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Category: Associated Press

  • Luigi Mangione speaks out in protest as judge sets state murder trial for June 8

    Luigi Mangione speaks out in protest as judge sets state murder trial for June 8

    NEW YORK — Luigi Mangione spoke out in court Friday against the prospect of back-to-back trials over the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, telling a judge: “It’s the same trial twice. One plus one is two. Double jeopardy by any commonsense definition.”

    Mangione, 27, made the remarks as court officers escorted him out of the courtroom after a judge scheduled his state murder trial to begin June 8, three months before jury selection in his federal case.

    Judge Gregory Carro, matter-of-fact in his decision after a lengthy discussion with prosecutors and defense lawyers at the bench, said the state trial could be delayed until Sept. 8 if an appeal delays the federal trial.

    Mangione’s lawyers objected to the June trial date, telling Carro that at that time, they’ll be consumed with preparing for the federal trial, which involves allegations that Mangione stalked Thompson before killing him.

    “Mr. Mangione is being put in an untenable situation,” defense lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo said. ”This is a tug-of-war between two different prosecution offices.”

    “The defense will not be ready on June 8,” she added.

    “Be ready,” Carro replied.

    Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges, both of which carry the possibility of life in prison. Last week, the judge in the federal case ruled that prosecutors can’t seek the death penalty.

    Jury selection in the federal case is set for Sept. 8, followed by opening statements and testimony on Oct. 13.

    Wearing a tan jail suit, Mangione sat quietly at the defense table until his outburst at the end of the hearing.

    As the trial calendar began to take shape, Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann sent a letter to Carro asking him to begin the New York trial on July 1.

    The prosecutor argued that the state’s interests “would be unfairly prejudiced by an unnecessary delay” until after the federal trial. Under the law, he said, the state has “priority of jurisdiction for purposes of trial, sentencing and incarceration” because Mangione was arrested by New York City police, not federal authorities.

    When Mangione was arrested, federal prosecutors said anticipated that the state trial would go first. Seidemann told Carro on Friday that Thompson’s family has also expressed a desire to see the state trial happen first.

    “It appears the federal government has reneged on its agreement to let the state, which has done most of the work in this case, go first,” Carro said Friday.

    Scheduling the state trial first could help Manhattan prosecutors avoid double jeopardy issues. Under New York law, the district attorney’s office could be barred from trying Mangione if his federal trial happens first.

    The state’s double jeopardy protections kick in if a jury has been sworn in a prior prosecution, such as a federal case, or if that prosecution ends in a guilty plea. The cases involve different charges but the same alleged course of conduct.

    Mangione isn’t due in court again in the state case until May, when Carro is expected to rule on a defense request to exclude certain evidence that prosecutors say connects Mangione to the killing.

    Those items include a 9mm handgun that prosecutors say matches the one used to kill Thompson and a notebook in which they say he described his intent to “wack” a health insurance executive.

    Last week, Garnett ruled that prosecutors can use those items at that trial.

    In September, Carro threw out state terrorism charges but kept the rest of the case, including an intentional murder charge.

    Thompson, 50, was killed on Dec. 4, 2024, as he walked to a midtown Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference.

    Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.

    Mangione, a University of Pennsylvania graduate from a wealthy Maryland family, was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa., about 230 miles west of Manhattan.

  • The Milan Cortina Olympics officially open with a multisite ceremony for a spread-out Winter Games

    The Milan Cortina Olympics officially open with a multisite ceremony for a spread-out Winter Games

    MILAN, Italy — Featuring tributes to da Vinci and Dante, Puccini and Pausini, Armani and Fellini, pasta and vino, and other iconic tastes of Italian culture — plus Mariah Carey hitting all the high notes in “Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu” aka “Volare” — an unprecedented four-site, dual-cauldron opening ceremony got the Milan Cortina Olympics officially started Friday.

    Allowing athletes to participate in the Parade of Nations at the mountain locales for the most spread-out Winter Games in history created what perhaps was an unintended consequence: Zero competitors from any of the first five countries announced actually showed up at the main hub, Milan’s San Siro soccer stadium.

