NEW YORK — A third panel of potential jurors will be questioned Friday in Donald Trump’s hush money case, drawing jury selection a step closer to completion in the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president. After a jury of 12 New Yorkers was seated Thursday, lawyers are now expected to turn their attention to picking remaining alternates who can vow to set aside their personal views and impartially judge the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Thursday’s court proceedings demonstrated unpredictability in the jury selection process of such a high-profile case, with two jurors who ..read more

Tim Anderson was a spark during several of the recent high points for the Chicago White Sox — from his nine hits in a 2020 American League wild-card series to the Hollywoodlike walk-off home run in the 2021 Field of Dreams game. But 2023 was a very rocky season for Anderson and the Sox. And in November, the South Siders declined a $14 million club option, making the two-time All-Star a free agent. Anderson landed in Miami, and made his first trip to Chicago with the Marlins on Thursday for a series against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. “I’m in a happy place,” Anderson said Thursday before the ope ..read more

PARIS — The talk before the opening ceremony of the Paris Games ideally should be about its grandiose backdrop: a summer sun setting on the Seine River as athletes drift by in boats and wave to cheering crowds. But behind the romantic veneer that Paris has long curated, mounting security concerns already have had an impact on the unprecedented open-air event. In January, the number of spectators allowed to attend the ceremony was slashed from around 600,000 to around 320,000. Tourists were told they won’t be allowed to watch it for free from riverbanks because the French government scaled back ..read more

The Cubs survived their 10-day West Coast gauntlet with a winning record, and that was with letting two winnable games get away from them. Despite losing right fielder Seiya Suzuki to a right oblique strain during the trip, the Cubs returned to Wrigley Field playing well for a seven-game homestand against the Miami Marlins and Houston Astros. The White Sox ended a rough homestand on a good note Wednesday, winning Game 2 of a doubleheader against the Kansas City Royals 2-1. Even with the victory, the Sox are tied with the 1948 club for the worst 18-game start in franchise history at 3-15. Every ..read more

By 2023, artificial intelligence had seeped into enough corners of a nervous film industry — buoyed by Barbenheimer, but fully aware of an imminent 2024 shortage of new titles — to become a seriously effective tool of labor unrest. Last year’s Screen Actors Guild contract, achieved after a lengthy, costly staring contest with industry producers and streamer honchos, added some guardrails designed to protect actors’ collective livelihood, noting “the importance of human performance in motion pictures and (AI’s) potential impact on employment.” Tye Sheridan knows about that impact. He’s an actor ..read more

“Hamlet”: Watch Eddie Izzard portray 23 characters in Shakespeare’s classic. April 19 to May 4 in Chicago Shakespeare’s Courtyard Theater on Navy Pier; tickets $119-$150 at www.chicagoshakes.com Holi in the Park: Celebrate the festival of colors with colored powders, dancing and chai. Noon to 4 p.m. April 20 in Heritage Green Park, 610 W. Adams St.; tickets $20-$25 at www.eventbrite.com Ancient Earth Day: Learn about sustainability in the ancient world, participate in family-friendly crafts and activities and take home a plant. 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. April 20 at the  Institute for the Study of ..read more

At a recent wedding reception in Chicago, guests gathered to toast the newlyweds at the bar. Glasses were lined up in front of them, but no alcohol was poured. Instead, marijuana vapor was pumped into the upside-down glasses, which were then lifted and inhaled in unison. “A lot of people were surprised,” bride Aja Heinlein said. “They didn’t even know that was something they could do.” In the new world of cannabis, consumption at private events such as weddings, holiday parties and corporate events is becoming more common. The state law that legalized recreational use of marijuana for adults 2 ..read more

Today is Friday, April 19, the 110th day of 2024. There are 256 days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History: On April 19, 1897, the first Boston Marathon was held; winner John J. McDermott ran the course in two hours, 55 minutes and 10 seconds. On this date: In 1775, the American Revolutionary War began with the battles of Lexington and Concord. In 1865, a funeral was held at the White House for President Abraham Lincoln, assassinated five days earlier; his coffin was then taken to the U.S. Capitol for a private memorial service in the Rotunda. In 1912, a special subcommittee of the Se ..read more

Dear Amy: My 24-year-old daughter is expecting a baby boy. She told me that she plans to use her biological dad’s name as her baby’s middle name. Her dad, “Tobias,” and I divorced when she was six and her brother was four. At the time, the literature advised divorced parents to never say anything unkind about one’s ex. Thus, I did not tell my daughter how horribly I was abused, both physically and verbally, his serial adultery, as well as his alcohol and cocaine use that drove us to near bankruptcy. He mercilessly targeted me, but never harmed our children. After lots of therapy ..read more

By JON GAMBRELL (Associated Press) DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran fired air defenses at a major air base and a nuclear site early Friday morning near the central city of Isfahan after spotting drones, which were suspected to be part of an Israeli attack in retaliation for Tehran’s unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on the country. No Iranian official directly acknowledged the possibility that Israel attacked, and the Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment. However, tensions have been high since the Saturday assault on Israel amid its war on Hamas in the Gaza St ..read more