Besides Wetzler, three more fraternity members have taken plea deals in the hazing case

A man accused of raping and impregnating a 9-year-old Ohio girl, who had to travel out of state for an abortion, has pleaded guilty to two counts of rape

Russia and Ukraine sent drones targeting each other’s capital cities over the weekend in signs of renewed intensity for their aerial warfare. Drones were shot down on both Saturday and Sunday in areas around Kyiv and Moscow. Air defence systems for both sides intercepted attacks and no casualties were reported. Multiple drones that were heading for Moscow and Russia’s border areas on Sunday were downed by Russian air defence systems over the weekend, officials said. Kyiv has promised to wage a major drone campaign against Russia this winter, as bad weather conditions make it difficult to conduct operations on the ground. Russian air defence units in Moscow intercepted a drone targeting the Russian capital, mayor Sergei Sobhyanin said on Telegram. He said defence units in the Elektrostal district in the capital’s east intercepted the drone. Falling debris resulting from the operation had caused no damage or casualties, the mayor said, citing preliminary information. Russia’s defence ministry confirmed the drone strike on Sunday night, as is typical describing the Ukrainian military operation as a “terrorist attack”. “On 19 November at 23.20 Moscow time, an attempt by the Kyiv regime to carry out a terrorist attack using an aircraft-type UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle] on targets in Moscow and the Moscow region was stopped,” it said on its official Telegram channel. “Duty air defence systems intercepted an unmanned aerial vehicle over the territory of the Moscow region.” A second drone targeting Moscow was also intercepted by Russia’s air defence systems at around 1am. The UAV was destroyed over the territory of the Bogorodsky district in Moscow, it said. This comes after Russian authorities on Saturday said they shot down a Ukrainian drone heading for the border region of Bryansk. The defence ministry said on-duty air defence systems destroyed the drone over Bryansk. It did not mention any casualties or damage from the attack. Russia has also begun targeting Kyiv again after a 52-day break in air raid sirens for the Ukrainian capital. On Saturday, Ukrainian officials said all drones heading towards Kyiv were destroyed but some hit infrastructure facilities elsewhere in Ukraine. A day later, a wave of Iranian-made Shahed drones from Russia targeted Kyiv overnight. The drones targeted the Ukrainian capital and the Cherkasy and Poltava regions, according to a military statement. Ukrainian anti-aircraft systems shot down 15 of 20 drones targeting the areas. Serhii Popko, the city’s military administration spokesperson, said the drones attacked Kyiv from different directions in waves that were “constantly changing vectors”. Ukrainian officials had warned Russia would step up aerial assaults during the winter months. Meanwhile, the British defence ministry said there were “few immediate prospects” for major change along the Ukrainian frontline as the war enters its second winter. In a statement, it said intense fighting was concentrated near Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, Avdiivka in Dontesk and on the left bank of the Dnipro river, where Ukrainian forces have established a bridgehead. Read More Russia ‘pushed miles back’ after major Kyiv breakthrough on Dnipro River – live New Rwanda treaty seems unlikely to be ratified before new year An orphaned teenager who was taken to Russia early in the Ukraine war is back home with relatives Trump reshares Melania’s response to ‘golden shower’ claims K-12 schools improve protection against online attacks, but many are vulnerable to ransomware gangs Hunt backs Sunak to solve ‘fearsomely complex’ challenges on Rwanda asylum plan

A suspect held on suspicion of killing five people in a shooting where pedestrians and vehicles were fired at in southwestern Philadelphia on Monday night is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday on murder charges, a district attorney said.

Police claimed that Trujillo Martinez fatally shot Samuel Cordero on August 10 last year in a local park

