Albert Wagner 
SEATTLE – The U.S. Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into the Boeing jetliner blowout that left a gaping hole on an Alaska Airlines plane this January, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday. Citing documents and people familiar with the matter, the newspaper said investigators have contacted some passengers and … Read more
ASHTABULA, OHIO — Two Ohio women have been accused of driving the body of a deceased 80-year-old man to a bank to withdraw money from his account before dropping his body off at a hospital. Karen Casbohm, 63, and Loreen Bea Feralo, 55, were charged Tuesday in Ashtabula with gross abuse of a corpse and … Read more
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says the federal government will cap the annual alcohol excise tax increase on beer, spirits and wine at two per cent for an additional two years. The alcohol excise tax had been set to rise on April 1 by 4.7 per cent, tied to inflation, but Freeland announced today … Read more
ABUJA, Nigeria – Armed men invaded a boarding school in northwestern Nigeria early Saturday and abducted 15 children, police told The Associated Press, about 48 hours after nearly 300 students were taken hostage in the conflict-hit region. School abductions are common in Nigeria’s northern region, especially since the 2014 kidnapping of more than … Read more
DUBLIN – Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar conceded defeat Saturday as two constitutional amendments he supported that would have broadened the definition of family and removed language about a woman’s role in the home were headed toward rejection in early vote tallies. Varadkar, who pushed the vote to enshrine gender equality in the … Read more
LA GRULLA, Texas – A helicopter flying over the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas crashed Friday, killing two National Guard soldiers and a Border Patrol agent, the military said. Another soldier on board was injured. The UH-72 Lakota helicopter was assigned to the federal government’s border security mission when it went down near Rio … Read more
BESSEMER, Ala. – A new plea hearing has been set for an Alabama woman accused of falsely telling police she was abducted last summer after stopping her car to check on a toddler wandering near a highway. Carlee Russell’s two-day disappearance, and her story of being abducted, captivated the nation before police called … Read more
Beirut, Lebanon – A top U.S. Treasury official visiting Beirut this week pressed Lebanese authorities to prevent funds from being funneled to Hamas by way of Lebanon, officials said. Jesse Baker, deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury for Asia and the Middle East in the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, met … Read more
BUCHAREST, Romania – The Romanian government has won a yearslong legal dispute with a Canadian mining company seeking damages over failed plans to open a gold and silver mine in the Eastern European country. Gabriel Resources was seeking US$4.4 billion (four billion euros) in damages from the Romanian state, which owned a 20 … Read more
Washington – Eleven-year-old Domonic Davis was not far from his mom’s Cincinnati home when a hail of gunfire sprayed out from a passing car. Nearly two dozen rounds hurtled through the night at a group of children in the blink of an eye. Four other children and a woman were hurt in the … Read more