    While signs bearing the names of Greece — which always leads the procession as the birthplace of the Olympics — Albania, Andorra, Saudi Arabia, and Argentina were carried into the home of Serie A soccer titans AC Milan and Inter Milan, there were no athletes from those places around. Instead, they were participating at simultaneous festivities held at Cortina d’Ampezzo in the heart of the Dolomites, Livigno in the Alps, and Predazzo in the autonomous province of Trento.

    Philly connections to the Winter Olympics, from a young figure skater to Donovan McNabb’s niece

    The first country with athletes at San Siro was Armenia — and their entrance drew raucous cheers from a crowd filled with 61,000 ticket-holders plus others.

    Later, a smattering of boos met Israel’s four representatives at the Milan ceremony. There have been some calls for Israel to be banned from the Olympics over the war in Gaza, which began with Hamas’ deadly attack in October 2023.

    And while athletes from the U.S. were cheered when they appeared, Vice President JD Vance was jeered when he was shown briefly on the arena’s video boards from his spot in the tribune. Support for the United States among its allies has been eroding as the Trump administration has taken an aggressive posture on foreign policy, including punishing tariffs, military action in Venezuela and threats to invade Greenland.

    The contingent from Venezuela got a big backing when entering. So did that from Ukraine, where a war continues four years after Russia invaded.

    The ceremony’s organizers have said they sought to convey themes of harmony and peace, seeking to represent the city-mountain dichotomy of the particularly unusual setup for these Olympics while also trying to appeal to a sense of unity at a time of global tensions. South African actor Charlize Theron and Italian rapper Ghali delivered messages of peace toward the end of the night.

    “I hope the opening ceremony is seen by everyone as an opportunity to be respectful,” new International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry said when asked this week about possible crowd reactions.

    The loudest greeting was reserved, naturally, for host Italy, which walked in last, to an electronic version of The Barber of Seville.

    The ceremony was already nearly three hours old — and not yet done — by the time Italian President Sergio Mattarella officially declared the Milan Cortina Games open following a speech by Coventry, the first woman to lead the IOC.

    “Thank you for believing in the magic of the Olympic Games,” she said, then several minutes later made sure to make mention of the “media rights holders” who pay to broadcast the event.

    Soon, tenor Andrea Bocelli’s voice was belting out Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma” and its closing refrain of “Vincerò,” Italian for “I will win!” As he concluded, torch bearers headed out of the arena to light a cauldron at the Arch of Peace, 2½ miles from San Siro.

    One symbol of how far-flung things are at these Olympics: Instead of the usual one cauldron that is lit and burns throughout the Games, there were going to be two, both intended as an homage to Leonardo da Vinci’s geometric studies. The other is 250 miles away in Cortina.

    All three flame-lighters — Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni in Milan, and Sofia Goggia in Cortina — are Olympic champion Alpine ski racers from Italy. Tomba and Compagnoni are retired; Goggia is entered in the 2026 Games.

    The full collection of competition venues for the next two-plus weeks dot an area of about 8,500 square miles, roughly the size of the entire state of New Jersey. The multicity ceremony format Friday allowed up-in-the-mountains sports such as Alpine skiing, bobsled, curling, and snowboarding to be represented without requiring folks to make the several-hours-long trek to Milan.

    It didn’t exactly feel like a Winter Games in the country’s financial capital, where the temperature was a tad below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and the sky was a crisp, clear azure all afternoon Friday. Not a trace of clouds, let alone snow.

    As Italy welcomed the world by displaying symbols of its heritage, the show produced by Olympic ceremony veteran Marco Balich began with dancers from the academy of the famed Milan opera house Teatro alla Scala reimagining 18th-century sculptor Antonio Canova’s marble works.

    Singer Mariah Carey performs during the Olympic opening ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026.

    People wearing oversized, mascot-style heads representing opera composers Giacomo Puccini, Gioachino Rossini, and Giuseppe Verdi appeared on the central stage, before giant paint tubes floated above and dropped silk of red, blue, and yellow — the primary colors — before an early parade of various-color-wearing characters arrived in the stadium. They represented music and art, literature, and architecture, appreciations for beauty and history and, above all, La Dolce Vita (loosely, Italian for “The Good Life” and the name of a 1960 film by Federico Fellini).

    There were references to ancient Rome, the Renaissance, the Venice Carnival, and the country’s noted traditions in various areas such as cuisine and literature, such as Pinocchio and Dante’s Inferno.

