally, the youngest son of “The Princess Bride” director and his wife will be “going through medical clearance.”
“Something that everybody who goes who gets arrested and gets held in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department jail goes through,” Hochman said. “Once he is medically cleared, he will be brought to court to be arraigned on these charges.”
Nick was located and arrested at approximately 9:15 p.m. Sunday. He was booked on suspicion of murder and transferred Monday to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Rob and his wife Michele were found dead Sunday inside their Brentwood home around 3:30 p.m.
Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Reiner, were found dead on Sunday, Dec. 14 in their Brentwood, California home.
Their son, Nick Reiner, was later confirmed to be a suspect for the murder of the famous Hollywood director and his wife, and was booked for the crime. He was initially booked on $4 million bail, but was then held without bail and was transferred to the Twin Towers Correctional Facility.
Neighbors who spoke to Fox News Digital said that Nick had been to rehab years ago, and she thought he was “back to normal.” He has been open about his struggles with addiction in the past, even teaming up with his dad to write the 2016 movie, “Being Charlie,” about his experience.
While discussing the movie in September 2025, Rob told NPR that Nick had “been great…hasn’t been doing drugs for over six years,” adding,”He’s in a really good place.”
He previously told BUILD, YouTube’s live interview series in 2016 that making the film with his son “brought us closer together” and helped him understand his son a lot more.
As new developments emerge following the horrific deaths of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele, questions continue to surface about the double-homicide investigation and what’s next for their son, suspected killer Nick Reiner — who was charged with two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances.
Though he was expected to appear in court on Tuesday, Nick was “not medically cleared” to do so, his lawyer, Alan Jackson, confirmed to Fox News Digital.
Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer Daniel Rubin told Fox News Digital that Nick’s defense strategy will depend on a number of things — including his mental competency.
“His defense strategy will depend on a number of factors: the weight and admissibility of any collected evidence, the testimony of any witnesses, events leading up to the deaths, the defendant’s mental health issues, and any possible mitigating factors,” said Rubin.
“If he is mentally incompetent, he will be ordered to be assessed for ‘competency’ and he will need to be evaluated by specialists to ascertain his mental competency,” Rubin continued. “If he is found ‘incompetent,’ he will need to be medicated or treated to the point where he will be able to assist in his own defense and understand the proceedings. That could take several weeks to several months.”
His defense team could also request a psychiatric evaluation, according to former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani. “The defense may ask for a psychiatric evaluation to argue not guilty by reason of insanity,” Rahmani told Fox News Digital.
“But for that, you have to be unable to know right from wrong. If you’re capable enough to have an argument with your parents at a Christmas party, you are not insane.”
Fox News Digital’s Tracy Wright and Lauryn Overhultz contributed to this report.
Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Reiner were found dead in their Brentwood, California home on Dec. 14.
After news of the beloved Hollywood director’s death broke, many of Hollywood’s biggest stars took to social media to share their heartfelt tributes.
Actress Kate Hudson shared a photo of Rob and Michele, as well as one of her and Rob on set together, with a lengthy tribute.
“The loss of Rob and Michele is absolutely devastating,” she began. “They were not only important to our close community but Rob touched so many millions globally with his art. Rob was one of the greats. Inspiring so many of us with his ability to craft films that are humorous, powerful, inspirational. He knew no genre, only great storytelling.”
Jerry Seinfeld also honored Rob on Instagram, sharing a photo of the two of them on stage with Rob’s dad, Carl Reiner, writing “Next to Larry David and George Shapiro, Rob Reiner had the biggest influence on my career.”
“Our show would have never happened without him. He saw something no one else could. When nobody at the network liked the early episodes, he saved us from cancellation.That I was working with Carl Reiner’s son, who happened to be one of the kindest people in show business, seemed unreal.”
He continued: “I was naive at the time to how much his passion for us meant. Rob and Michele married right as our show was starting and they became an imprint for me of how it’s supposed to work, each one broadening the other. Their death, together, is impossibly sad.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger took to X to share his thoughts about the late director, calling him a “rare talent.”
“In Hollywood, Rob Reiner was a rare talent: he could act, he could produce, he could direct, and he was amazing at all three,” he wrote. “He was a creative genius who left us some of the greatest movies of all time, and he was a wonderful friend. My thoughts are with his family.”
