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A Canadian man posed as a commercial pilot and as a working flight attendant to obtain hundreds of free flights from U.S. airlines, authorities said. Dallas Pokornik, 33, of Toronto, was arrested in Panama after being indicted on wire fraud charges in federal court in Hawaii last October. He pleaded not guilty Tuesday following his extradition to the United States. According to court documents, Pokornik was a flight attendant for a Toronto-based airline from 2017 to 2019, then used fake employee identification from that carrier to obtain tickets reserved for pilots and flight attendants on three other airlines. U.S. prosecutors said Tuesday that Pokornik even requested to sit in an extra seat in the cockpit — the “jump seat” — typically reserved for off-duty pilots. It was not clear from court documents whether he ever actually rode in a plane’s cockpit, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to say. The indictment did not identify the airlines that let him fly for free except to say they are based in Honolulu, Chicago and Fort Worth, Texas. Representatives for Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines and American Airlines — which are respectively based in those cities — didn’t immediately respond to emails from The Associated Press seeking comment. The indictment also does not identify the Toronto-based airline. Air Canada, with headquarters in Montreal and a hub in Toronto, said in an email Wednesday it had no record of anyone named Pokornik having worked at the carrier. The scheme lasted four years, the U.S. prosecutors in Hawaii said. A U.S. magistrate judge on Tuesday ordered Pokornik to remain in custody. His federal defender declined to comment. The allegations against Pokornik are reminiscent of “Catch Me If You Can,” the movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio that tells the story of Frank Abagnale posing as a pilot to defraud an airline and obtain free flights. In 2023, an off-duty airline pilot riding in the cockpit of a Horizon Air flight said “I’m not OK” just before trying to cut the engines midflight. That pilot, Joseph Emerson, later told police he had been struggling with depression. A federal judge sentenced that man to time served last November. —- This story has been corrected to note that Air Canada is based in Montreal, not Toronto.

The CEOs of five major health insurers are set to face a grilling from members of Congress on Thursday as House Republicans seek to place blame for rising health care costs. The back-to-back hearings before the Energy and Commerce and the Ways and Means committees come after Republicans allowed enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies to expire at the end of last year, a move that led to sharp premium increases for millions of Americans. Congress has few immediate plans to address the lapse in the tax credits. The House and the Senate have yet to reach a deal to lower skyrocketing health insurance premiums. And with the Senate out this week and the House set to go into recess next week, the odds of passing a bill anytime soon are very slim, experts say. “Insurance companies are an easy target because they make people miserable through prior authorization review and in many other ways,” said Drew Altman, president and CEO of KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research group. The CEOs of UnitedHealth Group, CVS Health Group, Cigna Health Group, Elevance Health and Ascendiun are set to testify. Health care Jan 8 House passes bill to extend health care subsidies in defiance of GOP leaders Laws Dec 31, 2025 New laws in 2026 target AI and deepfakes, paid leave and rising health care premiums Health care Dec 25, 2025 Health care will get more expensive for some in 2026 – and cheaper for others President Donald Trump and Republicans are facing criticism from voters about the cost of living, including health care. Last week, Trump rolled out his long-awaited health care plan, which included a proposal to redirect funding used for ACA subsidies into health savings accounts. The plan offered few details and drew criticism for largely restating ideas Trump has previously floated. Many of the proposals need congressional approval, raising questions about how quickly — or whether — they can be implemented. Trump’s plan is not expected to be the focus of Thursday’s hearings. Instead, they are expected to be the first in a series to examine the “root causes” driving higher health care prices, committee Chairs Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., and Jason Smith, R-Mo., said in a statement. Thursday’s hearings will also take aim at the ACA, which Republicans say is a major driver of higher health care costs. “The ACA mandated coverage for individuals regardless of underlying health conditions and largely prohibited plans from underwriting plans at the individual level,” a hearing document says, “effectively increasing health care access and affordability for the unhealthiest Americans but also driving up health care costs for healthier Americans.” Gideon Lukens, a senior fellow and director of research and data analysis on the health policy team at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research group, said the ACA fixed the issues around coverage for people with pre-existing conditions and made the overall insurance market “functional and stable.” “Before the ACA, insurers on the individual and small-group markets could deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions like cancer or diabetes, or could charge them much more,” he said. “Insurance premiums in these markets often fluctuated widely year to year, and options were limited.” The “elephant in the room,” he added, is the expired enhanced ACA tax credit. “A hearing on health care affordability should focus on the affordability crisis that’s unfolding right now because of the choice to allow the enhancements to expire,” Lukens said. “A lot of harm can still be prevented, but an extension is needed as soon as possible.” Insurers have long argued that premium hikes largely reflect rising costs elsewhere in the health care system, particularly rising hospital and prescription drug costs. Premiums rose this year not only for ACA plans, but also for job-based insurance and Medicare. According to written testimony, Stephen Hemsley, the CEO of UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest…

