3 win Nobel Prize in physics; Gaetz says he will seek to oust McCarthy; Trump sounds off outside fraud trial | Hot off the Wire podcast

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STOCKHOLM (AP) — Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in physics for their work on how electrons move around the atom during the tiniest fractions of seconds. The field could one day lead to better electronics or disease diagnoses. The award went to Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz and Anne L’Huillier for their study of the tiny part of each atom that races around the center and that is fundamental to virtually everything. Electrons move around so fast that they have been out of reach of human efforts to isolate them, but experts says that by looking at the tiniest fraction of a second possible, scientists now have a “blurry” glimpse of them and that opens up whole new sciences. The secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced the award Tuesday in Stockholm.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Matt Gaetz says he’ll try to remove House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a fellow Republican, from his leadership position this week. Gaetz’s announcement Sunday comes after McCarthy relied on Democratic support to pass legislation on Saturday that avoided a government shutdown. Gaetz is a Florida Republican who’s a longtime McCarthy nemesis. In response, McCarthy says, “So be it. Bring it on. Let’s get over with it and let’s start governing.” Gaetz contends McCarthy was in “brazen, material breach” of agreements he made with House Republicans in January when he ran for speaker. No speaker has ever been removed from office through the kind of move that Gaetz says he’ll try. The lawmakers made their comments on the Sunday news shows.

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TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — Opening statements are set to begin in the trial of three Tacoma, Washington, police officers charged in the death of Manny Ellis, a 33-year-old Black man, in 2020. Before he died, Ellis was punched, shocked with a Taser, put in a chokehold and held face down on the sidewalk as he pleaded that he couldn’t breathe. Officers Matthew Collins and Christopher Burbank, both white, have been charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter. Officer Timothy Rankine, who is Asian American, has been charged with manslaughter. All three have pleaded not guilty. Opening statements begin Tuesday. The trial in Pierce County Superior Court is expected to run until early December.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (AP) — The Powerball jackpot climbed to an estimated $1.2 billion after no one beat the immense odds and won the giant prize. The winning numbers drawn Monday night were: 12, 26, 27, 43, 47 and the Powerball 5. The prize on the line for the next drawing Wednesday night has grown so massive because there have been 33 consecutive drawings since someone won the jackpot. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million. The $1.2billion jackpot is for a sole winner who takes an annuity, paid annually over 30 years. Winners taking the cash option would receive an estimated $551 million.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The U.N. Security Council has voted to send a multinational force led by Kenya to Haiti to help combat violent gangs in the troubled country. The resolution drafted by the U.S. was approved Monday with 13 votes in favor and two abstentions from Russia and China. The resolution authorizes the force to deploy for one year, with a review after nine months. It is the first time a force will be deployed to Haiti since a U.N.-approved mission nearly 20 years ago. A deployment date has not been set, although U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said a security mission to Haiti could deploy “in months.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Army is launching a sweeping overhaul of its recruiting to focus more on young people who’ve spent time in college or are job hunting early in their careers. The Army’s aim is to reverse years of enlistment shortfalls. A major part of this is the formation of a new professional force of recruiters instead of relying on soldiers assigned to the task. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth tells The Associated Press some of the changes will begin in the next 90 days but a wholesale transformation to turn around years of decline is several years in the making. Wormuth says the Army hasn’t met its annual goal for new enlistment contracts since 2014.

The Seahawks use their defense to beat the Giants, the Brewers will be without Woodruff for the wild card round, MLB games went quicker and Russ Francis dies. Correspondent Chuck Freimund reports.

NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump has sat through hours of sometimes testy opening statements in a fraud lawsuit that could cost him control of some of his most prized properties. As he left court during a lunch break Monday, he called it a “disgraceful trial.” Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit accuses the Republican ex-president and his company of deceiving banks, insurers and others by habitually lying about his wealth in financial statements. Trump attorney Alina Habba said in the trial’s opening statements Monday that Trump’s holdings are “Mona Lisa properties” that can command top dollar. The judge already has ruled Trump committed fraud in his business dealings. If the ruling is upheld on appeal, it could force Trump to give up several New York properties.

