A Manhattan judge, who presided over Donald Trump’s “hush money” case, is likely to reveal next week whether the historic felony conviction against the president-elect will be upheld.
Justice Juan Merchan of the Manhattan Supreme Court had previously postponed sentencing by over four months to allow it to take place post-election. He has given himself until the upcoming Tuesday to determine if the conviction should be dismissed.
Following Trump’s sweeping victory in the election, his legal team is reportedly even more determined “to make sure that sentencing never happens,” according to CNN’s chief legal affairs correspondent, Paula Reid, who made the observation late Wednesday.

An Israel Defense Forces soldier was killed by a Hezbollah rocket in northern Israel on Wednesday, the military announced on Thursday.
The soldier was identified as Sgt. Ariel Sosnov Sasonov, 20, of the 605th Combat Engineering Battalion, from Yerushalayim.
Sasonov was killed when a rocket hit the town of Avivim, located along the border with Lebanon.
Three soldiers were lightly wounded in the same attack, according to the IDF.

CHILI, N.Y.

New Jersey seemed to edge closer to being a competitive state as former President and President-elect Donald Trump almost secured a victory there, a rare occurrence for any Republican in recent history.
Vice President Kamala Harris ultimately claimed victory in New Jersey, garnering 51.5 percent of the vote, which translates to 2,096,873 votes, while Trump earned 46.5 percent, or 1,893,210 votes, as reported by the New York Times.
Trump secured a dominant victory in Lakewood, NJ, receiving 87% of the presidential vote, marking a five-point rise from his 2020 performance.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Dozens of Russian drones targeted

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden’s name wasn’t on the ballot, but history will likely remember

A new study reveals that over one-third of Americans still harbor doubts about the scientific basis of COVID vaccines. This skepticism has remained relatively unchanged, with 36% of respondents expressing mistrust in 2021, 33% in 2022, and 36% in 2023.
Individuals who lost a family member or close friend to COVID-19 were notably more inclined to trust the science behind the vaccine and to accept vaccination, according to the study’s findings. For instance, those who had experienced a loss in the past year were nearly four times more likely to trust vaccine experts than those who had not lost someone close to them, researchers reported.