President Donald Trump on Thursday inaugurated his Board of Peace to lead efforts at maintaining a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas, insisting that “everyone wants to be a part” of the body he said could eventually rival the United Nations — despite many U.S. allies opting not to participate. In a speech at the World Economic Forum, Trump sought to create momentum for a project to map out a future of the war-torn Gaza Strip that has been overshadowed this week, first by his threats to seize Greenland, then by a dramatic retreat from that push. “This isn’t the United States, this is for the world,” he said, adding, “I think we can spread it out to other things as we succeed in Gaza.” The event featured Ali Shaath, the head of a new, future technocratic government in Gaza, announcing that the Rafah border crossing will open in both directions next week. But there was no confirmation of that from Israel, which said only that it would consider the matter next week. The Gaza side of the crossing, which runs between Gaza and Egypt, is currently under Israeli military control. Shaath, an engineer and former Palestinian Authority official from Gaza, is overseeing the Palestinian committee set to govern the territory under U.S. supervision. US & World Gaza Jan 18 $1 billion gets a permanent seat on Trump's Board of Peace for Gaza Gaza Jan 17 Israel objects to U.S. announcement of leaders who will help oversee next steps in Gaza Gaza Nov 30, 2025 Gaza death toll rises to 70,000 as ceasefire is tested by repeated outbreaks of violence The new peace board was initially envisioned as a small group of world leaders overseeing the ceasefire, but it has morphed into something far more ambitious — and skepticism about its membership and mandate has led some countries usually closest to Washington to take a pass. Trump tried not to let those not participating ruin his unveiling party, saying 59 countries had signed onto the board — even though heads of state, top diplomats and other officials from only 19 countries plus the U.S. actually attended the event. He told the group, ranging from Azerbaijan to Paraguay to Hungary, “You’re the most powerful people in the world.” Trump has spoken about the board replacing some U.N. functions and perhaps even making that entire body obsolete one day. But he was more conciliatory in his remarks on the sidelines of the forum in the Swiss alps. “We’ll do it in conjunction with the United Nations,” Trump said, even as he denigrated the U.N. for doing what he said wasn’t enough to calm some conflicts around the globe. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said some countries’ leaders have indicated they plan to join but still require approval from their parliaments. Why some countries aren’t participating Big questions remain, however, about what the eventual board will look like. Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country is still consulting with Moscow’s “strategic partners” before deciding to commit. The Russian was hosting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday in Moscow. Others are asking why Putin and other authoritarian leaders had even been invited to join. Britain’s foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, said her country wasn’t signing on “because this is about a legal treaty that raises much broader issues.” “And we do also have concerns about President Putin being part of something which is talking about peace, when we have still not seen any signs from Putin that there will be a commitment to peace in Ukraine,” she told the BBC. In the News Russia-Ukraine War Jan 6 Progress for Ukraine talks in Paris uncertain with U.S. focus on Venezuela and Greenland tension Russia-Ukraine War Jan 5 Trump says that Ukraine didn't target Putin residence in drone strike as Kremlin claims Russia-Ukraine War Dec 29, 2025 U.S. offers Ukraine 15-year security guarantee as part of peace plan, Zelenskyy says Norway and Sweden have indicated they won’t participate. France declined…

An autopsy commissioned by the family of the Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an immigration officer in Minneapolis earlier this month, found that she suffered three clear gunshot wounds, including one to her head, lawyers for the woman’s family said Wednesday. One of the injuries was to Good’s left forearm, the lawyers said in a statement, while another gunshot struck her right breast without piercing major organs. Neither of those wounds were immediately life-threatening, the attorneys said. A third shot entered the left side of Good’s head near the temple and exited on the right side, according to the statement, and she also appeared to have suffered a graze wound. The attorneys said the autopsy was conducted by a “highly respected” and credentialed independent medical pathologist. “We believe the evidence we are gathering and will continue to gather in our investigation will suffice to prove our case,” Lead Attorney Antonio M. Romanucci said in the statement. “The video evidence depicting the events of January 7, 2026, is clear, particularly when viewed through the standards of reasonable policing and totality of circumstances.” The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office has not yet released its findings about Good’s death to her family or their legal team, according to the attorneys. A search of cases on the medical examiner’s office website Wednesday night did not yield any results for Good’s death. Good, 37, was fatally shot in the driver’s seat of her SUV during an encounter with Jonathan Ross, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, in a residential part of Minneapolis on Jan. 7. The shooting followed the deployment