Skip to main content

Biggest news you missed this weekend


Police: Hannah Graham case now 'death investigation'

Police suggested Saturday that they found the body of missing University of Virginia student Hannah Graham. Human remains were found around noon at an abandoned property in Albemarle County, Va., the county that surrounds Charlottesville, where Graham disappeared 35 days ago. The body had not been identified officially as Graham, pending forensic tests. Graham, whose disappearance has made national headlines, vanished early Sept. 13. She was seen on Charlottesville businesses' surveillance videos, and witnesses saw her with Jesse Matthew, 32, of Charlottesville. Matthew, a suspect in Graham's disappearance, was arrested Sept. 24 as he camped on a beach near Galveston, Texas.

Pentagon building rapid-response Ebola team

The Pentagon will build a 30-person, rapid-response Ebola medical support team to aid civilian health care workers should additional cases of the virus be diagnosed in the U.S., officials said Sunday. One person diagnosed in the U.S. has died: Thomas Eric Duncan died Oct. 8 at a Dallas hospital. Two nurses who treated Duncan have contracted the disease and are being treated at specialized centers at Atlanta's Emory Hospital and the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. Another health care worker who was being monitored for signs of Ebola aboard a Carnival Cruise Lines ship passed a blood test and was allowed to leave with other passengers when the ship docked Sunday in Texas. And on Sunday, authorities said an initial test shows that a nursing assistant who became infected with Ebola in Spain is now clear of all traces of the virus.

play
Passengers let off ship after Ebola scare
Passengers aboard a Carnival Cruise Lines ship were let off in Galveson, Texas, Sunday after a health care worker who was being monitored for Ebola quarantined herself in her room. (Oct. 19)
AP

Comet avoids hitting Mars but makes astronomical history

A glowing comet barreled past Mars at some 126,000 mph today, its core of ice and dust barely missing the Red Planet and Mars's flotilla of costly scientific spacecraft. Comet Siding Spring, a cosmic leftover of the planet-building process, veered 16 times closer to Mars than any comet has come to Earth in recorded history. Scientists had once thought the comet might actually smash into Mars. Instead Siding Spring cleared the planet by roughly 84,000 miles, which is roughly one-third the distance from Earth to the moon.

Catholic bishops reject welcome to gays in sign of split

Catholic bishops rejected a landmark change Saturday on the rigid stance on gays and divorcees, revealing enormous gaps within the church at the end of a two-week meeting. The bishops synod's final statement failed to include remarkably conciliatory language revealed a week ago that would have welcomed the "gifts and qualities" of gay Catholics and called on pastors to "avoid any language or behavior" that could discriminate against divorced Catholics. The failure to reach a consensus on broader-reaching language is a failure for the more tolerant tone Pope Francis has struck since taking the role of pontiff more than a year ago. After the vote Saturday, Francis warned bishops against what he called "hostile rigidity" in their thinking on these topics, his remarks received a five-minute standing ovation.

Supreme Court rules Texas can enforce voter ID law

The Supreme Court allowed Texas on Saturday to enforce its photo identification law at the polls in the upcoming elections, reaching the opposite conclusion from a similar Wisconsin case a week earlier. The order, coming two days before early voting is set to begin, completes a series of voting rights challenges that had come before the court on an emergency basis. The justices also upheld new restrictions on voting in North Carolina and Ohio that did not include photo ID requirements.

play
Supreme Court OKs controversial Texas voter ID law
The Supreme Court is allowing Texas to enforce a new voter identification law, which civil rights groups say will force hundreds of thousands of minorities to be turned away at the polls.
VPC

Report: Michael Brown's blood found in Mo. cop's car

Forensic tests released in the Ferguson, Mo., police shooting of an unarmed black teenager more than two months ago are shedding new light on the incident. Tests found now-deceased Michael Brown's blood on Officer Darren Wilson's gun, police car door and uniform, The New York Times reported in an article in Saturday's newspaper. At the time of the shooting, Wilson told investigators that he was trying to leave his SUV when Brown pushed him back in. He says he was pinned in his vehicle and in fear for his life as Brown reached for his gun, The Times reported. Brown's family says the teen was killed as he raised his hands to surrender to the officer.

SEC West dominant in new Amway Coaches Poll

Turns out having the week off didn't diminish Mississippi State's poll status. The Bulldogs remained atop the Amway Coaches Poll, in fact strengthening its lead on No .2 Florida State despite the Seminoles' win against another top-5 opponent. Mississippi State received 36 No.1 votes, 10 more than last week, and stretched its lead from a single poll point to 27. FSU retained 22 first-place votes after outlasting Notre Dame in Tallahassee in a wild finish. No. 3 Ole Miss, a big winner vs. Tennessee, claimed the remaining four No. 1 votes. Those three are the last undefeated squads in the power five conferences.