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LOS ANGELES (AP) — The longest U.S. government shutdown in history is officially over, but the fallout will continue to hit two groups particularly hard for months to come: federally funded defense lawyers and the people they represent. Thousands of court-appointed lawyers, known as Criminal Justice Act panel attorneys, along with paralegals, investigators, expert witnesses and interpreters, haven’t been paid since June after federal funding for the Defender Services program fell $130 million short of what the judiciary requested and ran out July 3. They had been told they would receive deferred payment once Congress passed a new budget, but as the government shutdown dragged on, many couldn’t move forward with trials or take on new clients. Nationally, CJA lawyers handle about 40% of cases where the defendant cannot afford an attorney. As many cases have ground to a halt, defendants’ lives have been put on hold as they wait for their day in court. Meanwhile, the federal government has continued to arrest and charge people. “The system’s about to break,” Michael Chernis, a CJA panel attorney in southern California, said during the shutdown. He hasn’t taken new cases since August and has had to take out a loan to make payroll for his law firm. Unpaid defense team members in several states said they had to dip into personal retirement savings or turn to gig work, such as driving for Uber, to support their families. Panel attorneys should begin receiving payment as early as next week. Judge Robert Conrad, the director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, said in a Thursday memo that the resolution Congress passed to fund the government through Jan. 30 provided an extra $114 million for the Defender Services program “to address the backlog of panel attorney payments.” But the crisis isn’t over — Conrad has said a spending bill pending for the 2026 fiscal year is still $196 million short and will likely run out of money to pay CJA panel attorneys in June. Cases paused and dismissed in US federal courts The problem is particularly severe in the Central District of California, the largest and one of the most complex federal trial courts in the U.S. Out of the approximately 100 such lawyers for the district, about 80 have stopped taking on new cases. Chernis has a client who lives in Sacramento, but neither Chernis nor a court-appointed investigator have been able to cover the cost of travel to meet with him to discuss the case. The expert they need for the trial will also not agree to travel to Los Angeles to work on the case without payment, Chernis said. In New Mexico, one judge halted a death penalty case, which are costly and labor-intensive to prepare, and at least 40 lawyers have resolved to not take on new cases even after the shutdown ended if the overall funding shortfall is not resolved. California’s Central District Chief Judge Dolly Gee wrote in an Oct. 30 letter to California Sen. Adam Schiff that the situation had become “dire.” “These attorneys have sought delays in cases when they cannot find investigators and experts who are willing to work without pay, which has added to the court’s backlog of cases, and left defendants languishing in already overcrowded local prison,” Gee said. “Without additional funding, we will soon be unable to appoint counsel for all defendants who are constitutionally entitled to representation.” She said judges may have to face the prospect of having to dismiss cases for defendants who can’t retain a lawyer. Just hours before the government shutdown ended, Judge John A. Mendez in the Eastern District of California did, tossing out a criminal case against a man indicted on a charge of distribution of methamphetamine. “The right to effective assistance of counsel is a bedrock principle of this country and is indisputably necessary for the operation of a fair criminal justice system,” Mendez wrote. Defendants’ constitutional rights potentially violated Everyone in the U.S. has the…

DALLAS (AP) — Federal prosecutors in Texas have charged six more people with a new terrorism-related charge in the July shooting outside an immigration detention center near Dallas, and said six others are scheduled to enter guilty pleas in the case. The latest indictment in the case, issued Friday, expands on previous charges and relies on President Trump’s recent declaration that deems the decentralized movement known as antifa a domestic terrorist organization. Trump blames antifa for political violence. The case stems from the July 4 shooting outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, southwest of Dallas, that injured a police officer. The charges also include rioting, attempted murder and weapons and explosives charges. Prosecutors said the group threw fireworks at the facility, vandalized vehicles and then shot at responding police and correctional officers, striking an Alvarado officer in the neck. He was later released from a hospital. The shooting took place as President Trump’ s administration ramped up deportations. Patrick McClain, a lawyer for defendant Zachary Evetts, said he has seen no evidence to support the government’s view of the case. He said his client would again plead not guilty at the Dec. 3 arraignment on the new charges. “Mr. Evetts has never been a member of anything like a ‘North Texas Antifa Cell,’ and from the evidence provided to us by the government so far, there is no evidence that such an organization ever existed,” McClain said Saturday. Short for “anti-fascists,” antifa is not a single organization but rather an umbrella term for far-left-leaning militant groups that confront or resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists at demonstrations.

