In two weeks time, New York will have its first female governor.
Kathy Hochul is currently Andrew Cuomo’s deputy, and will soon replace him in the top job after his dramatic resignation on Tuesday.
Mr Cuomo has quit– effective in 14 days time – following a blistering report from the New York attorney general’s office which accused him of sexually harassing 11 women he worked with. He denies the allegations, but has apologised for his behaviour.
His successor said in a tweet that she “agrees” with Mr Cuomo’s decision to step down: “It is the right thing to do and in the best interest of New Yorkers. As someone who has served at all levels of government and is next in the line of succession, I am prepared to lead as New York State’s 57th Governor.”
Mrs Hochul, 62, was born in Buffalo, New York, and is a granddaughter of Irish immigrants.
She earned her law degree from Catholic University in Washington in 1984, and after some time in local and county politics, she went to work for Congress in 2011. There she helped to draft legislation related to campaign finance and immigration reforms.
A centrist Democrat, Mrs Hochul has been in the New York Lieutenant Governor role since 2014.
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She has kept herself firmly out of the spotlight, but is renowned for her work ethic – she visits all 62 counties in New York every year, and claims she covers enough miles to go around the earth more than 15.5 times.
In her current role, she co-chairs a task force to combat drug abuse, and also led Cuomo’s “Enough is Enough” campaign in 2015 which sought to tackle sexual assault on college campuses.
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Mrs Hochul has long been a staunch advocate for women’s rights. She helped her mother open a transitional domestic violence shelter, and has championed issues like equal pay, access to free contraception, and affordable healthcare.
She had reportedly been readying herself to step into Mr Cuomo’s shoes.
In an earlier tweet on the allegations against Mr Cuomo, she said: “Sexual harassment is unacceptable in any workplace, and certainly not in public service. The AG’s investigation has documented repulsive & unlawful behaviour by the Governor towards multiple women.
“I believe these brave women & admire their courage coming forward.”
President Biden is expected to speak to Mrs Hochul in the coming days.
Donald Trump ally Matt Gaetz has withdrawn his name from consideration to be the next US attorney general.
Mr Gaetz, a controversial pick to be the country’s top legal official, said his selection was “unfairly becoming a distraction” to the transition of Mr Trump’s administration into the White House.
The Florida Republican had faced significant scrutiny over a federal investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving a 17-year-old girl.
He said in a post on the X social media platform: “There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as attorney general. Trump’s DOJ (Department of Justice) must be in place and ready on Day 1.
“I remain fully committed to seeing that Donald Trump is the most successful president in history. I will forever be honoured that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and I’m certain he will Save America.”
Mr Trump said in a post on his own social media site, Truth Social, that Mr Gaetz had a “wonderful future”.
“I greatly appreciate the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking approval to be Attorney General,” he wrote.
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“He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the administration, for which he has much respect.”
Mr Gaetz previously faced a nearly three-year Justice Department investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving a 17-year-old girl, which ended in February 2023 without him facing any criminal charges.
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He has always denied the allegations.
He has also been under scrutiny by the House Ethics Committee over wider allegations including sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and accepting improper gifts.
The inquiry was dropped on Wednesday 13 November when Mr Gaetz left Congress – the only forum where the committee has jurisdiction.
The Senate ethics committee is deadlocked on whether their report can be released.
Mr Gaetz’s withdrawal is a blow to Mr Trump’s push to install steadfast loyalists in his incoming administration and the first sign that he could face resistance from members of his own party.
A 43-year-old man was shot dead by police after calling 911 to report intruders had entered his home in Las Vegas.
Brandon Durham was at home with his 15-year-old daughter when he called the emergency line to report armed intruders were trying to break into his property on 12 November.
Bodycam footage shows Mr Durham struggling with a person over a knife in the moments before he was shot and killed at the scene.
“The loss of life in any type of incident like this is always tragic, and it’s something we take very seriously,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said on Thursday.
The force is investigating the incident.
Mr Durham called 911 to report multiple people were outside shooting at his residence in Las Vegas’ Sunset Park neighbourhood, where he had been staying with his 15-year-old daughter, Sky News’ US partner network NBC reports.
It was one of multiple emergency calls reporting a shooting in the area.
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Mr Durham then said someone had managed to get into his home through the front and back doors of the property and he was locking himself in the bathroom, according to a police statement from 14 November, two days after the incident.
Officers reported to the scene at approximately 12:40am and could hear screaming from inside the residence.
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One of the officers, Alexander Bookman, kicked open the front door and once inside, saw Mr Durham and another individual, later identified as 31-year-old Alejandra Boudreaux, struggling over a knife in a doorway.
Mr Bookman ordered them to drop the knife and about two seconds later, the officer fired the gun and Mr Durham appeared to be struck, the bodycam footage shows.
Both Mr Durham and Mr Boudreaux fell to the ground and the officer fired another five shots. Roughly three seconds are believed to have gone by between the first and last shot, NBC reports.
Attempts were made to save the 43-year-old but he died at the scene.
Ms Boudreaux was taken into custody and is facing charges of home invasion with a deadly weapon; assault with a deadly weapon domestic violence; willful or wanton disregard of safety of persons resulting in death; and child abuse, neglect or endangerment.
A homeless man has been arrested and charged over a plot to bomb the New York Stock Exchange.
The 30-year-old man from Florida, Harun Abdul-Malik Yener, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with attempting to use an explosive device to damage or destroy a building used in interstate commerce, having unveiled some of his plans to undercover agents, according to the FBI.
They began investigating Yener in February based on a tip that he was holding “bomb-making schematics” in a storage unit.
Bomb-making sketches, many watches with timers, electronic circuit boards and other electronics that could be used for building explosive devices were found, the FBI said.
It also said he told undercover FBI agents that he wanted to detonate the bomb the week before Thanksgiving and that the stock exchange in lower Manhattan would be a popular site to target, and that doing so “will wake people up”.
An agent also allegedly recorded him saying: “I feel like Bin Laden.”
He described how he hoped the bomb would “reboot” the US government, explaining that it would be “like a small nuke went off,” killing everyone inside the building, according to court documents.
The documents also claim he had rewired two-way radios so that they could work as remote triggers for an explosive device and planned to wear a disguise when planting the explosives.
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Yener, who had also searched online for things related to bomb-making since 2017, was sacked from his job at a restaurant in Florida last year after his former supervisor said he threatened to “go Parkland shooter in this place”, the FBI added.
He had his first court appearance Wednesday afternoon and will be detained while he awaits a trial.