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U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta in Washington set aside roughly 7,000 visas for winners of the lottery, which is aimed at increasing the country’s diversity, after the State Department gave out only 27 percent of up to 55,000 diversity visas allotted for the fiscal year that ended in September. “Some of that shortfall is no doubt due to the difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the pandemic is not the primary culprit,” Mehta wrote in a ruling late Thursday....

Lawyers defending Stone, a longtime associate of President Donald Trump, filed a motion Saturday seeking to remove Jackson from the case, arguing that she demonstrated her bias against their client through remarks made regarding the jurors sitting on the trial. Their court documents were filed days after Stone was sentenced to three years in prison on Thursday. In their filing, Stone’s lawyers argued that one juror, who was allegedly not impartial, had misled Jackson....

Hernandez was in court for the hearing, which addressed mostly procedural issues. He smiled and mouthed messages to his family before the hearing began. His mother and brother were among those in court, as were family members of Odin Lloyd, the 27-year-old Boston semi-professional football player Hernandez is accused of killing in June 2013. Hernandez is also charged in Boston in the 2012 killings of two men. He has pleaded not guilty in both cases....

Joseph Mensah, the officer, will be charged with negligent use of a weapon in shooting and killing Jay Anderson Jr. Anderson’s family used a rarely-used provision in Wisconsin law to get aby Judge Glenn Yamahiro to reexamine the case, the Associated Press reported. Mensah found the 25-year-old Anderson sleeping in his car inside a park after hours in a Milwaukee suburb. Mensah alleged that he shot Anderson after he saw him reach for a gun, the Associated Press reported....

In a case first launched in 2015 over conditions at Tucson sector holding facilities, U.S. District Judge David Bury said on Wednesday that the conditions migrants and asylum seekers have had to face under CBP custody have been “substantially worse than detainees face upon commitment to either a civil immigration detention facility or even a criminal detention facility, like a jail or prison.” “The Court finds that the conditions of detention in CBP holding cells, especially those that preclude sleep over several nights, are presumptively punitive and violate the Constitution,” he said....

Gregory Allen Howard, whose long-gestating script was first “set up at Disney 26 years ago,” recalled one hearing about studio executive’s enthusiastic response in an interview with the Focus Features website, but added: “I was told how one studio head said in a meeting, ‘This script is fantastic. Let’s get Julia Roberts to play Harriet Tubman.’” Howard said that when other people brought up race, the executive responded: “It was so long ago....

Edelman shared on his Instagram a video of him calling his parents to say that he bet $100,000 on the Patriots to meet the Buccaneers in the Super Bowl this year. His mom said she didn’t care about the cost of the bet, and just said he should share it with her. His dad was less enthusiastic. “You put $100 grand on that?” his dad asked. “That was dumb....

With the Patriots in the red zone, Julian Edelman split out to the left. He ran a short Z route that took him in and then back wide for an easy toss from Tom Brady. MORE: Must-see photos | Commercials | Iyer: Brady best ever New England had tried to score with Edelman on the same route the possession before, but it didn’t work out. Brady wound up throwing a touchdown to Danny Amendola instead to bring them within three points....

The actress got courtside tickets to a Warriors vs. Lakers game and after arriving late, she made the cardinal sin. Bowen got the go-ahead from a security person to walk across the court to her seat while the free throws were being shot on the other end. MORE: Memphis’ Tony Allen offers reminder | Nick Young’s greatest quotes | LeBron James’ mindset People get tackled for stepping foot on the court all the time, so Bowen should’ve known this probably wasn’t the greatest idea....

Damm was part of manager Juan Carlos Osorio’s original roster, but the Mexican federation announced Sunday night that he won’t be able to take part. With the friendly matches against Iceland and Croatia the last national team games in which to impress Osorio ahead of his World Cup camp, the 25-year-old struggled to hide his frustration. He also noted he was hoping to be in camp even with the injury but Tigres preferred he recover with the club’s medical staff....

