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    16 Killed in Russian Missile Strike on Odesa, Ukraine Says

    Two missiles hit the same spot, Ukrainian authorities said, killing some rescuers who had responded to the first attack.A Russian missile attack on Odesa killed at least 16 people and injured 55 others, Ukrainian authorities said on Friday, the latest in a series of deadly air assaults on the southern Ukrainian port city.Ukraine’s state emergency services said a first missile hit several houses late in the morning, prompting rescuers to rush to the scene. A second missile then landed on the same site, causing many fatalities, including at least one paramedic and a rescue worker. The reports could not be independently verified.Oleh Kiper, the governor of the Odesa region, posted photos on social media showing rescue workers evacuating one of their colleagues on a stretcher and trying to put out a fire near a destroyed building. A photo released by the Odesa City Council showed what appeared to be a rescuer lying on the grass, his lifeless body covered by a foil blanket.Ukrainian authorities said the attacks destroyed a three-story building, damaged 10 houses and a gas pipeline, and started a fire that spread to an area of about 1,300 square feet.It was the third deadly assault on Odesa in two weeks, with a total of at least 33 people killed. It came as Russians began voting in a presidential election that President Vladimir V. Putin was all but certain to win, and while his country’s war in Ukraine had entered its third year and showed no sign of abating.Emergency workers helping an injured man away from the scene.Victor Sajenko/Associated PressWe are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Severe Weather Tears Through Midwest

    A storm, believed to be a tornado, ripped through a mobile home community in eastern Indiana. Ohio and Kentucky were also hit.Tornadoes were reported as storms tore through Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio on Thursday, according to news reports.Local officials believe a tornado hit a trailer park in Winchester, in eastern Indiana, according to 13 WTHR, an NBC News affiliate. However, meteorologists said they were still working to confirm that a tornado had touched down there.Tornadoes in the MidwestLocations of tornado sightings or damage reported by trained spotters. More

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    Truck Driver Charged Over Role in Deadly ‘Super Fog’ Pileup in Louisiana

    Seven people were killed. The driver, Ronald Britt, is charged with negligent homicide in a crash that killed one of them.A truck driver faces charges including negligent homicide related to his role in a highway crash during a dense “super fog” in Louisiana in October that caused a huge traffic pileup and left seven people dead and dozens injured, the authorities said this week.The man, Ronald Britt of Lafayette, was driving an 80,000-pound vehicle at around 60 m.p.h. on Oct. 23 when, having not slowed down despite the severe weather, he crashed into the car ahead of him on Interstate 55 northwest of New Orleans, the Louisiana State Police said on Tuesday in a news release. The impact killed a 60-year-old man, James Fleming of Missouri, and severely injured his wife, Barbara Fleming, 69, the police said.“It was determined that Britt was operating at a negligent speed, given the driving conditions at the time,” the police said, which led to the death of the man and the injuries sustained by his wife.Poor weather conditions and limited visibility meant vehicles could not safely exit the highway, the police said, causing congestion and “multiple crashes.” Mr. Fleming had managed to stop his vehicle safely, they said, but was “unable to move his vehicle to a safer location off the road.”Louisiana state law requires that drivers maintain a safe speed appropriate for the prevailing driving conditions.Mr. Britt, 61, surrendered to the authorities on Monday and was also charged with negligent injuring, reckless operation and other traffic offenses, the police said. It was not immediately clear whether he had legal representation.In Louisiana, negligent homicide carries a maximum of five years in prison, a $5,000 fine or both.The crash was one of several that day, the authorities said, as an impenetrable mist shrouded the area. Seven people died and 63 were injured in the large traffic pileup, which involved at least 168 vehicles, the police said. They originally reported that eight people had died but later revised that figure, citing “intense fires” that “complicated the identification of victims.” More

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    Alec Baldwin Seeks Dismissal of ‘Rust’ Manslaughter Indictment

