FDA approves Eli Lilly’s obesity medication for obstructive sleep apnea

Scott Olson/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) -- The FDA has expanded the approval of Eli Lilly’s obesity medication Zepbound to include treating moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea for people with obesity -- the first medication approved for the condition.

The new, expanded Zepbound approval means that insurance providers, including Medicare, will likely cover the medication for people with sleep apnea and obesity. Some insurance providers, including Medicare, do not offer reimbursement to treat obesity alone.

The new approval is for people with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea who are also living with obesity. Eli Lilly estimates that is about 15-20 million adults in the U.S.

Obstructive sleep apnea isn’t just an inconvenience, it’s a serious medical condition that impairs breathing and sleep quality. Obesity and obstructive sleep apnea are linked. People tend to see their obstructive sleep apnea get better when they lose a significant amount of weight. It’s likely the weight loss associated with the medication is helping improve the sleep apnea.

Right now, there is no medicine to treat obstructive sleep apnea -- it’s only treated with a positive airway pressure device.

In a study, people who took Zepbound had at least 25 fewer breathing interruptions per hour while they slept. They also lost an average of 20% of their body weight.

The study also followed people over a year, and found that up to half of the adults taking Zepbound no longer had obstructive sleep apnea symptoms at the end of the year.

Obstructive sleep apnea is more common in men than women. Up to 34% of U.S. men have OSA compared to 17% of U.S. women, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Common signs of sleep apnea include heavy snoring at night, long pauses in breathing while sleeping as well as excessive daytime sleepiness, forgetfulness and morning headaches. The symptoms of the disorder can lead to significant medical problems.

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Jack Black, Paul Rudd to star in new ‘Anaconda’ film: ‘We’re making a movie!’

Sony Pictures Entertainment/YouTube

Jack Black and Paul Rudd will star in a new, reimagined Anaconda film.

The duo announced the news in a hilarious video on Friday, which features the two actors on a fun set enthusiastically talking about the new project.

"Hey, what's up people, we're making a movie," Black says in the video.

"Guess what it is?" Rudd continues, before Black says, "Paul Rudd and Jack Black star in the Anaconda!'"

Black then says the film will have a big snake and that "it's going to rip!"

"You want to get scared? You want to laugh? You want to celebrate with your friends? Or maybe you're alone and sad and have nobody but just want to forget about that," Rudd adds before sharing the film's 2025 release date.

"Come see our movie, Anaconda!'" Black adds.

The duo end their video with Black asking Rudd if he saw the snake for the film yet before they head off screen to see it.

Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten wrote the script for the upcoming movie, and Gormican will be directing, according to a description of the film. Brad Fuller and Andrew Form also join the film as producers.

Details about the film's plot are still under wraps.

The first Anaconda movie, an adventure horror film, was released in 1997 and was directed by Luis Llosa. It starred Jon Voight, Jennifer Lopez, Eric Stoltz, Ice Cube and Owen Wilson. The film followed a National Geographic film crew "taken hostage by a hunter who forces them along on his quest to capture the world's largest and deadliest snake," according to a description of the film.

Anaconda, starring Black and Rudd, will slither into theaters Dec. 25, 2025.

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Officer-involved shooting in Marshall

MARSHALL – Officer-involved shooting in MarshallThe Marshall Police Department (MPD) is investigating an officer-involved shooting that occurred on Thursday, December 19, 2024, in the 100 block of Interstate 20. The incident began around 1:20 p.m. when MPD officers responded to a 911 call reporting a disturbance.

Upon arrival, MPD officers encountered an individual armed with a handgun. Marshall Police officers, along with the MPD Special Response Team (SRT) and Crisis Negotiation Team, were assisted by the
Harrison County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) SRT and deputies. They attempted to de-escalate the situation through negotiations. Despite these efforts, the individual shot at officers with a handgun and an MPD officer returned fire, striking the individual. Continue reading Officer-involved shooting in Marshall

College student allegedly plotted ‘mass casualty attack’ targeting Jews

Alexandria Sheriff's Office

(VIRGINIA) -- A Virginia college student is accused of plotting a "mass casualty attack" on the Consulate General of Israel in New York, according to court records.

