Official: Suspect in Canada stab rampage died after arrest
ROSTHERN, Saskatchewan (AP) — The final suspect in a stabbing rampage that killed 10 people in and around a Canadian Indigenous reserve died after being arrested by police Wednesday following a three-day manhunt, authorities said. One official said he died of self-inflicted injuries.
Myles Sanderson, 32, was caught on a highway near the town of Rosthern in the province of Saskatchewan as officers responded to a report of a stolen vehicle being driven by a man armed with a knife, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.
Officers forced Sanderson’s vehicle off the road and into a ditch, Assistant Commissioner Rhonda Blackmore, commander of the RCMP in Saskatchewan, said at a news conference. He was detained and a knife was found inside the vehicle she said.
She said Sanderson went into medical distress after he was arrested. She said CPR was attempted on him before an ambulance arrived. She said emergency medical personnel then took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
“All life saving measures that we are capable of were taken at that time," she said.
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Michael Flynn: From government insider to holy warrior
BATAVIA, N.Y. (AP) — The crowd swayed on its feet, arms pumping, the beat of Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” thumping in their chests. The people under the revival tent hooted as Michael Flynn strode across the stage, bopping and laughing, singing the refrain into his microphone and encouraging the audience to sing along to the transgressive rock anthem.
"We’ll fight the powers that be just/Don’t pick our destiny ’cause/You don’t know us, you don’t belong!"
The emcee introduced him as “America’s General,” but to those in the audience, Flynn is far more than that: martyr, hero, leader, patriot, warrior.
The retired lieutenant general, former national security adviser, onetime anti-terrorism fighter, is now focused on his next task: building a movement centered on Christian nationalist ideas, where Christianity is at the center of American life and institutions.
Flynn brought his fight — a struggle he calls both spiritual and political — last month to a church in Batavia, New York, where thousands of people paid anywhere from a few dollars to up to $500 to hear and absorb his message that the United States is facing an existential threat, and that to save the nation, his supporters must act.
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US: Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians forced to Russia
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.S. said Wednesday it has evidence that “hundreds of thousands” of Ukrainian citizens have been interrogated, detained and forcibly deported to Russia in “a series of horrors” overseen by officials from Russia’s presidency.
Russia immediately dismissed the allegation as “fantasy,” calling it the latest invention in a Western disinformation campaign.
The charge came during a Security Council meeting called by the United States and Albania to discuss Russia’s “filtration operations.”
That involves Ukrainians voluntarily fleeing the war in their homeland and those forcibly being moved to Russia passing through a series of “filtration points” where treatment allegedly ranges from interrogations, data collection and strip searches to being yanked aside, tortured, sent to a detention center in Russia and never seen again.
US. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said estimates from a variety of sources, including the Russian government, indicate that Russian authorities have interrogated, detained and forcibly deported between 900,000 and 1.6 million Ukrainians. She said they are sent to Russia, often to isolated regions in its far eastern regions.
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Police arrest Vegas-area elected official in reporter death
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Las Vegas-area elected public official was arrested Wednesday and identified by police as the suspect in the fatal stabbing of a veteran newspaper reporter whose investigations of the official’s work preceded his primary loss in June.
Clark County Public Administrator Robert “Rob” Telles, a Democrat, was taken into custody at his home by a police SWAT unit hours after investigators served a search warrant and confiscated vehicles in the criminal probe of the killing of Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German, Sheriff Joe Lombardo told the newspaper.
Telles, 45, had been a focus of German’s reporting about turmoil including complaints of administrative bullying, favoritism and Telles’ relationship with a subordinate staffer in the county office that handles property of people who die without a will or family contacts.
The newspaper’s executive editor, Glenn Cook, said in a statement that “the arrest of Robert Telles is at once an enormous relief and an outrage for the Review-Journal newsroom.”
“We are relieved Robert Telles is in custody and outraged that a colleague appears to have been killed for reporting on an elected official,” Cook said.
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Obamas return to the White House, unveil official portraits
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, returned to the White House Wednesday, unveiling official portraits with a modern vibe in an event that set humor and nostalgia over his presidency against the current harsh political talk about the survival of democracy.
While her husband cracked a few jokes about his gray hair, big ears and clothes in his portrait, Mrs. Obama, a descendant of slaves, said the occasion for her was more about the promise of America for people like herself.
“Barack and Michelle, welcome home,” declared President Joe Biden as the gathering cheered.
Biden, who was Obama’s vice president, praised his former boss’ leadership on health care, the economy and immigration and said nothing could have prepared him any better for being president than serving with Obama for those eight years.
“It was always about doing what was right,” he said.
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Record heat wave puts California in fossil fuel conundrum
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A record heat wave put California in a fossil fuel conundrum: The state has had to rely more heavily on natural gas to produce electricity and avoid power outages while Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration moves toward ending the use of oil and gas.