Nick Reiner was charged Tuesday with two counts of murder with the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders.
Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman confirmed Nick, 32, also “faces a special allegation that he personally used a dangerous and deadly weapon, a knife.”
The charges Nick is set to face carry a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.
“Now, prosecuting these cases involving family members are some of the most challenging and most heart wrenching cases that this office faces because of the intimate and often brutal nature of the crimes involved,” Hochman said during a press conference Tuesday.
DA Nathan Hochman said his office “will take the thoughts and desires of the family into consideration in making our decision.”
Hochman noted that prosecutors would review the case for any evidence of mental illness in his background.
“We anticipate again after the arraignment, that the process will go through the normal process,” Hochman said. “A case like this goes through at the appropriate time. If there is evidence of mental illness, it will be presented in court, and in whatever detail the defense seeks to do that.”
Hochman claimed he doesn’t anticipate the case to move fast, but insisted it will be “very thorough.”
“These are some of the most serious charges
that a DA’s office can bring against anyone,” the DA said. “And we anticipate that the discovery that we will produce to the defense will be robust. It will be very involved. They’ll want adequate time to review it, though. Again, they’ll want to go through every single factor that they can ascertain in the defense.”
Reiner and his wife, Michele Reiner, were both found dead at their Brentwood home on Sunday. The acclaimed movie director was 78 and Michele was 68.
Fox News Digital’s Lauryn Overhultz contributed to this report.
Key opportunity for investigators has ‘passed by’ as manhunt enters day 5: Fmr FBI agent
The investigation into the Brown University shooting faces hurdles after students were allowed to go home for winter break, former law enforcement officials said.
The shooting at Brown University happened around 4 p.m. Saturday at the Barus and Holley engineering building. A person of interest was taken into custody early Sunday morning, but was later released.
Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov were both killed in Saturday’s shooting. Cook, 19, served as the vice president of the Brown University College Republicans.
Following the shooting, Brown University canceled all exams, classes and any other projects that were scheduled. Students were told they could go home for winter break.
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“This choice was made out of our profound concern for all students, faculty and staff on our campus. In the immediate aftermath of these devastating events, we recognize that learning and assessment are significantly hindered in the short term and that many students and others will wish to depart campus,” Brown University Provost Francis J. Doyle III wrote in a message to the campus community. “Students are free to leave if they are able.”
Former FBI investigator Bill Daly told Fox News Digital that the decision by Brown University administrators to send students home could slow down the investigation.
“I think one of the softest aspects of this investigation is the fact that the students and some of the faculty members or assistant teaching staff who were either in the building or in the room where the shooting took place have now left to go home, maybe left the campus and are not necessarily generally available for interviews,” Daly said. “It’s certainly preferred when you have a crime occur is that you immediately segregate those people who may be witnesses so that there’s no kind of cross pollution of what people heard or saw.”
BROWN UNIVERSITY SHOOTING: TIMELINE OF TERROR THAT LEFT 2 DEAD, 9 INJURED
“That opportunity has kind of passed by,” he said. “Right now, the best thing that’s possible is for these students and maybe some of the faculty, assistant teachers, etc, who are there, to have these virtual discussions with the police, document what they believe they’ve either heard or saw.”
Daly said it’s very important for investigators to get in touch with students who were at the crime scene.
“I still think it’s a very important part of this investigation to have any of those people, any of the other students, any of faculty, the assistant teaching faculty who were there,” he said. “So the fact that they’re now kind of gone to all kind of corners of the country, this creates more of a challenge.”
The University of Idaho canceled classes for a shorter period of time after four students were killed in November 2022, though some students went home early for fall break after the shooting.
Michael Balboni, former homeland security advisor for New York State, told Fox News Digital the eyewitness accounts of the crime become harder to get since students were told they could leave.
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“It’s very difficult to try to get eyewitness accounts, everything from how did the individual walk into the room where the shooting was done,” Balboni said.
Balboni, however, said that Brown administrators were forced to make a “very difficult decision” in canceling exams and letting students go home.