    A runway walk showcased outfits — created by the late fashion designer Giorgio Armani, who died last year at 91 — in the colors of Italy’s flag: red, green, and white. And balladeer Laura Pausini sang Italy’s national anthem.

    Carey got loud cheers in Milan as she sang in Italian. In Cortina, hundreds of fans sang along with her, and a roar emerged when they realized she was performing the song with the “Volare” refrain.

    Another local touch: Italian actor Sabrina Impacciatore, of White Lotus fame, led a segment that took viewers through a century of past Olympics, with examples of evolving equipment, sportswear, and music. And actor and comedian Brenda Lodigiani demonstrated the popular Italian hand gestures often used to communicate in place of words.

    Team United States enters the stadium during Friday’s opening ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy.
  • New York City police officer convicted of manslaughter in cooler throwing death

    New York City police officer convicted of manslaughter in cooler throwing death

    NEW YORK — A New York City police officer was convicted Friday of second-degree manslaughter after he tossed a picnic cooler filled with drinks at a fleeing suspect, causing the man to fatally crash his motorized scooter.

    Judge Guy Mitchell handed down the guilty verdict Friday in Bronx criminal court in the case against Sgt. Erik Duran in the 2023 death of Eric Duprey.

    “The fact that the defendant is a police officer has no bearing,” the judge said before reading out his verdict in a brief hearing. ”He’s a person and will be treated as any other defendant.”

    Members of Duprey’s family sobbed as the decision was read out. Orlyanis Velez, Duprey’s wife, said after that she was happy but also surprised.

    “I was waiting for justice just like everybody, but when the moment happens, you can’t believe it’s happening,” she said outside of the courthouse. “It’s been a lot of time. These people been killing citizens, been killing everybody. They don’t give no reason.”

    Duran didn’t appear to react when the decision was handed down, and his lawyer and spokespersons for his police union didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment.

    Duran had been suspended with pay pending the trial, but the department confirmed Friday he was dismissed following his conviction, as state law mandates. Duran now faces up to 15 years in prison when he is sentenced March 19.

    State Attorney General Letitia James, whose office prosecuted the case, offered her condolences to Duprey’s family.

    “Though it cannot return Eric to his loved ones, today’s decision gives justice to his memory,” she said in a statement.

    The 38-year-old Duran, who was the first New York Police Department officer in years to be tried for killing someone while on duty, also faced charges of criminally negligent homicide and assault.

    But Mitchell dismissed the assault count earlier, saying prosecutors failed to show he intended to hurt Duprey. He also didn’t deliver a verdict on the criminally negligent homicide charge as he’d already found Duran guilty of the more serious manslaughter charge.

    Duran had pleaded not guilty and opted for a bench trial, meaning the judge, not a jury, would render the verdict.

    Authorities say that on Aug. 23, 2023, Duprey sold drugs to an undercover officer in the Bronx and then fled.

    Duran, who had been part of a narcotics unit conducting the operation, is seen in security footage grabbing a nearby red cooler and quickly hurling it at Duprey in an attempt to stop him.

    The container full of ice, water and sodas struck Duprey, who lost control of the scooter, slammed into a tree and crashed onto the pavement before landing under a parked car.

    Prosecutors said the 30-year-old, who was not wearing a helmet, sustained fatal head injuries and died almost instantaneously.

    Duran, testifying in his own defense this week, said he only had seconds to react and was trying to protect other officers from Duprey as he sped toward them. He told the court he immediately tried to render aid after seeing the extent of Duprey’s injuries.

    “He was gonna crash into us,” Duran said in court. “I didn’t have time. All I had time for was to try again to stop or to try to get him to change directions. That’s all I had the time to think of.”

    But prosecutors maintained Duprey didn’t pose a threat and that his death wasn’t accidental but the result of Duran’s reckless, negligent and intentional actions.

    They suggested the officer had enough time to warn others to move, but instead tossed the cooler in anger and frustration.

  • Actor Timothy Busfield indicted on 4 counts of sexual contact with a child

    Actor Timothy Busfield indicted on 4 counts of sexual contact with a child

    SANTA FE, N.M. — West Wing and Field of Dreams actor Timothy Busfield has been indicted by a grand jury on four counts of criminal sexual contact with a child under age 13, a New Mexico prosecutor announced Friday.

