Por Rebekah Riess y Isabel Rosales, CNN

Los restos humanos recuperados el domingo cerca de un puente en el área de la Bahía de Tampa han sido identificados como los de la segunda estudiante de doctorado desaparecida de la Universidad del Sur de Florida, Nahida Bristy, anunció el viernes por la mañana en una conferencia de prensa el sheriff del condado de Hillsborough, Chad Chronister.

Bristy y su compañero de doctorado Zamil Limon —ambos de 27 años y originarios de Bangladesh— fueron vistos por última vez el 16 de abril en Tampa. El cuerpo de Limon fue hallado el 24 de abril en el puente Howard Frankland.

Dos días después, se avistó una bolsa de basura negra en la orilla, justo al sur del lugar donde se encontró a Limon.

En su interior, los investigadores descubrieron otro conjunto de restos humanos en un “estado avanzado de descomposición”, según consta en una declaración jurada de arresto.

La bolsa estaba atada con un nudo, de la misma manera que la que contenía los restos de Limon. Los investigadores también observaron que el cuerpo vestía “ropa similar, basándose en el estilo distintivo con el que se vio a Nahida Bristy por última vez en las grabaciones de videovigilancia”, según la declaración jurada.

Al igual que Limon, el cuerpo presentaba múltiples heridas de arma blanca.

El compañero de vivienda de Limon, Hisham Abugharbieh, se encuentra bajo custodia y ha sido imputado con dos cargos de asesinato premeditado en primer grado con arma blanca en relación con las muertes de Limon y Bristy. También enfrenta cargos por traslado ilícito de un cadáver, omisión de denuncia de una muerte con intención de ocultarla, manipulación de pruebas físicas, detención ilegal y agresión, en conexión con los fallecimientos de Limon y Bristy, según informó la oficina del fiscal del estado.

Abugharbieh, de 26 años, permanecerá detenido a la espera de juicio, según dictaminó un juez el martes. La fiscalía había solicitado que permaneciera en prisión debido a la “naturaleza brutal y violenta” de los presuntos delitos.

Un informe del médico forense indicó que Limon sufrió una profunda puñalada en la parte baja de la espalda que le perforó el hígado, entre otras heridas, según documentos judiciales presentados ante el Tribunal del Condado de Hillsborough.

Además de varias puñaladas, Limon “tenía las manos y los tobillos atados delante de él”, señaló Chronister. “Sus piernas, a la altura de la zona de los glúteos, habían sido casi completamente seccionadas para poder doblarlo sobre sí mismo… (lo que) facilitó introducirlo en una bolsa de basura. Fue abandonado al borde de la carretera. Por atroz que resultara este asesinato, fue literalmente dejado a un lado de la autopista como si fuera un trozo de basura”.

Los investigadores contactaron a la familia de Bristy en Bangladésh la semana pasada para informarles que creían que ella podría haber fallecido, basándose en la cantidad de sangre hallada en el apartamento que Limon compartía con el sospechoso, según relató el hermano de Bristy a WTSP, una cadena afiliada a CNN.

Abugharbieh fue detenido la mañana del 24 de abril en una vivienda en Lutz, Florida, después de que las autoridades respondieran a un incidente de violencia doméstica en el que estaba involucrado un familiar, informó la oficina del sheriff.

Bristy era estudiante de doctorado en Ingeniería Química en la USF. Contaba con una maestría en Ingeniería de la Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología de Bangladésh, así como con una licenciatura en Ciencias —con especialización en Química Aplicada e Ingeniería Química— de la Universidad de Ciencia y Tecnología de Noakhali (NSTU), también en Bangladésh, según consta en su perfil de LinkedIn.

Era una “estudiante talentosa y prometedora”, afirmó el profesor Moham

By Rebekah Riess, Isabel Rosales, CNN

(CNN) — The human remains recovered near a Tampa Bay area bridge Sunday have been identified as the second missing University of South Florida doctoral student, Nahida Bristy, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said Friday.

Bristy and fellow doctoral student Zamil Limon, both 27 and originally from Bangladesh, were last seen on April 16 in Tampa. Limon’s body was found on April 24 on the Howard Frankland Bridge.

Two days later, a black trash bag was spotted on the shoreline just south of where Limon was found.

Inside, investigators discovered another set of human remains in an “advanced stage of decomposition,” according to an arrest affidavit.

