Nation & World Watch
vWashington: Firing squad denied for inmate
The Supreme Court refused Tuesday to let a death-row prisoner in Alabama choose a firing squad over a lethal injection cocktail that has caused several botched executions in recent years.
The court’s unexplained denial represented the latest chapter in its debate over the morality of the death penalty and the methods used to carry it out.
Alabama inmate Thomas Arthur had cited the risks identified from the use of the sedative midazolam in asking that a firing squad carry out his execution for killing his girlfriend’s husband in 1982.
vBismarck, N.D.: Pipeline protesters told to leave
The Army Corps of Engineers said it won’t extend a Wednesday deadline for Dakota Access oil pipeline opponents to vacate their encampment on federal land in North Dakota.
The camp has existed since August and at times housed thousands of people who supported the concerns of Sioux nations that the $3.8 billion pipeline to carry North Dakota oil through the Dakotas threatens the environment and sacred sites. Dallas-based developer Energy Transfer Partners disputes those claims.
With flooding expected, the Corps on Feb. 3 told the few hundred people remaining in camp that they must leave by 2 p.m. Wednesday.
vNew York: Provocateur resigns from Breitbart
Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos has resigned after coming under fire from other conservatives over his comments about sexual relationships between boys and men.
Speaking to reporters in New York on Tuesday, the writer and provocative public speaker apologized for his remarks. He said he never intended to suggest sexual abuse of minors is OK.
On Monday he was disinvited from the Conservative Political Action Conference after video of his remarks surfaced on a conservative blog.
Publisher Simon & Schuster also canceled publication of his upcoming book, “Dangerous.”
v Philadelphia: Subway crash in rail yard injures 4
An out-of-service subway train rearended a stopped train in a rail yard Tuesday, causing some cars to jump the track and hit a third train, officials said. Four people were injured, including an operator hospitalized in critical condition.
The Market-Frankford Line trains were near the 69th Street Transportation Center on a loop where trains turn around to get back into service, said Andrew Busch, a spokesman for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.
vSweden: Immigrant area riots after drug arrest
Swedish police on Tuesday were investigating a riot that broke out overnight in a predominantly immigrant suburb in Stockholm after officers arrested a suspect on drug charges.
The clashes started late Monday when a police car arrested a suspect and people started throwing stones at them in Rinkeby, north of Stockholm. Unidentified people, including some wearing masks, set cars on fire and looted shops.
One officer was slightly hurt when a rock hit his arm and one person was arrested for throwing rocks, police spokesman Lars Bystrom said. Some civilians who tried to stop the looters also were assaulted, he said.
vEcuador: Presidential election headed to runoff
Ecuador’s nail-biter election is heading to a runoff after results showed ruling party candidate Lenin Moreno falling just shy of the votes needed to clinch a first-round victory, officials said Tuesday.
With nearly 95 percent of all votes officially tallied, the current results are “irreversible,” said Juan Pablo Pozo Bahamonde, president of the National Electoral Council.
The results end two days of suspense as supporters of opposition candidate Guillermo Lasso took to the streets against what they said was an attempt at fraud to favor Moreno, President Rafael Correa’s hand-picked successor. The small Andean country will hold a second round of voting April 2.