USA

Vandenberg Space Force Base (US), Apr 18 (AP) A classified satellite for the US National Reconnaissance Office was launched into space from California on Sunday.

The NROL-85 satellite lifted off at 6:13 a.m. from Vandenberg Space Force Base aboard a two-stage SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

WASHINGTON, April 17 (Reuters) - Remaining Ukrainian forces in the southern port of Mariupol are still fighting and continue to defy a Russian demand that they surrender, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Sunday.

"The city still has not fallen," Shmyhal told ABC's "This Week" program, adding that Ukrainian soldiers continue to control some parts of the city.

"So there is no whole control" of Mariupol by Russian forces, Shmyhal said.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Newly filed court documents in the downtown Sacramento shooting that killed six people and wounded a dozen others reveal that three of the dead had been involved in the gang dispute that led to the massive shootout, with at least one of them firing a weapon.

Documents filed Friday by Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert’s office show that the three deceased men affiliated with gangs were Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32, Devazia Turner, 29, and Sergio Harris, 38, The Sacramento Bee reported Saturday.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Police have arrested a suspect in connection with a shooting at a busy shopping mall in South Carolina’s capital on Saturday that left 14 people injured.

Columbia Police Chief W.H. “Skip” Holbrook said 22-year-old Jewayne M. Price, who was one of three people initially detained by law enforcement as a person of interest, remains in police custody and is expected to be charged with unlawful carrying of a pistol.

It is not immediately known if Price has an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

FORT IRWIN, Calif. (AP) — In the dusty California desert, U.S. Army trainers are already using lessons learned from Russia’s war against Ukraine as they prepare soldiers for future fights against a major adversary such as Russia or China.

The role-players in this month’s exercise at the National Training Center speak Russian. The enemy force that controls the fictional town of Ujen is using a steady stream of social media posts to make false accusations against the American brigade preparing to attack.

NEW YORK, Apr 16 (APP): India has weaponized its legal system to limit free speech and harass journalists, particularly those in the occupied Jammu and Kashmir, The New York Times reported Saturday, citing human rights activists.

In a dispatch from New Delhi, the newspaper said the clampdown on Kashmir’s media had intensified since 2019, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government revoked the state’s special status, bringing the disputed region under direct control of the federal government.

RICHMOND (Virginia, US), April 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A US federal jury in Virginia has convicted an ex-British jihadist over his involvement with a notorious Daesh terror cell.

El Shafee Elsheikh, 33, was linked to the abduction, torture and beheading of several IS hostages in Syria, including journalists and aid workers.

On Thursday, after an 11-day trial, he was found guilty of lethal hostage taking and conspiracy to commit murder.

Elsheikh was the highest profile Daesh fighter to stand trial in the US.

Montana, Apr 16 (AP) The Interior Department has said it's moving forward with the first onshore sales of public oil and gas drilling leases under President Joe Biden, but will sharply increase royalty rates for companies as federal officials weigh efforts to fight climate change against pressure to bring down high gas prices.

The royalty rate for new leases will increase to 18.75% from 12.5%. That's a 50% jump and marks the first increase to royalties for the federal government since the early 1900s.

Washington, Apr 16 (PTI) Leading Indian-Americans, including US Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, have slammed a law professor from University of Pennsylvania for her disparaging comments about the Asian American community, with a specific disdain for Indian-Americans.

In a recent interview to Fox News, Prof Amy Wax from the University of Pennsylvania alleged that Blacks and non-Western groups have a tremendous amount of resentment and shame against western people for [their] outsized achievements and contributions.

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — When trying to decide whether to seek a fourth term in the Connecticut House of Representatives, Rep. Joe de la Cruz ran the question by his wife, who he jokingly refers to as his lawyer and financial advisor.

While Tammy de la Cruz didn’t want to discourage her 51-year-old husband from stepping away from the part-time job he has grown to love, she acknowledged it didn’t make financial sense for him run again in November.