National News at a Glance

New York City Limits Growth of Ride-Hailing

New York became the first major American city on Wednesday to halt new vehicle licenses for ride-hail services, dealing a major setback to Uber in its largest U.S. market. The legislation passed overwhelmingly by the City Council will cap the growth of the services for a year while the city studies the booming industry. The bills also allow New York to set a minimum pay rate for drivers. Mayor Bill de Blasio and Corey Johnson, the City Council speaker, said the bills will curtail worsening traffic and improve driver wages. But Uber has warned its riders that the cap could produce higher prices and longer wait times.

Manafort’s Defense Team Accuses Gates of Multiple Affairs

Lawyers for Paul Manafort accused his longtime deputy Rick Gates of having four extramarital affairs and lying about them, a last attempt by the defense to undermine the credibility of the government’s star witness on Wednesday. Kevin Downing, the lead lawyer for Manafort, offered no evidence of either the affairs or Gates’ misrepresentation of them, and the judge, T.S. Ellis III, cut off the questioning before Gates could directly respond. The exchange marked a dramatic conclusion to Gates’ testimony, which spanned three days in federal court in the trial of Manafort on bank and tax fraud charges brought by the special counsel.

New York Congressman Collins Is Charged With Insider Trading

Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., was charged with insider trading Wednesday. He was accused of tipping off his son and others to sell stock in Innate Immunotherapeutics Ltd., an Australian pharmaceutical company, before the results of one of its failed drug tests became public, federal prosecutors said. Collins, 68, was attending the Congressional Picnic at the White House in June 2017 when he received a private email from the company’s chief executive that a test for a potentially lucrative experimental drug had failed, the indictment said. The congressman, who sat on the firm’s board of directors, called his son, Cameron Collins, who sold his shares in the company, the indictment said.

Immigration Report Shows Decline in Arrests at Border

American immigration officials arrested 2,885 fewer people at the Southwest border last month than in June, the second month in a row that the number of migrants trying to enter the United States has dropped. Data released Wednesday show that authorities apprehended 39,953 people at the border with Mexico in July. The number of arrests in June totaled 42,838. An estimated 4,357 unaccompanied children showed up at the border in July, the data show, compared to 5,562 in a month earlier. Meanwhile, 12,285 people traveling in family groups were denied entry to the United States last month, compared to 12,386 family members in June.

Sinister Purpose for Malnourished Youths at Compound

Prosecutors are investigating an allegation that a Georgia man and four other adults who lived with children in a squalid desert compound in New Mexico were training them to carry out school shootings, according to court documents filed Wednesday. Siraj Ibn Wahhaj, 40, and four of his relatives were charged with child abuse this week after 11 malnourished children, ages 1 to 15, were discovered in the makeshift compound last week. A foster parent of one of the children told authorities that the adults had trained the child in the use of an assault rifle in preparation for carrying out school shootings, according to court documents. At court appearances Wednesday, all five defendants pleaded not guilty.

Off-Duty Officer Uses Taser to Detain Girl, 11, at Store

A Cincinnati police officer stunned an 11-year-old girl with a Taser on Monday, the city’s Police Department said, setting off anger and driving officials to re-examine the department’s use-of-force policy. The girl, who is African-American, was suspected of shoplifting food, Councilman Jeff Pastor said Wednesday. The officer, who is also black, was off duty and working a security detail for the Kroger grocery store where the incident happened, Pastor said. According to the Cincinnati Police Department’s procedure manual, Tasers may be used on children as young as 7.

A School Supply Study’s Toxic Results

A public interest group said this week that it had found toxic substances in a number of school supplies, including asbestos in a Playskool crayon and another carcinogen, benzene, in a dry-erase marker. The findings were detailed in a report published Tuesday by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund, which had an independent laboratory test 27 back-to-school products. Four tested positive for dangerous chemicals. The products were purchased nationwide at a variety of businesses. The group recommended that the companies that make or offer the products stop selling them and start notifying consumers about the chemicals they appear to contain.