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Why are firing squads for US executions being debated?

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:25 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — The image of gunmen in a row firing in unison into the chest of a condemned prisoner may conjure up a bygone, less enlightened era. But the idea of using firing squads is making a comeback. Idaho lawmakers passed a bill this week seeking to add the state to the list of those authorizing firing squads, currently Mississippi, Utah, Oklahoma and South Carolina. Fresh interest comes as states scramble for alternatives to lethal injections after pharmaceuticals barred the use of their drugs. Some, including a few Supreme Court justices, view firing squads as less cruel than lethal injections despite the violence involved in riddling bodies with bullets. Others say it’s not cut-and-dry, or that there are other factors to consider. Here is a look at the status of firing squads in the United States: WHEN WAS THE LAST EXECUTION BY FIRING SQUAD? Ronnie Lee Gardner was executed at Utah State Prison on June 18, 2010, for killing an attorney during a courthouse escape attemp...

Corruption, deep disparity mark Iraq’s oil legacy post-2003

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:25 GMT

NAHRAN OMAR, Iraq (AP) — The oil is pumped 24 hours a day several meters from Raghed Jasim’s home in Iraq’s crude-rich southern heartland. Gas flares from the field light the night sky bright orange, spewing acrid smoke; when the wind picks up, the 40-year old’s clothes are coated black.For Iraq’s poorest, evidence of the country’s monumental oil wealth is inescapable. So is the knowledge that very little of it trickles down to them. Jasim’s savings were depleted when he was diagnosed with cancer last year, a disease he is convinced was caused by the toxic plumes. Twenty years since the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein and remade Iraq’s political order with the promise of democracy and freedom, he has one wish: To find a way to leave.“There is no future here for my children,” he said.Basra province, which boasts most of Iraq’s oil reserves, is symbolic of the deep disparities that have endured since the 2003 invasion. Basra continually bewilders experts, envoys and res...

Leonard scores 32, Clippers beat Thunder without George

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:25 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kawhi Leonard scored 32 points on 15 shots, and the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 127-105 on Thursday night in their first game since losing Paul George to a knee injury.It was the Clippers’ first blowout win since late January.“This was a really good win for us,” coach Tyronn Lue said. “We needed it.”George sprained his right knee in the closing minutes of a 101-100 loss to the Thunder two nights earlier. He’ll be re-evaluated in two to three weeks, likely keeping him out of the remainder of the regular season which ends April 9.“We got to handle our business on the floor and keep tallying wins for PG,” said Bones Hyland, who led the bench with 16 points in his first game action since March 3.The Clippers closed the third quarter with a 27-12 run, including 10 in a row, to lead 92-80 going into the fourth. They made seven consecutive 3-pointers over the end of the third and start of the fourth, with Nicolas Batum and Hyland hitting...

March Madness: Alabama and surprising bunch remain in South

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:25 GMT

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Alabama was expected to be in the Sweet 16 as the overall top seed in the NCAA Tournament.Few thought the teams standing between the Crimson Tide and a trip to the Final Four would be No. 5 seed San Diego State, sixth-seeded Creighton and 15th-seeded Princeton.A win over Alabama (31-5) could elevate any of those schools to the status of March Madness legend. Coach Nate Oats understands the pressure his team faces when it faces San Diego State Friday night as it seeks its first Elite Eight berth since 2004.“We’ve taken enough losses against good teams and some that weren’t as good to where they know what they have to do on any given night,” Oats said. “From here on out I think we’re going to be playing really good teams.”Friday’s other semifinal in Louisville features Creighton (23-12) against Princeton (23-8), which has proven anything is possible with its wins over No. 2 seed Arizona and No. 7 seed Missouri.The lower-seeded teams that advanced in the South ha...

Officer who responded to East High School shooting will become its next SRO

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:25 GMT

DENVER (KDVR) — Following Wednesday’s shooting at Denver’s East High School, the Board of Education has temporarily suspended its ban on school resource officers and will reinstate them at each district high school until the end of the academic year. “We have not flip-flopped. What we are doing is we are including more community engagement,” Denver Public Schools board president, Xóchitl Gaytán, said during a press conference regarding the policy change. The board unanimously passed a memorandum directing Superintendent Alex Marrero to devise a new safety plan for the district. It also suspended a rule passed in 2020 disallowing armed police officers to be assigned inside DPS schools.  Former head of public safety department reacts to East High shooting The newly adopted policy states through the end of the 2022-2023 school year, each DPS high school can have up to two armed police officers and two mental health professionals. However, DPS will not be paying for them. The board ha...