The FBI arrested Abdullah Ezzeldin Taha Mohamed Hassan, 18, a student at George Mason University, this week in connection with the alleged plot targeting Jews, court records show.

The case began in May, when the Fairfax County Police Department informed the agency of an anonymous tip reporting an X account that engaged in "radical and terrorist-leaning behavior," according to an affidavit in support of the criminal complaint and arrest warrant filed against Hassan in U.S. District Court in Virginia.

The account, which the FBI says it linked to Hassan, made posts in support of ISIS and al-Qaeda, according to the affidavit. Investigators say they also linked two other radical X accounts to Hassan, according to the affidavit.

An undercover FBI informant engaged with Hassan on one of the suspect's X accounts in August, and the two communicated through various platforms for several months after the source pledged loyalty to Hassan, according to the affidavit.

Hassan was allegedly careful about covering his digital tracks, telling the informant that he "cannot be caught giving instructions about attack planning" because he "believed he was already being watched due to his past," the affidavit stated. He was previously interviewed by the FBI in 2022 in part due to his "support for ISIS online," according to the affidavit.

Hassan discussed with the source "how to travel to join ISIS" and shared ISIS propaganda, before allegedly recruiting the source in October to "conduct a mass casualty attack," according to the affidavit.

Hassan allegedly sent the source a "pro-ISIS video that called for the killing of Jews" in mid-November, and in the ensuing weeks instructions on "how to prepare a martyrdom video" and bomb-making, according to the affidavit.

He allegedly picked the Consulate General of Israel as a target and continued to provide the source with support "regarding the manufacture and use of an explosive device and the planned attack," the affidavit stated.

He also allegedly discussed conducting the attack with a firearm and provided instructions on how to buy a rifle to avoid being tracked down by authorities after the attack, according to the affidavit.

Hassan allegedly directed the source to make a video before the attack for ISIS media, and that if not martyred the source "will be famous," according to the affidavit. He also allegedly instructed the source to livestream the attack so that he could "distribute it to the ISIS media department," and discussed how to flee the country following the attack, according to the affidavit.

Hassan was arrested on Tuesday and charged with the distribution of information relating to explosives, destructive devices, and weapons of mass destruction in furtherance of the commission of a federal crime of violence, court records show.

ABC News has reached out to his attorney for comment.

The suspect, a national of Egypt living in Falls Church, Virginia, was in removal proceedings with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the affidavit.

He did not live on campus at George Mason University and was barred from university property following his arrest, the school said.

"George Mason University continues to take enhanced precautions to maintain a safe and secure university community in light of the recent FBI arrest of one of its students," the school said in a statement. "As criminal proceedings progress, the university will take appropriate action on student code of conduct violations."

Hassan remains in custody at the Alexandria Adult Detention Center, the Alexandria Sheriff's Office confirmed to ABC News. He has not yet entered a plea, court records show.

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Kangaroo remains on the loose in Texas after jumping fence

(BELLVILLE) — A family in Austin County, Texas, is anxiously waiting for the return of their 3-year-old kangaroo after the marsupial pushed a gate open and hopped a fence.

The 5-foot-tall kangaroo, named Rowdy, was last seen early Wednesday morning on Pyka Road near Interstate 10 in Austin County, according to the kangaroo’s owner.

Local radio DJ Dana Tyson said she saw the kangaroo while heading to work, she told Houston ABC News affiliate KTRK.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think a kangaroo would jump in front of my car,” Tyson told KTRK.

Tyson recorded the kangaroo on camera and said she later found out a nearby resident, Marsha Matus, was missing one.

Matus said she is anxious for Rowdy’s safe return because she knows he is scared.

“He is our baby. He is not your stereotypical kangaroo. He is our pet,” Matus told KTRK.

Rowdy is one of three kangaroos owned by Matus, she said. After Rowdy got out of the pen, she said he jumped the perimeter fence and ran off. Daphne, another pet kangaroo, only got as far as the yard. And Rocky, the youngest kangaroo, who is still a baby, remained inside the house.

Matus said she loves her kangaroos and she even has kangaroo signs, yard art and a personalized license plate that reads “Roo Mom.”

“They’re unique,” she said. “I’m worried to death.”

On Thursday night, Matus told KTRK a stranger even drove down to help Matus search for Rowdy using his drone that is equipped with thermal imaging. Matus and her husband also used their drone to try and find Rowdy.