ORONO — University of Maine students will soon be able to gather around lab-scale ocean structures, attach sensors, run tests and watch real-time data stream into a digital dashboard. On their laptops, they’ll build virtual replicas — digital twins — that mirror how those structures behave in wind and waves. Adjust a setting on the screen, and the virtual system responds instantly, predicting how the real structure would react in the ocean. “Digital twins are a rapidly emerging technology,” said project lead Amrit Verma. “By 2030, digital twins are expected to expand across multiple industries. Consequently, the global digital twin market is witnessing considerable growth. As a result, the need for digital twins is skyrocketing, with digital twins recognized as a new and featured career path in maritime that did not exist a decade ago.” This hands-on work is at the heart of a new internship program at UMaine, designed to prepare students for careers in Maine’s growing blue economy — industries that sustainably use ocean and coastal resources to nourish communities and foster innovation. Sensors on physical systems will enable real-time data collection and processing within digital simulations, allowing students to test complex marine scenarios safely and accurately. The project will support 48 undergraduate and graduate students through eight-week summer and year-round internships over the next three years. These experiences will center on digital twin technology, in which participants use this data-driven, virtual modeling approach to support smarter decision-making. These systems often integrate artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning tools to analyze, predict and optimize system performance, offering students valuable exposure to technologies shaping the future of ocean industries. “This project is about providing students with hands-on learning experiences,” said Verma, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the Maine College of Engineering and Computing. “Our main focus is on first- and second-year undergraduate students, as well as early-stage graduate students who are still at the beginning of their academic journey. We want to train them to build digital twins so that this experience will inspire them to build their careers around the blue economy.” Applications are open for year-round internships starting in January and summer internships starting in June. One unique aspect of this project is that the students will gain experience working directly with UMaine’s ocean test beds and in faculty labs, building and refining digital twins that can be used to test scenarios safely and accurately before they happen in the real world. For instance, the project offers access to an on-site test bed devised by Verma that includes a 1:70 lab-scaled model for building digital twins based on generative AI. Students will use this testbed to both test and refine digital twins, providing practice experience that directly prepares them for workforce readiness in the rapidly evolving blue economy sector. Students will also be able to work on live projects with various employers, such as Kelson Marine, Vertical Bay and the National Renewable Energy Lab, in addition to faculty labs at Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Marine Sciences and the Advanced Structures and Composite Centers that are leading digital research at UMaine. “Students will learn about ocean industries and ocean structures, including also learning how to scale large ocean structures into lab-scale environments and build and test digital twins of them,” Verma said. “They’ll gain experience in instrumentation, AI and machine learning applications, experimental design, manufacturing, sensor fusion, calibration and data acquisition.” The program aims to provide clear and structured career pathways for students. Participants will earn micro-credentials in digital research, which they can use to demonstrate and certify…

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A man has been arrested after federal officials alleged that he destroyed property while trying to confront New Jersey’s top federal prosecutor, Alina Habba. Keith Michael Lisa, 51, has been arrested, FBI spokesperson Emily Molinari confirmed Saturday. Molinari did not say when or where Lisa was arrested, what charges he might face, whether he was in jail, or when he might go before a judge. It’s unclear whether Lisa is represented by a lawyer. The federal public defender in Newark didn’t immediately respond to an electronic message Saturday asking whether it was representing Lisa. The FBI on Friday had offered a reward of up to $25,000 for information about Lisa, saying he was wanted on charges of destroying government property and possession of a dangerous weapon inside a U.S. court facility. That bulletin said Lisa tried to enter a federal office building in downtown Newark on Wednesday with a bat and was turned away. Lisa returned without the bat, the bulletin said, and was admitted. He then went to the U.S. Attorney’s office, where Habba works, and destroyed property, the bulletin said. Attorney General Pam Bondi wrote in a post on X on Saturday that the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations had worked together to arrest Lisa. “No one will get away with threatening or intimidating our great U.S. attorneys or the destruction of their offices,” Bondi wrote. Habba was previously President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, representing him in various cases and acting as his spokesperson on legal matters. She served as a White House adviser briefly before Trump named her as interim U.S. attorney in March. “We got him,” Habba wrote on X on Saturday. “This Justice Department under Attorney General Pam Bondi and our federal partners will not tolerate any acts of intimidation or violence toward law enforcement. So grateful to the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations for their tireless work to capture him. Now justice will handle him.” Bondi had vowed that federal officials would find and prosecute the person, writing earlier that “Any violence or threats of violence against any federal officer will not be tolerated. Period.” Trump formally nominated Habba as New Jersey’s permanent U.S. attorney on July 1, but the state’s two Democratic U.S. senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim opposed it, stalling the confirmation process. A few weeks later, as Habba’s 120-day interim appointment was expiring, New Jersey federal judges moved to replace her with her second-in-command. Bondi then fired that prosecutor and renamed Habba as acting U.S. attorney. Last month, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in a case challenging her appointment. It hasn’t ruled.

David Platt won’t be happy! (Pictures: ITV) David Platt’s (Jack P Shepherd) feud with Kit Green (Jacob Roberts) got a whole lot worse in Coronation Street when he discovered his enemy was seeing his sister Sarah Platt (Tina O’Brien). David and Kit clashed when Kit had a one night stand with his wife Shona Platt (Julia Goulding). The two have never seen eye to eye, and David still remains convinced that Kit’s relationship with Sarah won’t last. However, in future episodes of the ITV soap, a development airs that suggests David is going to be proved wrong. Kit spends the day moving his belongings into Sarah’s flat. Afterwards, they celebrate the big step in their relationship journey together by heading to the bedroom. But what will David make of this? To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Up Next Previous Page Next Page The character has an awful lot on his plate right now, as he’s just learnt of a worrying update about his and Shona’s unborn baby. When David and Shona got to the hospital appointment, the doctor informed them that they had found a mass on the baby’s neck. She explained that, in some cases, this can block the baby’s airway, and that if it obstructed the oesophagus, it could lead to a build up of amniotic fluid in the womb, which could cause premature labour. Because Shona was under 24 weeks pregnant, the doctor explained that she could opt for an abortion. Shona and David learnt some news about their baby (Picture: ITV) The alternative was to undergo exit surgery, which would involve operating on the baby while still attached via the placenta. She explained that this was a long and complicated surgery, which held risks for both mum and baby. As she spoke, she let slip that Shona and David were having a little girl, which Shona was thrilled by. The couple had opposing views on the matter (Picture: ITV) Later, it became clear that Shona and David had opposing opinions of what to do going forward. Terrified that he could lose Shona and the baby during the surgery, David admitted that he thought they should opt for the abortion. However, Shona was adamant that she wanted to go ahead with the surgery, pointing out that there was a chance the baby could grow up to be fit and healthy. Comment now Comments Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source