Michael Ricker currently faces charges of one count of first-degree murder in connection to the death of Lesa Armstrong Rose

The fraught politics of abortion have helped turn an August ballot question in Ohio that would make it harder to change the state constitution into a cauldron of misinformation and fear-mongering

By Karl Badohal, Pawel Florkiewicz and Gergely Szakacs WARSAW Less than three weeks ahead of Poland's hotly contested

Russia is poised for its first interest-rate hike since emergency measures taken after the invasion of Ukraine almost

Military-ruled Myanmar is allowing prisoners to have family visitors from outside

The US expanded a ban on imports from China’s Xinjiang region, placing two more companies on its so-called

An exoplanet more than eight times the size of Earth and potentially habitable has been discovered by scientists. Exoplanet K2-18 b was detected by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and piqued scientists’ interest after data suggested it may be covered in an ocean and have a hydrogen-rich atmosphere that could support life. Scientists are also encouraged by a hint of the detection of the molecule dimethyl sulphide (DMS). On Earth, DMS is only produced by microbial life, but the team has yet to confirm the detection and search for evidence of biological activity. The groundbreaking discovery of K2-18 b may see the exoplanet come under the unique classification of a “Hycean” planet – ones which are candidates for life thanks to their hydrogen-rich atmospheres and water cover. The amount of methane and carbon dioxide combined with the shortage of ammonia suggests there may be a water ocean underneath a hydrogen-rich atmosphere in K2-18 b. K2-18 b lies within the constellation of Leo and orbits a dwarf star called K2-18. It lies around 120 light years away from Earth and is within the habitable zone. However, scientists added that this does not necessarily mean it can support life. Nikku Madhusudhan, an astronomer at the University of Cambridge and lead author of the paper, explained: “Our findings underscore the importance of considering diverse habitable environments in the search for life elsewhere. “Traditionally, the search for life on exoplanets has focused primarily on smaller rocky planets, but the larger Hycean worlds are significantly more conducive to atmospheric observations.” Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Two cable news personalities with little in common — Mark Levin and Jen Psaki — both learned on Thursday that they will be getting increased screen time on their respective networks

Donald Trump’s lawyers appeared to ignore the judge’s orders in their latest filing in the case related to the former president’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election. Special counsel Jack Smith and the Trump defence team submitted their suggestions for when a hearing may be held on a proposed “protective order”. Last week, the special counsel’s office requested an order restricting what Mr Trump can share about the case. The judge ordered that a date between 9 and 11 August be agreed upon. The special counsel said his team would be available on any of those days while Mr Trump’s team ignored the judge’s order and suggested 14 or 15 August, CBS News noted. In a filing on Monday night, the special counsel office wrote that Mr Trump was attempting to “litigate this case in the media”. This came after Mr Trump objected to the proposal that public discussion of the discovery evidence in the case be restricted. “The defendant’s principal objection to it—as defense counsel stated publicly yesterday, and in conference with Government counsel—is that it would not permit the defendant or his counsel to publicly disseminate, and publicize in the media, various materials obtained from the Government in discovery,” the office wrote. “But there is no right to publicly release discovery material, because the discovery process is designed to ensure a fair process before the Court, not to provide the defendant an opportunity to improperly press his case in the court of public opinion.” The filing came shortly after Mr Trump’s attorneys requested that the judge in charge of the case give permission to the ex-president to use large parts of the discovery materials in the case during his campaign to return to the White House. Over the course of 13 pages, the attorneys responded to the government’s motion for a protective order banning Mr Trump from sharing any of the material that is set to be handed over by the prosecution during the pre-trial discovery process. Mr Trump faces charges of conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding. The defence lawyers argued that the standard protective order would mean that the judge, Tanya Chutkan, would be able to “censor” Mr Trump and put in place “content-based restrictions” on his “political speech”. Prosecutors pointed to Mr Trump’s frequent “public statements on social media regarding witnesses, judges, attorneys, and others associated with legal matters pending against him”. They had asked the judge to impose an order barring Mr Trump from sharing discovery materials “directly or indirectly to any person or entity other than persons employed to assist in the defense, persons who are interviewed as potential witnesses, counsel for potential witnesses, and other persons to whom the Court may authorize disclosure”. Read More Trump will have mugshot taken ‘if warranted’ after expected indictment, Georgia Sheriff says Who are the 2024 presidential election candidates? Meet the Republicans and Democrats campaigning Trump rails against ‘bulls***’ charges in latest angry rant over indictment

Gabbi confirmed that she and Priscilla were no longer together, but they are still 'best friends'

Less than two years after nearly being killed by a Russian bomb while reporting, Fox News' Benjamin Hall returned to Ukraine this week

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial on abuse of power charges could be in the hands of the jury as soon as this week