Herschel Walker chosen to be ambassador to the Bahamas

President-elect Donald Trump selected Herschel Walker on Tuesday to be the U.S. ambassador to the small Caribbean nation of the Bahamas, turning to a longtime ally and former football star who generated national headlines in his failed run for a Senate seat in Georgia in 2022.

In a statement on social media, Trump highlighted Walker’s athletic record as qualifying him for the position, in addition to a role in the first Trump administration as a co-chair of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition and speaking appearances discussing mental health issues.

Walker rose to the national political stage in 2022 after he was hand-picked by Trump to challenge Sen. Raphael Warnock for his Senate seat in Georgia. A political neophyte buoyed by his football stardom, Walker ran a campaign shadowed by incendiary statements and damaging revelations about his personal life and business career. Warnock ultimately defeated Walker even as Republicans won every other statewide race.

Russia says suspect detained in bombing that killed general

Russia’s security service said Wednesday it detained a citizen from Uzbekistan in the bombing that killed a senior general as he left his southeastern Moscow apartment — a bold assassination that was claimed by Ukraine’s security service.

Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov was killed Tuesday by a bomb hidden on an electric scooter outside his apartment building, a day after Ukraine’s security service leveled criminal charges against him. His assistant, Ilya Polikarpov, also was killed.

The brazen bombing brought the nearly 3-year-old war in Ukraine once again to the streets of Russia’s capital.

The suspect was identified by Tass and RIA-Novosti news agencies as Akhmad Kurbanov of Uzbekistan.

The Federal Security Service, or FSB, which did not identify him, said he was born in 1995 and was recruited by Ukraine’s security service The Associated Press could not confirm the conditions under which the suspect spoke to the FSB.

Louisiana patient is first severe bird flu case in U.S.

A person in Louisiana has been hospitalized with the first severe illness caused by bird flu in the U.S., health officials said Wednesday.

The patient is in critical condition with severe respiratory symptoms, according to Louisiana health officials. The person, who is over 65 and has underlying medical problems, had been in contact with sick and dead birds in a backyard flock, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Previous illnesses in the U.S. have been mild, and the vast majority have been among farm workers exposed to sick poultry or dairy cows.

This year, more than 60 bird flu infections have been reported, with more than half of them in California. In two — an adult in Missouri and a child in California — health officials have not determined how they caught it.

The CDC confirmed the Louisiana infection on Friday but did not announce it until Wednesday. It’s also the first U.S. human case linked to exposure to a backyard flock, the agency said.

Shooter had 2 handguns, used one in attack that killed student, teacher

MADISON, Wis.>> The shooter at a religious school in Wisconsin had two handguns with her but used only one in the attack that killed a teacher and a student and wounded six others, the city’s police chief said Wednesday.

Police were still investigating why the 15-year-old student at Abundant Life Christian Christian School in Madison shot and killed a fellow student and teacher Monday, before shooting herself, Police Chief Shon Barnes said. Two other students who were shot remained in critical condition Wednesday.

“We may never know what she was thinking that day, but we’ll do our best to try to add or give as much information to our public as possible,” Barnes said.

The student who was killed was identified in an obituary released Wednesday as Rubi Patricia Vergara, 14, of Madison. She was a freshman at the school and “an avid reader, loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band,” according to the obituary. Attempts to reach the girl’s family Wednesday evening were unsuccessful.

The name of the teacher killed has not been released.

Barnes released the name of the shooter, Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow, hours after the shooting Monday. Barnes said the medical examiner would release the names of those killed, but the state’s crime victims privacy law would bar releasing the names of those wounded.

No decisions have been made about whether Rupnow’s parents might be charged, but they have been cooperating, Barnes said.

Man pleads guilty to federal hate crime after mass killing plot

A 22-year-old man has admitted to a plot intended to kill people at a political party headquarters in Michigan and at a nearby bar because he associated both places with gay people.

Mack Davis pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Flint to committing a hate crime by attempting to carry out a mass killing, the U.S. attorney’s office in Michigan said.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 15. Davis faces any term of years in prison up to life. The judge will determine the guideline range at sentencing.

Davis conducted online research and posted on social media about mass killings from July 2023 through June 2024, according to court documents.

Authorities also found writings about mass killers in a journal in his Owosso, Mic., home. Owosso is about 92 miles northwest of Detroit.

Lists of weapons and tactical gear, along with two firearms, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, a crossbow and arrows, bomb-making parts, smoke grenades and knives also were found, prosecutors said.

An anti-gay slur was inscribed on one of the knives.

Court upholds corruption conviction of Sarkozy

France’s highest court has upheld an appeal court decision which had found former President Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of corruption and influence peddling while he was the country’s head of state.

Sarkozy, 69, faces a year in prison but is expected to ask to be detained at home with an electronic bracelet — as is the case for any sentence of two years or less.

He was found guilty of corruption and influence peddling by a Paris court in 2021 and an appeals court in 2023 for trying to bribe a magistrate in exchange for information about a legal case.

“The convictions and sentences are therefore final,” a Court of Cassation statement on Wednesday said.

Sarkozy, who was France’s president from 2007 to 2012, retired from public life in 2017 although still plays an influential role in French conservative politics. He was among the guests who attended the reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral this month.

Several children killed in stampede at holiday fair

Several children died during a stampede Wednesday at a holiday fair in southwestern Nigeria, authorities said.

The incident happened at the Islamic High School in Basorun, Oyo State, near the economic hub of Lagos.

Security forces attended the scene and arrested the event organizers, state governor Seyi Makinde said in a statement.

Nigeria’s national emergency services said it has deployed a team to help provide assistance to the victims.

—Denver Post wire reports