3 years after police chokehold death, US probe grinds on

3 years after police chokehold death, US probe grinds on

NEW YORK

When federal prosecutors asked to meet last month with Eric Garner’s family, it stoked speculation that their investigation into his death was finally nearing a resolution three years after his last words – “I can’t breathe” – became a rallying cry for protests over police killings of black men.

The speculation was wrong: The same day of the Brooklyn meeting, a grand jury heard testimony from a police-academy instructor on takedown tactics, dragging out a presentation that began last year, said two people familiar with the secret panel’s work.

Department of Justice prosecutors have privately told both the frustrated Garner family and police union attorneys that any decision about whether to charge the officer who killed Garner is months away, according to the people, who weren’t authorized to discuss the case and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Strong aftershocks test nerves on island after quake

KOS, Greece

Crews of experts began examining the damage to cultural monuments and infrastructure on the eastern Greek island of Kos on Saturday, a day after a powerful earthquake killed two tourists and injured nearly 500 others in the Aegean Sea region that stretches to Turkey’s sprawling coast.

Residents and tourists were still jittery as a series of aftershocks Saturday night continued to rock the island. A tremor measuring a preliminary 4.4 magnitude struck Saturday, sending residents and restaurant customers scurrying toward the middle of the town’s main square, as far away as possible from buildings.

Sixteen minutes later, a second 4.6-magnitude tremor struck, the Athens Geodynamics Institute reported. The first tremor had its epicenter only 12.5 miles northeast of Kos at a depth of 6.2 miles.

Hundreds of residents and tourists spent Friday night sleeping outdoors on the island, too afraid to return to their homes or hotels after the quake that struck Friday.

Rsssian spies’ New Jersey home heading up for sale

MONTCLAIR, N.J.

A New Jersey home that has been vacant since the FBI arrested a family of undercover Russian spies living there is heading up for sale.

Vladimir and Lydia Guryev lived in the home in Montclair under the names Richard and Cynthia Murphy before they were arrested in 2010.

The parents of two young daughters had pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign country. They were deported to Russia.

Their story partially inspired the FX drama “The Americans,” about two undercover Russian spies that live in the U.S. with two young children.

Actor John Heard, of ‘Home Alone’ movies, dies at 71

NEW YORK

Actor John Heard, whose many roles included the father in the “Home Alone” series and a corrupt detective in “The Sopranos,” has died. He was 71.

Heard was found dead Friday in a hotel in Palo Alto, Calif., the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner’s office said Saturday.

An investigation which includes a toxicology test is underway to determine the cause of death, but so far there is no evidence of foul play, the office said.

Associated Press