New Hampshire
Governor Ayotte signs bill tightening New Hampshire bail law – The Boston Globe
She thanked those in attendance who helped push the bill forward, including the attorney general and Manchester Mayor Jay Ruais, who has been a vocal advocate of bail reform.
“Now that HB 52 has been signed into law, we are returning to a strong bail bystem, where public safety comes first and the revolving door for violent and repeat offenders has been slammed shut,” Ruais said in a statement Tuesday. “Our previous bail system was seriously flawed, putting our citizens, businesses, visitors and law enforcement in danger.”
In Ayotte’s short time in the corner office, she’s emphasized tough-on-crime policies. Among her top priorities has been tightening the state’s bail law. She has advocated for it as a public safety measure, arguing that the state’s current bail law allows too many violent offenders to go free, enabling them to commit additional crimes.
“I’ve heard so much about the issues we’ve had with bail creating a revolving door that is putting our law enforcement in danger, that is putting average citizens… in danger,” she said, during a press event in March, when she urged lawmakers to pass House Bill 592.
Her hands-on approach successfully put the bill on a fast track, landing on her desk months ahead of the deadline to do so. Earlier in March, Ayotte touted bipartisan support for the measure from eight mayors, in addition to all 10 of the state’s county sheriffs, in front of a room she had packed with dozens of members of law enforcement.
Shepherding this bill into law illustrates how, as a new governor, Ayotte isn’t shy about pushing lawmakers to advance her priorities. And at least in this case, with strong Republican majorities in both chambers, they were happy to oblige. The bill also enjoyed unanimous support from Senate Democrats.
But some civil liberties advocates have warned about the harm the new law could cause. People accused of low-level crimes could lose their jobs and custody of their children while awaiting a trial that could prove them innocent, and taxpayers ultimately have to foot the bill for detaining these individuals. Then, there are concerns about freedom, justice, and due process.
Attorneys at the ACLU of New Hampshire have said it was already possible to detain dangerous individuals and they point to lowering crime rates in the state. Plus, they said, tightening the bail law raises concerns about due process.
“Police are not a judge and jury, and they should not have the power to take away someone’s freedom. That power is left to a judge’s discretion,” said Amanda P. Azad, the organization’s policy director, in a statement.
The current debate about bail stems from a change to the state’s law in 2018, when New Hampshire passed reforms that made it harder to detain people who couldn’t afford to pay bail. Now commonly referred to as bail reform, these changes also allowed any person deemed a danger to the community to be detained before trial, regardless what kind of crime they had been accused of.
Lawmakers have been tinkering with those laws in the years since, passing additional reforms as recently as last year. But Ayotte disagreed with some of the changes, and began championing HB 592.
It eliminates a magistrate system that was only fully enacted a few months ago when three magistrates were appointed. The system was supposed to decrease how long someone has to wait behind bars for a bail decision when a judge isn’t available. The magistrates were scheduled to work on weekends.
While the law used to provide a 24-hour window for an individual to appear in court for a bail determination, HB 592 extends that to 36 hours.
It also lowers the standard required to detain someone from “clear and convincing evidence” to probable cause.
The updated law maintains a provision that the court should not to impose a financial condition that would result in incarceration just because someone can’t afford their freedom, although it allows cash bail if there is “no reasonable alternative” to ensure the person will not commit a new crime, violate bail, or fail to appear in court. Here too, it lowers the standard for making this determination from clear and convincing evidence to probable cause.
And it allows people to be detained if there’s probable cause they have broken certain rules while out on bail — such as committing a felony or class A misdemeanor, failing to appear for court, or violating a condition of their bail.
The new law takes effect 180 days from its signing, on Sept. 21.
This article has been updated with a statement from the mayor of Manchester.
Amanda Gokee can be reached at amanda.gokee@globe.com. Follow her @amanda_gokee.
New Hampshire
2 Hudson, NH, residents arrested after cats found abandoned
HUDSON, N.H. — An animal cruelty investigation led to the arrest of two former tenants who police say left three cats behind in the apartment they were evicted from.
The Hudson Police Department said officers responded to 19 Oliver Drive on Nov. 25 after the town’s animal control officer received a report that multiple cats had been left behind in an apartment previously occupied by Faith Byers, 48, and Kevin Greene, 57.
