Nation & World Glance
Chase with stolen UPS truck ends with shootout, 4 dead
MIRAMAR, Fla. — Four people, including a UPS driver, were killed Thursday after robbers stole the driver’s truck and led police on a chase that ended in gunfire at a busy South Florida intersection during rush hour, the FBI said.
Both robbers were shot and killed, and the fourth victim was in a nearby vehicle when shots rang out at a crowded intersection in Miramar, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of where the incident began, FBI Special Agent in Charge George Piro said during a news conference Thursday night.
Television news helicopters showed first responders tending to at least one person who fell out of the UPS truck, moments after several shots were fired when the chase ended.
“It’s very early in the investigative process,” Piro said. “There are a lot of questions that are still unanswered.”
In Coral Gables, where the incident began, police said a jewelry store worker was also injured but did not say if she had been shot. There was no immediate update on her condition.
Blind inmate executed in Tennessee for woman’s 1991 killing
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A blind prisoner convicted of killing his estranged girlfriend by setting her on fire in her car was put to death Thursday in Tennessee’s electric chair, becoming only the second inmate without sight to be executed in the U.S. since the reinstatement of the nation’s death penalty in 1976.
Lee Hall, 53, was pronounced dead at 7:26 p.m. at a Nashville maximum-security prison, corrections officials said. He chose the electric chair over Tennessee’s preferred execution method of lethal injection — an option allowed inmates in the state who were convicted of crimes before January 1999. He also became the first blind inmate in U.S. modern history to die by electrocution.
Hall was already strapped into the electric chair when the curtains were raised for the witnesses — which included family, attorneys and reporters.
As his head swiveled around the room not appearing to focus on anything, he was asked if he had any final words. Hall initially said he needed a glass of water before talking. He was denied and asked again to make a statement.
“People can learn forgiveness and love and will make this world a better place,” Hall said, wearing a white T-shirt and rolled-up white pants.
Pearl Harbor commemoration to go on after fresh tragedy
HONOLULU — Officials will beef up security as usual for the ceremony to remember those lost in the attack on Pearl Harbor 78 years ago, with service members and dignitaries confronting a fresh tragedy after a U.S. sailor killed two civilians, wounded another and then turned the gun on himself at the storied military base.
The National Park Service, which is hosting the event with the Navy, would not give specifics on the heightened security measures, many of which aren’t readily apparent, Pearl Harbor National Memorial spokesman Jay Blount said.
The commemoration of the anniversary of the Japanese bombing that propelled the United States into World War II will go on as planned Saturday, he said. It’s expected to draw survivors, veterans, dignitaries and the public to honor more than 2,300 Americans who perished on Dec. 7, 1941.
“We have not heard of anyone canceling plans to attend the event due to security concerns and want the public to know that it will be a safe, fun and enjoyable day for everyone,” Blount said.
Across the harbor at the naval shipyard, a sailor on Wednesday shot three civilians working for the shipyard on the base, killing two, before taking his own life. The wounded victim was hospitalized in stable condition.
Giuliani in Ukraine as Congress moves closer to impeachment
KYIV, Ukraine — President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani was in Ukraine on Thursday, reviving the efforts that landed him and Trump in the impeachment inquiry now roiling Washington.
The inquiry was triggered by a July 25 phone call in which Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden and his son and also a discredited conspiracy theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 U.S. election. Trump denies wrongdoing.
Giuliani was at the center of those efforts, conducting shadow diplomacy throughout the spring and summer.
On Thursday, he met in Kyiv with Andrii Derkach, a member of Ukraine’s parliament who has promoted unsubstantiated claims against the Bidens.
Derkach posted photos on Facebook with Giuliani and said the two had had a meeting to form a new group, Friends of Ukraine Stop Corruption.
Paris police arrest scores amid strike over pension reform
PARIS (AP) — Paris police fired tear gas at demonstrators Thursday as the Eiffel Tower shut down, France’s high-speed trains came to a standstill and hundreds of thousands marched nationwide in a strike over the government’s plan to overhaul the retirement system.
At least 90 people were arrested in Paris by evening as the protests wound down.
Police said 65,000 people took to the streets of the French capital, and over 800,000 nationwide in often-tense demonstrations aimed at forcing President Emmanuel Macron to abandon pension reform.
The open-ended walkout by the country’s unions represents the biggest challenge to Macron since the yellow vest movement against economic inequality erupted a year ago.
Opponents fear the changes to how and when workers can retire will threaten the hard-fought French way of life. Macron himself remained “calm and determined” to push it through, according to a top presidential official.
In Paris, small groups of masked activists smashed store windows, set fires and hurled flares on the sidelines of a march that was otherwise peaceful. Demonstrators also shot firecrackers at police in body armor. Some journalists were mugged in the street.
The Louvre closed some of its galleries, and the Palace of Versailles shut down. Subway stations across Paris closed their gates, high-speed TGV trains canceled their runs, and nearly 20% of flights at Paris’ Orly Airport were reported grounded.
Many visitors, including the U.S. energy secretary, canceled plans to travel to one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations.