Court OKs Ten Commandments

for display in La. public classrooms

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has cleared the way for a Louisiana law requiring poster-sized displays of the Ten Commandments in public classrooms to take effect.

The full court voted 12-6 to lift a block placed on the law that a lower court first issued in 2024. In the opinion released Friday, the court said it was too early to make a judgment call on the constitutionality of the law.

But the six judges who voted against the decision wrote a series of dissents, some arguing that the case was ripe for judicial review and others saying that the law exposes children to government-endorsed religion in a place they are required to be, presenting a clear constitutional burden.

Police search former prince’s home

day after his Epstein-related arrest

LONDON — Police have searched the former home of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, a day after the former prince was held in custody on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

In another blow for the former Prince Andrew, the British government is considering formally removing him from the line of succession to the crown.

His arrest is linked to his friendship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and marked one of the most tumultuous days in the modern history of Britain’s royal family.

The former Prince Andrew is back at his new home on the Sandringham estate, King Charles III’s private retreat. Police have concluded their search there but are still searching Royal Lodge, his 30-room former home near Windsor Castle.

All truckers, bus drivers must take

commercial license tests in English

All truckers and bus drivers will have to take their commercial driver’s license tests in English as the Trump administration expands its aggressive campaign to improve safety in the industry and get unqualified drivers off the road.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the latest effort Friday to ensure that drivers understand English well enough to read road signs and communicate with law enforcement officers.

Earlier this week, the Transportation Department said 557 driving schools should close because they failed to meet basic safety standards. The department has been aggressively going after states that handed out commercial driver’s licenses to immigrants who shouldn’t have qualified for them ever since a fatal crash in August.

Fears of wider conflict rage as

Israeli strike kills 12 in Lebanon

BEIRUT — Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon killed at least 12 people and raised fears of a widening regional conflict.

On Friday, Lebanese state media reports 10 killed and 24 wounded — including three children — in strikes in the eastern Bekaa Valley. Israel says it targeted Hezbollah command centers.

Hezbollah has not commented.

Video from the scene shows a hit apartment building and rescuers searching rubble. Earlier Friday, another strike hit the Ein el-Hilweh camp in Sidon and killed two. Israel called it a Hamas command center. Hamas says two members died but disputes Israel’s claim.

Economic growth in the US

slowed during fourth quarter

WASHINGTON — U.S. economic growth slowed in the final three months of last year, dragged down by the six-week shutdown of the federal government and a pullback in consumer spending. The figures point to what could be a more modest pace of growth in the coming quarters, as consumers take on more debt and cut back on saving to maintain their spending. Business investment, outside data centers and other equipment dedicated to artificial intelligence, grew at only a moderate pace.

Still, a measure of underlying growth that focuses on consumer and business spending was mostly solid, economists said. The sharp slowdown in government outlays because of the shutdown shaved a full percentage point from growth.

Tens of thousands mark Ramadan

TEL AVIV, Israel — Tens of thousands of Palestinians gathered under heavy Israeli restrictions at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for the first Friday prayers of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, including some who were allowed to enter from the occupied West Bank.

The Ramadan prayers at Al-Aqsa, in Jerusalem’s Old City, took place for the first time since a shaky ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect in October. Israel restricted the number of Palestinians allowed to enter from the West Bank to 10,000 on Friday, and only allowed men over 55 and women over 50 as well as children up to 12. It has imposed similar restrictions in the past, citing security concerns.

The Associated Press