Jane Does allege ex-congressman and two others coordinated ‘payments, drugs and travel’ for sexual acts

The Republican former congressman Matt Gaetz has been accused of participating in the sex trafficking of two young women in a civil lawsuit filed on Thursday in district court in Florida.

The allegations, which Gaetz denied in a statement to the Guardian, are the latest developments in a long-running sexual abuse scandal involving the politician who resigned from Congress in November 2024.

Expanding plume of fuel exhaust crystalized in the sky and reflected sunlight off frozen particles after Florida launch

A SpaceX rocket provided a stunning pre-dawn display over Florida as a egiant, luminescent “jellyfish cloud” spread for miles, caused by an expanding plume of fuel exhaust crystalizing in the sky and reflecting sunlight off the frozen particles.

The phenomenon occurred shortly after Tuesday’s 6.33am ET launch of the Falcon 9 rocket carrying cargo to the International Space Station.

James Robertson was the state’s 17th execution this year, amid scrutiny over failed lethal injection of Christa Pike

• US plan to livestream execution elicits global condemnation

Florida put to death a convicted murderer in the state’s first execution since September’s botched attempt involving Christa Pike in Tennessee, on Tuesday.

Officials said James Robertson, 63, was pronounced dead after he received a three-shot series of lethal injections at a Florida state prison in Raiford.