In a post on Facebook, Matus says Rowdy spends his days laying down and resting because kangaroos are nocturnal. She urges that if anyone sees him that they call the Austin County Sheriff’s Office.

“Please if you spot him anywhere you can contact myself, Austin Co Sheriff’s office or DPS,” Matus posted on Facebook. “He will not go to anyone, he will not harm anyone or anyone’s pets. He knows my voice and will come to me.”

Matus hopes Rowdy is safe and that he can make it back home.

“I just hope he’s safe because I know he’s scared. I just want him home.”

ABC News reached out to the Austin County Sheriff’s Office for comment and did not receive a response.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Kangaroo remains on the loose in Texas after jumping fence

VCG/VCG via Getty Images

(BELLVILLE, Texas) -- A family in Austin County, Texas, is anxiously waiting for the return of their 3-year-old kangaroo after the marsupial pushed a gate open and hopped a fence.

The 5-foot-tall kangaroo, named Rowdy, was last seen early Wednesday morning on Pyka Road near Interstate 10 in Austin County, according to the kangaroo's owner.

Local radio DJ Dana Tyson said she saw the kangaroo while heading to work, she told Houston ABC News affiliate KTRK.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I think a kangaroo would jump in front of my car," Tyson told KTRK.

Tyson recorded the kangaroo on camera and said she later found out a nearby resident, Marsha Matus, was missing one.

Matus said she is anxious for Rowdy's safe return because she knows he is scared.

"He is our baby. He is not your stereotypical kangaroo. He is our pet," Matus told KTRK.

Rowdy is one of three kangaroos owned by Matus, she said. After Rowdy got out of the pen, she said he jumped the perimeter fence and ran off. Daphne, another pet kangaroo, only got as far as the yard. And Rocky, the youngest kangaroo, who is still a baby, remained inside the house.

Matus said she loves her kangaroos and she even has kangaroo signs, yard art and a personalized license plate that reads "Roo Mom."

"They're unique," she said. "I'm worried to death."

On Thursday night, Matus told KTRK a stranger even drove down to help Matus search for Rowdy using his drone that is equipped with thermal imaging. Matus and her husband also used their drone to try and find Rowdy.

In a post on Facebook, Matus says Rowdy spends his days laying down and resting because kangaroos are nocturnal. She urges that if anyone sees him that they call the Austin County Sheriff's Office.

"Please if you spot him anywhere you can contact myself, Austin Co Sheriff's office or DPS," Matus posted on Facebook. "He will not go to anyone, he will not harm anyone or anyone's pets. He knows my voice and will come to me."

Matus hopes Rowdy is safe and that he can make it back home.

"I just hope he's safe because I know he's scared. I just want him home."

ABC News reached out to the Austin County Sheriff's Office for comment and did not receive a response.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Dakota Johnson, Jost Hartnett join Anne Hathaway in ‘Verity’ film

Cindy Ord/Getty Images

We now know who will join Anne Hathaway in the film adaptation of Colleen Hoover's bestselling book Verity.

Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett will star opposite Hathaway in the drama, which will be directed by Michael Showalter with a script by Nick Antosca.

Hartnett will play Jeremy Crawford, the husband of bestselling thriller author Verity Crawford, played by Hathaway. After Verity is unable to complete the remaining books in her successful series, Jeremy hires struggling writer Lowen Ashleigh, who will be played by Johnson, to finish them.

The film will be released in theaters by Amazon MGM Studios.

Verity was first self-published by Hoover in 2018. It then grew in popularity and was acquired by Grand Central Publishing in 2021. It sold more than 1 million copies in 2023.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

‘Stranger Things’ wraps production on fifth, final season

Atsushi Nishijima/Netflix

It's almost time to say goodbye to our friends in Hawkins, Indiana.

Production has ended on the fifth and final season of Stranger Things, Netflix announced on Friday. While a release date for season 5 has yet to be revealed, the show is confirmed to return in 2025.

"THAT'S A WRAP ON STRANGER THINGS. See you in 2025," Netflix shared to the social platform X on Friday.

