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Mamdani releases plan to combat antisemitism amid concerns over his criticism of Israel

NEW YORK (AP) -- Mayor Zohran Mamdani debuted a sweeping plan Tuesday to combat antisemitism and hate crimes against Jewish people in New York City, moving to assuage concerns from critics who see his steadfast denunciations of Israel as antisemitic.

The strategy includes increased security funding for synagogues, an increased focus on folding Jewish history into public school education, and a pledge to highlight important Jewish cultural and religious sites in the mayor's day-to-day governance of the city.

Mamdani said the overarching goal of the initiative was to "confront the scourge of antisemitism now and in the future," noting that Jewish people make up only 12% of the city's population but are the victims of around half the city's reported hate crimes.

"This is not only unacceptable, it's something we all have an obligation to change. And City Hall will lead the way," he said in a video.

Mamdani, a Democrat and the city's first Muslim mayor, has long been a vocal supporter of Palestinian civil rights and has accused the Israeli government of committing a genocide in Gaza. He has said his criticism of Israel does not amount to antisemitism, though his opponents have argued his heated rhetoric around the conflict has made Jewish people feel unsafe in the city.

The plan announced Tuesday amounts to the mayor's most forceful attempt to address concerns over antisemitism, with Mamdani promising to "build a city where Jewish New Yorkers are not only safe but celebrated."

City Hall will increase grant funding to community organizations that focus on hate crime prevention and survivor support. It will also work with public schools to address complaints of discrimination and launch public awareness campaigns on the city's human rights law and how to report suspected discrimination.

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, praised elements of the mayor's plan but called on Mamdani to lower the temperature on his rhetoric about Israel.

"For this effort to be effective, Mayor Mamdani must also commit to stopping his harsh anti-Israel rhetoric that makes Jewish New Yorkers vulnerable as there are clearly times when antisemitic attacks are fueled by anti-Zionism," Jacobs said.

Brad Lander, a Jewish ally of Mamdani and former city comptroller, said the initiative was a "thoughtful, strategic combination of education for tolerance, enforcement of civil rights, and investments in safety."

Mamdani faced a barrage of criticism during his campaign last year after he declined to disavow the phrase "globalize the intifada," a slogan some see as a call to violence against Jews, though he did not use the phrase and later said he would discourage others from saying it.

Military academies won't give tenure to civilian faculty, Hegseth says

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Defense Department will no longer appoint civilians as tenured college faculty at the United States' military service academies, according to a memo signed Tuesday by Secretary Pete Hegseth.

The memo describes the decision to stop granting tenure to civilian faculty as part of an effort to refocus the military academies on warfighting.

"To ensure our educational institutions remain firmly focused on this warfighting mission, we must address the structural mechanisms that have allowed civilian academic norms to dilute our focus on lethality," the memo said.

The tenure designation generally comes with a career-long academic appointment at a college. Advocates say the job security is a crucial component of academic freedom. Hegseth's directive apparently would not remove the designation from faculty members who are currently tenured.

The U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the U.S. Naval Academy, and the U.S. Air Force Academy all did not immediately respond to questions, and officials at the Pentagon did not offer further details on the plan when reached for comment.

The percentage of faculty who are civilians varies by military academy. It is highest at the United States Naval Academy, where roughly half of the 600 faculty members are civilians. The academies hire civilian faculty to offer expertise in topics and disciplines that military officers don't study as part of their careers, such as English and the humanities.

Hegseth's decision follows broader conservative attacks on tenured faculty appointments in higher education. Those efforts to rein in tenure are often presented as bids to rein in academics with liberal views.

Civilian faculty members often have more teaching experience and credentials than their military counterparts at the service academies, said Eric Merriam, a legal studies and political science professor at the University of Central Florida and a former professor at the Air Force Academy.

The academies have long served a dual role -- training the next generation of officers, while providing a traditional, prestigious, four-year college experience, Merriam said. The schools offer a broad, liberal arts education, in recognition that senior leadership must be critical thinkers who can understand different points of view.

Hegseth's actions signal a shift toward a narrower focus, Merriam said.

Supreme Court lets quick deportations to third countries resume for now while it weighs Trump policy

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday let President Donald Trump's administration continue swiftly deporting people to countries other than their own for now, while the justices consider whether the policy is legal.

The apparent 6-3 order temporarily lifts lower court requirements for migrants to get a chance to object before being sent to countries to which they have no ties.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments in December.

Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson would have kept the lower court order in place.

The Trump administration said last week the lower court order forced the cancellation of a deportation flight carrying about 70 people bound for three countries.

The conservative majority has sided with the administration before on the core Trump administration policy, allowing deportation flights to temporarily continue last year.

The court said it will consider several questions: whether the policy is lawful, whether lower courts had the authority to consider the case and issue a sweeping block, as well as other questions the government deems appropriate.

The order "has now allowed the administration to resume sending people to third countries where they may face persecution, torture, imprisonment, or other grave danger," said Trina Realmuto, executive director of the National Immigration Litigation Alliance and one of the lawyers representing immigrants in the case.

"But today's order does not decide that the government's policy is lawful," she said in a statement. "The Court will hear that question on an expedited schedule."

Under a series of often-secret agreements, the Trump administration has deported some 25,000 people to more than two dozen countries, from Liberia to Guyana. The vast majority have been sent to Mexico.

