- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Bagnaia sets 'example' with Japan MotoGP win to cut gap on Martin
- Intense Israeli bombing rocks Beirut ahead of war anniversary
- Mozambique vote: no suspense but some disillusion
- Austrian rapper channels anti-racist rage in Romani hip-hop songs
- Ohtani magic powers Dodgers over Padres in MLB playoff thriller
- Five of the best: Pakistan-England Test thrillers
- Man sets arm on fire as marches across US mark Gaza war anniversary
- Vietnam's young coffee entrepreneurs brew up a revolution
- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Kovacic stars as Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Thousands march for Palestinians ahead of Oct 7 anniversary
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Toddler crushed to death in migrant Channel crossing
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
US judge rejects plea deals for murderers of Black jogger
A US judge on Monday rejected plea deals from two white men convicted of murdering a Black jogger in Georgia after relatives of the victim vehemently objected to the agreements.
Travis McMichael, his father Gregory McMichael and their neighbor, William Bryan, were sentenced to life in prison in January for the February 2020 murder of 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery.
The three men also face federal hate crimes charges of violating Arbery's civil rights.
Federal prosecutors said in court filings that they had reached agreements with the McMichaels under which they would plead guilty and would serve the first 30 years of their life sentences in a federal prison rather than a state facility.
The plea deals were subject to court approval, however, and US District Judge Lisa Wood rejected them on Monday after listening to impassioned appeals from several of Arbery's relatives.
Lee Merritt, an attorney for Arbery's mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, denounced the plea deals ahead of the hearing as a "betrayal" of the Arbery family.
In a statement, Cooper Jones said she has "made it clear at every possible moment that I do not agree to offer these men a plea deal of any kind."
"The (Department of Justice) has gone behind my back to offer the men who murdered my son a deal to make their time in prison easier for them to serve," she said.
In a statement, US assistant attorney general Kristen Clarke said the Justice Department "respects" the court's decision and had consulted with attorneys for the Arbery family before entering into the plea agreements.
"Before signing the proposed agreement reflecting the defendants' confessions to federal hate crimes charges, the Civil Rights Division consulted with the victims' attorneys," Clarke said in a statement.
"The Justice Department entered the plea agreement only after the victims' attorneys informed me that the family was not opposed to it."
The McMichaels and Bryan chased Arbery in their pickup trucks on February 23, 2020 as he ran through their neighborhood near the town of Brunswick, Georgia.
Travis McMichael confronted Arbery as he passed by their truck and shot and killed him.
Travis McMichael, 35, and Gregory McMichael, 66, were sentenced to life without parole.
Bryan, 52, who had a less direct role in the murder and cooperated with investigators, was given life with the possibility of parole.
The racially-charged case added fuel to nationwide anger and protests over police killings of African Americans, sparked initially by the murder in May 2020 of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
O.Karlsson--AMWN