On the same post, the streamer shared a collage of eight behind-the-scenes images from the creation of season 5. Pictures of the main cast, including Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Caleb McLaughlin, Noah Schnapp, Joe Keery, Sadie Sink, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Maya Hawke and Priah Ferguson, were seen in the collage.

The show's creators Matt and Ross Duffer were also pictured, along with director Shawn Levy. While Brett Gelman and Jamie Campbell Bower were not pictured, they are confirmed to return in season 5. Linda Hamilton is also joining the cast in an unspecified role.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

U.S. House members want answers on Texas’ decision to not review maternal deaths

WASHINGTON – The Texas Tribune reports members of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability are asking Texas’ maternal mortality committee to brief them on the controversial decision to not review pregnancy and childbirth related deaths from the first two years after the state banned nearly all abortions.

The maternal mortality committee announced in September that it would not review deaths from 2022 and 2023, instead jumping ahead to 2024. At a recent meeting, committee chair and Houston OB/GYN Dr. Carla Ortique defended the decision as necessary to offer more contemporary recommendations on reducing maternal deaths.

But U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Dallas-area Democrat, and three other members of the House Oversight Committee are questioning whether this decision was influenced by the “chilling effect on reproductive care” in Texas.

“Ignoring pregnancy-related deaths during one of the deadliest periods in Texas for pregnant women directly contradicts [the maternal mortality committee’s] statutorily required mission of eliminating preventable maternal deaths in Texas,” says the letter sent to the Texas Department of State Health Services Thursday morning.

The letter was signed by Crockett, ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democrat from Maryland, Rep. Summer Lee, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a Democrat from Massachusetts.

They are requesting a briefing from the state health agency no later than Jan. 2. A spokesperson for the agency did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Noting that Texas was the first and largest state to implement an abortion ban, the letter says the state’s “top priority” should be analyzing maternal deaths from that period and sharing their findings with the Centers for Disease Control and other states.

Last year, Texas legislators allocated money to create a new maternal death tracking system with the goal of ending the state’s participation in national data sharing. Members of the committee, including Ortique, have raised concerns about this change and its impact on data gathering both in Texas and nationwide.

The Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee studies maternal deaths to better understand why so many women are dying or nearly dying from pregnancy and childbirth in Texas. The 23-member committee also issues recommendations to improve outcomes in its biennial report.

This year’s report, released in September, showed maternal deaths jumped in 2020 and 2021, reversing two years of improvement. Every group saw worsening outcomes, even with COVID deaths excluded, except for white women. Black women remain disproportionately impacted.

Many researchers and reproductive health care advocates anticipate an increase in maternal mortality as a result of new abortion restrictions. Texas’ law allows doctors to perform an abortion to save the life of the pregnant patient, but confusion and fear of the strict penalties has led some to delay or deny medical care. Dozens of women have come forward with stories of having to leave the state for life-saving care, and ProPublica has reported on three pregnant Texans who have died since these laws went into effect.

After the news organization reported on two similar deaths in Georgia, all members of that state’s maternal mortality review committee were removed from their roles.

Texas’ committee has previously skipped some years to offer more timely recommendations. But the latest decision has set off alarm bells for advocates, researchers, doctors and pregnant women, many of whom voiced their concerns at a recent committee meeting.

“I know that we’ve always talked about how we want to be as contemporary as possible,” Nakeenya Wilson, a former member of the committee, testified. “What I am concerned about is the fact that the two years that we were skipping are the most crucial years of reproductive health in this country’s history.”

In a statement, Crockett said Texas was trying to “bury the truth” of abortion-ban related deaths.

“Texas Republicans know there is nothing ‘pro-life’ about the stories of these women and the broken families they leave behind,” she said. “I and my fellow House Oversight Democrats will not allow Texas Republicans to hide the consequences of their deadly law … The people of Texas deserve the truth.”

Kilgore will play in first state championship since 2013

Kilgore will play in first state championship since 2013KILGORE— The road to becoming a champion is long and winding, and some of the hardest moments of that journey, happen when no one is watching.

