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Happening Today: Tropical Storm Karen, Trump at UN, Bronx Hot Car, Epstein Fallout

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Karen Becomes Tropical Storm, Threatens Puerto Rico With Heavy, Gusty Rain

Forecasters said Tropical Storm Karen would unleash heavy rains across the northeastern Caribbean on Tuesday that could cause flooding and landslides in Puerto Rico and nearby islands. As the storm approached, Puerto Ricans were trying to compose themselves after being shaken from their beds late Monday by a magnitude-6.0 earthquake that hit in the Atlantic near the island at a shallow depth of 6 miles. Three aftershocks, of magnitude 4.7 and 4.6, followed within less than an hour. A tropical storm warning remained in effect for Puerto Rico, Vieques, Culebra and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, and forecasters said certain areas could experience stronger winds.

At UN, Trump Focuses on Religious Freedom, Not Climate

President Donald Trump made his political priorities clear Monday within an hour of arriving at the United Nations for a three-day visit: He breezed by a major climate change summit to focus instead on religious persecution, an issue that resonates with his evangelical supporters. The climate summit, a centerpiece of this year's U.N. schedule, was not on Trump's agenda at all. But he stopped in to observe for about 15 minutes before heading to what he saw as the main event, a meeting on protecting religious freedom. Trump said it was an "urgent moral duty" for world leaders to stop crimes against faith, release prisoners of conscience and repeal laws restricting religious liberty.

Dad of Twins Who Died in Bronx Hot Car Due in Court

The Bronx father accused of leaving his 1-year-old twins to die in a hot car is expected to appear in court on Tuesday. Juan Rodriguez had been out on bail since the devastating deaths of his twins, Phoenix and Luna Rodriguez. Prosecutors continued their investigation as a judge ruled there was no criminal case at the time against the 39-year-old social worker who said he "blanked out" and forgot them in the car. The case had put on hold but now Rodriguez could learn whether he will be prosecuted for what his lawyer calls a tragic mistake. He possibly faces two counts of manslaughter and two counts of negligent homicide but he has not been indicted.

Harvard Professor in Manhattan Court for More Epstein Fallout

A law professor at Harvard will be in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday, seeking a dismissal of a defamation lawsuit brought against him by one of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged sexual abuse victim. Virginia Giuffre claims Alan Dershowitz slandered her after she illicitly linked him to the financier who died by suicide in his jail cell as he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. Dershowitz denied any wrongdoing.

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