AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EDT

A judge has ruled Texas’ abortion ban is too restrictive for women with pregnancy complications

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas judge ruled Friday the state’s abortion ban has proven too restrictive for women with serious pregnancy complications and must allow exceptions without doctors fearing the threat of criminal charges.

The ruling is the first to undercut Texas’ law since it took effect in 2022 and delivers a major victory to abortion rights supporters, who see the case as a potential blueprint to weaken restrictions elsewhere that Republican-led states have rushed to implement.

“For the first time in a long time, I cried for joy when I heard the news,” lead plaintiff Amanda Zurawski said in a statement. “This is exactly why we did this. This is why we put ourselves through the pain and the trauma over and over again to share our experiences and the harms caused by these awful laws.”

The challenge is believed to be the first in the U.S. brought by women who have been denied abortions since the Supreme Court last year overturned Roe v. Wade, which for nearly 50 years had affirmed the constitutional right to an abortion.

The state is expected to seek a swift appeal and has argued that Texas’ ban already allows exceptions, calling doctors’ fears of prosecution unfounded.

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Ukraine says its drones damaged a Russian warship, showing Kyiv’s growing naval capabilities

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine said its sea drones struck a major Russian port Friday and damaged a warship in an attack that underlined Kyiv’s growing naval capabilities as the Black Sea becomes an increasingly important battleground in the war.

The strike on Novorossiysk halted maritime traffic for a few hours and marked the first time a commercial Russian port has been targeted in the nearly 18-month-old conflict. The port has a naval base, shipbuilding yards and an oil terminal, and is key for exports. It lies about 110 kilometers (about 60 miles) east of Crimea, where Russia’s Defense Ministry said it thwarted another attack.

The Security Service of Ukraine and the country’s navy carried out the attack that damaged the Olenegorsky Gornyak, a landing vessel of the Russian navy, according to an official with the security service. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give the information to the media, said the attack rendered the ship unable to perform combat missions.

Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press appeared to show the ship leaking oil. An image from Planet Labs, taken a few hours after the attack, showed a ship dockside with another vessel next to it. The ship in the image matched the measurements of the Olenegorsky Gornyak, as well as known physical features of the vessel. Images posted on social media showed a ship listing.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that he had received a report from the country’s security service, the SBU, but didn’t say what was in it.

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Pence seizes on Trump’s latest indictment as he looks to break through in crowded GOP field

NEW YORK (AP) — As Donald Trump was being arraigned in Washington on yet another round of criminal charges, his running mate-turned-rival Mike Pence hurried to capitalize on the news.

Pence’s campaign unveiled new T-shirts and baseball caps for sale featuring the phrase “Too Honest” in big red letters — a reference to an episode in the indictment in which the former president called Pence to berate him over his refusal to go along with Trump’s scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

“You’re too honest,” Trump allegedly scoffed at his second-in-command on New Year’s Day.

Pence’s decision to seize on the words marks a notable change in tone for a usually cautious candidate who has struggled to break through in a primary dominated by his former boss. Since the release of the indictment in which he plays a central role, Pence has criticized Trump more aggressively, casting himself as the person who stood up to Trump, averting catastrophe.

“The American people deserve to know that President Trump and his advisers didn’t just ask me to pause. They asked me to reject votes, return votes, essentially to overturn the election,” Pence told Fox News Wednesday. Had he listened to Trump and “his gaggle of crackpot lawyers,” Pence said, “literally chaos would have ensued.”

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Trump was told not to talk to witnesses in 2020 election conspiracy case. That could be a challenge

WASHINGTON (AP) — It was a routine part of a federal court hearing: The defendant was told not to discuss the case with any witnesses without lawyers present.

But there’s nothing routine about this case. The defendant is Donald Trump, accused of orchestrating a conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The potential witness pool is vast and includes members of the former president’s inner circle deeply involved in his reelection campaign, including some currently on his payroll. His lies about the election — which form the basis of the charges — are repeated in nearly every speech he gives.

“The standard language may not work here, when you have thousands of Americans who could be witnesses and he continues to have daily contact with people who may be involved,” said Laurie Levenson, a law professor at Loyola Law School of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. “Everything is more complicated in this case because of who the defendant is, what he has done and that he wants to be president again.”

The issue raised its head quickly. On Friday, just a day after his latest arraignment, Trump made this proclamation, in all capital letters, on his Truth Social site: “If you go after me, I’m coming after you.”

Federal prosecutors alerted the judge overseeing the case to Trump’s post. In a court filing, they sought a protective order limiting what sensitive information Trump and his legal team could share publicly about the case.

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Thousands overwhelm New York’s Union Square for streamer giveaway, tossing chairs and pounding cars

NEW YORK (AP) — A crowd of thousands that packed Manhattan’s Union Square for a popular livestreamer’s hyped giveaway got out of hand Friday afternoon, with some clambering on vehicles, hurling chairs and throwing punches, leaving police struggling to rein in the chaos.

Aerial TV news footage showed a surging, tightly packed crowd running through the streets, scaling structures in the park and snarling traffic. Shouting teenagers swung objects at car windows, threw paint cans and set off fire extinguishers. Some people climbed on a moving vehicle, falling off as it sped away. Others pounded on or climbed atop city buses.

By 5:30 p.m., police officers in growing numbers had regained control of much of the area, but small skirmishes were still breaking out, with young people knocking over barricades and throwing bottles and even a flowerpot at officers. Police were seen wrestling people to the ground and chasing them down the street.