Parents blindsided as top students don’t ace standardized tests before college deadlines
College application deadlines in January are approaching. As they do, students and especially parents are having tough conversations and revising their school lists and expectations in one direction: downward. Ninety percent of parents believe that their children are at or above grade level proficiency, yet, according to standardized measures, 12th-grade students have the lowest math and reading preparedness on record. Only 22% of 12th-grade students are proficient in math, and only 35% in reading.
Typically, families only realize how inflated grades are when they start looking into colleges. For instance, in 2024, the average unweighted GPA of an admitted student to UCLA was a perfect 4.0. In other words, the average student had never received a “B” in any class throughout all of high school, and potentially never even an “A-minus.”
With that realization comes another one: how unprepared their “top performing” students are. As the owner of a tutoring company, I see and hear some version of the following countless times: “My kid just got her SAT score back, and it is much lower than we expected. She is a top performer at her school but scored in the 1100s.”
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SAT and ACT scores are a rude awakening, both because parents have been misled about the academic preparedness of their kids for so long and because it’s often too late to go back and relearn everything now.
The University of California, San Diego’s latest research on the academic preparedness of its students highlights the danger: 25% of its incoming students who didn’t know how to do middle school math had perfect 4.0 GPAs in their high school math classes. Their grades did not reflect their knowledge at all, and thus, a top-performing student as measured by grades could just as easily be below the national average as above it.
In that context, an 1100 on the SAT (which puts the student in the top 40% of SAT test takers) is actually a sign, not that the student scored lower than expected, but that the student with stellar grades performed according to expectations. But parents, who assume that an A-average means their child’s academic preparedness is above average, are duped into false expectations.
The takeaway: grades alone often tell students, their parents and colleges very little about a student’s actual academic preparedness.
But there is no easy way to now deflate grades. High schools that do so, especially while most colleges still have not returned to requiring an SAT or ACT for admissions consideration, would disadvantage their students with lower grades than those of other applicants.
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Not all is lost. There are more tools than simply grades. In fact, there are better tools for assessing a student’s relative and absolute academic preparedness: standardized measures of that academic preparedness.
The College Board, which administers both the SAT and AP exams, should expand its AP exam offerings — as it has already begun doing with an AP Pre-Calculus exam. We no longer have to wonder whether a student’s “A” in Pre-Calculus means that they know Pre-Calculus or do not even know middle school or even elementary school math.
This is not hyperbole. The University of California, San Diego detailed that 12% of its students did not meet middle school level proficiency for math, and, among this group, 42% had taken Pre-Calculus or Calculus in high school. Furthermore, as previously mentioned, 25% of them had perfect 4.0 grades in math throughout high school. When grades, even perfect grades, are meaningless, we need another measure, which is exactly what more AP exams would provide.
It is bad enough that, without these measures, students (and their parents) are not receiving accurate information about their educational knowledge and skill. But misleading students deprives the least prepared students with the opportunity to get the additional help they need and the most prepared students with the opportunity to achieve higher — neither group has any incentive to strive beyond the (meaningless) “A.”
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The takeaway: grades alone often tell students, their parents and colleges very little about a student’s actual academic preparedness.
It is, thus, the case that a truly top-performing student, who could have achieved a 1500 on the SAT, is denied the knowledge and skill that she otherwise would have acquired if he or she had been required to achieve a higher standard.
That comes at a devastating cost: the student is then less likely not only to get into a better college but to afford college — many colleges will give students a full scholarship if they have a 1500 SAT score. Furthermore, students with a 1500 on the SAT are, all other variables held constant, much more likely to graduate on time with less debt, persist in a STEM major (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), and earn more.
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Grade inflation is not a harmless embellishment or a victimless lie: it depresses academic preparedness while simultaneously hiding the decline so that students are pushed along through an education system without requiring that they learn and acquire skills to advance. That’s how we end up with students who can’t do elementary school math but have perfect grades in high school math — and then college graduates who essentially have a worthless degree but tens of thousands of dollars in student loan debt.
While grade inflation is not going away, we can at least put those grades in the context of a standardized measure of academic preparedness. Expand the use of standardized testing to cover all high school classes so that struggling students can receive the help they need, top-performing students can achieve their potential, students and parents can understand a student’s academic preparedness, and colleges can select students who are best matched to succeed at their institutions.