The US secretary of state Antony Blinken met with China’s President Xi Jinping on Monday as the two nations try to salvage a diplomatic relationship and ensure that it does not spiral towards conflict. Beijing has described ties between the two nations as being at a low point thanks to America’s “wrong perception” of the country. Mr Xi said he hopes Mr Blinken will make "more positive contributions" to stabilising China-US relations. "State-to-state interactions should always be based on mutual respect and sincerity," Mr Xi said. "I hope that, through this visit, Mr Secretary, you will make more positive contributions to stabilising China-US relations." Mr Blinken told the Chinese president that Joe Biden believes that the US and China have an obligation to manage our relationship and that “the US is committed to doing that”. Mr Blinken said the US and China agreed on the need to stabilise their bilateral relationship, adding that America is clear-eyed about the challenges that China poses. Mr Blinken also said US expected additional visits by senior US officials to China over the coming week. Hours of talks across two days have seemingly done little to bridge the two sides' differences on issues ranging from the status of Taiwan to trade, human rights or their approach to the war in Ukraine. However, the fact that the discussions are so extensive on the first visit to China by a US secretary of state in five years will only be seen as a positive by Washington. Mr Blinken’s meeting with Mr Xi was roughly 30 minutes long and could help facilitate a summit between Mr Biden and the Chinese president later in the year, it was reported. According to a video posted online by Chinese state television, Mr Xi said that “the two sides agreed to follow through with the common understandings President Biden and I had reached in Bali. The two sides have also made progress and reached the agreement on some specific issues. This is very good”. Mr Xi said China “hopes to see a sound and steady China-US relationship” and believes that the two countries “can overcome various difficulties”, according to Xinhua. Ahead of the meeting with Mr Xi, Mr Blinken met China’s top diplomat Wang Yi who warned that the US that the two nations “must take a responsible attitude toward the people, history and the world, and reverse the downward spiral of US-China relations.” According to the nation’s state media, he also said “it is necessary for the US to reflect deeply and work with China to manage differences and avoid strategic surprises”. Mr Wang spoke with Mr Blinken for more than three hours and told the US secretary of state that Washington must choose between “cooperation or conflict”. “The Secretary of State’s trip to Beijing this time comes at a critical juncture in China-US relations,” Mr Wang told Mr Blinken, according to state broadcaster CCTV. “It is necessary to make a choice between dialogue and confrontation, cooperation or conflict. We must reverse the downward spiral of China-US relations, push for a return to a healthy and stable track, and work together to find a correct way for China and the United States to get along,” Mr Wang added. He also reportedly asked the US to stop speculating on the “China threat theory” and lift “illegal unilateral sanctions” against China. On Sunday, Mr Blinken met with the Chinese foreign minister Qin Gang for seven and a half hours hoping to ease the tensions between the two sides. Mr Blinken invited the Chinese foreign minister to visit Washington and the invitation was accepted, according to US state department spokesperson Matt Miller. He called the talks with Mr Qin “candid, substantive and constructive”. “The Secretary invited foreign minister Qin to Washington to continue discussions, and they agreed to schedule a reciprocal visit at a mutually suitable time,” Mr Miller said. He added that Mr Blinken had emphasised the “importance of diplomacy and maintaining channels of communication across the full range of issues to reduce the risk of misperception or miscalculation”. Mr Blinken stressed “the need to reduce the risk of misperception and miscalculation” in his talks with Mr Qin on Sunday. China took a strong stand on Taiwan with reports suggesting that Mr Wang told the US secretary of state that China has no room for compromise and concessions on the Taiwan issue. “On this issue, China has no room to compromise or concede,” Mr Wang told Mr Blinken, according to CCTV. “The United States must truly adhere to the One China principle confirmed in the three joint US-China communiques, respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and clearly oppose ‘Taiwan independence’.” “Despite very low expectations for any breakthroughs made during Blinken’s visit to China, there is still hope that both sides can maintain their ‘bottom line’ in the relationship,” state-run Global Times said in an editorial on Monday. “This is going to be a process of sustained diplomacy,” one senior State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity told Reuters. The Taiwan premier Chen Chien-jen told the media: “For this high-level interaction between China and the United States, Taiwan closely grasps the relevant details.” “Qin Gang pointed out that the Taiwan issue is the core of China’s core interests, the most important issue in Sino-US relations, and the most prominent risk,” Chinese state media quoted Mr Qin as having told the US diplomat. Read More Blinken opens second day of talks in Beijing on mission to ease soaring US-China tensions Blinken seeks to warm up frosty US-China relations in high-stakes Beijing trip Watch: Antony Blinken visits China for high-stakes meeting after ‘spy balloon’ Watch: Antony Blinken visits China for high-stakes meeting after ‘spy balloon’ Blinken seeks to warm up frosty US-China relations in high-stakes Beijing trip Taiwan handbook teaches civilians how to spot ‘enemy’ Chinese soldiers

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President Volodymyr Zelensky secured more arms, munitions and "unwavering" diplomatic support from G7 allies in Hiroshima Sunday, as Russia claimed victory in the battle...

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's governing Morena party has decided that a series of five polls over the summer will decide the party's nomination for the June 2024 presidential election

Bats could hold the key to unlocking new ways to combat cancer, a new study suggests. A paper published by Oxford University Press, looks at the rapid evolution of bats for their abilities to both host and survive infections such as Covid-19 as well as cancer. The animals are known to have a strong immune system which helps fight off many viruses and diseases. These mammals are also thought to have played a role in the emergence of Covid-19 and scientists say such characteristics are interesting to investigate due to the implications it might have on human health. According to the research, understanding the mechanisms of the bat’s immune system that allows these animals to fight off viral infections – may pave the way to understanding how to prevent disease outbreaks from animals to people. To conduct the study, researchers sequenced the genomes of two bat species - the Jamaican fruit bat and the Mesoamerican mustached bat. The team used advanced technology from Oxford Nanopore Technologies and bat samples collected by the American Museum of Natural History in Belize. They then compared the bat genomes to those of other mammals. The results revealed that bats possessed genetic adaptations in proteins which are related to DNA repair and cancer suppression. It was found that bats had adaptations in six DNA repair-related proteins and 46 cancer-related proteins. The study also found that bats had more than double the number of altered cancer-related genes compared to other mammals, which provided further evidence that they have the ability to suppress cancer. “By generating these new bat genomes and comparing them to other mammals we continue to find extraordinary new adaptations in antiviral and anticancer genes,” said the paper’s lead author, Armin Scheben. “These investigations are the first step towards translating research on the unique biology of bats into insights relevant to understanding and treating ageing and diseases, such as cancer, in humans.” The results open up new paths for understanding and studying the links between cancer and immunity, which offers hope that these insights from bats might possibly lead to new treatments for human illnesses. According to the United States Department of the Interior, there are over 1,400 species of bats worldwide and are mostly found in extreme deserts and polar regions. In the US and Canada, there are about 45 species of bats. Read More British bats ‘can help identify coronaviruses with potential to infect humans’ Coronavirus origins still a mystery 3 years into pandemic Groundbreaking migraine treatment offers ‘new hope’ for patients World Sepsis Day: What is the condition and its symptoms? Duran Duran’s Andy Taylor says he’s ‘asymptomatic’ after end-of-life diagnosis

WASHINGTON U.S. Senator Bob Menendez's arraignment on new charges that he conspired to act as a foreign agent