According to the Associated Press, “two dozen white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and white nationalist organizations” are accused of conspiring to commit racially-motivated violence in Charlottesville. The jury is currently deliberating on whether they are responsible for violence during the Unite the Right rally held in 2017 and if they are liable for injuries sustained by the plaintiffs of the federal lawsuit. Before deliberations began, lawyers for the plaintiffs told jurors that the defendants “planned, executed and then celebrated” racially motivated violent attacks....

The jury, comprised of eight men and four women, completed Monday’s deliberations without any indications as to how close they are to making a decision. They are set to resume deliberations Tuesday morning. They have been meeting in a San Jose, California federal courthouse after hearing evidence in the high-profile trial. The jurors sent two notes to U.S. District Judge Edward Avila the prior week. One was a request to take their instructions home for further study, which was quickly rejected....

New Orleans never trailed and Green Bay failed to slow its NFC counterpart after holding it to a field goal on its first possession. Packers coach Matt LaFleur was blunt after the game when asked about his team’s performance. “[They] absolutely embarrassed us,” LaFleur told reporters. Indeed, the Saints beat the Packers in just about every facet of the game. The three points the Packers racked up were the fewest in a game Aaron Rodgers started and then didn’t leave because of injury, per ESPN’s Field Yates....

Democrats’ prospects appear bleak and they are in a worse position now than at the same time during the 2018 and 2020 election cycles, according to analysis from poll tracker FiveThirtyEight. FiveThirtyEight analyzes a large number of polls and uses its own system of pollster ratings to determine its figures. Those polls include surveys from Gallup, Morning Consult, Rasmussen, Ipsos and many other well-regarded polling companies and give an indication of how much trouble Democrats may be in....

Without such a law, the DOJ can only prosecute instances of ideologically driven violence by people with no international allegiances using existing statutes, the Associated Press reported. Additionally, the lack of a law specifically aimed at domestic terrorism muddles efforts to keep track of how much extremist action, with motivations like religion or race, occurs in the U.S. and makes it hard to establish a concrete definition for the offense....

Members of the Lewisham and Greenwich National Health Service (NHS) Choir—many working on the frontline of the COVID fight this year—first went up against the Canadian superstar in a closely fought race for the U.K. chart top spot back in 2015. Bieber admittedly did have a hand in their success, urging his fans to support the choir when he learned their single raised money for charity. This time around, he approached the group and asked them to lend their voices to a special version of his track “Holy” in a bid for chart glory again....

The videos were reportedly recorded in Hamilton—a city in Ontario where Trudeau and his Cabinet are currently participating in a three-day retreat—and show protesters carrying flags and shouting “Resign!” Footage posted by Canadian newspaper columnist Joe Warmington shows Trudeau walking down the street with police as protesters follow and shout at the prime minister. Some of those in the crowd carried signs that said “F*** Trudeau” and at least one person was carrying a Canadian flag....

Alex Sandro had to be replaced by Patrice Evra after 33 minutes in Doha on Friday, in a match Milan won 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw. He becomes Juve’s latest defensive player to be ruled out through injury - Leonardo Bonucci and Dani Alves are also out, while Andrea Barzagli has only recently returned to selection contention after spending six weeks on the sidelines. The Italian champions have not released a timescale for Alex Sandro’s return, but reports in Italy suggest he could miss up to three weeks of action....

Serie A this season has arguably been one of the most exciting leagues among Europe’s top five, to watch in recent times, especially given how Napoli had pushed the Turin giants all the way until their dramatic collapse against Fiorentina. For Bianconeri coach Massimiliano Allegri his brand of pragmatic football was the order of the day but this was in stark contrast to Maurizio Sarri’s style: which was attacking and attractive....

However, Lirola is not only hoping that Juve go all the way, he believes that they will, claiming that the Serie A league leaders are the best team left in the Champions League. Explained: Why Higuain bottles big games Indeed, after watching the Old Lady eliminate Barcelona in the last eight, the Catalan feels that Juve will prove far too balanced a side for both Monaco, whom Massimiliano Allegri’s men face on Wednesday, and defending champions Real Madrid....