N Korea claims ‘radioactive tsunami’ weapon test

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:25 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea claimed Friday to have tested a nuclear-capable underwater drone designed to generate a gigantic “radioactive tsunami” that would destroy naval strike groups and ports. Analysts were skeptical that the device presents a major new threat, but the test underlines the North’s commitment to raising nuclear threats.The test this week came as the United States reportedly planned to deploy aircraft carrier strike groups and other advanced assets to waters off the Korean Peninsula. Military tensions are at a high point as the pace of both North Korean weapons tests and U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises has accelerated in the past year in a cycle of tit-for-tat responses.Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency said the new weapon, which can be deployed from the coast or towed by surface ships, is built to “stealthily infiltrate into operational waters and make a super-scale radioactive tsunami through an underwater explosion to dest...

China threatens consequences over US warship’s actions

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:25 GMT

BANGKOK (AP) — China threatened “serious consequences” Friday after the U.S. Navy sailed a destroyer around the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea for the second day in a row, in a move Beijing claimed was a violation of its sovereignty and security.The warning comes amid growing tensions between China and the United States in the region, as Washington pushes back at Beijing’s growingly assertive posture in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway it claims virtually in its entirety.On Thursday, after the U.S. sailed the USS Milius guided-missile destroyer near the Paracel Islands, China said its navy and air force had forced the American vessel away, a claim the U.S. military denied.The U.S. on Friday sailed the ship again in the vicinity of the islands, which are occupied by China but also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam, as part of what it called a “freedom of navigation operation” challenging requirements from all three nations requiring either advance no...

Deaths of woman, girl raise issues over boyfriend’s release

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:25 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — Kirkland Warren was out on bail pending a long-delayed murder trial in Arkansas. But when he was arrested in southwestern Washington state early this month on charges that he assaulted his ex-girlfriend and fired a gunshot into her apartment, he quickly posted bond and was released again.Just a few days later, his ex-girlfriend, Meshay Melendez, 27, and her 7-year-old daughter, Layla Stewart, vanished. Police named Warren a person of interest in their disappearance.The discovery of their bodies in thick brush down a road embankment on Wednesday has raised questions about why someone facing a murder charge in another state would be released from custody after being arrested for a serious domestic violence offense.Cymber Tadlock, the deputy prosecutor who has handled Warren’s case in a 2017 killing in Jefferson County, Arkansas, said the Vancouver Police Department in Washington notified her on March 2 that they had arrested Warren for drive-by shooting and other charge...

Romania court extends detention of Andrew Tate pending trafficking investigation

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:25 GMT

Andrew Tate, a social media personality, and Tristan Tate, his brother (pictured) will remain in police custody through late April pending an investigation into alleged sex traficking. A Romanian court extended their detention on Wednesday (22 March).Two Romanian women suspects and the Tate brothers, both of dual US-British nationality, have been held in detention since 29 December, as they are being investigated by prosecutors for human trafficking, sexual exploitation and rape. They denied all allegations.Wednesday's extension is the fourth for the brothers since their detention. It comes just days after the court refused their request to be released on bail. This decision was appealed.Prosecutors can request courts to extend the detention of suspects for as long as 180 days if they argue that the Tates pose a flight risk and would interfer with the evidence if they are released.Ioan Gliga, defence lawyer, stated that the prosecution had not brought any new elements to support the...

Video captures thieves smashing into Tujunga shop, stealing over $1 million worth of collectible items

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:53:25 GMT

A shop owner in Tujunga is devastated after a group of thieves smashed into his store and stole over $1 million worth of collectible items.Surveillance video captured the heist as three burglars broke into Kaptain Fish Collectibles on the 6500 block of Foothill Boulevard around 4:52 a.m. on Sunday morning.The thieves were seen backing a truck straight into the store’s front glass windows. As they entered, they grabbed anything they could get their hands on, completely robbing owner Sevag Mazakian of his livelihood.Within five minutes, Mazakian said the thieves got away with over $1 million worth of stolen goods. By the time officers arrived, the suspects were gone.The shop owners are hoping surveillance video will help authorities catch the thieves before they strike another business.Some of the items taken from the shop include, “sealed products with hobby boxes, loose boxes on our shelf, cards, even a signed pair of Kobe Bryant shoes,” said Mazakian. “I’ve been very on edge becaus...