The bag was tied in a knot, in the same manner as the one containing Limon’s remains. Investigators also noted the body was wearing “similar clothing based on the unique style that Nahida Bristy was last seen on video surveillance,” according to the affidavit.

Like Limon, the body had multiple stab wounds.

Limon’s roommate, Hisham Abugharbieh, is in custody and has been charged with two counts of first-degree premeditated murder with a weapon in Limon and Bristy’s deaths. He also faces charges of unlawfully moving a dead body, failure to report a death with intent to conceal, tampering with physical evidence, false imprisonment and battery, in connection with Limon and Bristy’s deaths, the state attorney’s office said.

Abugharbieh, 26, will remain in detention as he awaits trial, a judge ruled Tuesday. Prosecutors had asked that he be held in jail due to the “brutal and violent nature” of the alleged crimes.

Limon’s death was ruled a homicide, with a medical examiner’s report noting a deep stab wound to his lower back that penetrated his liver, among other wounds, according to court documents filed in Hillsborough County Court.

Investigators had called Bristy’s family in Bangladesh last week to say they believed she may be dead, based on the amount of blood found in the apartment Limon shared with the suspect, Bristy’s brother told CNN affiliate WTSP.

Abugharbieh was arrested the morning of April 24 at a home in Lutz, Florida, after law enforcement responded to a domestic violence incident involving a family member, the sheriff’s office said.

Bristy was a doctoral student of chemical engineering at USF. She had a master’s of engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and a bachelor’s of science in applied chemistry and chemical engineering from the Noakhali Science and Technology University in Bangladesh, according to her LinkedIn profile.

She was a “talented and promising student,” Professor Mohammad Ismail, the NSTU vice chancellor, said in a post on social media and the university website.

“Her untimely death is an irreparable loss to the university and the nation,” Ismail wrote.

Bristy’s dream “was to come back to Bangladesh, work here, do something big and contribute to society,” her brother Zahid Pranto told CNN Monday. “She was the perfect sister. She was the perfect daughter of her family.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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By Tierney Sneed, CNN

(CNN) — Lawmakers have received whistle blower reports accusing a top Justice Department official of pressuring prosecutors to work quickly to indict the Southern Poverty Law Center despite misgivings about the case, House Democrats said in a new letter to the official, Associate Deputy Attorney General Aakash Singh.

Reps. Jamie Raskin and Mary Gay Scanlon are demanding that Singh provide information about the investigation, while arguing that the indictment amounted to a “shocking abuse of prosecutorial power to attack civil society.”

The Justice Department alleges in the criminal case brought last month that the Southern Poverty Law Center — which has drawn the ire of President Donald Trump and other Republicans for labeling right-wing organizations as hate groups — defrauded donors by not informing them of secret payments to hate group members to act as informants.

The SPLC has denied the allegations, and the Democrats described the indictment in the letter as “makeshift and nonsensical.”

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to comment for this story.

“DOJ’s exercise in gaslighting-by-indictment also requires America to bury its head in the sand and pretend SPLC’s payments to infiltrate white nationalist groups were meant to support them, despite evidence to the contrary presented in its charging document,” the House Democrats said.

The Democrats also sent a letter to Acting US Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama Kevin P. Davidson, whose office brought the case, seeking information about the investigation.

The new letters preview what Democrats will prioritize if they retake the House this year and get subpoena power.

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By Tami Luhby, CNN

(CNN) — Nebraska is launching work requirements in Medicaid on Friday, becoming the first state to implement a key pillar of the Republicans’ “big, beautiful bill.”

GOP Gov. Jim Pillen has said the mandate will promote long term independence. But community advocates and experts fear that tens of thousands of eligible low-income adults could lose their coverage due to paperwork burdens and other hurdles. They also criticize the state for enacting the requirement eight months before the deadline set by the law, failing to provide enrollees enough notice or information and opting not to hire more staff to oversee the new mandate.

Roughly 70,000 Nebraskans are covered through Medicaid expansion, which voters approved at the ballot box in 2018. But enrollment could decline by between 16,000 and 30,000 people in 2028 due to the work requirement, as well as a new federal provision that states must redetermine expansion enrollees’ eligibility every six months instead of every year, according to an analysis by the left-leaning Urban Institute.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law last July, enacted the first-ever federal work requirement in Medicaid, fulfilling a longtime Republican goal. It mandates that adults ages 19 through 64 who sign up for or are covered by Medicaid expansion work, volunteer, attend school or participate in a work program at least 80 hours a month. Among those who are exempt are pregnant women, parents of children under age 14, medically frail individuals and those in substance use disorder treatment programs.

The provision applies to 42 states that have fully or partially expanded Medicaid coverage to more low-income adults, as well as to the District of Columbia. In total, enrollment will decline between 3 million and 7 million people in 2028, the Urban Institute projects.

In Nebraska, those signing up for coverage through Medicaid expansion will have to show they meet the requirement in the month before they apply or that they qualify for an exemption. For existing enrollees, the state will start checking work requirements when they renew their coverage, starting July 31. They must meet the work mandate or qualify for an exemption for one month since their last renewal.

Nebraska will use various data sources to determine whether some enrollees are already working enough hours or qualify for an exemption. They can also meet the mandate if they earn at least $580 a month, which is equal to working 80 hours at the federal minimum wage.

But other participants will have to provide more information about their employment or attest that they are volunteering, enrolled in school or a work program, are medically frail or meet certain other exemptions. The declaration form asks for contact information for volunteer organizations, work programs and doctors, among others.

“For some people, there is going to be a significant documentation hurdle,” said Jennifer Tolbert, deputy director of the Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured. “That could mean those individuals, even though they are meeting the requirements, are simply not able to enroll because they can’t provide the documentation, or if they are enrolled, could still lose coverage because of the inability to provide the documentation.”

Enrollees are incredibly confused about the work requirement, said Sarah Maresh, health care access program director at Nebraska Appleseed, an advocacy group. Many don’t know whether the new mandate applies to them or whether they qualify for exemptions like being medically frail. The state is not doing enou

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By Glen Levy, Elizabeth Pérez, CNN

Miami, Florida (CNN) — For Kimi Antonelli, time is of the essence.

The Italian driver, who competes in Formula One for Mercedes – replacing no less a legend than Lewis Hamilton at the Silver Arrows – is still just 19 years old, but he isn’t biding his time, fully aware that a title is there to be won in only his second season in the sport.

On the grid, the current leader in the 2026 drivers’ standings hasn’t hung around, with achievements stacking up as effortlessly as he maneuvers his car around the track.

In his debut season in 2025, at just 18 years and 224 days, Antonelli became the youngest driver to lead a race, and on the same day in Japan, the youngest to set the fastest ever lap (1:30.965 seconds).

He’s arguably taken it up a notch this season by becoming the youngest Grand Prix Pole Sitter (19 years, 6 months, and 17 days at the Chinese Grand Prix) and by going on to clinch victory in Shanghai that weekend, the second youngest race winner – that sound you can hear is Max Verstappen breathing easy, safe in the knowledge that he remains the youngest driver to win a race (18 years and 228 days old at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix on his debut for Red Bull Racing).

His love for driving

But Verstappen and the rest of the competition are currently being left behind by Antonelli, who will hope it’s business as usual when the F1 season resumes this weekend in Miami. With a nine-point lead over his Mercedes teammate George Russell, Antonelli is the youngest ever Championship leader.

“I’m a very ambitious person,” Antonelli tells CNN Sports just days ahead of competing in the Miami Grand Prix.

“The goal is to win, not only racing, but try to win the championship… this year is looking good so far, we’ve been very strong, and this weekend is going to be very important in Miami, to be back from where we left [off].”

And off the track, time is at the forefront of the young man’s mind too. Or perhaps that should be, at the forefront of the young man’s wrist. CNN Sports is catching up with the Italian in his guise as an IWC Schaffhausen ambassador, as he partakes in an event in Miami’s fashion district before his next race.

“It’s important to do these kind of activities,” he acknowledges, before impressing upon CNN Sports that “the thing I love the most is driving.”

No kidding. A highly respectable seventh-place finish in Antonelli’s rookie campaign – and, yes, the 150 points he amassed are a record in a driver’s first Championship season – will surely be improved upon in year two, with those early-season victories in Shanghai and Suzuka seeing Antonelli ascend to the top of the standings.

Even if his age precluded him from indulging in the traditional post-race celebrations of enjoying some champagne in Japan. “It was very tricky because, obviously, they had to get it ready, but yeah, it was a non-alcoholic bev