Former 'American Idol' singer Caleb Flynn convicted of fatally shooting his wife

A former Ohio music pastor who once appeared on "American Idol" was convicted of murder Tuesday in the killing of his wife while he was having an affair.

Prosecutors said Caleb Flynn, 40, staged a home invasion in February after shooting his wife, Ashley Flynn, a 37-year-old schoolteacher and volleyball coach.

Flynn, who claimed his wife was killed by a burglar, could get up to life in prison without the chance of parole when he's sentenced on Monday.

Flynn closed his eyes, shook his head to the side and fought to maintain his composure as the judge read the guilty verdicts on charges of murder, felonious assault and tampering with evidence. He began sobbing while the judge dismissed the jury. His attorney called the verdicts "disappointing" and said he expects to file an appeal.

Flynn appeared on "American Idol" in 2013, telling TV viewers about how his wife had encouraged him to chase his dreams on the singing competition. He sang before judges Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson and Nicki Minaj but did not advance to the main competition in Hollywood.

Prosecutors told jurors during closing arguments Tuesday that Flynn wanted out of his marriage when he shot his wife at their home in Tipp City, a suburb north of Dayton. Flynn and the couple's two daughters were home when police arrived.

The night before the fatal shooting, he sent a text to his lover saying: "I choose you. I'm free. Actions will come tomorrow," said Matthew Joseph, an assistant Miami County prosecutor.

Flynn didn't want to lose his daughters, his high-paying job at his wife's family business or his position in the church, prosecutors said.

"He wanted to keep his mistress and have his daughters all to himself," Joseph said.

Prosecutors didn't find the gun used to kill Ashley Flynn, but they said his fingerprints and DNA were all over the scene. They also said his devices showed that he was moving about the house even though he told investigators he was sleeping when his wife was shot.

Federal prosecutors charge Venezuelan man shot by ICE agent in Texas with assaulting an officer

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Federal prosecutors on Tuesday announced an assault charge against a Venezuelan delivery driver who was shot in his car by a federal immigration agent in Texas, accusing the man of striking an officer with his side mirror while trying to drive away.

Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, was charged with one count of assaulting, resisting and impeding a federal officer, according to a criminal complaint. Garces Perez, whose attorney has said he still has a bullet lodged in his back from the Sept. 20 shooting, made an initial court appearance in an Austin federal court on Tuesday, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Western District of Texas.

A nine-page affidavit from a Department of Homeland Security agent amounts to the government's fullest public account to date of the shooting in the Texas capital, which has set off protests and outrage from Democrats over the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. The document includes photos taken from body-worn cameras but no video was released, and the complaint did not say whether the agent allegedly struck by the side mirror sustained any injuries.

The accusations against Garces Perez are reminiscent of previous claims made by immigration agents after high-profile shootings, in which officers have similarly accused drivers of weaponizing their vehicles. In a handful of cases, those allegations have been undermined or walked back after the release of body-worn camera footage, and have renewed scrutiny about the DHS's reliance on vehicular stops to execute arrests.

Garces Perez was in the custody of U.S. Marshals after being removed from a federal detention center in South Texas, according to court documents filed by federal prosecutors. Separately, Garces Perez's attorneys have filed a lawsuit seeking to stop his removal from the U.S.

During the federal court hearing Tuesday, Garces Perez was in "extremely bad medical condition," his lawyer Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch said, describing him as light-headed, nauseated and confused about what was happening. For the nine days since he has been incarcerated, Lincoln-Goldfinch said, Garces Perez has not stopped pleading for surgery to remove the bullet, which is preventing him from moving his arm without pain. DHS did not immediately respond to questions on Tuesday afternoon about Garces Perez's medical treatment.

If convicted, Garces Perez faces up to 20 years in prison.

Hurricane Polo’s remnants bringing more rains to flood-struck US Southwest

PUERTO SAN CARLOS, Mexico (AP) -- Hurricane Polo smashed into the western coast of Mexico Tuesday, swamping coastal areas and toppling trees before the storm’s soggy remnants headed toward the U.S. Southwest, where residents already were struggling with floods.

Polo struck the Mexican state of Baja California Sur in the morning with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph. It crossed the Gulf of California and weakened to become a tropical storm as it moved inland to the northeast, and its remnants were expected to reach the U.S. by Tuesday night.

North-central New Mexico, including Albuquerque and Santa Fe, could feel the brunt of the severe weather, with as much as 3 to 4 inches of rain through Wednesday and possibly more, forecasters said.

That is after storms rolled through parts of the U.S. Southwest overnight Monday, saturating the ground, which can make flooding worse.

Bands of rain continued to sweep across the U.S. Southwest, causing desert rivers to surge and usually dry arroyos to rage with floodwater. Nearly all of the region was under flood watches as the complex system of tropical weather -- with Polo the main event -- spread northeast from Mexico.

“Definitely looking at the chances for urban flooding,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Carter Greulich in Albuquerque. “Don’t drive through flooded roadways. Remain out of the arroyos, especially in our urban areas.”

The system made a brisk pass through Phoenix early Tuesday, dumping up to 2 inches of rain before tapering. North of the city, a truck was swept away in a wash in the New River area. The driver got out safely, Maricopa County sheriff’s officials said.

The rocky, desert area typically gets less than 10 inches of rain annually with little vegetation to soak it up, making flash flooding a perpetual risk.

Near Zion National Park in Utah, the East Fork of the Virgin River raged with chocolate floodwater seen carrying a shipping container downstream.