Police: Idaho slaying suspect’s DNA found at crime scene
Authorities say the DNA of the man accused of killing four University of Idaho students was found on a knife sheath recovered at the crime scene. Court documents unsealed Thursday say cellphone data show that 28-year-old Bryan Kohberger had visited the area near the home where the Nov. 13 attack occurred about a dozen times since June. A woman who lived at the victims’ home and who wasn’t harmed awoke early that morning and heard crying before seeing a masked man in black clothing walk past her and toward a sliding glass door, the court documents say. Kohberger is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and felony burglary.
‘Bomb cyclone’ brings damaging winds, drenches California
Damaging winds and heavy rains in California have knocked out power to tens of thousands, caused flash flooding and contributed to the deaths of at least two people. Authorities warned residents Thursday to hunker down at home in anticipation of flooded roads, toppled trees and other risks. The storm is the latest in a series of what are known as atmospheric rivers to hit California. Those are long plumes of moisture stretching far over the Pacific. This one was a so-called Pineapple Express originating near Hawaii and pulled toward the West Coast by a rotating area of rapidly falling air pressure known as a bomb cyclone.
Pentagon expands military parental leave to 12 weeks
Military service members will now be eligible for 12 weeks of paid parental leave, the Pentagon said Wednesday, announcing a change that doubles how much leave is available to parents and does away with distinctions between primary and secondary caregivers. The Defense Department’s undersecretary for personnel and readiness, Gilbert Cisneros Jr., issued a memorandum outlining the new parental-leave policy for service members who have been on active or reserve duty for at least a year. The policy applies retroactively to anyone who had a child, adopted a child or became a long-term foster parent on or after Dec. 27.
8 dead in Utah murder-suicide after wife sought divorce
A Utah man fatally shot his five children, his mother-in-law and his wife, then killed himself two weeks after the woman had filed for divorce, according to authorities and public records. Enoch Police Chief Jackson Ames said during a Thursday news conference that officers had been involved in investigations involving the 42-year-old man and his family a “couple of years prior.” He did not elaborate. The crime rocked Enoch, a small town in southern Utah about halfway between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. It’s one of the fastest-growing areas of the country and communities of new homes are made up of large families that belong, like most of Utah, to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known widely as the Mormon church.
US to send Ukraine dozens of Bradleys in $2.85B aid package
The U.S. will send Ukraine nearly $3 billion in military aid, in a massive new package that will for the first time include several dozen Bradley fighting vehicles. That’s according to U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the package have not been publicly announced. It is the largest in a series of packages of military equipment that the Pentagon has pulled from its stockpiles to send Ukraine so far in the war. European allies also stepped up their weapons commitments. Germany announced it will provide armored personnel carriers and a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine, and France said it will hold talks on delivering armored combat vehicles.
Putin orders weekend truce in Ukraine; Kyiv won’t take part
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered his armed forces to observe a 36-hour unilateral cease-fire in Ukraine this weekend for the Orthodox Christmas holiday. Kyiv indicates it won’t follow suit. Putin does not appear to make his cease-fire order conditional on a Ukrainian acceptance. It isn’t clear whether hostilities would actually halt. Ukrainian officials have previously dismissed Russian peace moves as playing for time to regroup their forces. At various points in the war that started Feb. 24, Putin has ordered limited and local truces to allow evacuations of civilians or other humanitarian purposes. Thursday’s order was the first time Putin directed his troops to cease fire throughout Ukraine.
Southwest starts on reputation repair after cancellations
With its flights running on a roughly normal schedule, Southwest Airlines is now turning its attention to repairing its damaged reputation after it canceled 15,000 flights around Christmas and left holiday travelers stranded. The disruptions started with a winter storm and snowballed when Southwest’s ancient crew-scheduling technology failed. Southwest on Tuesday told customers whose flights were canceled or significantly delayed over the holidays that they would get 25,000 frequent-flyer points on top of refunds and reimbursement for unexpected costs like hotels and meals. But that may not be enough to lure back embittered customers.
By wire sources