    Lawyers for the actor have begun his defense by denouncing the way the prosecutors carried out grand jury proceedings.Lawyers for Alec Baldwin filed court papers on Thursday seeking to dismiss the involuntary manslaughter indictment against him related to the fatal shooting on the “Rust” movie set, arguing that prosecutors did not properly present the grand jury with evidence that could have supported his case.Mr. Baldwin — who was practicing drawing a gun he had been told was safe when it discharged a live bullet, killing the film’s cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, in 2021 — has been largely quiet about the criminal case since it was revived in January by prosecutors who have accused him of failing to observe firearm safety measures on set.But in the 52-page filing on Thursday, Mr. Baldwin’s lawyers made a full-throated denunciation of the case against the actor, asserting that the prosecutors have “publicly dragged Baldwin through the cesspool created by their improprieties,” resulting in the criminal case “hanging over his head” for more than two years.“Enough is enough,” said the filing, which was signed by Luke Nikas, a member of Mr. Baldwin’s team of lawyers. “This is an abuse of the system, and an abuse of an innocent person whose rights have been trampled to the extreme.”The filing by Mr. Baldwin’s lawyers cited a New Mexico Supreme Court decision in which the court dismissed an indictment after finding that the prosecution “prevented the grand jury from inquiring into the facts demonstrating probable cause” and “failed to act in a fair and impartial manner when instructing the grand jury.”The lead prosecutor, Kari T. Morrissey, declined to comment on the specifics of the motion but said, “Our response will be filed with the court.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Michael Culver, ‘Star Wars’ Actor and Victim of Darth Vader, Dies at 85

    Mr. Culver, who was best known for his demise as Captain Needa in “The Empire Strikes Back,” was also a familiar actor on British TV and in theater.Michael Culver, the British actor best known for one of the memorable death scenes in the Star Wars franchise, died on February 27. He was 85.Mr. Culver’s death was confirmed by Alliance Agents, which posted a statement to social media on Tuesday, and his agent, Thomas Bowington. The agency did not give a cause of death, though Mr. Bowington said Mr. Culver had had cancer for several years.He had a long acting career onscreen and stage that spanned over 50 years and included roles in “The Return of Sherlock Holmes” on TV and the 1984 film “A Passage to India.”But his most lasting impact on popular culture came in 1980, with his brief role as Captain Needa in the second “Star Wars” film, “The Empire Strikes Back.” Needa, after losing track of Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon, apologizes to Darth Vader, who promptly chokes him to death telepathically.“Apology accepted, Captain Needa,” Vader says, walking around the captain’s body and motioning for others to take him away.Mr. Culver also appeared in two “James Bond” films with the actor Sean Connery, “From Russia With Love” and “Thunderball.”Michael John Edward Culver was born on June 16, 1938, in London to Daphne Rye, a theater casting director, and Ronald Culver, an actor, according to Mr. Bowington.Mr. Culver performed in several Shakespeare plays and worked regularly with the British director Anthony Page, his agent said.Mr. Culver is survived by his second wife, Amanda Ward Culver, and his children, Roderic, Sue and Justin Culver.His son, Roderic Culver, also became an actor, Mr. Bowington said.Later in his life, Mr. Culver mostly gave up acting to focus on politics and would have likely pursued a political career had he not been an actor, Mr. Bowington said.He still visited Star Wars fan events, notably one in Chicago in 2019, his agency said in its statement.“He was lost for words,” it said, “when he saw his queue line with nearly 200 people waiting to see him.” More

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    Five Missing Skiers Found Dead in Swiss Alps