The heat wave that started more than a week ago has been hotter and longer than any other in the state, and it put unprecedented strain on power supplies. That prompted Newsom to plead with people to use less power to avoid rolling blackouts — a practice that involves cutting some people's power to save energy so the lights can stay on for everyone else.
The effort worked, but meeting the state's heightened energy demand also required activating generators fueled by natural gas, which is still a major part of the state’s power picture. The Democratic governor's calls for conservation also drew criticism about new state policies governing electric vehicles and other measures that will only increase energy demand.
Newsom, speaking to reporters Wednesday, said the “pretty extreme" circumstances required the state to turn to more natural gas as a backup supply.
“We all want to accelerate the elimination of the gas, but it's a sober reminder of reality," he said.
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Police say Memphis shooting spree suspect, 19, in custody
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Police in Memphis, Tennessee, said a man who drove around the city shooting at people during an hours-long spree that forced frightened people to shelter in place Wednesday has been arrested.
Memphis police spokeswoman Karen Rudolph said 19-year-old Ezekiel Kelly was taken into custody after 9 p.m. in the Whitehaven neighborhood.
That was about two hours after police sent out an alert saying a man driving a light blue Infiniti was responsible for multiple shootings in the city. Police said he later switched vehicles to a grey Toyota SUV.
It was not immediately known if anyone had been killed. Police said he recorded his actions on Facebook.
The University of Memphis sent a message to students saying a shooting had been reported near the campus. Rhodes College, which in about 4 miles away from the university, advised students on and off campus to shelter in place.
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Apple maintains prices on new iPhones despite inflation
CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — Apple’s latest line-up of iPhones will boast better cameras, faster processors, and a longer lasting battery — all at the same prices as last year’s models, despite inflationary pressure that has driven up the cost of many other everyday items.
That pricing decision, revealed Wednesday during Apple's first in-person product event in three years, came as a mild surprise. Many analysts predicted Apple would ask its devout fans to pay as much as 15% more to help offset rising costs for many components.
The hoopla surrounding Apple's new iPhone 14 models is part of a post-Labor Day ritual the company has staged annually for more than a decade. Wednesday’s event was held on the company's Cupertino, California, campus at a theater named after company co-founder Steve Jobs. After Apple CEO Tim Cook strolled out on stage, most of the event consisted of pre-recorded video presentation that the company honed during previous events staged during the pandemic.
For several years, Apple’s new iPhones have mostly featured incremental upgrades to cameras and battery life, and this year's models were no exception. Pricing for the standard iPhone 14 will start at $799; the deluxe iPhone 14 Pro Max will start at $1099.
Among the latest improvements is a 48-megapixel camera in the Pro and Pro Max models that the company said will produce especially crisp pictures. The iPhone 13 versions of the Pro and Pro Max have 12-megapixel cameras. This year’s high-end models will also have always-on displays that stay lit even when the device is locked, a feature that has long been available on many smartphones powered by Google’s Android software.
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FDA panel backs much-debated ALS drug in rare, 2nd review
WASHINGTON (AP) — A panel of federal health advisers voted Wednesday to recommend approval for an experimental drug to treat Lou Gehrig’s disease, a remarkable turnaround for the much-debated medication that was previously rejected by the same group earlier this year.
The Food and Drug Administration advisers voted 7-2 that data from Amylyx Pharma warranted approval, despite hours of debate about the strength and reliability of the company’s lone study. The FDA is not required to follow the group's advice, but its positive recommendation suggests an approval is likely later this month.
The FDA has approved only two therapies for the disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, which destroys nerve cells needed for basic functions like walking, talking and swallowing.
ALS patients and their families have rallied behind Amylyx’s drug, launching an aggressive lobbying campaign and enlisting members of Congress to push the FDA to grant approval.
Despite a negative review published by FDA’s internal scientists ahead of the meeting, a majority of the outside panelists said Amylyx had presented enough evidence to suggest the drug is helping patients live longer. The same group of neurology experts narrowly voted against the drug in March, due to concerns about missing data and other issues in the company’s study.
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Swiatek tops Pegula; faces Sabalenka in US Open semifinals
NEW YORK (AP) — Iga Swiatek’s game is most effective, her mind most at ease, on red clay courts, where her two Grand Slam titles so far arrived.
She sure seems to be getting the hang of this hard-court thing at the U.S. Open, though.
The No. 1-ranked Swiatek moved into her first semifinal at Flushing Meadows by pulling out a 6-3, 7-6 (4) victory over American Jessica Pegula on Wednesday night in a match filled with a combined 13 breaks of serve, 10 in the second set alone.
“I wasn't expecting that at the beginning of the tournament,” said Swiatek, never before beyond the fourth round in New York. “Trying to keep my expectations low.”
Swiatek, a 21-year-old from Poland who won the French Open in 2020 and this June, twice failed to serve out the victory, at 5-4 and 6-5. But she was better in the tiebreaker, and when No. 8-seeded Pegula missed a backhand to close the contest, Swiatek ran toward her guest box, flung her white racket away and yelled.
The Associated Press