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Two scientists have won the Nobel Prize in medicine for discoveries that enabled the creation of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 and that could be used to develop other shots in the future. Hungarian-American Katalin Karikó and American Drew Weissman were cited for contributing vaccine development during what the panel that awarded the prize called “one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times.” The panel said the pair changed “our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system.” Simply injecting lab-grown mRNA into the body triggered an inflammatory reaction that usually destroyed it. Karikó and Weissman figured out a tiny modification to the building blocks of RNA that made it stealthy enough to slip past those immune defenses.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has opened its new term with a case about prison terms for drug dealers and rejections of hundreds of appeals, including one from an attorney who pushed a plan to keep former President Donald Trump in power. The only case argued Monday concerns the meaning of the word “and” in a federal law dealing with prison terms for low-level drug dealers. The length of thousands of sentences a year is at stake. The term is shaping up as an important one for social media as the court grapples with applying older laws and rulings to the digital age.

BROKEN BOW, Okla. (AP) — A woman riding a lawnmower next to an Oklahoma airport runway was killed when she was struck by the wing of an airplane. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol says 27-year-old Samantha Hayes died Friday at Broken Bow Municipal Airport, about 185 miles southeast of Oklahoma City. The pilot of the single engine aircraft tells investigators he saw Hayes after touching down and tried to pull up. But she was struck by a wing. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating. The FAA and the Broken Bow city manager, who is listed as the airport manager, did not immediately return phone calls for comment.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The Emirati president-designate of the upcoming United Nations COP28 climate talks has called on oil and gas companies to be “central to the solution” to fighting climate change as the industry boosts its production to enjoy rising energy prices. His remarks on Monday came at a marquee oil industry event highlighting the state oil company he oversees — either feeding the concerns of those already critical of his appointment while also drawing applause from the same energy firms he wants to court at the upcoming COP28 talks starting in November.

FOLLY BEACH, S.C. (AP) — Two bars accused of overserving a woman who authorities say drunkenly hit a golf cart carrying a newlywed couple away from their reception, killing the bride, have reached a tentative settlement with the groom, who was seriously injured. Two bars agreed to pay “certain sums” to Aric Hutchinson that were described by his lawyer as “reasonable,” according to a Sept. 28 petition for approval in Charleston County Court in South Carolina. A judge must approve the settlement. The April 28 crash killed Samantha Miller, and wounded three other occupants of the golf cart. Aric Hutchinson survived with a brain injury and multiple broken bones.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials plan to endorse a common antibiotic as a post-sex morning after pill that gay and bisexual men can use to avoid some increasingly common sexually transmitted diseases. The long-awaited guideline says doxycycline can prevent certain illnesses if taken within 72 hours of unprotected sex. One official says it’s an innovative step to help battle record levels of STD infections. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention proposal was released Monday. The agency plans to finalize it after a 45-day public comment period.

WASHINGTON (AP) — New polling finds America’s college campuses are seen as far friendlier to liberals than to conservatives when it comes to free speech. Polling from the The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the University of Chicago Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression finds 47% of adult Americans say liberals are free to express their views on college campuses, while 20% say the same of conservatives. Free speech debates have roiled campuses in recent years, with conflicts arising over conservative guest speakers. Republican lawmakers in dozens of states have proposed bills limiting public colleges from teaching topics considered divisive. The poll finds 30% of Americans say states should be allowed to restrict what state universities teach.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has suggested there might be ways to bless same-sex unions. The Vatican on Monday published a letter Francis wrote to five cardinals on July 11 after receiving a list of five questions, or “dubia,” from them a day earlier. In the letter, Francis suggests that such blessings could be studied if there was no implication that the union was a marriage. The Vatican holds that marriage is an indissoluble union between man and woman. But even Francis has voiced support for civil laws extending legal benefits to same-sex spouses, and bishops in parts of Europe have been blessing same-sex unions without any Vatican censure.

On this week’s AP Religion Roundup, Ideological rifts among U.S. bishops are in the spotlight, wait times lengthen for clergy green cards, and officers stop a potential church attack.

Researchers believe climate change could be partly to blame for thousands of dead Atlantic puffins in Newfoundland, as warming ocean temperatu…

There’s a massive recall now being issued for as many as 3.3 million cars across the country all over safety concerns. The National Highway Tr…

The United States is facing new political battles a day after a government shutdown was averted.

In Eastern Europe, especially during the early days of Russia’s invasion, Ukraine captured many of Putin’s weapons and vehicles. And recently,…

Professors Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman have been jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Lake Titicaca is the most important water resource on the Andean Plateau. But over the last two decades, its waters have been dropping. The dr…

Stevie Nicks has revealed that Mattel is creating a brand new Barbie doll in her likeness.

Cubans continue to immigrate to the US in historic numbers.

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