The Kilgore Bulldogs have made those sacrifices, and find themselves just one win away from hoisting championship gold.“The reason we’re in this fight is because of the work that they put in there, their dedication and discipline to prepare the right way week in and week, week out as allowed our team one to be ready to go on Friday night, and also to improve every week,” said head coach Clint Fuller. “That’s the reason that we’re we’re playing for a state championship.” Continue reading Kilgore will play in first state championship since 2013

Rep. Michael McCaul calls Tulsi Gabbard a “baffling” pick to lead intelligence

WASHINGTON — The Texas Tribune reports that U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, the House Foreign Affairs chair, called Tulsi Gabbard a “baffling” pick to lead the nation’s Intelligence Community, offering one of the sternest rebukes from a Republican yet.

President-elect Donald Trump selected the former Democratic congresswoman to be the next director of national intelligence, a cabinet-level position that oversees 18 agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency. Gabbard ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and later made a hard pivot to supporting Trump. She recently bought a residence in Leander.

Gabbard has stirred controversy for making comments sympathetic to Russian President Vladimir Putin after his 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Gabbard also met in 2017 with recently ousted Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, who has used chemical weapons on his own people as part of the Syrian civil war. Both Assad and Putin are under U.S. sanctions.

“For someone to have this history of comments that appear to be pro-Putin and pro-Assad, who have historically been our enemies, to head up our intelligence to me is a bit baffling,” McCaul said during a wide-ranging interview in his Capitol Hill office Tuesday. When asked if Gabbard’s selection caused him concern, McCaul said, “Yes.”

Gabbard has argued against continued aid for Ukraine in its defense against Russia — a priority that McCaul has fought hard for throughout his time in Congress. She posted on social media in 2022 that the “war and suffering could have easily been avoided if Biden Admin/NATO had simply acknowledged Russia’s legitimate security concerns.”

Gabbard is still subject to confirmation by the Senate, and several senators have kept quiet on how they would vote on her nomination. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, met with Gabbard in his Washington office on Wednesday. His office has not said whether he would support Gabbard’s confirmation, though he said after the meeting that he found her “impressive” and that he looked forward to the confirmation process going forward. Cornyn sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said he finds Gabbard to be “a very impressive person,” noting her service as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army.

“She’s smart. She’s serious. I think Tulsi is going to be confirmed. We’ll have a confirmation process for every one of these candidates. Under the Constitution, the Senate has a responsibility to advise and consent. But I believe at the end of the day, that all of the Trump Cabinet nominees are going to be confirmed,” Cruz said in an interview with Dallas’ WFAA.

As a member of the House, McCaul does not have a formal say in Cabinet appointments. He predicted senators would tank the nomination.

“The Senate, they typically pick and choose, and one of them will have to go down. If I were betting, I would say it’s probably the ODNI,” McCaul said, using an acronym for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Several of Trump’s picks for Cabinet positions have stirred controversy. Trump named former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to be his attorney general. Gaetz faces allegations of sexual abuse that made him subject to a federal investigation and a probe by the House Ethics Committee. The federal investigation into sex trafficking ended without charges last year. The House Ethics Committee, which includes El Paso Democrat Veronica Escobar, voted to release its report some time before the end of the year, CNN reported Wednesday.

Gaetz withdrew from the running after his nomination caused considerable controversy and Senate Republicans indicated little confidence in his confirmation.

Trump also named the Fox News host Pete Hegseth to be the next secretary of Defense. Hegseth faces allegations of alcohol and sexual abuse, which he denies, and does not have a résumé typical of Defense secretary nominees. He was a U.S. Army major and also has run advocacy groups for veterans. By contrast, Jim Mattis, Trump’s first Defense secretary, had served as commander of U.S. Joint Forces Command and NATO’s supreme allied commander for transformation before serving as commander of U.S. Central Command.

Trump’s pick for FBI director, Kash Patel, has derided the Justice Department as politically weaponized against conservatives. The Justice Department includes the FBI. He has vowed to gut the agency and disperse agents around the country, turning the FBI’s current Washington headquarters into a “museum of the deep state.”

McCaul, who previously chaired the House Homeland Security Committee and worked as a Justice Department prosecutor before his time in Congress, had less critical things to say about Hegseth and Patel.

McCaul acknowledged that Hegseth “has got baggage” but said he exhibits “some leadership qualities” and could be “very positive” as Defense secretary.

“I do think he’s probably going to make it,” McCaul said of his Senate confirmation.