    The allegations are tied to Busfield’s work as a director on the set of the TV series The Cleaning Lady from 2022 to 2024.

    Busfield has denied the allegations, initially filed in court by police, and a defense attorney on Friday said he would “fight these charges at every stage.”

    Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman announced the indictment in a social media post.

    Busfield had turned himself in to authorities in January on related charges by police and was released from jail by a judge who found no pattern of criminal conduct or similar allegations involving children in Busfield’s past. The grand jury indictment allows the case against Busfield to proceed toward possible trial without a preliminary courtroom hearing on evidence.

    Larry Stein, an attorney for Busfield, did not comment directly on the sexual contact charge in the indictment but said the grand jury declined to endorse grooming charges sought by prosecutors. Prosecutors declined to comment on what accusations it brought before the grand jury.

    Stein said in a statement that a detention hearing already “exposed fatal weaknesses in the state’s evidence — gaps that no amount of charging decisions can cure.”

    “Mr. Busfield will fight these charges at every stage and looks forward to testing the State’s case in open court,” the statement said.

    An investigator with the Albuquerque Police Department said a boy reported that Busfield touched his private areas over his clothing when he was 7 years old and again when he was 8, according to the initial criminal complaint from police. The boy’s twin told authorities he was also touched by Busfield, but he didn’t say anything right away because he didn’t want to get in trouble, the complaint said.

    The indictment — filed Friday in state District Court — reiterates allegations that Busfield “touched or applied force to the intimate parts” of one of the boys on several occasions.

    At a detention hearing last month, Busfield’s attorneys pointed out that the children initially said during interviews with police that Busfield didn’t touch them inappropriately. Busfield’s attorneys then accused the boys’ parents of coaching their children toward incriminating statements after the boys lost lucrative roles on the show.

    But Assistant District Attorney Savannah Brandenburg-Koch has called evidence of abuse against Busfield strong and specific, with support from medical findings and the boys’ therapist. She also said witnesses expressed fear about potential retaliation and professional harm.

    Prosecutors have outlined what they said was grooming behavior and abuse of power by Busfield over three decades.

    Each count in the indictment against Busfied carries a possible penalty of six years in prison that can be enhanced if it involves a sexual offense, according to prosecutors.

    In freeing Busfield on Jan. 20, state District Court Judge David Murphy said that while the crimes Busfield is accused of inherently are dangerous and involve children, prosecutors didn’t prove the public wouldn’t be safe if he’s released.

    Busfield is best known for appearances on The West Wing, Field of Dreams, and Thirtysomething.

  • Civil War scholar and retired Gettysburg College professor Gabor Boritt has died at 86

    Civil War scholar and retired Gettysburg College professor Gabor Boritt has died at 86

    GETTYSBURG — History professor Gabor S. Boritt, a Hungarian immigrant to the United States who wrote widely about the Civil War and President Abraham Lincoln, has died. He was 86.

    Mr. Boritt had been a professor at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania for many years, founding the Civil War Institute and helping establish the $50,000 Lincoln Prize for scholarship related to the Civil War.

    He died Monday in Chambersburg, according to his son.

    Mr. Boritt was born in Budapest in 1940 and survived World War II, although relatives were killed in the Auschwitz Nazi death camp. He was sent to an orphanage after the war and in 1956 joined the Hungarian Revolution as a 16-year-old, his family recalled.

    After the uprising was crushed, he made it to the United States, where he worked in a New York hat factory before furthering his education in South Dakota and earning a history doctorate from Boston University.

    He taught at several universities before joining the faculty at Gettysburg in 1981. Mr. Boritt served on the board of the Gettysburg Foundation and was involved in the construction of a new visitor’s center at Gettysburg National Military Park.

    He was awarded a National Humanities Medal by President George W. Bush in 2008.

    A screening of Budapest to Gettysburg, a documentary about his life created by his son, Jake Boritt, will be held on Lincoln’s Birthday, Feb. 12, in Gettysburg.

  • Drew Brees and Larry Fitzgerald headline a Hall of Fame class missing Bill Belichick

    Drew Brees and Larry Fitzgerald headline a Hall of Fame class missing Bill Belichick

    SAN FRANCISCO — Drew Brees and Larry Fitzgerald headlined the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame class featuring five players but not six-time Super Bowl winning head coach Bill Belichick.