Pastor hauled into court, facing charges for preaching John 3:16 in abortion buffer zone
A retired U.K. pastor will stand trial Wednesday, facing criminal charges for preaching a gospel sermon inside a protected abortion buffer zone.
Clive Johnston, 76, faces two charges under Northern Ireland’s Abortion Services Safe Access Zones Act for conducting a religious service based on John 3:16 near Causeway Hospital in Coleraine on July 7, 2024, according to a press release from The Christian Institute.
Prosecutors accuse Johnston of “influencing a protected person, whether directly or indirectly,” by conducting a “protest” near the hospital, where abortions are performed, in violation of the 2023 law. He is also accused of failing to leave the safe access zone when directed.
The law bans “anti-abortion protests and other behaviors” within a buffer spanning 100 to 250 meters from each entrance or exit of an abortion provider.
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According to The Christian Institute, a U.K.-based religious liberty nonprofit supporting Johnston’s legal defense, Johnston did not mention abortion during the service and no anti-abortion signs were present.
The group argues the law is being used to criminalize gospel preaching in the U.K.
“Prosecuting Pastor Johnston for preaching ‘God so loved the world’ near a hospital on a quiet Sunday is a shocking new attempt to restrict freedom of religion and freedom of speech in a part of the world where open-air gospel services are a part of the culture,” said Simon Calvert, deputy director of The Christian Institute.
“Christians are pro-life. But preaching the good news about Christ is not the same thing as protesting against abortion,” he continued, accusing police and prosecutors of “overstepping.”
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“There is a vital principle at stake,” Calvert added. “If the Gospel can be banned in this public place, where else can it be banned?”
He said about a dozen people attended the Sunday service, held near a hedge and separated from the hospital entrance road by a divided highway.
If convicted, Johnston faces a criminal record and potential fines totaling thousands of pounds, the group said.
He is scheduled to appear at Coleraine Magistrates’ Court for trial Wednesday.
“I am grateful for the kind messages of support I have received from members of the public both here and abroad, and for the prayers being offered up to God about this case by many Christians,” Johnston said in a statement, adding that he looks forward to defending himself in court.
At a preliminary hearing in March, Johnston pleaded not guilty to charges of seeking to “influence” people accessing the hospital’s abortion services and for not immediately leaving the area when asked to do so by police.
According to the press release, his defense barrister, Aaron Thompson, told the court that the buffer-zone legislation conflicts with protections for religious expression and freedom of conscience enshrined under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
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Johnston is not the first Christian prosecuted under similar laws in the UK.
In February, Scottish police arrested 74-year-old grandmother Rose Docherty for offering conversation to women contemplating abortions inside a buffer zone. Prosecutors dropped the case in August, but arrested and charged her again in September over a similar incident.
According to Alliance Defending Freedom International, Docherty was arrested and prosecuted for holding a sign within 200 meters of the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital that read, “Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want.” She was detained for several hours before being charged and released on bail, the legal group said in a press release.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said it does not comment on named individuals in criminal cases.
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The Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland told Fox News Digital, “Following careful consideration of all the available evidence in a police investigation file, a decision was taken to prosecute an individual for one count of allegedly doing an act in a safe access zone contrary to the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act (Northern Ireland) 2023 and one count of failing to comply with a direction under the same Act. All PPS decisions are taken impartially, independently and strictly in line with the Code for Prosecutors.”
“As proceedings in this case will begin imminently, it would be inappropriate to comment any further.”
Ed Orgeron responds to Joe Burrow’s comments on his commitment to football
Joe Burrow stunned the football world last week after making concerning comments about his long-term commitment to playing professional football.
Burrow entered the league in 2020 but has dealt with numerous injuries during his budding career. He tore the ACL and MCL in his left knee during his rookie season, suffered a torn ligament in his right wrist in 2023 and missed several games this season with a turf toe injury.
“If I wanna keep doing this, I have to have fun doing it. I’ve been through a lot and if it’s not fun, what am I doing it for? So, that’s the mindset I’m trying to bring to the table,” Burrow said.