The pair had reportedly been evicted a week earlier, on Nov. 18.
Police said that attempts to reach Byers and Greene by phone were unsuccessful, and the property owner later confirmed that the two had moved out without taking the cats or arranging for their care.
With the owner’s permission, police entered the apartment and found three cats alone inside the unoccupied residence.
Police said they determined the cats had been left unattended for several days in conditions lacking adequate airflow, sunlight, litter and consistent access to food or water. Police added that no care plan had been made for the animals, and neither former tenant indicated any intention to return for them.
The animals were safely removed and transported to the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire in Bedford, where they are now receiving care.
Arrest warrants were issued for Byers and Greene, who are each charged with one count of cruelty to animals, a Class A misdemeanor. They were arrested on Friday and released on personal recognizance bail.
They are scheduled to appear in 9th Circuit Court Nashua District Division at 1 p.m. April 28.
Follow Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social.
New Hampshire
Pakistan hosts diplomatic discussions on ending war
Foreign ministers from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt will meet in Islamabad today in an attempt to come up with a plan to de-escalate the Iran war.
The meeting comes as several thousand more U.S. troops arrived in the region and after another group got involved in the expanding conflict: Yemen’s Houthis.
The Iran-backed Houthis launched missiles towards Israel, and there’s concern their involvement could threaten another vital global shipping lane in the Red Sea.
Here are more updates on day 30 of the Iran war.
Diplomacy Push in Pakistan
The four foreign ministers from regional powers will meet in Islamabad today and Monday for a push towards diplomacy to end the war.
In a statement ahead of the meeting, the Egyptian government said: “Discussions are expected to focus on recent developments related to regional military escalation and ongoing diplomatic efforts to contain tensions and promote de-escalation.”
“The talks come amid heightened concerns about regional stability, with participating countries seeking to coordinate their stances and support political solutions to emerging crises,” it added.
Whether whatever consensus the countries known as “the quad” come up with will be accepted by the US, Israel, and Iran is another question.
Pakistan has emerged as a possible peace-broker in the conflict, passing messages between the U.S. and Tehran. Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said Saturday that “dialogue, diplomacy, and such confidence-building measures are the only way forward.”
Dar also welcomed the fact Iran has agreed to allow 20 Pakistan-flagged ships – or two a day – through the Strait of Hormuz.
Houthis enter war
Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen launched the first missile they have fired since the war began toward Israel on Saturday. Israel’s military successfully intercepted it but the Houthis’ attack opens another front in a war that has now moved into its second month.
Up until Saturday’s missile launch the Houthis had stayed out of this war. But a Houthi spokesman said attacks will continue until “the aggression on all resistance fronts stops.”
Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs / AP
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AP
The Yemen-based rebels were active during Israel’s war in Gaza, firing on cargo ships in the Red Sea and disrupting global commercial traffic.
With Iran essentially blockading the Strait of Hormuz, driving up global oil prices, there are concerns that if the Houthis start attacking ships in the Red Sea again global shipping will be even more disrupted.
Iran also hit multiple sites around Tel Aviv and Jerusalem Saturday and Israel’s military says Iran is increasingly using cluster bombs.
Designed to detonate at high altitude the munition disperses dozens of smaller bombs that are more challenging for Israel’s multi-layered air defense system to intercept and can cause damage over a wider area.
Dozens of countries have signed onto a cluster munitions treaty banning the weapons – except Iran, Israel and the U.S.
Iran threatens U.S. universities in region
Iranian authorities and residents say more airstrikes hit them overnight. Social media videos from across Iran showed strikes hitting all over the country.
Israel’s military said it had completed what it called a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting weapons production and storage sites.
Iran claims U.S.-Israeli strikes hit a Tehran university over the weekend and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened American university campuses in the Middle East in retaliation.
“We advise all employees, professors, and students of American universities in the region and residents of their surrounding areas” to stay a kilometer away from campuses, the statement, carried by Iranian media, said.
Several US universities have campuses in the Gulf, including New York University in the United Arab Emirates and Texas A&M University, among others, in Qatar.
Meanwhile, Iran continues to fire drones and missiles at Gulf countries, with Kuwait saying it was intercepting missile and drone attacks early Sunday. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted and destroyed ten drones.
Iran also claimed it had attacked two major aluminium sites in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Emirates Global Aluminium confirmed an Iranian attack wounded several and caused significant damage to its plant.