    Brees and Fitzgerald both made it in their first year of eligibility in results announced at NFL Honors on Thursday night after prolific careers. Luke Kuechly and Adam Vinatieri made it in their second seasons of eligibility, while Roger Craig was the lone pick among seniors, coaches and contributors.

    “One of the coolest moments was getting up on that stage with all the other Hall of Famers,” Fitzgerald said. “That moment kind of crystallized it for me.”

    Bill Belichick’s cheating cost him first-ballot Hall of Fame induction. It might have also cost the Eagles a Super Bowl title.

    But the class is also noteworthy for Belichick’s absence as at least 11 of the 50 voters opted against giving him a vote despite a career with 333 wins in the regular season and playoffs and the most Super Bowl titles of any head coach. A report last week that Belichick fell short in his first year of eligibility was met with widespread criticism of both the voters and the process for choosing Hall of Famers.

    “His stats speak for themselves,” said Vinatieri, who played six years for Belichick.

    “I thought he’d have a real good chance to be up there as well. The people who voted made their votes and I think he’ll be up here one day.”

    The man who hired Belichick in New England to set the stage for the Patriots dynasty also fell short, with owner Robert Kraft failing to get enough votes.

    Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s snub shows again that Hall of Fame voters don’t like cheaters

    This is the second straight year with a smaller class after only four people made it last year as new rule changes have made it harder to get into the Hall. There had been at least seven people inducted in the previous 12 classes before last year.

    That contributed to the snub for Belichick and Kraft, who were grouped with Craig and two other players — Ken Anderson and L.C. Greenwood — who have been retired for at least 25 seasons. The voters picked three of the five candidates with the highest vote-getter and anyone else above 80% getting the honor.

    Craig, who was in his 28th year of eligibility, was the only one of those five to make it. Craig was the first player ever to have 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving in the same season, which happened in 1985, and he led the NFL with 2,036 yards from scrimmage in 1988 when he helped San Francisco win the Super Bowl.

    Craig also was part of the title-winning teams for the 49ers in the 1984 and 1989 seasons. His 410 yards from scrimmage in those Super Bowl wins are the third-most ever behind Hall of Famers Jerry Rice and Franco Harris.

    The four modern-era candidates all overlapped for several years, waging many battles against each other.

    “Very early on you realized there was something special and unique about these guys,” Brees said.

    Vinatieri was one of the most clutch kickers in NFL history, making the game-winning field goals in the first two Super Bowl victories during New England’s dynasty with Belichick and Kraft in charge. He joined Jan Stenerud and Morten Andersen as the only players in the Hall who were primarily kickers in their careers.

    Vinatieri helped launch the run with one of the game’s greatest kicks — a 45-yarder in the snow to force overtime in the “Tuck Rule” game against the Raiders in the 2001 divisional round. He made the game-winning kick in OT to win that game and then hit a 48-yarder on the final play of a 20-17 win in the Super Bowl against the Rams.

    Vinatieri is the NFL’s career leader in points (2,673) and made field goals (599) over a 24-year career with New England and Indianapolis. He also leads all players with 56 field goals and 238 points in the postseason.

    Brees is second all time to Tom Brady with 80,358 yards passing and 571 touchdown passes. He spent the first five seasons of his career with the San Diego Chargers before signing as a free agent with the Saints in 2006, where his career took off as he helped lift a city still recovering from Hurricane Katrina.

    Brees delivered to New Orleans its first Super Bowl title following the 2009 season, when he won MVP of the game after beating Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. Brees made the Pro Bowl 13 times in his career, won AP Offensive Player of the Year in 2008 and 2011, was an All-Pro in 2006 and was a second-team All-Pro four times.

    Fitzgerald spent his entire career with the Arizona Cardinals after being drafted third overall in 2004. His 1,432 catches and 17,492 yards receiving in 17 seasons rank second all time to Jerry Rice.

    Fitzgerald topped 1,000 yards receiving nine times — tied for the fourth-most ever — and helped the Cardinals reach their only Super Bowl following the 2008 season. Fitzgerald set single-season records that postseason with 546 yards receiving and seven TD catches, including a go-ahead 64-yard score with 2:37 to play in the Super Bowl before Pittsburgh rallied for a 27-23 win over Arizona.