McCaul expressed sympathy to Patel’s calls for streamlining the FBI, saying “with any department or agency, there’s always a case to be made for getting rid of the dead wood, and making it more agile and effective.” But he added the Justice Department “does extremely important work.”

“There are a lot of good men and women in there, the FBI and the DOJ,” McCaul said. “They’re not waking up every day thinking, ’How can I politically go after somebody?’ In fact, we never wore our political beliefs on our sleeve.”

McCaul said he was willing to buy the argument that the department was weaponized “to some extent, but I wouldn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. I do think the institution itself is very necessary to protect our national security.”

As landowners resist, Texas’ border wall is fragmented and built in remote areas

SOUTH TEXAS – The Texas Tribune says in December 2021, Gov. Greg Abbott traveled to South Texas to inaugurate the first 880-foot stretch of the state’s newly constructed wall on its border with Mexico. At the press conference, with cameras zoomed tightly on him against a backdrop of the three-story high, slatted wall in Starr County, the Republican governor declared the barrier to be impenetrable. He banged a mallet on a metal beam to drive home his point. “It’s heavy and it’s wide,” he said assuredly. “People aren’t making it through those steel bars.” Three years and $3.1 billion later, Abbott may be right. Migrants and smugglers aren’t breaching the bars. They don’t have to, because they can walk around them. Today, that completed segment, now 2 miles wide, is an island of metal and concrete surrounded by farmland — hardly an obstacle for migrants who have traveled sometimes thousands of miles to reach the United States. An investigation by The Texas Tribune has identified for the first time where Texas has built its border wall, information the state keeps secret as it pours billions into the highly touted infrastructure project. It has revealed that the unprecedented foray into what has historically been a federal responsibility — Texas is the first state to build its own border wall — has so far yielded little return on billions of dollars invested.

The 50 miles constructed through November, totaling 6% of the 805 miles the state has designated for building, are far from the endless barrier Abbott often presents the wall to be in video clips he shares on social media. The wall is not a singular structure, but dozens of fragmented sections scattered across six counties, some no wider than a city block and others more than 70 miles apart. Each mile of construction costs between $17 million and $41 million per mile, depending on terrain, according to state engineers. The Tribune also found the wall building program has been hampered by landowners on the border, who are resistant to letting the state build on their property. Since 2021, the state has asked hundreds of property owners to sign easement contracts, under which the state pays a one-time fee for the permanent rights to a strip of land to host the wall. Officials cannot seize private land for the wall like they can for other public infrastructure projects because the Legislature prohibited the use of eminent domain for the wall program. Landowners in a third of the 165 miles the state is currently trying to secure said they were not interested in participating, the firm overseeing land acquisition wrote in a wall progress report last month. This has resulted in gaps limiting the barrier’s effectiveness in the few areas the state has built. Mike Novak, executive director of the Texas Facilities Commission, the agency in charge of the project, has said in public meetings that land acquisition is the most daunting hurdle in completing the program. As a result, construction appears to be driven by where the state can most easily acquire land, instead of where wall would be most effective at deterring illegal crossings, said several border security experts who reviewed the Tribune’s findings. Texas has mostly built on sprawling ranches in rural areas, the Tribune found, while the experts said the priority should be urban centers where people sneaking across can easily disappear into safe houses or waiting vehicles.

Iranian officer charged with orchestrating murder of US citizen in Iraq

Marilyn Nieves/Getty Images

(NEW YORK) -- A captain in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps faces federal murder and terrorism charges in New York, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Friday that charges Mohammad Reza Nouri with orchestrating the murder of an American citizen to avenge the drone strike killing of a top Iranian general.

Stephen Troell, a 45-year-old American living in Baghdad, was killed in front of his wife in November 2022 after federal prosecutors said Nouri gathered intelligence on Troell's daily routine, procured weapons and housed the operatives who carried out the murder.

"We allege that Mohammad Reza Nouri, an officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, orchestrated the murder of Stephen Troell, an American citizen living in Iraq, carrying out the Iranian Regime's efforts to take vengeance for the death of Qasim Soleimani," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement announcing the charges. "Stephen should still be alive today, and the Justice Department will work relentlessly to ensure accountability for his murder."

The U.S. has said Iran sought revenge for the January 2020 death of Soleimani in an American drone strike in Baghdad.

