A North Texas man faced execution on Wednesday for fatally stabbing his girlfriend and her 8-year-old son nearly 13 years ago. Cedric Ricks was sentenced to death for the May 2013 killings of 30-year-old Roxann Sanchez and her son Anthony Figueroa at their apartment in Bedford, a suburb in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Sanchez’s 12-year-old son, Marcus Figueroa, was injured during the attack. Ricks, 51, was scheduled to receive a lethal injection after 6 p.m. CDT at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) north of Houston. His attorneys have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to stay...
Prosecutor Says Rihanna, A$AP Rocky, 3 Kids Were Home When Woman Charged With Attempted Murder Fired
— Rihanna, her partner A$AP Rocky, their three children and her mother were all at home when a woman now charged with attempted murder and many other felony counts is alleged to have fired at the property, a prosecutor said Tuesday. Ivanna Lisette Ortiz, 35, of Orlando, Florida, was charged with attempting to kill Rihanna, along with 10 counts of assault on a person with a semiautomatic firearm and three counts of shooting at an inhabited vehicle or dwelling, authorities said. No one was injured. The singing superstar and her rap star partner were together in a trailer on the...
Most Of Iranian Women’s Soccer Team Left Australia After Declining Last-Minute Airport Asylum Offers
The Iranian women’s soccer team left Australia minus seven of its members, after tearful protests of their departure outside Sydney Airport and frantic final efforts inside the terminal by Australian officials who sought to ensure the women understood they were being offered asylum. As the team’s flight time drew nearer and they passed through security late Tuesday, each woman was taken aside to meet alone with officials who explained through interpreters that they could choose not to return to Iran. Seven other women earlier accepted humanitarian visas allowing them to remain permanently in Australia. Eventually, after what Australian Home Affairs...
Lebanon’s Latest Conflict Brings Rare Public Backlash Against Hezbollah As War Flares Again
The Lebanese mother of two had just awakened to prepare the pre-dawn meal before another day of fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan when Israeli warplanes began attacking southern Lebanon in retaliation for rockets and drones launched by Hezbollah. The family quickly packed up and headed toward Beirut, seeking safety from another deadly war between Israel and Hezbollah. With tens of thousands of others fleeing on that March 2 day, the usually one-hour trip from the southern city of Nabatiyeh took 15 hours. “I am against giving pretexts to Israel,” said the 45-year-old woman, who spoke on condition...
Japan Marks 15 Years Since Tsunami Disaster As Takaichi Pushes More Nuclear Energy Use
Japan marked the 15th anniversary of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster on its northeastern coast Wednesday as the government pushes for more use of atomic energy. The magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, ravaged parts of the region, caused more than 22,000 deaths and forced nearly half a million people to flee their homes, most of them due to tsunami damage. Some 160,000 people fled their homes in Fukushima because of the radiation spewed from the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. About 26,000 of them haven’t returned because they resettled elsewhere, their hometowns remain off-limits...
Iran Targets Commercial Ships, Dubai Airport And Oil Facilities As Concerns Grow Over Global Energy
Iran attacked commercial ships on Wednesday across the Persian Gulf and targeted Dubai International Airport, escalating a campaign of squeezing the oil-rich region as global energy concerns mounted and American and Israeli airstrikes pounded the Islamic Republic. Two Iranian drones hit near Dubai International Airport, home to the long-haul carrier Emirates and the world’s busiest for international travel. Four people were wounded but flights continued, the Dubai Media Office said. Iran’s joint military command announced it would start targeting banks and financial institutions in the Middle East, a threat that would put at risk particularly Dubai, in the United Arab...
Bam! Heat’s Adebayo Scores 83 Points, 2nd Only To Wilt Chamberlain In NBA History
t’s Wilt, then Bam. Bam Adebayo had a night for all time on Tuesday, with a point total second to only Wilt Chamberlain in the NBA record books. Adebayo scored 83 points, setting league marks for free throws made and attempted in a game for the Miami Heat in a 150-129 win over the Washington Wizards. “An absolutely surreal night,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Obviously, we’ve been blessed to have been part of a lot of big moments in this arena. This one, it just happened. Moments happen and I’m grateful that we’re all able to be a part...
A Senegal Boarding School That Drew Students From The US Is At The Center Of An Abuse Investigation
The American Dara Academy in Senegal marketed itself to families in the United States as an affordable boarding school where their children could study the Quran alongside an American curriculum. Parents and families — many with West African roots — sent their children to the school believing it would be a rigorous and affordable religious education. But the school is being investigated for alleged physical abuses, with hundreds of students withdrawing from the academy and one of two campuses — where most of the alleged abuses took place — now closed, according to an official close to the case. In...
Baltimore Police Officer Wounded, Gunman Killed During Midday Burglary Call
A police officer responding to a burglary call in Baltimore was shot in the leg Tuesday by a gunman who was killed by another officer, authorities said. A woman jumped out of a window during the tense confrontation and another woman was held at gunpoint by the man before he was shot, Police Commissioner Richard Worley said. “It was relatively quick because he was firing on our officers,” Worley said. The officer with a leg wound was in stable condition at University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Dr. Thomas Scalea praised a “buddy” who applied a tourniquet at the scene....