    Kuechly’s career was brief but impactful. The first-round pick by Carolina in 2012 was an All-Pro five times, with seven Pro Bowl nods and a Defensive Rookie of the Year award. Over his eight-year career, Kuechly led all linebackers in the NFL in tackles (1,090), takeaways (26), interceptions (18) and passes defensed (66).

    Voters reduced the list of 15 finalists in the modern era category to 10 and then seven before voting for five to make it. The top three vote-getters and anyone else above 80% got into the Hall.

    Offensive linemen Willie Anderson and Marshal Yanda, and edge rusher Terrell Suggs made it to the final seven in the modern-era category and will automatically be finalists again next year.

  • Norwegian crown princess apologizes to royals and all ‘disappointed’ by her Epstein contacts

    Norwegian crown princess apologizes to royals and all ‘disappointed’ by her Epstein contacts

    OSLO, Norway — Norway’s crown princess apologized on Friday for the situation she has put the royal family in as she faces scrutiny over her contacts with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, part of a broader apology for all those she has “disappointed.”

    Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s communications and contacts with Epstein have put her in the spotlight over the past week, adding to the embarrassment to the royals just as her son went on trial in Oslo for multiple offenses, including charges of rape.

    The Epstein files contained several hundred mentions of the crown princess, who said in 2019 that she regretted having had contact with Epstein, Norwegian media reported.

    The documents, which include email exchanges, showed that Mette-Marit borrowed an Epstein-owned property in Palm Beach, Fla., for several days in 2013. Broadcaster NRK reported that the stay was arranged through a mutual friend, which was later confirmed by the royal household.

    The royal palace said Friday that Mette-Marit wants to talk about what happened and explain herself in more detail, but is unable to at present. It added that she is in a very difficult situation and “hopes for understanding that she needs time to gather her thoughts.”

    It also issued a statement from the crown princess — her second in a week — in which she reiterated her deep regret for her past friendship with Epstein.

    “It is important for me to apologize to all of you whom I have disappointed,” she said. “Some of the content of the messages between Epstein and me does not represent the person I want to be. I also apologize for the situation I have put the Royal Family in, especially the King and Queen.”

    King Harald, 88, and the royals are generally popular in Norway, but the case against Mette-Marit’s son, Marius Borg Høiby, has been a problem for the family’s image since 2024 and the latest Epstein files have compounded that. Mette-Marit is married to Crown Prince Haakon, the heir to the throne.

    The release of documents included an email from Mette-Marit to Epstein in November 2012 asking: “Is it inappropriate for a mother to suggest two naked women carrying a surfboard for my 15-year-old son’s wallpaper?”

    He replied, “Let them decide,” and advised that the mother should, “Stay out of it.”

    Mette-Marit, 52, said in a statement issued shortly after the files were released that she “must take responsibility for not having investigated Epstein’s background more thoroughly, and for not realizing sooner what kind of person he was.” She added: “I showed poor judgment and regret having had any contact with Epstein at all. It is simply embarrassing.”

    The crown princess isn’t the only high-profile Norwegian who faces unflattering attention stemming from the documents on millionaire financier and sex offender Epstein released by the U.S. Department of Justice.

    The Norwegian Economic Crime Investigation Service, a mixed unit of police and prosecutors, said Thursday that it would look into whether gifts, travel or loans were received by former Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland in connection with his positions.

    Jagland was Norway’s prime minister between 1996 and 1997. He also has chaired the Norwegian Nobel Committee and was secretary general of the Council of Europe.

    The files revealed years of contact between the politician and Epstein. Emails indicate that he made plans to visit Epstein’s island with his family in 2014, when he was chairman of the Nobel committee, with an Epstein assistant organizing the flights.

    Norwegian authorities are also looking to lift Jagland’s immunity, which he enjoys because of his past as a diplomat. His legal representative told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that Jagland is cooperating with the investigation.

    The World Economic Forum also announced on Thursday that it was opening an internal review into its CEO Børge Brende to determine his relationship with Epstein, after the files indicated the two had dined together several times and exchanged messages. Brende was Norway’s foreign minister from 2013-2017.