U.S. Troops injured, more arrive
At least 15 U.S. service members were wounded Friday in an Iranian strike on a Saudi air base that hosts American troops, according to the Associated Press, including at least five in serious condition. The missile and drone strikes targeted Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan air base, located outside the capital Riyadh.
Iran has targeted U.S. service members at bases throughout the region since the war began a month ago, in retaliation for the U.S. attacks and seeking to drive troops out of the region. Overall, the Pentagon has put the U.S. casualty toll at 13 killed and more than 300 injured.
On Saturday, troops from the Japan-based 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, made up of around 3,500 sailors and Marines, arrived in the Middle East, according to U.S. Central Command.
The U.S. military will not say where and how they might be deployed. Thousands more soldiers from the U.S. military’s 82nd Airborne Division are also expected to be deployed.
Journalists killed in Lebanon
Three Lebanese journalists covering the Israeli invasion of the country’s south were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Jezzine.
One of them worked for a TV channel affiliated with Hezbollah and Israel accuses him of being a militant rather than a journalist – but has not provided evidence. The journalist Israel says it targeted was Ali Shaeb, a veteran TV correspondent and household name in Lebanon. After killing him, Israel’s military issued a statement accusing him of exposing the locations of Israeli troops.
The other two journalists killed were siblings, TV correspondent Fatima Ftouni and her cameraman brother, Mohammed Ftouni. Afterward their father appeared on TV, saying he was proud of his children.
All three had been covering Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon.
Lebanese officials called the attack a flagrant violation of international law, and said they’re complaining to the UN Security Council. Hundreds of fellow journalists marched at a protest vigil in Lebanon’s capital.
The three journalists were among at least 47 people killed Saturday in Israeli attacks, according to Lebanese health officials.
Nine of those killed were paramedics, which the head of the World Health Organization called “a tragedy,” noting health workers are protected under international law.
Israel has intensified its attacks across Lebanon, mostly in the South, where Israeli ground troops are moving northward to try to oust Hezbollah militants.
Another Israeli soldier was also killed in Lebanon, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressing his condolences on X over the weekend.
Developments in Syria, Iraq
The war is spreading to more parts of the Middle East. On Sunday, Syria said it had intercepted a drone strike from Iraq targeting a U.S. military base. Pro-Iran Iraqi groups have claimed responsibility for some attacks on US interests.
Separately, the Syrian and UAE governments condemned an attack targeting the residence of the Kurdish region’s president Nechirvan Barzani.
French President Emmanuel Macron also condemned the attack saying: “The sovereignty of Iraq, and of Kurdistan within it, is essential to regional stability. Everything must be done to prevent Iraq from being drawn into the ongoing escalation.”
On Sunday, the Israeli army said it had launched its “first” attack into Lebanon from Syria.
Jane Arraf in Amman, Emily Feng in Van, Turkey, Lauren Frayer in Jezzine, Lebanon, Carrie Khan in Tel Aviv, and Kate Bartlett in Johannesburg contributed to this report.
Copyright 2026 NPR
New Hampshire
Abandoned Camper Fire On South Main Street Knocked Down By Concord Fire And Rescue Teams
CONCORD, NH — The Concord Fire Department is investigating the cause of a camper fire on South Main Street late Friday night.
Around 11:30 p.m., fire and rescue teams were sent to South Main Street, not far from Langdon Avenue, for a report of a camper on fire. Dispatch said it was unknown if anyone was inside or if the camper was abandoned.
“We have a couple of calls on it,” a dispatcher said. “It’s fully involved.”
A few minutes later, the fire was confirmed, and firefighters worked to extinguish it. The battalion commander confirmed no one was inside, and it appeared to be abandoned. Dispatch said, if they recalled correctly, the camper had been there for “quite a while.”
News 603 posted videos from the scene on Facebook here:
And here:
The bulk of the fire was knocked down after about 20 minutes, with firefighters overhauling and dealing with “the hot spots.”
Not long after the overhaul update, firefighters were sent to a business on South Main Street, near the camper fire, in response to a report of an alarm activation.
After investigating, there did not appear to be an activation at the business, a commander said. Later, dispatch said the alarm appeared to restore itself automatically. Firefighters cleared the scene of the business alarm just after midnight on Saturday.
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