In November 2022, the Iranian regime struck in Iraq. A group of operatives working on behalf of the IRGC brutally murdered Troell in Baghdad, where he worked at an English language institute, as Troell was driving home with his wife after work.

Nouri, 36, allegedly "played a key role in the IRGC's targeting and ultimate murder of Troell," whom Nouri appears to have believed was working as an American or Israeli intelligence officer.

According to the complaint, Nouri accumulated data including Troell's date of birth, coordinates of his residence, occupation, work schedule, telephone number, wife's name, and children's names, among other information. In the weeks leading up to the murder, he allegedly coordinated with one of his co-conspirators to procure firearms and a vehicle for use in the attack.

Troell was driving home from work with his wife when heavily armed gunmen in two cars forced the couple to stop shortly before they reached their residence, blocked any possible escape route, approached Troell on the driver's side, and, using an assault weapon, shot and killed Troell as his wife witnessed the attack in the passenger seat.

Less than a half hour after the attack, Nouri sent an encrypted messages inquiring about the wellbeing of the operatives tasked with carrying out the hit, allegedly asking, "The guys are fine?" and "They are doing well?"

In March 2023, Iraqi authorities arrested Nouri and he was subsequently convicted by an Iraqi court for his role in Troell's murder. He remains in custody in Iraq.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Texas had the largest population growth in the US again in 2024

HOUSTON – The Houston Chronicle reports that Texas led the nation in population growth again in 2024, according to new data released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau, marking at least the 14th year in a row that Texas has added more residents than any other state in the country. Texas added over 560,000 residents in 2024, according to the bureau’s latest population estimates. That’s nearly 100,000 more than second-place Florida, and more than twice as many new residents as California, which was third in population growth. The Lone Star State is now home to over 31 million residents, a nearly 2% increase from 2023 and over 7% jump since 2020. Only Idaho and Florida have grown at higher rates since 2020, census data shows.

Texas State Demographer Lloyd Potter said that Texas’ relative affordability, coupled with its growing economy and the job opportunities that come with it, have made the state a destination for over a decade. “Relative to other states, Texas is still affordable,” Potter said. “We don’t have income tax, so those factors — the jobs that we have, the affordability and the overall quality of life in Texas — make it an attractive place for people to move to.” Texas’ continued surge comes amid a year of remarkable population growth across the entire country, which the Census Bureau said was driven by an increase in international migration. The 1% growth nationwide marks the fastest annual population growth since 2001. The Census Bureau also, for the first time, included refugees in its count of immigrants in the U.S., though only at a national level. Immigrants accounted for about 84% of the 3.3 million new people in the U.S. in 2024, the bureau said. It was not immediately clear how many of those 2.8 million people were considered refugees, but part of the spike comes from improved methodology within the bureau to track net migration, the agency said. In Texas, more than half the state’s new residents between 2023 and 2024 were international migrants, Census Bureau data shows, the third-most in the nation after Florida and California.

Texas House panel may never hear Robert Roberson’s testimony

Texas House panel may never hear Robert Roberson’s testimonyPALESTINE – A Texas House Committee was left without its key witness on Friday after Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a motion late Thursday barring death row inmate Robert Roberson from testifying at the Capitol.The bipartisan House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence had planned to hear directly from Roberson on Friday at noon about his failed efforts to overturn his capital murder conviction using the state’s junk science law, which grants new trials in cases that relied on scientific evidence that is later discredited.

But Paxton’s motion, which argued that the panel’s subpoena to Roberson was “procedurally deficient and overly burdensome,” excused the state prison system from complying with the committee’s subpoena and allowing Roberson to testify in person. That left the future of Roberson’s testimony unclear.

Lawmakers have tried for weeks to bring him to Austin after the Texas Supreme Court noted in November that state officials should be able to produce Roberson for testimony in compliance with a subpoena that does not interfere with a scheduled execution. After the committee’s first subpoena expired, it served him with another one this week.

Roberson was convicted of capital murder in 2003 for the death of his 2-year-old daughter Nikki, who was diagnosed with shaken baby syndrome. He has argued that new scientific evidence discredits Nikki’s diagnosis and shows she died of natural and accidental causes. Continue reading Texas House panel may never hear Robert Roberson’s testimony