In the news

■ Eric Smith, commandant of the Marine Corps, has been listening in on meetings in recent weeks and getting updates in order to be prepared when he eventually returns to full duty, officials said, as the general recovers from heart surgery.

■ Jorge Barahona, who has been jailed for 13 years on accusations that he tortured and killed his 10-yearold adopted twin children, will not stand trial after a judge accepted the conclusion of two of three court-appointed doctors, who determined he was not competent.

■ Qinxuan Pan, a former researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, faces 35 years in prison after pleading guilty to the February 2021 killing of a Yale University student found shot outside his car in New Haven, Conn.

■ Kanchha Sherpa, 91, the only surviving member of the mountaineering expedition that first conquered Mount Everest in May 1953, said the Asian mountain “is the biggest god for the Sherpas but people smoke and eat meat and throw them on the mountain.”

■ Larry Acree, 69, of Independence, Mo., was hospitalized and faces several charges in connection with the fatal shooting of a court employee who was trying to serve an eviction notice and a police officer who responded to the home, as well as an accusation of injuring another officer, according to documents.

■ Michael Higgins, 82-year-old Irish president and human rights advocate, underwent tests at St James’s Hospital and was set to spend several days in the facility to monitor his blood pressure as a precaution, his office said.