Judge Peter Cahill told George Floyd's family members that ``I acknowledge and hear the pain that you're feeling,'' before sentencing a former Minneapolis police officer to 22 1/2 years in prison for murder. Cahill said he would issue a 22-page memorandum explaining his rationale for the sentence, saying it's ``not the appropriate time'' to be ``profound or clever.'' His sentence went 10 years beyond what was called for in sentencing guidelines. Cahill said that was ``based on your abuse of a position of trust and authority and also the particular cruelty shown to George Floyd.'' Former Minn

One of four survivors of a deadly tubing accident said by the time her family saw the dam on the Dan River, it was too late. Irene Villano told news outlets they hadn't seen any signs warning of the 8-foot-high Duke Energy dam when they heard water rushing. Villano says she was the last in the group of nine relatives to go over the dam. Villano, her father, her older brother and cousin had their tubes around them and they clung to the dam for 20 hours and waited. The next afternoon, a Duke Energy employee spotted them and called 911. Duke Energy says there were two warning signs and the compa

Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Swiss star Roger Federer 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the second round of the Noventi Open on Wednesday. It was the first career meeting between the 20-year-old Auger-Aliassime and the 39-year-old Federer, who were born on the same date (Aug. 8) 19 years apart. Federer, seeded fifth and the tournament and ranked eighth in the world, is considered one of the best players in tennis history, having won 20 career singles Grand Slams. Auger-Aliassime, from Montreal, won 88 per cent of points when he got his first serve in at the ATP Tour 500 grass-court event. The Canadian

US President Joe Biden says he and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed in detail the next steps their countries should take on arms control. At a news conference in Geneva, Biden said this means diplomats and military experts from both countries will meet for what he called a ``strategic stability dialogue.'' Biden says he stressed human rights issues in his meeting with Putin. That includes the cases of two Americans who Biden says are wrongfully imprisoned in Russia. Putin hailed Biden as a constructive and highly experienced leader after their meeting.

``Gone Girl'' actor Lisa Banes has died 10 days after being injured by a hit-and-run driver in New York City. A police spokesperson says the 65 year old Banes died Monday at Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital. She was struck by a scooter or motorcycle while crossing a street on June 4. Banes appeared in numerous television shows and movies, including ``Gone Girl'' starring Ben Affleck in 2014 and ``Cocktail'' with Tom Cruise in 1988. Her manager says Banes was hit as she was crossing Amsterdam Avenue on the way to visit the Juilliard School, her alma mater. Police have made no arrests.

Police in Alabama say a worker killed two people and wounded two more at a fire hydrant factory before killing himself. Albertsville Police Chief Jamie Smith says the suspect apparently killed himself in a car found in Guntersville, about 15 miles from the factory. Gunfire broke out at about 2:30 a.m. Tuesday at a Mueller Co. plant in Albertville. Smith says it's not immediately known what prompted the shooting. The factory has more than 400 workers, giving the town its nickname of ``Fire Hydrant Capital of the World.'' A worker at the factor said the shooting happened in a part of the plant

The wife of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin ``El Chapo'' Guzman has pleaded guilty to charges in the U.S. that alleged she helped her husband run his multibillion-dollar criminal empire. Emma Coronel Aispuro pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to three criminal charges. Those include knowingly and willfully conspiring to distribute heroin, cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine. She also pleaded guilty to a money laundering conspiracy charge and engaging in transactions with a foreign narcotics trafficker. Her lawyer described her as a ``very minimal participant'' in her husband's drug empire.

A man who admitting to killing and dismembering a Nebraska hardware store clerk in 2017 has been sentenced to death. Aubrey Trail was convicted in 2019 of first-degree murder and criminal conspiracy to commit murder in the killing of Sydney Loofe. A three-judge panel sentenced Trail on Wednesday. Loofe's family left the Saline County Courthouse after sentencing without taking questions. Prosecutors say Trail and his girlfriend, Bailey Boswell, planned to kill someone before Boswell met the 24 year old Loofe on the dating app Tinder and lured her to them. Loofe's body parts were found in garba

French President Emmanuel Macron has been slapped in the face by a man during a visit to a small town in southeast France. The incident on Tuesday prompted a wide show of support from politicians across the ideological spectrum. A video shows a man slapping Macron in the face and the president's bodyguards pushing the aggressor away as the head of state was quickly rushed from the scene in the town of Tain-l'Hermitage. The man appears to have cried out ``Montjoie! Saint Denis!'' a centuries-old royalist war cry, before finishing with ``A bas la Macronie,'' or ``Down with Macron.'' French broa