Man arrested on suspicion of spying to aid Zelenskyy assassination plot

WARSAW, Poland>> A Polish man has been arrested on allegations of being ready to spy on behalf of Russia’s military intelligence in an alleged plot to assassinate Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Polish prosecutors said Thursday.

The office of Poland’s national prosecutor said in a statement that the man, identified only as Pawel K. under Polish privacy laws, was accused of being prepared to pass airport security information to Russian agents and that he was arrested in Poland on Wednesday.

The man was seeking contact with Russians directly involved in the war in Ukraine and was expected to pass on detailed information about the Rzeszow-Jasionka airport in southeastern Poland, near the border with Ukraine, which is the gateway for international military and humanitarian supplies for Ukraine. It also serves leaders and politicians traveling in and out of Ukraine. The airport is under the control of U.S. troops.

Kennedy family endorses Biden

WASHINGTON>> A broad coalition of the Kennedy family endorsed President Joe Biden on Thursday at a campaign rally in Philadelphia, pointedly rejecting one of their own in Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the independent candidate who many Democrats believe poses a significant threat to Biden’s reelection chances.

Among the relatives of Kennedy who backed Biden were his siblings Joseph, Kerry, Rory, Kathleen, Maxwell and Christopher. About a dozen Kennedys appeared at the rally, where Kerry Kennedy introduced Biden.

Accepting the endorsement, Biden said that Robert F. Kennedy’s “passion and courage inspired my generation,” recounting his speech calling for peace after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

Light pole installation hits fiber line, knocks out 911 in several states

Workers installing a light pole in Missouri cut into a fiber line, knocking out 911 service for emergency agencies in Nebraska, Nevada and South Dakota, an official with the company that operates the fiber line said Thursday.

Problems with 911 calls in a Texas city along the U.S. border with Mexico were unrelated, officials said, but the widespread outage created concerns about what was causing the problems.

For most agencies, it turned out to be the result of simple human error.

In Kansas City, Mo., workers installing a light pole for another company Wednesday cut into a Lumen Technologies fiber line, Lumen global issues director Mark Molzen said in an email to The Associated Press.

Service was restored within 21/2 hours, he said.

There were no reports of 911 outages in Kansas City.

Fire in truck carrying lithium ion batteries leads to three-hour evacuation

COLUMBUS, Ohio>> Authorities evacuated an area of Ohio’s capital for several hours on Thursday out of fear that a fire in a truck’s trailer could have caused lithium ion batteries to explode.

Police began evacuating a several-block area west of downtown shortly after 7 a.m. and closed off several highway exits near the Scioto River. Officers went door to door to alert residents about the evacuation, and a shelter was set up at a community center.

Although firefighters were still battling the blaze as of late morning, the evacuation order was lifted about three hours after it was issued, and no injuries were reported.

The evacuation was ordered out of concern that the batteries could burn very rapidly and explode.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

— Denver Post wire services