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Man is accused of aiding California clinic bomber

NEW YORK (NYT) — Law enforcement authorities in New York City have arrested a Washington state man in the bombing of a California fertility clinic last month that killed one person and damaged buildings on several city blocks, officials said.

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The man, Daniel Park, 32, was arrested Tuesday night at Kennedy Airport after arriving from Poland, said Bill Essayli, U.S. attorney for the Central District of California. Park was scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn on Wednesday afternoon.

Guy Edward Bartkus, a 25-year-old man with “nihilistic ideations,” bombed the Palm Springs clinic, American Reproductive Centers, on May 17, according to officials. The clinic offers treatments such as in vitro fertilization and egg freezing.

Bartkus, of Twentynine Palms, California, died in the blast, which also injured four people, officials said. Bartkus caused the explosion by detonating his Ford Fusion, which was parked near the clinic, according to authorities.

Park paid to ship nearly 200 pounds of ammonium nitrate to Bartkus and traveled to Southern California to stay with him in late January, Essayli said. Park was charged with providing material support to terrorists, according to a news release from Essayli’s office.

Woman says Sean Combs held her over a balcony

NEW YORK (NYT) — In testimony that has been anticipated for months, a woman took the stand Wednesday in Sean Combs’ federal trial to accuse him of holding her over a 17th-floor apartment balcony, making her fear for her life.

The allegation, which was first made public in Casandra Ventura’s bombshell lawsuit in late 2023, paints a vividly menacing portrait of Combs. But the accusation made by Bryana Bongolan, a longtime friend of Ventura, came under intense cross-examination by a lawyer for Combs.

Combs is charged with sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy, which involves accusations that an inner circle of bodyguards and high-ranking employees helped him commit a series of crimes over two decades. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his lawyers have said that he and his employees were involved in legitimate business operations, not a criminal conspiracy.

Bongolan said she was staying at Ventura’s apartment in Los Angeles early one morning in September 2016 when she was awakened by Combs pounding on the door.

Ventura was sleeping in her bedroom, Bongolan testified, and she headed to the apartment’s balcony in an attempt to “act casual.” After entering the apartment, Combs headed right to her. He picked Bongolan up by the armpits, held her above the balcony’s railing and yelled at her, she testified.

“For a split second,” Bongolan said, “I was thinking about if I was going to fall.”

US vetoes UN Gaza ceasefire resolution

(NYT) — The United States on Wednesday vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution demanding an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the release of all hostages and the resumption of full-scale humanitarian aid deliveries to the enclave.

Ten nonpermanent members of the 15-seat council had put forth the resolution for a vote. It was the first time since President Donald Trump took office that the council had considered a ceasefire resolution on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The United States was the only member to vote against the measure; the other 14 members of the council, including Russia, voted in favor, once again highlighting Washington’s isolation on the global stage over its policy of unconditional support of Israel.

A Security Council resolution must receive nine votes in favor and no vetoes from the five permanent members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — to be adopted. Since the war broke out after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel, the United States has vetoed four council resolutions calling for a ceasefire and has abstained from one, allowing it to pass, last June.

Diplomats at the U.N. have watched in fury and frustration as the humanitarian situation in Gaza has deteriorated to levels where children are starving.

Council members have also been frustrated at the United States for blocking the body from acting in a deadly war that has killed more than 56,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, according to Gaza officials, whose numbers do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.

The council members say that the United States is standing in the way of the will of the majority of the member states at the U.N.

Amazon prepares to test humanoid robots for deliveries

(Reuters) — Amazon is developing software for humanoid robots that could eventually take the jobs of delivery workers, The Information reported on Wednesday, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the report.

Amazon is completing construction of a “humanoid park,” an indoor obstacle course at one of the company’s San Francisco, California offices, where it will soon test such robots, the report added.

The company is developing the artificial intelligence software that would power such robots, the report said, adding that Amazon plans to use hardware from other firms in its tests, for now.

In a series of announcements on Wednesday, Amazon demonstrated how stockroom robots, delivery people and its sprawling warehouses will all benefit from a hefty dose of AI, speeding packages to customer doorsteps.