Enforcing LGBTQ rules temporarily barred
NASHVILLE, TENN. >> A judge in Tennessee has temporarily barred two federal agencies from enforcing directives issued by President Joe Biden's administration that extended protections for LGBTQ people in schools and workplaces.
U.S. District Judge Charles Atchley Jr. in an order on Friday ruled for the 20 state attorneys general who sued last August claiming the Biden administration directives infringe on states' right to enact laws that, for example, prevent students from participating in sports based on their gender identity or requiring schools and businesses to provide bathrooms and showers to accommodate transgender people.
Atchley, appointed by President Donald Trump in 2020, agreed with the attorneys generals' argument and issued a temporary injunction that prevents the agencies from applying that guidance on LGBTQ discrimination until the matter can be resolved by courts.
Sheriff: Woman, grabbed by gators dead
ENGLEWOOD, FLA. >> Authorities say a Florida woman was found dead after falling in a pond and being grabbed by two alligators.
The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office told news outlets that the elderly woman was seen falling into the pond along a golf course in Englewood late Friday and struggling to stay afloat.
While she was in the water, two alligators were seen grabbing her, authorities said.
The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two alligators have been removed from the area, but it's not yet clear whether those were the reptiles involved.
The cause of death has not been determined.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says alligators are more active when temperatures rise.
2 kids among 6 dead in a highway pileup
BILLINGS, MONT. >> Two children are among the six people who died in a Montana pileup after a Friday evening dust storm caused blackout conditions on Interstate 90, a major route in both Montana and the Western U.S.
Montana Highway Patrol Sgt. Jay Nelson said investigators so far have found no other factors that contributed to the pileup that also sent eight other injured people to hospitals.
“Everything is indicative of an isolated extreme weather event,” Nelson said of the investigation, calling the crash among the worst he'd seen in 24 years with the state. “What could people do? It really was just panic.”
The pileup was just west of Hardin, with additional ambulances called in from Billings to help. The identities of the dead and conditions of the survivors are not yet being released.
The crash was reported about 4:30 p.m., as 21 vehicles, including six commercial semitrucks, lost control in the dust storm.
Cargo plane operated by Ukraine firm crashes
THESSALONIKI, GREECE >> An Antonov cargo plane operated by a Ukrainian airline crashed Saturday near the city of Kavala in northern Greece, authorities said. Local residents reported seeing a fireball and hearing explosions for two hours after the crash.
Greek Civil Aviation authorities said the flight was heading from Serbia to Jordan. The An-12, a Sovietbuilt turboprop aircraft, was operated by cargo carrier Meridian, according to state broadcaster ERT.
Greek media reported there were eight people on the plane and that it was carrying 12 tons of “dangerous materials,” mostly explosives. But local officials said they had no specific information on the cargo or people on board.
As a precaution because of a strong smell emanating from the crash site, a coordinating committee told inhabitants of the two localities closest to the crash site to keep their windows shut all night, to not leave their homes and to wear masks.
UN decries rising death toll, rights violations
UNITED NATIONS >> The U.N. human rights office on Saturday expressed concern about rising violence around Haiti's capital, saying 99 people have been reported killed in recent fighting between rival gangs in the Cite Soleil district alone.
The warning came hours after the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution renewing the mandate of a U.N. office in the troubled Caribbean nation and calling on all countries to stop the transfer of small arms, light weapons and ammunition to anyone there supporting gang violence and criminal activity.
U.N. humanitarian agencies said they were ready to help embattled communities once it is safe to do so, and Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for the U.N.'s High Commissioner for Refugees, laid out those dangers. “We have so far documented, from January to the end of June, 934 killings, 684 injuries and 680 kidnappings across the capital,” he said Saturday.