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There are surely going to be ups and downs throughout a football career, but the comments even took Burrow’s former coach, Ed Orgeron, by surprise.
“I never heard Joe sound like that, so it did strike me, yeah,” Orgeron said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital. “But Joe’s going to bounce back. Joe’s a fighter. He might have had a bad day, so somebody might have told him something that p’d him off on the way over there. I don’t know, but I do believe he’s a fighter and I do believe he has a lot of football left. I do believe he’s going to fight through it.”
Orgeron and Burrow will forever be attached, as Burrow transferred to Orgeron’s LSU and went on to win the Heisman Trophy and a national championship on one of the greatest college football teams of all time. He parlayed all of that into becoming the No. 1 pick five years ago and earning a lucrative NFL contract.
But Orgeron said he does not want to cling onto his former quarterback, unless he feels he needs to.
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“I do believe that if I feel like I got to reach out to him, I will. But I know there’s probably 25, 30 people that saw that, a million that wanted to call them, 25 or 30 that are really close to him and maybe have reached out to him. But if the time comes, when we have to talk, if he needs me, I’m always going to be there,” he said.
“I text him once in a while. I’m not one that hangs on the coattails of my players. I wish him well. We text maybe twice a year, but if I texted him right now, and he’s not practicing, he’d answer me in 30 seconds.”
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Burrow’s Cincinnati Bengals were officially eliminated from playoff contention Sunday after getting shut out at home by the Baltimore Ravens. Burrow was 25-for-39 for 225 yards and two interceptions in the 24-0 loss.
MIT professor slain in home as investigators search for shooter: what we know
BROOKLINE, Mass. – Authorities are investigating the death of a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor after he was found fatally shot inside his Boston-area apartment earlier this week.
Nuno F.G. Loureiro, 47, died at a hospital on Tuesday morning after being shot on Monday night inside his apartment in Brookline, Massachusetts, the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
Officers with the Brookline Police Department arrived at the three-story apartment building after receiving reports of a man shot at his home, prosecutors said. Loureiro was pronounced dead Tuesday morning.
Here is what we know about the investigation:
MIT PROFESSOR SHOT DEAD IN BROOKLINE HOME, MASSACHUSETTS STATE POLICE LAUNCH HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION
Shooting rocks Boston suburb
The shooting took place in Brookline, an affluent suburb a few miles outside of Boston. It is being investigated as a homicide, and no suspects have been taken into custody.
The Brookline Police Department and Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office are investigating Loureiro’s death, the Massachusetts State Police said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
“This remains an active and ongoing homicide investigation,” Brookline Chief of Police Jennifer Paster said in a social media post. “In order to protect the integrity of the investigation, we are limited in the information we can share at this time and ask for the community’s understanding and patience. While we investigate this incident, we will have dedicated patrol cars, officers, and unmarked units in the Gibbs Street neighborhood.”
The Brookline Police Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Louise Cohen, who is Loureiro’s upstairs neighbor, was lighting a menorah candle on Monday at around 8:30 p.m. when she heard multiple gunshots, The Boston Globe reported.
Upon opening her door, Cohen reportedly witnessed Loureiro lying on his back inside the apartment building’s entrance and called 911, along with another neighbor and Loureiro’s wife.
“I can’t sleep now,” Cohen said, according to the Globe. “This family is so amazing. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to kill him.”
Questions about Brown University shooting
Loureiro’s death comes as authorities in Providence, Rhode Island – located about 50 miles away – are still searching for the gunman who killed two Brown University students and injured nine others during a class study session on Saturday.
However, Ted Docks, special agent in charge of FBI Boston, told reporters on Tuesday that, “It seems that there’s no connection,” between the two crimes.
The FBI did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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Professor makes mark at MIT
Loureiro joined MIT in 2016 and was appointed to lead the school’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center last year, when he aimed to research and expand clean energy technology, according to The Associated Press. The center stands as one of the school’s largest laboratories and had over 250 researchers, staff members and students when Loureiro was selected as its leader, the school’s website stated.
On Tuesday night, a crowd of two dozen mourners gathered to commemorate Loureiro at his home in Brookline, many of whom were crying.
They held candles and hugged one another, less than 24 hours after the MIT professor was found shot at the very same location.
