President Obama has commuted the 35-year prison sentence of Chelsea Manning, paving the way for the Army intelligence analyst turned high-profile leaker to be freed on May 17, the White House announced Tuesday. Manning was on a list of 209 commutations and 64 pardons released Tuesday, though they may not be Obama’s final acts of clemency before he leaves office at midday on Jan. 20. Edward Snowden’s name was not on the list.
Former President George H.W. Bush said and his wife, Barbara, are bowing out of attending Donald Trump’s inauguration, saying in a note to the president-elect that he might not survive it. “My doctor says if I sit outside in January, it will likely put me six feet under,” Bush said in the letter, which was released by his office. Bush, 92, was hospitalized in Houston over the weekend for shortness of breath.
Italy was hit by four earthquakes in four hours Wednesday, killing one and bringing terror to snowbound mountain areas still recovering from last year's series of deadly tremors. The quakes, all measuring more than five magnitude, struck close to Amatrice, the mountain town devastated by an August earthquake that left nearly 300 people dead. The body of one victim was found under the debris of a building in the town of Castel Castagna, in the province of Teramo, local authorities said in a statement.
Ricky Gray was pronounced dead at 9:42 p.m. following a lethal injection at the Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt. Gray showed no emotion as he was walked into the execution chamber wearing blue jeans and handcuffs. Gray was condemned to death in 2006 for the murders of 9-year-old Stella Harvey and 4-year-old sister Ruby, and sentenced to life in prison for the slaying of their parents, Bryan and Kathryn Harvey.
The number of abortions performed in the United States has fallen to the lowest rate since 1974, the year after the Supreme Court legalized the practice in the historic 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, according to a new study. The report comes from the Guttmacher Institute, which researches sexual and reproductive health-related policy. The total number of abortions performed in 2014 hovered around 926,000, showing a gradual, yet consistent, downward trend over the past two decades.
The deep-sea sonar search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 may not have found the plane but will reveal more about how land beneath the Indian Ocean formed over millions of years and where oil fields could lie. National geoscience agency Geoscience Australia will soon release detailed sonar mapping of 120,000 square kilometers (46,000 square miles) of seabed that was searched for the wreckage of the Boeing 777 that vanished with 239 passengers and crew on March 8, 2014. The unique information about plate tectonics would interest geoscientists as well as oil and gas explorers, said Australian National University marine geologist Neville Exon, who has advised Geoscience Australia on the sonar data.
Police in Israel said an Arab Israeli on Wednesday rammed his car into a group of policemen in the southern Negev region, killing one before being shot dead, though a rights activist who was present disputed it was an attack. Police spokeswoman Merav Lapidot said the suspect was a local teacher who "surged towards the forces intending to kill" and that riots erupted after he was shot.
Startling surveillance video posted to Twitter this week shows a woman in New York being hit by a school bus, which then runs her over. The victim was crossing a Brooklyn intersection when she was struck by a yellow mini-bus. She suffered non-life-threatening
Verizon may have been late to take measures against its customers who still use the recalled Galaxy Note 7, but the carrier is ready to significantly step up its game and force every single Galaxy Note 7 user out there to finally swap out their phablets. Oh, and unlike software updates that you might have avoided so far, there’s nothing you can do to stop Verizon this time. Thousands of Verizon customers still use the Galaxy Note 7, the carrier told Fortune.
Istanbul resident Ali Haydar Demir knew something was wrong when he heard a noise at midnight in his apartment block on 911 Street in the far-flung Istanbul district of Esenyurt. Demir was witnessing the start of the raid by dozens of Turkish police to capture alive Abdulgadir Masharipov, the suspected Uzbek jihadist accused of massacring 39 people at an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Eve. Unbeknown to Demir and other residents of the block, they had been living next door to the most wanted terror suspect in Turkey, a man who according to the authorities is a trained killer who learned his trade in Afghanistan.
As real estate billionaire Donald Trump prepares to take the highest office in the U.S., another former corporate executive-turned-politician will be missing his inauguration ceremony Friday, and, unlike a growing list of Congress members, he won’t be protesting the president-elect. Former President George H. W. Bush, the second wealthiest living president—and soon to be the third-wealthiest—was hospitalized, along with his wife, former First Lady Barbara Bush, and later admitted to an intensive care unit Wednesday, a spokesperson said. Bush, like Trump, started his career in business.
Impoverished Indian children watch a performance as part of advocacy against child labor in Allahabad, India; women loyal to the Houthi movement parade to show support to the movement in Sanaa, Yemen; and dogs are blessed by a priest outside San Anton
The man who shot and severely beat an Arizona state trooper last week was a former member of the Mexican federal police who was in the country illegally, authorities said. Leonard Pennelas-Escobar opened fire on Trooper Edward Andersson early Thursday after the officer had stopped on the interstate and set up flares in a bid to get motorists to slow down. Pennelas-Escobar said something unrecognizable in Spanish before shooting the trooper, and then he started landing blows with his fists and beating the trooper's head on the ground, Department of Public Safety Director Frank Milstead said Monday.
