Multiple hospitalized after Avianca flight from Medellín to New York had to divert to Miami due to strong turbulence

At least eight people were injured when an Avianca flight encountered severe turbulence and had to make an emergency landing in Miami early on Friday.

Miami-Dade fire rescue said one person was rushed to a trauma center with severe injuries while seven others were taken to area hospitals in ambulances.

• Hall of Famer led 1985 Bears to Super Bowl title

• Coach was known for tough, gruff demeanor

• The Super Bowl Shuffle to SNL: a life in pictures

Mike Ditka, who won NFL titles as a player and coach with the Chicago Bears, has died at 86, his family announced Friday.

“It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend, Mike Ditka,” the family said. “While the world knew Mike as a Hall of Fame football player, legendary coach, and leader of the Chicago Bears’ Super Bowl XX championship team, we knew him as the heart of our family. Mike will be missed beyond measure and remembered forever.”

Flowers, tried six times over 1996 murders of four people, faced execution before supreme court tossed his conviction

Curtis Flowers, a Black man who spent more than 22 years in prison and was on death row in Mississippi before the US supreme court threw out his conviction and death sentence, has died. He was 56.

Flowers’ family confirmed that he died on Wednesday at his home in Mississippi, attorney Rob McDuff told the Associated Press on Thursday.

David J Rush used his job at spy agency to acquire Florida real estate and gold bars worth tens of millions of dollars

A former senior CIA official pleaded guilty on Tuesday in Virginia to a charge that he abused his position and government funds to enrich himself by acquiring Florida real estate and hundreds of gold bars worth tens of millions of dollars, according to court records.

David J Rush fabricated a “highly classified” government program to justify the acquisition of luxury property in south Florida that he intended to resell for personal profit, according to a court filing. Rush separately concocted a bogus “sensitive government activity” to obtain the gold bars, the filing also says.

School trustees appoint Sally Yates to review policies as university grapples with fallout from alleged frat gang rape

A former high-ranking Department of Justice official will look at how Cornell handles sexual misconduct complaints, university trustees announced on Tuesday as they tried to address an outpouring of anger over allegations of a 2024 gang rape at a fraternity house.

Sally Yates, who was a deputy attorney general in the Obama administration, will spearhead the review, the trustees said. The assessment is to include how the Ivy League university investigates reports of sexual assault and sexual harassment, how the disciplinary process works, the adequacy of campus police responses, and more.

Silvia Zhang and Guojun Xuan had 15 children, aged between two months to 13 years, removed from their home

A California couple has been arrested on child abuse charges following an investigation into a surrogacy scheme involving at least 21 kids, police said on Tuesday.

Silvia Zhang and her husband, Guojun Xuan are expected to face conspiracy to commit child abuse charges, according to the Los Angeles county sheriff’s department.

CBP says in response to lawsuit use-of-force cases are ‘thoroughly investigated, reviewed, and presented’

A US citizen who was shot one year ago by a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent during a sweeping immigration crackdown in Chicago filed a lawsuit against the federal government on Monday, alleging the agent lied about the shooting and fired into her vehicle from behind.

Federal prosecutors initially accused Marimar Martinez, then 30, of using her vehicle to strike and box in agent Charles Exum’s sport utility vehicle on Chicago’s south-west side on 4 October 2025 during what the Trump administration named Operation Midway Blitz. Exum then exited his car and opened fire, leaving Martinez with seven gunshot wounds.

• Falcons ease to 45-24 win and silence Superdome crowd

• Match marked two decades since return post-Katrina

The New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough was “embarrassed”. The second-year coach Kellen Moore was “disappointed” and “frustrated”. And a day of festivities commemorating one of the most triumphant moments in the New Orleans Saints’ history ended with boos and early exits.

Three plays into Monday night’s game against Atlanta, the Falcons running back Bijan Robinson silenced an electric Superdome crowd with a 59-yard touchdown run. The Saints’ performance in a 45-24 loss to the Falcons bore no resemblance to their landmark 23-3 victory against the same team 20 years ago, when the venue finally reopened after being damaged by Hurricane Katrina. On that made-for-TV night, Steve Gleason blocked a punt on the Falcons’ opening possession and Curtis Deloatch recovered it for a touchdown, sending the Saints on their way.

• Russian led Capitals to their first-ever Stanley Cup win

• Ovechkin turned 41 in September

Alex Ovechkin said on Monday that his 22nd season in the NHL will be his last, beginning the farewell tour for the longtime Washington Capitals captain who holds the league’s career goalscoring record.

Ovechkin told his teammates of his decision before the Capitals posted a message from the Russian star on social media.

The Republican, who was sent to prison in 2016 in a hush-money case tied to the allegations, died over the weekend

Dennis Hastert, whose congressional legacy as the longest-serving Republican US House speaker was later fouled by allegations that he had molested high school athletes during his prior career as a teacher and wrestling coach, died over the weekend, a coroner said on Monday. He was 84.

Hastert, who was speaker from 1999 until 2007, died of natural causes at his home, according to Jacquie Purcell, the Kendall county coroner.

Wanying Zhang surveilled Taiwanese president’s son and family for China while in US, according to FBI

The FBI arrested a woman at Los Angeles international airport (LAX) as she was leaving the country and accused her of spying on the Taiwan president’s family for China.

Wanying Zhang, also know as Heather, surveilled the Taiwanese president’s son and his family for the Chinese government while in the United States, according to the FBI.

US president urges Americans to call Tom Cotton to support bill to make daylight saving time permanent

Donald Trump on Saturday put pressure on the US senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas to support a bill to make daylight saving time permanent, urging Americans to call what appeared to be the personal cellphone number of his fellow Republican and the chair of the Senate intelligence committee.

The Sunshine Protection Act passed the House in July, but it faces roadblocks in the Senate, where some Republicans are strongly opposed to it. Proponents, including the president and his administration, argue that the change would provide more daylight during the times that Americans are most active. Detractors say permanent daylight saving time would lead to darker and potentially more hazardous winter mornings when children will be waiting for school buses and parents will be driving to work in darkness.