Here’s the biggest news you missed this weekend – USA TODAY
US missionaries, children kidnapped in Haiti, religious group says
A notorious gang in Haiti with a history of major kidnappings abducted a group of U.S. missionaries and their families as they left an orphanage, police said. The abductions Saturday came days after a team of U.S. officials visited the impoverished nation and pledged support for its anti-gang measures. Seventeen people, including some children, were seized near Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, the Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries said. The group’s field director was not among those who were taken and was working with the U.S. Embassy, according to a voice message from the ministry obtained by the Associated Press. In recent months, kidnappings have been on the rise in Haiti, with gangs demanding ransoms that in some cases exceed $1 million. This increase has been fueled by the nation’s instability, which has heightened in recent months, ramped up by the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in July, followed by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake that killed more than 2,200 people and destroyed more than 130,000 homes. Days later, Tropical Storm Grace rolled across the country, causing widespread flooding.
‘They were ambushed’: 1 deputy killed, 2 wounded in shooting outside Texas bar
One constable deputy was killed and two other deputies were wounded in a shooting outside a Houston bar on Saturday, police said. Houston Police Executive Assistant Chief James Jones said the deputies were trying to arrest someone when a suspect shot them from behind with an AR-15 style rifle. He said the officers may have interrupted a robbery, and when they tried to detain a suspect and were wrestling with him, “they were ambushed.” Authorities were still searching Sunday for a man believed to be the shooter.
Former President Bill Clinton released from California hospital
Former President Bill Clinton was released from a California hospital Sunday after he was admitted there late last week to be treated for a blood infection. Clinton will return to his home in New York, where he will finish a course of antibiotics, said Dr. Alpesh N. Amin, executive director of hospital medicine at University of California Irvine Health. Alpesh said Clinton’s white blood cell count had “normalized.” Clinton, 75, entered the hospital last week for a urological infection that developed into a blood infection known as sepsis. He received IV fluids and antibiotics.
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- A Utopian city with a ‘soul’ in the desert? Here’s how billionaire Marc Lore plans to do it.
- Rami Malek can’t help ‘resting villain face’ in ‘SNL’ hosting gig.
- Official Wizard of New Zealand fired by city council after more than 2 decades
- Good news: You don’t need to rake your leaves. Experts explain why.
- At least 13 auto safety rules are years overdue. Many of them could save lives.
Robert Durst hospitalized with COVID-19 days after life sentence for murder, lawyer says
New York real estate heir Robert Durst, who days ago was sentenced in a 2-decade-old murder case, has been hospitalized after contracting COVID-19, his lawyer said Saturday. The 78-year-old was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without a chance of parole for the murder of his best friend. Durst, who has numerous medical problems, sat in a wheelchair with a catatonic stare during much of the sentencing hearing. He was convicted last month of first-degree murder for shooting Susan Berman point-blank in the back of the head at her home in December 2000.
- Earlier: Robert Durst gets life in prison without parole for 2000 murder of best friend.
Grocery shelves bare? Products may be hard to find because of supply chain disruptions
Can’t find what you need at the store again? You’re not alone. As the world reaches the two-year mark of the COVID-19 pandemic, more items are becoming scarce because of a supply chain shortage across the globe. Supply chain concerns are the result of “record-level congestion at the Port of Los Angeles/Long Beach that has spread to the East Coast, widespread power outages across China, shortages of truck drivers and service workers, and COVID-19-fueled infections and restrictions, Tinglong Dai, a business professor at Johns Hopkins University, told USA TODAY. Shipping prices have skyrocketed, and demand for items has outpaced suppliers.
- Food prices are climbing amid worker shortages, supply-chain problems, extreme weather and more.
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This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network.