Nation & World Glance
Grand jury indicts Missouri governor who admitted affair
ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis grand jury on Thursday indicted Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens on a felony invasion of privacy charge for allegedly taking a compromising photo of a woman with whom he had an affair in 2015. The Republican governor responded that he made a mistake but committed no crime.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner launched an investigation in January after Greitens admitted to an affair with his St. Louis hairdresser that began in March 2015. He was elected governor in November 2016.
Thursday’s indictment was followed with an announcement by House Republican leaders that they were forming a group of lawmakers to investigate the charges “and answer the question as to whether or not the governor can lead our state while a felony case moves forward.”
In a statement following the indictment, the Republican governor was defiant and attacked the prosecutor who brought the charge.
“As I have said before, I made a personal mistake before I was Governor,” he said. “I did not commit a crime. With today’s disappointing and misguided political decision, my confidence in our prosecutorial system is shaken, but not broken. I know this will be righted soon. The people of Missouri deserve better than a reckless liberal prosecutor who uses her office to score political points.”
World leaders urge Syria cease-fire as fighting escalates
BEIRUT — World leaders called Thursday for an urgent cease-fire in Syria as government forces pounded the opposition-controlled eastern suburbs of the capital in a crushing campaign that has left hundreds of people dead in recent days.
The U.N. Security Council heard a briefing from U.N. humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock on what he called “the humanitarian disaster unfolding before our eyes” in the rebel-held suburbs known as eastern Ghouta.
Sweden and Kuwait were seeking a vote on a resolution ordering a 30-day ceasefire to allow relief agencies to deliver aid and evacuate the critically sick and wounded from besieged areas to receive medical care.
But Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, who called Thursday’s meeting, put forward lastminute amendments, saying the proposed resolution was “simply unrealistic.”
Russia’s amendments would rule out an immediate cease-fire and instead demand that all parties “stop hostilities as soon as possible,” and “work for an immediate and unconditional de-escalation of violence” and 30-day “humanitarian pause.”
Grand Canyon helicopter crash victim dies
LAS VEGAS — Authorities say a British tourist hospitalized in Las Vegas after a sightseeing helicopter crashed in the Grand Canyon earlier this month has died. Three other Britons were killed in the crash.
Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg confirmed in a statement that 31-yearold Neil Udall died Thursday at University Medical Center of Southern Nevada.
Udall was one of four people, including the pilot, who were hospitalized in critical condition after the Feb. 10 crash. The helicopter went down on tribal land outside Grand Canyon National Park.
A preliminary report released Wednesday says the helicopter made at least two 360-degree turns before crashing. But the National Transportation Safety Board doesn’t say what caused the crash. A full NTSB report won’t be completed for more than a year.
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