A Brookline High School student told Fox News Digital that he met Loureiro when he was in middle school. Both he and Loureiro’s daughter attended the same karate class, and Loureiro would drive the two together.
The student said he saw the professor nearly every other weekend for a time.
“He was always very welcoming,” the student said. “I used to have trouble being on time back then, and he would always be very gracious and forgiving. He was very inviting.”
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The high school student also said that at one point, he was really interested in politics, and “loved talking to [Loureiro] about it.”
“He was just a great guy, very respectful, very nice,” he added. “They’re just a great family, really, really great people.”
One mother at the vigil told Fox News Digital that her daughter is friends with Loureiro’s, but was too emotional to continue. She described the shooting as “senseless.”
Eurydice Hirsey, another Brookliner, told Fox News Digital that she knew Loureiro through his wife, Ines. The couple shared three children, Hirsey said, who range in age from elementary school to college.
“We take [dance] classes together several times a week,” she said. “I just saw her last night.”
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“She’s always [a] very wonderful, upbeat, smart, funny woman. And then I found out [about the shooting at] 10 o’clock this morning from one of the people in the class.”
“It’s a family that’s feeling such raw horror… terror,” said Hirsey. “And what do you do with something that’s indescribable?”
Hirsey’s husband added that the “only answer to terrorism is a strong civil society.”
“And in the meantime, we face a lot of hate and suffering,” he said.
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On Tuesday, members of the local community and fellow MIT faculty began speaking out to express their shock surrounding Loureiro’s death.
“Our deepest sympathies are with his family, students, colleagues, and all those who are grieving,” MIT spokesperson Kimberly Allen wrote in a statement to Fox News. “Focused outreach and conversations are taking place within our community to offer care and support for those who knew Prof. Loureiro, and a message will be shared with our wider community.”
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According to Loureiro’s faculty page, the renowned professor studied physics at the Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon, Portugal in 2000, and later went on to earn a doctorate in physics at Imperial College London, U.K., in 2005.
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Additionally, he completed postdoctoral work at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory from 2005 to 2007, and at the UKAEA Culham Centre for Fusion Energy from 2007 to 2009. Before joining MIT in 2016, Loureiro held a research position at the Institute for Plasmas and Nuclear Fusion at IST Lisbon.
In a statement posted to social media, U.S. Ambassador to Portugal John J. Arrigo added, “I extend my deepest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Nuno Loureiro, who led MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center. We honor his life, his leadership in science, and his enduring contributions.”
FOX News gets first look at trailer for the upcoming Melania Trump film
EXCLUSIVE: First lady Melania Trump is giving Fox News an exclusive first look at her upcoming film, “MELANIA,” set to hit theaters worldwide next month.
The 104-minute film is set to hit theaters globally on Jan. 30, 2026, appearing in theaters across North America, South America, Asia, Europe, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and more. Amazon will also launch a documentary series in the coming months.
“History is set in motion during the 20 days of my life prior to the U.S. Presidential Inauguration,” the first lady told Fox News. “For the first time, global audiences are invited into theaters to witness this pivotal chapter unfold—a private, unfiltered look as I navigate family, business, and philanthropy on my remarkable journey to becoming First Lady of the United States of America.”
Fox News exclusively obtained the trailer, which opens with the first lady walking into the U.S. Capitol rotunda ahead of her husband’s second inauguration. She looks to the camera in her now-iconic inauguration outfit, and says: “Here we go again.”
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The trailer jumps from the first lady and president at the inauguration; to standing together outside of Mar-a-Lago; behind-the-scenes of the inauguration showing Baron Trump and Mrs. Trump’s father; to a series of images of the first lady; Air Force One; the presidential seal and more.
The infamous Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) lion roars and takes over the screen.
The trailer then shows Mrs. Trump entering a room where President Trump stands at a podium during a meeting and is rehearsing a speech.
“My proudest legacy will be that of peacemaker,” Trump said.
The first lady breaks in and says: “Peacemaker and unifier.”
The trailer shows the first lady getting out of a vehicle, sporting a pair of black stiletto boots, and jumping to the East Wing residence, where she stands in her stunning white and black inaugural ball gown, and smiles at the camera.