Police planned to charged the streamer, Kai Cenat, with multiple counts of inciting a riot, unlawful assembly and possibly other crimes, NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said in the evening. Officers arrested 65 people, including 30 juveniles.

A number of people were injured, including at least four people taken away in ambulances, Maddrey said, adding that he saw other people leaving the area with bloodied heads.

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After 27 years, authorities identify woman whose remains were found along Gilgo Beach parkway

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. (AP) — A woman whose remains were among discoveries that became known as the Gilgo Beach killings has been identified after 27 years, authorities said Friday, disclosing the latest in a series of recent revelations about the long-cold case.

Known until now to the public only as “Jane Doe No. 7,” she was Karen Vergata, 34, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney told a news conference.

Her family last heard from her on Valentine’s Day in 1996, when she called her father on his birthday, according to court papers he filed in 2015 seeking to have her declared presumptively dead.

The filing lays out years of relatives’ and attorneys’ efforts to find her and says Suffolk County police contacted the family as far back as 1997 about an unidentified woman’s death. It was not immediately clear whether that woman was indeed Vergata, whose then-unidentified remains had been found the prior year.

Tierney credited a recent reinvestigation and new DNA sampling with finally establishing who she was. Yet much remains unclear about the investigative turns of a case that bedeviled detectives for over a decade and was beset by clashes among law enforcement agencies and changes in their leadership.

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The first pill to treat postpartum depression has been approved by US health officials

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health officials have approved the first pill specifically intended to treat severe depression after childbirth, a condition that affects thousands of new mothers in the U.S. each year.

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday granted approval of the drug, Zurzuvae, for adults experiencing severe depression related to childbirth or pregnancy. The pill is taken once a day for 14 days.

“Having access to an oral medication will be a beneficial option for many of these women coping with extreme, and sometimes life-threatening, feelings,” said Dr. Tiffany Farchione, FDA’s director of psychiatric drugs, in a statement.

Postpartum depression affects an estimated 400,000 people a year, and while it often ends on its own within a couple weeks, it can continue for months or even years. Standard treatment includes counseling or antidepressants, which can take weeks to work and don’t help everyone.

The new pill is from Sage Therapeutics, which has a similar infused drug that’s given intravenously over three days in a medical facility. The FDA approved that drug in 2019, though it isn’t widely used because of its $34,000 price tag and the logistics of administering it.

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Idaho bus filled with teen campers crashes on winding highway, injuring 11

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A school bus carrying teenage campers rolled over on a winding Idaho highway Friday afternoon, injuring 11 people, the Idaho State Police said.

Seven of those hurt had critical injuries and four had non-critical injuries, according to an ISP news release. The Boise County Coroner’s office had not received any reports of fatalities as of 5:45 p.m., coroner’s investigator Noah Webster said.

The bus was carrying about 30 campers and staff back to Boise from the Treasure Valley YMCA’s camp at Horsethief Reservoir. All of the teens on the bus were between 13 and 18 years old, according to ISP. They were all taken to area hospitals to be checked out, the ISP said.

The Valley County Sheriff’s Office said they were notified of the crash about 3 p.m., and several law enforcement and emergency medical agencies responded.

Treasure Valley YMCA Director David Duro said he wasn’t immediately able to comment on the crash.

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How 6 Mississippi officers tried to cover up their torture of 2 Black men

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Men who had sworn an oath to protect and serve were huddled on the back porch of a Mississippi home as Michael Corey Jenkins lay on the floor, blood gushing from his mutilated tongue where one of the police officers shoved a gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger.

As Jenkins writhed in pain, the six white officers devised a scheme to cover up dozens of stunning acts of brutality that they had just carried out during 90 minutes of terror against Jenkins and a second Black victim.

The officers planted drugs. They stole surveillance footage from the house. They tried to dispose of other evidence. They agreed on a set of lies that would further upend their victims’ lives.

And that was just the cover-up.

Careful to avoid security cameras at the house, they burst in without a warrant, starting the physical, sexual and psychological abuse. They handcuffed Jenkins and his friend Eddie Terrell Parker and poured milk, alcohol and chocolate syrup over their faces. They forced them to strip naked and shower together to conceal the mess. They mocked the victims with racial slurs. They shocked them with stun guns.

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Big Ten grabs Oregon, Washington; Big 12 completes Pac-12 raid with Arizona, Arizona State and Utah

Dealing a crushing combination to the Pac-12 on Friday, the Big Ten announced Oregon and Washington would be joining next August, and the Big 12 completed its raid of the beleaguered conference by adding Arizona, Arizona State and Utah.

The day began with hope and nine members for the Pac-12. It ended with the league with roots that date back a century and more NCAA championships than any other down to four schools and facing extinction.

“Today’s news is incredibly disappointing for student-athletes, fans, alumni and staff of the Pac-12 who cherish the over 100-year history, tradition and rivalries of the Conference of Champions,” the conference said in a statement. “We remain focused on securing the best possible future for each of our member universities.”

After the Big Ten cleared the way for the Pacific Northwest rivals to join the league, the Ducks were first to make it official with a brief video call that ended in a unanimous vote by the school’s 13 trustees. The Big Ten a short time later said its presidents’ council had voted to accept the Ducks along with Washington.

“Our student-athletes will participate at the highest level of collegiate athletic competition, and our alumni, friends, and fans will be able to carry the spirit of Oregon across the country,” Oregon President John Karl Scholz said.