News briefs

Tribune News Service on Apr 9, 2026

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Melania Trump denies Jeffrey Epstein ties, calls for public hearings

First lady Melania Trump on Thursday denied all ties to Jeffrey Epstein in a surprise White House speech and called for congressional hearings featuring the notorious pedophile’s victims.

Without explaining why she was speaking out now, Trump insisted she barely knew Epstein and his convicted lieutenant Ghislaine Maxwell and denied that he introduced her to President Donald Trump.

“The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today,” she said in the speech, which was not announced in advance to the White House press corps.

“The individuals lying about me are devoid of ethical standards, humility and respect,” she added. “I reject their mean-spirited attempts to defame my reputation.”

—New York Daily News

Growth of license plate readers fuels Michigan push to limit their use

WATERFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. — When Waterford Township Police Chief Scott Underwood asked the township's Board of Trustees earlier this year to approve technology that would improve his department's license plate reader capabilities, he was greeted by a host of residents voicing privacy concerns.

At the Jan. 26 meeting, Underwood asked for the township's approval to buy software that would integrate the department's license plate reader video with footage from cruiser dashcams, body cameras and the area's school district. He also asked to add more cameras in the Oakland County township.

License plate readers are publicly mounted cameras that capture images of the rear of vehicles and their license plates to assist police in solving crimes or locating missing people. They've become nearly ubiquitous across Metro Detroit in the last four years.

Statewide, more than 180 law enforcement agencies ― nearly a third of all agencies in Michigan ― now use Flock Safety technology, according to data compiled by the company. And Flock isn't the only LPR vendor available for police use.

—The Detroit News

For 40 minutes, the greatest solitude humans have known

The crescent Earth — our oasis holding everything we cherish, now just a speck in the infinite blackness — seemed to kiss the jagged lunar surface. The moon’s thousands of scars projected themselves across the Earth as it slowly slipped out of sight.

“I’m actually getting chills right now just thinking about it,” said Artemis II Cmdr. Reid Wiseman, talking to the Los Angeles Times while still in space Wednesday evening (Earth time). “It was just an unbelievable sight, and then it was gone.”

The crew of four — in the dim green glow of their spacecraft, with no more elbow room than a Sprinter van — entered a profound solitude few have ever experienced. Farther from Earth than any humans in history, the crew could no longer reach Mission Control, their families or any other living member of our home planet.

For 40 minutes Monday, it was just them, their high-tech lifeboat and the moon. The crew members paused their rigorous scientific observations for just three or four minutes to let the surreal feeling settle. They shared some maple cookies brought by Canadian Space Agency and Artemis II mission specialist astronaut Jeremy Hansen.

—Los Angeles Times

UK warns Russian subs to stay away after month-long incursion

The U.K. warned Vladimir Putin against damaging Britain’s undersea cables and pipelines after a month-long operation to track three Russian submarines in nearby waters.

Some 500 military personnel were involved in the surveillance effort, with Royal Navy vessels covering thousands of miles and Royal Air Force planes flying for more than 450 hours, Defense Secretary John Healey told reporters. A Russian Akula-class submarine and two specialist submarines with GUGI, Russia’s deep-sea research directorate, have now left U.K. waters, he said.

“To President Putin, I say, ‘We see you,’” Healey said on Thursday. “‘We see your activity over our cables and our pipelines. And you should know that any attempt to damage them will not be tolerated and will have serious consequences.’”

The presence in and around U.K. waters of the Russian submarines highlights the growing threat posed by Russia to cables and other offshore infrastructure in what Healey has previously described as a “reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe.”

—Bloomberg News