NEWS OF THE DAY

From Across the Nation

1 Elephant deaths: A second young elephant has died at a zoo in Syracuse, N. Y., despite frantic efforts by staff to combat a lethal virus. The 5yearold male elephant, Batu, died Friday at Rosamond Gifford Zoo, days after the death Tuesday of his younger brother, Ajay. Both died from Elephant Endotheliotropic Herpes Virus. EEHV is the biggest killer of young Asian elephants and can cause death within 24 hours in those under age 8.

2 Law school: Douglas Emhoff, the husband of Vice Presidentelect Kamala Harris, will join the faculty of the Georgetown University law school next year. Emhoff will be a Distinguished Visitor From Practice focusing on media and entertainment law, which he practiced in Los Angeles. He will also serve as a distinguished fellow of the school’s Institute for Technology Law and Policy.

3 Portland protest: Police Chief Chuck Lovell has implored protesters to clear the streets around a barricaded home that was owned by a Black and Indigenous family before it was allegedly taken through predatory lending practices. Before dawn Tuesday, sheriff’s deputies entered the disputed home and arrested several people, mostly for trespassing. Activists, many of whom had participated in Black Lives Matter protests in Portland, Ore., for months, arrived on the scene and confronted law enforcement officers, who retreated. Activists have since erected barricades around the house. In a possible deescalation of the situation, the real estate investor who now owns the house has offered to sell it back to the former owners, the Oregonian/ OregonLive reported Friday. The home was purchased at a foreclosure sale in 2018 for $ 260,000.

4 Space tourism: A Virgin Galactic test flight Saturday ended prematurely when the spacecraft landed safely at Spaceport America in southern New Mexico after its rocket engine failed to ignite high above Earth. “The ignition sequence for the rocket motor did not complete. Vehicle and crew are in great shape,” Virgin Galactic tweeted. “We will check the vehicle and be back to flight soon.” The flight was the first from Virgin Galactic’s new headquarters at Spaceport America, a futuristic desert outpost about 20 miles from Truth or Consequences. A previous Virgin Galactic news release said release would occur at about 50,000 feet from the aircraft that carried it aloft. The spaceship was crewed by two pilots. The next phase of testing involves carrying mission specialists and engineers from the company in the spaceship’s passenger cabin.

5 Rapper plea: Lil Wayne pleaded guilty to a federal charge that he possessed a weapon despite being a convicted felon after a 2019 search of a private plane in the Miami area. The rapper, whose real name is Dwayne Michael Carter, entered the plea Friday. He is to be sentenced Jan. 28. The charge carries a maximum prison sentence of 10 years, but it’s likely Carter will get far less time than that. Authorities said the 38yearold acknowledged possessing a .45 caliber, goldplated handgun and six rounds of ammunition after his luggage was searched upon arriving in Miami on Dec. 23, 2019. The charge stems from a weapons conviction of Carter in New York more than a decade ago, for which he was sentenced to eight months in prison. Felons are barred under federal law from possessing firearms.