THU 08 OCTMorning11:30 AM

Back to the brief

USABC News

9/11 families seek release of documents they say include Saudi's link to attack

Photo: ABC News

Sept. 11 victims' families made their case in a federal appeals court Wednesday.

Families of Sept. 11 victims asked a federal appeals court on Wednesday to order the government to release documents they say tie the Saudi Arabian government to the plot to hijack airplanes and crash them into New York and D.C.

After 90 minutes of legal questioning over the fate of their lawsuit against the Saudi government, families of the 9/11 victims seemed hopeful that a panel of appellate judges would allow their case to move forward and to continue pursuing evidence about the Kingdom's role in the attacks.

Read the original report

Opens ABC News in a new tab

USABC News

Accused Cornell student pushes to remove New York AG as special investigator

An attorney for the student pointed to one of Letitia James' social media posts. One of the men accused in a "gang rape" at Cornell University is pushing to have New York Attorney General Letitia James thrown off the case, arguing that she "demonstrated a bias and presumption of guilt" through a past social media post. An attorney for student Gillio Lopes asked an Albany court to void Gov. Kathy Hochul's appointment of James as special prosecutor in the case, as well as force the appointment of a new prosecutor "who is free from actual or perceived conflicts of interest or bias."

USCBS News

Google unveils Gemini AI agent to handle workplace tasks

Google on Thursday unveiled a new AI agent tailored for workplace tasks, positioning it to compete with other technology giants racing to offer their own virtual office assistants. Called Gemini, the AI is a "universal agent" that can write and run code, create images and media and integrate with Google products like Gmail, Docs, Drive and Sheets, as well as third-party apps like Slack and Microsoft 365, Google said in its statement . Thomas Kurian, the CEO of Google Cloud, shared the new product during a keynote address at Gemini at Work 2026 on Thursday, an annual event where Google showcases its suite of AI technology.

USCBS News

Space station crew returns to Earth with perfect splashdown

Crew 12 dropped out of orbit and returned to Earth on Thursday, one day after undocking from the International Space Station, in a meteor-like fireball of concentrated reentry heat, safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean west of Los Angeles to close out a 237-day mission. Commander Jessica Meir, pilot Jack Hathaway, European Space Agency astronaut Sophie Adenot and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev enjoyed a final day in weightlessness while waiting for their orbit to line up with the southwest-to-northeast reentry trajectory.