List of All Articles with Tag 'rl'

DENVER — The New York Yankees and Houston Astros combined to make a post-All-Star break homestand for the Colorado Rockies. While the two teams were in the Mile High City, these are some of the things I heard.Two of the heavyweights in the American League, the New York Yankees and Houston ...

The Florida federal judge overseeing the Espionage Act and obstruction of justice case against former president Donald Trump has rejected the disgraced ex-president’s bid to delay his trial until after the 2024 election. US District Judge Aileen Cannon on Friday issued an order granting the government’s request to set a speedy trial date and schedule for pretrial motions, with a start date of 20 May 2024. More follows...

Canadian consumers may be ready to wind down their spending, with retail sales data showing waning momentum at

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for the strengthening of Communist Party leadership in the military, as he sought

Local authorities in Germany said Friday that they are ending a search operation for what was previously believed to be a lioness on the loose in the suburbs of Berlin.

European property stocks are set for a fourth-straight week of gains amid easing interest rate expectations, but Barclays

SBB abruptly ended talks with Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. over the sale of a 51% stake in

The banking industry ramped up lobbying during the second quarter of this year as a financial contagion infected

Police searching for a lioness in a Berlin suburb have determined there is “no acute danger” to people in the area, as experts conclude it may have been a wild boar. Authorities launched a major search operation after receiving reports during the early hours of Thursday that a wild cat was prowling around the wooded areas of the Kleinmachnow area. A widely-circulated video appeared to show a lioness in the nearby undergrowth, with police telling BBC that they believe the footage to be authentic and identified it as a “big cat”. However, experts who have analysed the video have concluded that the animal was likely to have been a wild boar, which are common in the region. Independently of one another, the experts concluded that “this isn’t a lioness or a wild animal” and that the creature “tends toward a wild boar”. A wide-ranging two-day search failed to turn up signs of the predator, with police only discovering a family of wild boars. Meanwhile, local residents were told to stay indoors and to avoid allowing their pets and children outside. Kleinmachnow Mayor Michael Grubert told reporters that police thoroughly combed woodland on both sides of the state boundary and found no indication at all of a lioness or any wild animal other than wild boars. "We will return to the usual vigilant program and we think there is no acute danger for Kleinmachnow or for the south of Berlin," the mayor said, adding that police would be able to step back up straight away if the situation changes. Grubert defended the large, 36-hour deployment, in which helicopters, drones and infrared cameras were used and vets and hunters participated, as "appropriate." "The danger of a wild animal in Kleinmachnow justifies the deployment," he said, adding that he would act the same way "if I were in the situation today." Around 120 police officers and wildlife experts have been scouring the local wooded areas, with counter-terrorism vehicles, drones and helicopters involved in the search. The news comes after a member of a notorious German crime family offered his help in capturing the suspected lioness, by saying he could “lead the lioness back to her enclosure”. Firas Remmo, the son of the head of the Remmo family, urged authorities not to shoot the creature. In a post on social media, he asked for anyone with information to “let him know first” so he can step in “before some idiot shoots her”. Read More 'Lioness' on the loose? More experts join police in second-day search for elusive animal See how an Alaska paddleboarder escaped a close encounter with a humpback whale Police discover burglary ‘suspect’ is baby deer hiding in basement Mystery as three ‘mummified’ bodies found at remote Rocky Mountain camp Russia-Ukraine: Putin gives chilling warning to Poland US confirms Ukraine is already using its cluster bombs against Russian targets

Oil headed for a fourth weekly gain amid tentative signs that global markets are tightening. Brent futures advanced

Authorities call off a search for a suspected big cat spotted near the German capital.

Alabama executed a man on Friday for the 2001 beating death of a woman as the state resumed lethal injections after failed executions prompted the governor to order an internal review of procedures. James Barber, 64, was pronounced dead at 1:56 a.m. after receiving a lethal injection at a south Alabama prison. "Justice has been served. This morning, James Barber was put to death for the terrible crime he committed over two decades ago: the especially heinous, atrocious, and cruel murder of Dorothy Epps," Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement. Barber was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2001 beating death of Epps. Prosecutors said Barber, a handyman, confessed to killing the 75-year-old with a claw hammer and fleeing with her purse. Jurors voted 11-1 to recommend a death sentence, which a judge imposed. Before he was put to death, Barber told his family he loved them and apologized to Epps' family. "I want to tell the Epps' family I love them. I'm sorry for what happened," Barber said. "No words would fit how I feel." Barber said he wanted to tell the governor "and the people in this room that I forgive you for what you are about to do." It was the first execution carried out in Alabama this year after the state halted executions in November. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced a pause on executions to conduct an internal review of procedures. The move came after the state halted two lethal injections because of difficulties inserting IVs into the condemned men's veins. Attorneys for inmate Alan Miller said prison staff poked him with needles for more than an hour as they unsuccessfully tried to connect an IV line during Miller's aborted execution in September, at one point leaving him hanging vertically on a gurney. State officials called off the November execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith after they were unsuccessful in connecting the second of two required lines. Advocacy groups claimed a third execution, carried out after a delay because of IV problems, also was botched, a claim the state has disputed. Barber's execution came hours after Oklahoma executed Jemaine Cannon for stabbing a Tulsa woman to death with a butcher knife in 1995 after his escape from a prison work center. Alabama's governor announced in February that the state was resuming executions. Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said prison system had added to its pool of medical professionals, ordered new equipment and conducted additional rehearsals. The last-minute legal battle centered on Alabama's ability to obtain intravenous access in past executions. Barber's attorneys unsuccessfully asked the courts to block the execution, saying the state has a pattern of failing "to carry out a lethal injection execution in a constitutional manner." The state wrote in legal filings that it was using different IV team members. The state also changed the deadline to carry out the execution from midnight to 6 a.m. to give more time for preparations and to carry out last-minute appeals. Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said the two intravenous lines were connected to Barber with "three sticks in six minutes." The Supreme Court denied Barber's request for a stay without comment. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a dissent from the decision that was joined by Justice Elena Kagan and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. She said the court was allowing "Alabama to experiment again with a human life." "The Eighth Amendment demands more than the State's word that this time will be different. The Court should not allow Alabama to test the efficacy of its internal review by using Barber as its 'guinea pig,'" Sotomayor wrote. The Alabama attorney general's office had urged the Supreme Court to let the execution proceed. The state wrote that the previous executions were called off because of a "confluence of events including health issues specific to the individual inmates and last-minute litigation brought by the inmates that dramatically shortened the window for ADOC officials to conduct the executions." In the hours leading up to the scheduled execution, Barber had 22 visitors and two phone calls and ate a final meal, a prison spokesperson said. After his last words, Barber spoke with a spiritual adviser who accompanied him into the death chamber. As the drugs were administered, Barber's eyes closed and his abdomen pulsed several times. His breathing slowed until it was no longer visible.