In a First Amendment clash over a law barring offensive trademarks, the Supreme Court on Wednesday raised doubts about a government program that favors some forms of speech but rejects others that might disparage certain groups. The justices heard arguments in a dispute involving an Asian-American band called the Slants that was denied a trademark because the U.S. Patent and Trademark office said the name is offensive to Asians. Justice Elena Kagan reflected the concerns of several justices when she said government programs are not supposed to make a distinction based on viewpoint.
By Philip Pullella ROME (Reuters) - A series of strong earthquakes hit snowbound central Italy on Wednesday, a region devastated by deadly tremors last year, killing one man and forcing schools and rail links to close. Much of the area had already been abandoned after last year's earthquakes. Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said soldiers would help rescue teams get to the affected villages.
The Israeli army on Wednesday received new ballistic missile interceptors that significantly upgrade the Jewish state's aerial defence systems in the face of "emerging threats", the defence ministry said. The Arrow 3 interceptor, designed to shoot down missiles above the atmosphere, was handed to air force bases in Israel after successful testing by Israel and the United States at the end of 2015. A defence ministry statement said Israel and the US were dedicated to the continued development and enhancement of ballistic missile defence systems as "threats continue to grow and new emerging threats surface".
From billowing dresses and maternity corsets intended to conceal a woman's baby bump to the bodycon trend seen on expectant mothers today, see how pregnancy fashion has changed over the years.
Logan Braatz, 6, was killed in the attack by what appeared to be pit bulls while 5-year-old Syari Sanders was taken to a hospital, according to CBS46. The attack reportedly occurred when the kids were walking to their school bus stop. Shamonta Clayton, who lives in the neighborhood, told 11Alive he was awoken by the sound of screams.
Airbus Group announced today that it plans to test an autonomous airborne taxi prototype for one passenger by the end of 2017, according to a report from Reuters. Full design schematics have not been released, but it is likely that the first prototype vehicle will use four rotors, possibly looking more like Ehang's quadcopter-style drone-which is currently in flight testing-than the aircraft pictured above. "One hundred years ago, urban transport went underground, now we have the technological wherewithal to go above ground," Airbus CEO Tom Enders said at the DLD digital tech conference in Munich, as reported by Reuters.
Ninety-five dolphins known as false killer whales were found died on a shoreline in the Everglades National Park in South Florida this weekend in the largest mass stranding recorded in the states. Researchers of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration said they found 81 of the dolphins already dead when they arrived at the remote shoreline called Porpoise Point in Monroe County on Monday. Like many marine mammals in the U.S., fake killer whales are monitored by being tagged electronically.
By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's choice to run the Department of Health and Human Services may have broken the law by making a stock purchase just before he introduced legislation that would have benefited the firm, the Senate's leading Democrat charged on Tuesday. A confirmation hearing for Tom Price, a Republican congressman and orthopedic surgeon from Georgia, was scheduled for Wednesday before the Senate health committee. If confirmed, he would be a key player in carrying out Trump's plans to overhaul Democratic President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law.
The woman charged with kidnapping a baby 18 years ago and raising the child as her own daughter, appeared briefly in court and was ordered to be held without bail. Gloria Williams, who appeared in a Jacksonville courtroom Wednesday, is charged with kidnapping and other counts related to the 1998 abduction of Kamiyah Mobley, who was just eight hours old. No attorney has been listed for Williams.
Norway on Tuesday defended the prison conditions under which mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik is being held. The state attorney presented its closing statement in an appeals trial against a lower court ruling that found that Breivik's isolation in prison violated his human rights. The "state is allowed to defend itself" state attorney Fredrik Sejersted said at the end of a day-long session where he sought to prove that Breivik was being treated in line with democratic principles.
Astronaut Eugene Cernan, commander of Apollo 17 and the last man to walk on the moon, died Jan. 16, 2017. Cernan was one of 14 astronauts selected by NASA in October 1963. In May 1969, he was the lunar module pilot of Apollo 10, the first comprehensive lunar-orbital qualification and verification test of the lunar lander.
Fierce clashes gripped the eastern Syrian city of Deir Ezzor on Wednesday, a monitor said, as the Islamic State group set tyres ablaze to create a smokescreen from regime warplanes. An activist group publishing news on the besieged city told AFP that IS had executed 10 Syrian regime fighters captured during the jihadist onslaught. IS launched the brutal assault on Saturday to capture the government-held third of Deir Ezzor city, as well as the adjacent military airport.