The trailer invites the audience to “witness history in the making.”
The trailer also shows the first lady reviewing materials with staff and more.
It cuts to a scene of Mrs. Trump asking a security detail “is it safe?” and the agent confirming “it is safe,” before the film cuts to sirens and the motorcade driving through a city.
“20 days to become first lady of the United States,” the trailer says.
“Everyone wants to know,” Melania Trump says. “So here it is.”
The trailer ends with Mrs. Trump calling “Mr. President” to say “congratulations.”
“Did you watch it?” President Trump says through the phone.
“I did not. Yeah, I will see it on the news,” Mrs. Trump says.
The film is set to hit theaters around the globe on January 30.
The first lady said that the story “has never been told, and because the subject matter is historically consequential, it was imperative for me to produce a film of the highest cinematic standard, suitable exclusively in theaters worldwide.”
“The 20 days of my life, preceding the U.S. Presidential inauguration, constitutes a rare and defining moment—one that warrants meticulous care, integrity, and uncompromising craftsmanship,” she said. “I am proud to share this very specific moment of my life—20 days of intense transition and planning—with moviegoers and fans across the globe.”
Fox News Digital has learned that the first lady was involved “in every aspect” of the film — from her “creative vision,” to working as a producer on the film and to ensuring the post-production marketing is executed properly. Fox News Digital has learned that the first lady has been very “hands on” from start to finish.
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“She is giving the audience unprecedented access to her life — and to any first lady’s life — during this 20-day period,” a source familiar with the planning of the film told Fox News Digital.
The film takes the audience through the first lady’s life leading up to the inauguration — from her home in Trump Tower in New York City, to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, and behind-the-scenes access in Washington D.C.
Mrs. Trump first had the idea for the film in November 2024, after President Trump won the election.
Marc Beckman, Mrs. Trump’s agent and exclusive senior advisor, led negotiations on her behalf with Amazon, specifically with Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, beginning on Nov. 18, 2024.
Fox News Digital has learned that Disney sought to obtain the exclusive rights to the film, as well as Netflix and Paramount. Amazon and MGM had the highest bid, purchasing the license for the film for $40 million — the largest documentary deal in history.
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“I’m honored to be working with Amazon — they’ve been great partners from the minute we started to negotiate the deal, through production and now as we gear up for the film’s release,” Beckman told Fox News Digital.
“Speaking of the deal, there has been so much speculation in the press on the bidding and how we ended up with Amazon, that we’re at a point where it’s worth clarifying a few things,” Beckman said.
First, Beckman told Fox News Digital that some bidders were “interested only in a film, and others only in a series.”
“Amazon ended up bidding on both, and checked all the boxes we were looking for, as they could also deliver a theatrical film release,” Beckman explained.
Beckman stressed that he negotiated the deal on behalf of the first lady while dealing with “all the studios directly.”
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“I’ve seen reporting that Amazon paid nearly three times the nearest other bid, and that’s just false,” Beckman said. “It was an incredibly competitive bidding process with multiple rounds of bids.”
Beckman added: “Yes, Amazon had the highest bid, but they also bid on the most product — series and film.”
Filming began in December 2024. The film is executive produced by Trump and Fernando Sulichin of New Element Media, with Brett Ratner of RatPac Entertainment serving as director.
The film itself is produced in a “highly cinematic” way. Sources familiar with the production told Fox News Digital that the first lady did not want the film to look like a documentary, but rather an “elevated film.”
The launch of the film comes a year after the release of her first-ever book, “Melania.” The memoir presents an intimate portrait of Melania Trump and includes personal stories and family photos she had not previously shared with the public.
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“Melania” has been at the top of the New York Times’ best-selling list since its release to the public.
Upon the release of the memoir last year, the first lady told Fox News Digital that writing her story was “an amazing journey filled with emotional highs and lows.”
“Each story shaped me into who I am today,” she said. “Although daunting at times, the process has been incredibly rewarding, reminding me of my strength, and the beauty of sharing my truth.”
“Melania” is the first lady’s first book. She released the original book along with a special collector’s edition that includes photos hand-selected by the first lady, many of which she photographed herself of her home and of various trips she has taken around the world.