    He told NRK that he is cooperating with the investigation, that he only met Epstein in business settings and that he had been unaware of Epstein’s criminal background.

    Epstein killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges that he sexually abused underage girls at his homes in the U.S.

  • A deputy chief of Russia’s military intelligence service is shot and wounded in Moscow

    A deputy chief of Russia’s military intelligence service is shot and wounded in Moscow

    MOSCOW — A deputy chief of Russia’s military intelligence agency was shot and wounded in Moscow on Friday in an attack that follows a series of assassinations of senior military officers that Russia has blamed on Ukraine.

    Lt. Gen. Vladimir Alekseyev was hospitalized after being shot several times by an unidentified assailant at an apartment building in northwestern Moscow, Investigative Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement.

    She didn’t say who could be behind the attack on the 64-year-old who has served as the first deputy head of Russia’s military intelligence agency, known as the GRU, since 2011.

    He was decorated with the Hero of Russia medal for his role in Moscow’s military campaign in Syria and in June 2023 was shown on state TV speaking to mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin when his Wagner Group seized the military headquarters in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don during his short-lived mutiny.

    The shooting came a day after Russian, Ukrainian, and U.S. negotiators wrapped up two days of talks in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, aimed at ending the nearly 4-year-old war in Ukraine. The Russian delegation was led by Alekseyev’s boss, military intelligence chief Adm. Igor Kostyukov.

    President Vladimir Putin was informed about the attack, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who added that law enforcement agencies need to step up protection of senior military officers during the conflict in Ukraine.

    Ukrainian authorities haven’t commented on the attack.

    Asked about the shooting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said it would be up to law enforcement agencies to pursue the investigation but described it as an apparent “terrorist act” by Ukraine intended to derail peace talks.

    The business daily Kommersant said the attacker, posing as a delivery person, shot the general twice in the stairway of his apartment building, wounding him in the foot and the arm. Alekseyev tried to wrest away the gun and was shot again in the chest before the attacker fled, the report said.

    Alekseyev, who was born in Ukraine when it was part of the Soviet Union, rose steadily through the ranks to lead operations of Russian military intelligence in Syria, Ukraine, and elsewhere.

    He was sanctioned by Washington for meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and also faced sanctions in the U.K. and the European Union over his alleged role in the 2018 poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter with the nerve agent Novichok in Salisbury, England.

    Since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, Russian authorities have blamed Kyiv for several assassinations of military officers and public figures in Russia. Ukraine has claimed responsibility for some of them.

    In December, a car bomb killed Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov, head of the Operational Training Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff.

    In April, another senior Russian military officer, Lt. Gen. Yaroslav Moskalik, a deputy head of the main operational department in the General Staff, was killed by a bomb placed in his car parked near his apartment building just outside Moscow.

    A Russian man who previously lived in Ukraine pleaded guilty to carrying out the attack and said he had been paid by Ukraine’s security services.

    Days after Moskalik’s killing, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he received a report from the head of Ukraine’s foreign intelligence agency on the “liquidation” of top Russian military figures, adding that “justice inevitably comes” although he didn’t mention Moskalik’s name.

    In December 2024, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, the chief of the military’s nuclear, biological and chemical protection forces, was killed by a bomb hidden on an electric scooter outside his apartment building. Kirillov’s assistant also died. Ukraine’s security service claimed responsibility for the attack.

  • Hall of Fame quarterback Sonny Jurgensen dies at age 91

    Hall of Fame quarterback Sonny Jurgensen dies at age 91

    Sonny Jurgensen, the Hall of Fame quarterback whose strong arm, keen wit and affable personality made him one of the most beloved figures in Washington football history, has died. He was 91.

    A Washington Commanders spokesperson confirmed Friday the team learned of Jurgensen’s death that morning from his family.

    Jurgensen arrived in Washington in 1964 in a surprise quarterback swap that sent Norm Snead to the Philadelphia Eagles. Over the next 11 seasons, Jurgensen rewrote the team’s record books.

    Eagles players (from left) Sonny Jurgensen, Pete Retzlaff, Timmy Brown and Tommy McDonald in 1963.

    He topped 3,000 yards in a season five times, including twice with Philadelphia, in an era before rules changes opened up NFL offenses. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and remains the only Washington player to wear the No. 9 jersey in a game.

