Suspect in shooting of 3 men of Palestinian descent pleads not guilty

(AP) — Three college students of Palestinian descent who were outside getting some fresh air were seriously injured in Vermont over the weekend after a man approached them and shot them — an attack that is now being investigated as a possible hate crime, authorities said Monday. Jason J. Eaton, 48, made his initial court appearance by video from jail on three counts of attempted murder, and a plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf. He was ordered held without bail pending another hearing. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department is investigating whether the shooting on Saturday was a hate crime.

Failed wheel bearing caused Kentucky train derailment, CSX says

LIVINGSTON, Ky. (AP) — A failed wheel bearing on a train car caused a derailment that sparked a chemical fire and prompted home evacuations in a small town in Kentucky, CSX said in a statement. The accident happened Wednesday just north of Livingston and crews were finishing up restoration of the site Sunday, the company said. All 16 railcars were removed from the site, and crews were able to remove the spilled chemical and 2,500 tons of impacted soil and replace it with clean material, CSX said. Crews were expected to finish repairs on the tracks and restore service on the rail line, the statement said.

University of North Carolina shooting suspect found unfit for trial

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The University of North Carolina graduate student charged with fatally shooting his faculty adviser has been found unfit for trial after two mental evaluations, a judge ruled Monday. Tailei Qi, 34, is accused of killing associate professor Zijie Yan in a science building at the state’s flagship public university on Aug. 28. He is being held without bond on charges of first-degree murder and misdemeanor possession of a firearm on educational property. Orange County Superior Court Judge Alyson Grine said Monday that two separate mental evaluations found Qi likely suffers from untreated schizophrenia.

Report says Wisconsin Gov. Evers used alternate email under name of pitcher

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has been using an alternative state email account under the name of a late Hall of Fame baseball player as a security measure, his spokesperson said Monday. Evers, a Democrat, used a taxpayer-funded email account with the name “warren.spahn@wisconsin.gov” to discuss public business with top-level Cabinet appointees and others, the conservative outlet Wisconsin Right Now first reported on Sunday. Warren Spahn is a Hall of Fame former Milwaukee Braves pitcher.

Assailants in latest ship attack near Yemen were likely Somali, Pentagon says

WASHINGTON (AP) — The five armed assailants captured by U.S. forces after seizing a commercial ship near Yemen over the weekend were likely Somali and not Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, the Pentagon said Monday. Recent attacks on commercial vessels have been conducted by Houthis, seen as part of a rise in violence in the region due to the Israel-Hamas war. While the Pentagon was still assessing the motives of the latest group, “we know they are not Houthi,” Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters. He didn’t rule out that the rebels were somehow linked to the attack.