The Wisconsin Supreme Court has struck down the state’s 176-year-old abortion ban. The court’s liberal majority ruled 4-3 on Wednesday that the ban is no longer valid because newer abortion restrictions superseded it. State lawmakers adopted the total ban in 1849. It was in effect until 1973, when the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nullified it, and was never repealed. Conservatives argued that the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe reactivated the prohibition. Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul sued, arguing that a 1985 state law that prohibits abortions after viability essentially repealed the ban.
An explosion at a fireworks warehouse in rural Northern California caused a massive fire, sending thick plumes of black smoke into the air and forcing evacuations, authorities said. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
People were urged to avoid the area for several days following the Tuesday night blast, which set off a barrage of fireworks and caused a huge blaze that led to other spot fires and collapsed the building near Esparto. The farming community is about 40 miles (64 kilometers) northwest of Sacramento.
“The fire will take time to cool, and once it does, explosive experts must safely enter the site to assess and secure the area,” the Yolo County Sheriff's Office said in a news release.
The cause of the explosion was under investigation, the sheriff's office said.
The fire was held at nearly 80 acres (33 hectares) as of Wednesday morning after scorching surrounding agricultural fields, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.
“We do believe this location is owned by an active pyrotechnic license holder,” Deputy State Fire Marshal Kara Garrett told KXTV in Sacramento. She added: “This type of incident is very rare, as facilities like this are required to not only follow our stringent California pyrotechnic requirements, but also federal explosive storage requirements.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom's office said it was tracking what happened and that state ground and air resources were deployed.
“The State Fire Marshal has sent an arson and bomb investigation team, and stands ready to provide additional support as needed,” the governor's office said on the social site X.
Bryan Kohberger has pleaded guilty to the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students. His plea Wednesday comes after prosecutors pursued the death penalty and his attorneys failed to block it. The 30-year-old faced charges for fatally stabbing the students in a rental home near campus in Moscow, Idaho. The killings shocked the small community, which hadn’t seen a homicide in five years. His lawyers unsuccessfully argued against the death penalty on multiple grounds, including his autism diagnosis and challenges to DNA evidence. The plea deal would allow Kohberger to avoid execution just weeks before his trial.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed “there will be no Hamas” in postwar Gaza. Netanyahu made the comments on Wednesday. U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that Israel had agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen. The U.S. leader has been increasing pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas to broker a ceasefire, and hostage agreement and bring about an end to the war. Hamas said in a brief statement Wednesday that it had received a proposal from the mediators and is holding talks with them to “bridge gaps” to return to the negotiating table to try to reach a ceasefire agreement.
Sean “Diddy Combs has been convicted of a prostitution-related offense but acquitted on the most serious charges at his New York trial on Wednesday. The mixed result could still put Combs behind bars for up to a decade. Combs was convicted of transporting people across state lines for the purpose of engaging in prostitution. But the jury acquitted him of racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking charges, which were related to allegations that he forced girlfriends into hundreds of drug-fueled sex marathons with other men. His lawyers said the women were willing participants.
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