  • The detention of the couple that owns Jersey Kebab sparked change. Deportation still looms.

    The detention of the couple that owns Jersey Kebab sparked change. Deportation still looms.

    COLLINGSWOOD, N.J. — The shawarma, falafel wraps and baklava at Jersey Kebab are great, but many of its patrons are also there these days for a side of protest.

    A New Jersey suburb of Philadelphia has rallied around the restaurant’s Turkish owners since federal officers detained the couple last February because they say their visas had expired.

    In fact, business has been so good since Celal and Emine Emanet were picked up early in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown that they have moved to a bigger space in the next town over. Their regulars don’t seem to mind.

    Jersey Kebab owner sought a better life for his children in the U.S. Now he and his wife face deportation.

    The family came to the U.S. seeking freedom

    Celal Emanet, 52, first came to the U.S. in 2000 to learn English while he pursued his doctorate in Islamic history at a Turkish university. He returned in 2008 to serve as an imam at a southern New Jersey mosque, bringing Emine and their first two children came, too. Two more would be born in the U.S.

    Before long, Celal had an additional business of delivering bread to diners. They applied for permanent residency and believed they were on their way to receiving green cards.

    When the COVID-19 pandemic began and the delivery trucks were idled, Celal and Emine, who had both worked in restaurants in Turkey, opened Jersey Kebab in Haddon Township. Business was strong from the start.

    The Emanet family thanks their South Jersey neighbors with free food as deportation proceedings loom

    It all changed in a moment

    On Feb. 25, U.S. marshals and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested the couple at the restaurant. Celal was sent home with an ankle monitor, but Emine, now 47, was moved to a detention facility more than an hour’s drive away and held there for 15 days.

    With its main cook in detention and the family in crisis, the shop closed temporarily.

    Emine Emanet hugs her husband Celal as she leaves the ICE Elizabeth Detention Facility on Wednesday, March 12, 2025.

    Although the area is heavily Democratic, the arrests of the Emanets signaled to many locals that immigration enforcement during President Donald Trump’s second term wouldn’t stop at going after people with criminal backgrounds who are in the U.S. illegally.

    “They were not dangerous people — not the type of people we were told on TV they were looking to remove from our country,” Haddon Township Mayor Randy Teague said.

    Supporters organized a vigil and raised $300,000 that kept the family and business afloat while the shop was closed — and paid legal bills. Members of Congress helped, and hundreds of customers wrote letters of support.

    Celal Emanet works at the grill in his Jersey Kebab restaurant on Sunday, Mar. 30, 2025.

    Space for a crowd

    As news of the family’s ordeal spread, customers new and old began packing the restaurant. The family moved it late last year to a bigger space down busy Haddon Avenue in Collingswood.

    They added a breakfast menu and for the first time needed to hire servers besides their son Muhammed.

    The location changed, but the restaurant still features a sign in the window offering free meals to people in need. That’s honoring a Muslim value, to care for “anybody who has less than us,” Muhammed said.

    Judy Kubit and Linda Rey, two friends from the nearby communities of Medford and Columbus, respectively, said they came to Haddon Township last year for an anti-Trump “No Kings” rally and ate a post-protest lunch at the kebab shop.

    “We thought, we have to go in just to show our solidarity for the whole issue,” Kubit said.

    Last month, with the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis dominating the headlines, they were at the new location for lunch.

    Gretchen Seibert tapes up hearts with words of support for Celal and Emine Emanet, the owners of Jersey Kebab, after the couple was detained by ICE in February 2025.

    The legal battle hasn’t ended

    The Emanets desperately want to stay in the U.S., where they’ve built a life and raised their family.

    Celal has a deportation hearing in March, and Emine and Muhammed will also have hearings eventually.

    Celal said moving back to Turkey would be bad for his younger children. They don’t speak Turkish, and one is autistic and needs the help available in the U.S.

    Also, he’d be worried about his own safety because of his academic articles. “I am in opposition to the Turkish government,” he said. “If they deport me, I am going to get very big problems.”

    The groundswell of support has shown the family they’re not alone.

    “We’re kind of fighting for our right to stay the country,” Muhammed Emanet said, “while still having amazing support from the community behind us. So we’re all in it together.”