Comment on Mitch McConnell: Despite setbacks, nevertheless, he persists

Elon Musk said he would attend a rally that Donald Trump is holding on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, the setting of the first assassination attempt on the former president. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] In a post late Thursday New York time on his social platform X, the billionaire wrote, “I will be there to support!” in response to the Republican presidential nominee’s post about his return to the site. I will be there to support!

An Australian judge rejected an attempt by social media platform X to wipe a A$610,500 ($418,100) fine levied by a watchdog, a notable victory in the country’s battle with global internet companies. On Friday, the court threw out X’s petition and ordered Elon Musk’s company to pay all proceedings. That ends a lawsuit that arose after Australia’s eSafety commissioner fined the platform, saying it didn’t adequately respond to queries about efforts to crack down on child-abuse content.

Vietnam accused Chinese law enforcement of a “brutal” attack on a Vietnamese fishing vessel on Sunday that threatened the lives of crew members in disputed waters of the South China Sea. An alleged attack by Chinese law enforcement authorities on a Vietnamese fishing vessel from the central province of Quang Ngai resulted in injuries to 10 crewmen, including three that suffered broken bones, state media Tien Phong newspaper reported. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Vietnam has a long-standing territorial dispute in the South China Sea with China, which claims the majority of the area as its territory—an assertion that overlaps with separate claims by Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan as well as the Philippines. Read More: China Is Testing How Hard It Can Push in the South China Sea Before Someone Pushes Back “Vietnam is extremely concerned, indignant and resolutely opposes the brutal behavior of Chinese law enforcement forces against Vietnamese fishermen and fishing vessels operating in the Paracel archipelago of Vietnam,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Pham Thu Hang said in an emailed statement Wednesday evening. Vietnam protested the incident in discussions with China’s Hanoi embassy.

LOS ANGELES — Prosecutors in Los Angeles are reviewing new evidence in the case of Erik and Lyle Menendez to determine whether they should be serving life sentences for killing their parents in their Beverly Hills mansion more than 35 years ago, the city’s district attorney said Thursday. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón said during a news conference that there is no question Erik Menendez, 53, and his 56-year-old brother, Lyle Menendez, committed the murders, but his office will be reviewing new evidence and will make a decision on whether a resentencing is warranted in the notorious case that captured national attention. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Read More: What We Learned from ‘The Menendez Brothers’ Netflix Documentary The new evidence presented in a petition includes a letter written by Erik Menendez that his attorneys say corroborates the allegations that he was sexually abused by his father. The brothers have said they killed their parents out of self-defense after enduring a lifetime of physical, emotional and sexual abuse from them.

LOS ANGELES — A woman who says she worked as a hair-and-makeup stylist for Garth Brooks alleged in a lawsuit filed Thursday that he raped her in a Los Angeles hotel in 2019. The woman does not use her name and goes by Jane Roe in the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Dockworkers at U. S. East and Gulf coast ports have agreed to start moving cargo again while they continue collective bargaining with their employers on a new contract. The International Longshoremen’s Association agreed to extend the contract until Jan. 15 and work will resume Friday, the union said in a statement on Thursday. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] “The strike is over,” ILA Local 333 President Scott Cowan told CBS Baltimore affiliate, adding that dockworkers will be back at work Friday morning to load and unload cargo after a three-day work stoppage.