January 29 top stories

It is January 29. Hope your weekend was good. Here are today’s top stories.

Vince McMahon resigns after sexual allegations

Vince McMahon, founder of wrestling giant WWE, has resigned his position as a member of WWE Board.

The announcement came in the wake of allegations made public Thursday, of sexual assault and sex trafficking, against McMahon.

The latest allegations against McMahon were in a lawsuit filed by Janel Grant – who alleges McMahon directed her to have sex with a WWE “superstar” and other men. Grant’s suit seeks to void a nondisclosure agreement Grant said she reached with McMahon in early 2022.

McMahon stepped down as WWE’s CEO in 2022 amid an investigation into allegations that match those in the lawsuit. Despite leaving his former post, he returned to the company as a member of the WWE board which he recently resigned from.

McMahon referred to the serious accusations as “baseless” and said he would defend himself in court.

US troops killed and injured in drone attack

Three US Army soldiers were killed and more than 30 service members were injured in a drone attack overnight on a small US outpost in northeast Jordan near the Syrian border Sunday.

Officials said the drone was fired by Iran-backed militants and appeared to come from Syria. Iran denied any involvement. It is still being determined which militia group specifically is responsible. It’s unclear why air defenses failed to intercept the drone.

President Biden in a statement on Sunday said the nation’s “heart is heavy” following the deadly attack, vowing that “we will hold all those responsible to account at a time and in a manner of our choosing.” And Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also vowed retaliation.

The Biden administration has been criticized, primarily by Republicans, for not taking strong enough action against the Iran-backed groups for their attacks.

Father dies after saving son from drowning

The Penobscot County Sheriff's Office posted on their Facebook account saying that the town manager of Carmel, Maine, has died after saving his 4-year-old son from drowning in an icy pond.

Kevin Howell, 51, and his son were crossing a portion of Etna Pond around 6:30 a.m. Friday when they broke through the ice.

Howell was able to get his son out of the icy water and sent him to find his mother, Katie, at their home, roughly one third of a mile from the pond. The boy ran home and notified his mother. The mother told the young boy to stay at home, she called 911, and she rushed to help her husband. On her way, she grabbed an anchor and rope and ran down the water.

While she was attempting to rescue her husband, she fell through the ice herself and was unable to get out of the water.

When police arrived, they were able to pull her out of the water but there was no trace of Howell. Later in the day, divers recovered Howell’s deceased body.

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Super Bowl XLVIII

The Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers are going to Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas on February 11.

After Sunday’s matchups, the Chiefs beat the Ravens in Baltimore in the AFC championship game before the 49ers defeated the Detroit Lions in San Francisco winning the NFC championship.

The Chiefs never lost their lead the entire game against the Ravens and they held the score to 17-10 to clinch their spot in the Super Bowl.

The Lions and 49ers game was a much different affair. Initially, it looked as though the Lions had the win, but the 49ers came roaring back in the second half with 27 points, bringing the final score to 34-31.

The game will air on CBS at 6:30 pm ET.

This will be a rematch of the 2020 Super Bowl when the Chiefs defeated the 49ers 31-20.

See the latest update on Trump’s second defamation trial from Alex.

Trump ordered to pay $83 million to E. Jean Carroll

On Friday, a jury in New York City ordered Donald Trump to pay $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll, who, several years ago, accused Trump of raping her in 1995. The jury said Trump made defamatory statements against Carroll when he said the allegations were fake and made up.

Trump’s attorney said they would immediately appeal. Trump said the jury’s decision was absolutely ridiculous and that the legal system was being used as a political weapon.

Trump can delay the payment until he has exhausted all appeal options.

There was a previous defamation case from Carroll against Trump that resulted in a New York jury finding Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation. Trump was ordered to pay $5 million in damages. But after that verdict, Trump continued to ridicule Carroll and the court system.

There were multiple other legal issues with the cases that made it a long and drawn-out process.

During the closing arguments on Friday, Carroll’s attorney told the jury that only unusually high damages would prevent Trump from again defaming Carroll because Trump was a wealthy person. The jury obviously tried to do that with the $83 million order. But will Trump actually pay? We’ll see how the appeal process works out.

Trump is leading the Republican nomination process for the presidency, has already won two states, and is facing multiple other criminal and civil and criminal legal cases.

Thanks for that update. That is all the news stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light!

Vince McMahon:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/26/business/vince-mcmahon-resigns-wwe.html

US troops:

https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/three-u-s-troops-killed-in-drone-attack-in-jordan-b45ddb6b

Father:

https://www.pressherald.com/2024/01/28/drowning-of-town-manager-loss-felt-by-all-in-carmel/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064916611336

Superbowl:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/live-blog/afc-nfc-championship-live-updates-rcna136008

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39372811/super-bowl-lviii-58-las-vegas-faq-watch-2024

J. E Carroll verdict: