Chicago police to release images after attack on ‘Empire’ actor
Chicago police said on Wednesday they would soon release images of “persons of interest” in the assault of “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett in which two men yelled racial and homophobic slurs and wrapped a rope around his neck.
Elephant seals take over California beach during U.S. shutdown
A herd of elephant seals took over a popular California beach while it was closed during the federal government shutdown and the animals show no sign of wanting to leave.
Texas executes man for killing police officer in botched 1988 robbery
The state of Texas on Wednesday executed a man convicted of shooting a Houston police officer to death during a botched robbery of an adult book store in 1988, the state’s Criminal Justice Department said.
Deep freeze grips U.S. Midwest, blamed for at least eight deaths
A blast of icy polar air brought dangerously low temperatures to the U.S. Midwest on Wednesday, causing at least three more deaths while halting the mail and forcing residents who pride themselves on their winter hardiness to huddle indoors.
U.S. safety board opens probe into deadly Florida highway crash
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said on Wednesday it would send a team of eight to probe a deadly Jan. 3 crash in Florida that killed seven, including five children traveling to Disney World.
Youngest member of murderous Manson ‘family’ again recommended for parole
The California parole board recommended on Wednesday that Leslie Van Houten, the youngest of Charles Manson’s murderous “family” of followers, be released early from the life prison term she is serving for her role in the cult’s 1969 killing spree.
New York settles with sellers of ‘fake’ online followers, ‘likes’
New York’s attorney general on Wednesday said she has resolved a probe into a group of Colorado companies that once sold fake followers, “likes” and views on social media platforms, in the first U.S. settlement to deem such sales illegally deceptive.
U.S. Midwest gripped by deep freeze blamed for several deaths
A blast of polar air brought dangerously low temperatures to much of the U.S. Midwest, causing three more deaths on Wednesday, while halting the mail and forcing residents who pride themselves on their winter hardiness to huddle indoors.
Senate hearings to probe unsafe housing of U.S. military families
Troubled by widespread health and safety hazards uncovered by a Reuters investigation into U.S. military housing, Congress will hold hearings next month to ensure that “what we’re seeing now can never happen again,” said Michigan Democrat Gary Peters, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
‘El Chapo’ must not ‘escape’ again, U.S. prosecutor tells jury
Accused Mexican drug boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman’s repeated escapes from the law prove that he “knows he’s guilty,” a U.S. prosecutor told jurors in closing arguments at his trial on Wednesday, urging them not to let him escape again.
