Texas carries out 1st execution of 2017

Texas carries out 1st execution of 2017

HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS

Texas on Wednesday put to death an inmate convicted of killing two men over a drug deal, the first U.S. execution of 2017.

Christopher Wilkins, 48, was declared dead at 6:29 p.m., 13 minutes after a lethal injection of pentobarbital.

Before the drug was administered, he twice mouthed “I’m sorry,” to two relatives of one of the murder victims as they watched through a window. He gave no final statement.

Wilkins had explained to jurors at his capital murder trial in 2008 how and why he killed his friends in Fort Worth three years earlier, saying he didn’t care if they sentenced him to death.

Woman who tried to self-abort pleads guilty to felony

NASHVILLE, TENN.

A Tennessee woman accused of trying to end her pregnancy with a coat hanger has pleaded guilty to a felony and was released after more than a year in jail.

Anna Yocca, 32, pleaded guilty this week to attempted procurement of a miscarriage, according to Rutherford County Criminal Court documents. Her baby survived and state officials said the child is OK.

The case was unsettling for abortion-rights advocates, who fear that President-elect Donald Trump might try to follow through on campaign rhetoric about penalizing pregnant women who have abortions. Trump also said he would appoint an anti-abortion Supreme Court justice who could be open to weakening or reversing the landmark abortion case, Roe v. Wade.

FBI awaits autopsies on 5 found dead in NM

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.

Federal investigators in New Mexico are trying to piece together the final moments of two sisters and their children who were found dead on tribal land just days after authorities issued an alert that they were missing and might be in danger.

The FBI on Wednesday was waiting for preliminary autopsy reports on the five bodies found in a remote area on the western edge of Santa Ana Pueblo.

Relatives have identified the bodies as sisters Vanessa and Leticia George and their three young daughters, FBI spokesman Frank Fisher said. While authorities are unsure about the cause of death, he said foul play by another party isn’t suspected.

When asked whether the women and children could have died from exposure, Fisher declined to provide any details.

Parts of Europe see heavy snow, deaths

BUCHAREST, ROMANIA

Authorities dug out stranded residents as heavy snow blanketed Eastern Europe Wednesday and people struggled with travel delays, power outages and subzero temperatures. Homeless people and migrants were among those most at risk.

The recent cold snap has now been blamed for at least 73 deaths, and seen the lowest temperatures for decades in some parts.

Poland, the country hit hardest by the deep freeze, reported two more deaths Wednesday as havoc spread to countries in the region.

Taliban video shows American captive

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN

The Taliban released a video Wednesday showing an American and an Australian who were kidnapped in August, the first time they have been seen since their abduction.

The two men, an American identified as Kevin King and an Australian identified as Timothy Weekes, were abducted outside the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, where they worked as teachers.

In the video, the pair appears pale and unshaven. They say they are speaking on Jan. 1.

Associated Press