    The police said weather conditions had deteriorated after the group set out from the town of Zermatt over the weekend. The search continued for a sixth person.Five missing skiers were found dead in the Swiss Alps and the search was ongoing for a sixth member of their group, the local police said on Monday.The skiers set out from the Swiss resort town of Zermatt on Saturday morning, aiming for the village of Arolla, across a series of snow-covered peaks.A relative alerted rescue services on Saturday afternoon that the group of Swiss citizens age 21 to 58 had failed to arrive at the village, according to a statement from the Valais region’s police force.One of the skiers managed to call for help about an hour later, allowing rescuers to locate the group near the peak of the Tête Blanche mountain at about 11,000 feet of altitude, the commander of the force told a news conference on Monday. But severe weather conditions and a risk of avalanches forced the search to be suspended until the next day.The rescuers had “tried the impossible,” Christian Varone, the commander, said. But, he added, “sometimes in the face of nature, one must surrender” so as not to put the lives of rescuers in “grave danger.”Christian Varone, center, commander of the Valais region police, told a news conference on Monday that rescuers had “tried the impossible.”Fabrice Coffrini/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesSearch and rescue efforts resumed on Sunday, and the police said that the five bodies were discovered at about 9:20 p.m.Mr. Varone said an investigation was underway to determine cause of death, but noted that the skiers “found themselves in an extremely complicated situation” in low temperatures.Weather conditions in Zermatt were “relatively good” when the group departed but had quickly deteriorated, he said.In the mountains, “we can get going and everything changes very fast,” he added.Seven hikers died in the same area in the spring of 2018, when they got caught in a storm and froze to death, according to a recent documentary. More

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    Two Men Charged in Deadly Boat Accident in Hudson River

    A 47-year-old woman and a 7-year-old boy drowned after the private boat capsized in July 2022. Prosecutors said the boat was being operated recklessly.Two New Jersey men who owned and operated a 24-foot boat that capsized in the Hudson River, killing two people, including a 7-year-old boy, were arrested and charged on Thursday with misconduct and neglect that prosecutors say caused the deaths.The men, Richard Cruz and Jaime Pinilla Gomez, took paying customers on boat excursions on the vessel despite not having the required credentials and certifications, according to federal prosecutors in Manhattan. Mr. Cruz charged about $200 per hour for the tours, prosecutors said.When the boat capsized, prosecutors said, it had more people on board than was allowed, and was traveling “at a high rate of speed” on a day with high winds and heavy seas.The vessel, called “Stimulus Money,” was carrying 13 people after a trip around the Statue of Liberty on July 12, 2022, when it overturned, throwing all the passengers overboard, according to a criminal complaint. Lindelia Vasquez, 47, and Julian Vasquez, 7, were trapped underneath the boat and drowned, the complaint said. Several others, including a 51-year-old woman, were hospitalized.Lindelia Vasquez, in a family photo.Family photoDamian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement on Thursday that federal regulations and safety protocols exist to protect passengers.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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    Russian Strike’s Toll Rises to 10 as Zelensky Blames Air Defense Delay

    President Volodymyr Zelensky did not refer to the United States but his words appeared to reflect frustration at a stalled American aid package.Rescue workers in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa pulled the bodies of a mother and baby from the rubble of an apartment building on Sunday, bringing the death toll in a Russian attack two days ago to 10. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said delays by the country’s allies in supplying air defenses had contributed to the deaths.The denunciation by Mr. Zelensky appeared to reflect frustration that Ukraine’s capacity to resist Moscow’s military campaign and protect its own citizens has been undermined by the failure of the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a multibillion-dollar military aid package.The drone hit the building overnight on Friday and since then emergency workers have been picking through rubble. Odessa, a port city on the Black Sea, was a key initial target of Moscow’s full-scale invasion two years ago and in recent months Russian forces have frequently targeted the city with drone strikes, often launched from Crimea. This weekend’s attack, however, has caused particular outrage among Ukrainians.Rescue workers said that the mother and baby were found together. “The mother tried to cover her 8-month-old child,” said a statement by the State Emergency Service posted on the Telegram social messaging service. “They were found in a tight embrace.”A 3-year-old girl was among eight people who had been injured, Mr. Zelensky said in an overnight speech, in which he said that Ukrainian civilians were more vulnerable because the country’s armed forces lacked air defenses that could shoot down the Shahed drones that Iran has supplied to Moscow.“The world has enough missile defense systems, systems to protect against Shahed drones and missiles. And delaying the supply of weapons to Ukraine, missile defense systems to protect our people, leads, unfortunately, to such losses,” he said. He did not refer specifically to U.S. aid, but the country is by far Ukraine’s biggest overall military donor.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More