of thousands of immigration officers to the Twin Cities. Music & Musicians Jan 19 Bruce Springsteen dedicates song to Renee Good, decries crackdown on immigrants during New Jersey performance Minnesota Jan 16 Minneapolis reports reveal chaotic moments after ICE officer fatally shot Renee Good Minnesota Jan 9 New cellphone video shows victim interacting with ICE officer moments before fatal shooting The encounter, which was captured on cell phone videos, showed Good’s wife — who was outside the SUV — calling Ross “big boy” and telling him to show his face. Other officers at the scene could be heard telling Good to get out of the car, and she could be seen turning the steering wheel away from Ross and beginning to drive. Multiple gunshots could be heard before Good’s SUV crashed into a parked vehicle. On a video recorded by Ross, a male voice could be heard saying, “f—–g bitch” moments before the crash. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused Good of being a “domestic terrorist” without providing evidence and said Ross acted in self-defense. He was treated in a hospital for injuries he sustained in the incident and was released soon after, Noem said shortly after the shooting. A DHS official later told NBC News that Ross suffered internal bleeding but did not elaborate on his injuries. In an email Wednesday night, a department spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin accused Good of refusing to comply with officers’ commands. “If you impede law enforcement operations, ignore law commands, and use a deadly weapon to kill or cause bodily harm to a federal law enforcement office there are dangerous, and in this case deadly, consequences,” McLaughlin said. “This was entirely preventable.” In an earlier statement, Good’s attorneys described her and her wife as “responsible community members who lived peacefully and did not engage in harmful conduct toward others, including the federal agents involved on January 7, 2026.” Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, as well as other local officials, have criticized the federal immigration operations in the area. Walz and Frey, both Democrats, have also been at odds with federal authorities who have sought to justify Good’s shooting. The FBI is investigating the shooting. State…

The Attorney General of New Jersey Matthew Platkin and the state’s Division on Civil Rights filed a lawsuit last week against Clark Township alleging the town and its police department “systematically discriminated against and harassed Black and other non-white motorists.” The lawsuit comes following an investigation that focused on the time period from 2015 through March 2025. The investigation allegedly found that Clark Township and the Clark Police Department had a number of discriminatory policing practices following commands from the town’s longtime former mayor, Salvatore Bonaccorso, and police leadership. Back in 2020, the Union County Prosecutor took over the running of the Clark Police Department amid misconduct allegations, with the state attorney general promising a public report on the problems there. Now, the attorney general’s lawsuit says that before the Union County Prosecutor’s Office took over Clark Police operations in July 2020, the town’s leadership instructed officers to keep Black people out of the town through policing practices. According to the lawsuit, Bonaccorso allegedly directed police to “keep chasing the spooks out of town,” using a racial slur to refer to Black people. The lawsuit alleges — showing data analysis — that Black and Hispanic drivers were stopped and searched at far higher rates than white drivers prior to UCPO taking over the department. However, even though some racial disparities continued even after UCPO overseeing the police department, the data from 2020 to 2024 reveals “notable” improvements in policing practices that show a reduction racial disparities, the attorney general’s office said. According to the data presented in the lawsuit, while more than 37% of the drivers stopped by Clark Police were Black or Hispanic, only 11% of the town’s population was Black or Hispanic. Additionally, 53% of the drivers stopped outside of Clark’s boundaries were Black or Hispanic. The lawsuit data also shows that Black and Hispanic drivers who were stopped were searched “respectively, at rates 3.7 times and 2.2 times higher than white drivers,” according to the Attorney General’s Office. The New Jersey State PBA issued a statement on Jan. 15 following the lawsuit filing, said: “The New Jersey State PBA blasts the outrageous civil suit by the Attorney General. It is clear that, as Attorney General Matthew Platkin leaves office, he is trying to alter history. Today’s actions by his office are said to be an examination of practices over 10 years. His office has been in charge of the Clark Police Department for nearly 5 1/2 years. In July of 2020, Union County Prosecutors Office took over Clark Police Members of Clark PBA Local #135 were outraged by the back-door comments made by leaders of their department years ago. The officers themselves made the cultural shift—not because of lawsuits, but because it was the right thing to do. The AG’s own data confirms that Clark officers are policing honorably. It is a shame that the Attorney General’s press release failed to acknowledge the professionalism of the members of the Clark Police Department. It was a simple factual statement that was glaringly missing from the Attorney General’s statement today.The NJSPBA will stand up for our members and continue to call out political grandstanding.” Meanwhile, current Clark Mayor Angel Albanese issued a statement the same day of the filing, calling the lawsuit “frivolous workings of an outgoing Attorney General playing politics.” Albanese’s statement said in part: “The fact is, based upon the unfortunate and reprehensible comments of a handful of Police Department employees that occurred nearly a decade ago, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office had established oversight of the Clark Township Police…