AP News in Brief at 11:04 p.m. EDT

4 men charged in Moscow attack, showing signs of beatings at hearing as court says 2 accept guilt

MOSCOW (AP) — Four men accused of staging the Russia concert hall attack that killed more than 130 people appeared before a Moscow court Sunday showing signs of severe beatings as they faced formal terrorism charges. One appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing.

A court statement said two of the suspects accepted their guilt in the assault after being charged in the preliminary hearing, though the men’s condition raised questions about whether they were speaking freely. There had been earlier conflicting reports in Russian media outlets that said three or all four men admitted culpability.

Moscow’s Basmanny District Court formally charged Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Shamsidin Fariduni, 25; and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19, with committing a group terrorist attack resulting in the death of others. The offense carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The court ordered that the men, all of whom are citizens of Tajikistan, be held in pre-trial custody until May 22.

Russian media had reported that the men were tortured during interrogation by the security services, and Mirzoyev, Rachabalizoda and Fariduni showed signs of heavy bruising, including swollen faces,

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Concert hall attack dents Putin’s tough image. He tries to use it to rally support for Ukraine war

A week ago, President Vladimir Putin swaggered triumphantly onstage at a post-election event surrounded by young people in T-shirts reading “Putin — Russia — Victory,” and he confidently shrugged off Western criticism of the vote as neither free nor fair.

This weekend, a very different Vladimir Putin addressed a nation shocked by a massacre at a rock concert on Moscow’s outskirts. His image as a tough leader was badly dented by gunmen who mowed down dozens of victims, unchecked by police or security.

Appearing on TV on Saturday, hours after the attack that killed 137 people and wounded over 100, he sought to make it serve his political goals by alleging a link between the gunmen and Ukraine, saying the assailants planned to flee there. He made no mention of the Islamic State group, which claimed responsibility, or of Kyiv’s denial of involvement.

It’s not the first time in his nearly a quarter-century in power that Putin has tried to use a failure by his security services to achieve his aims.

The 71-year-old former KGB officer came to power on the final day of 1999 while spearheading a war to crush separatists in the mostly Muslim republic of Chechnya who had mounted an incursion into a neighboring province.

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Palestinians describe bodies and ambulances crushed in Israel’s ongoing raid at Gaza’s main hospital

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinians who fled an ongoing Israeli raid of Gaza’s main hospital described mass arrests and forced marches past bodies in interviews on Sunday, while the United Nations said Israel is now blocking its main agency helping Palestinians from sending food aid to the enclave’s devastated north.

Israel’s military says it has killed more than 170 militants and detained about 480 suspects in the raid on Shifa Hospital that began Monday, calling it a blow to Hamas and other armed groups it says had regrouped there as the war nears the six-month mark.

The fighting highlights the resilience of Palestinian armed groups in a heavily destroyed part of Gaza where Israeli troops have been forced to return after a similar raid in the war’s earliest weeks.

Kareem Ayman Hathat, who lived in a five-story building about 100 meters from the hospital, said he huddled in the kitchen for days while explosions sometimes caused the building to shake.

Early Saturday, Israeli troops stormed the building and forced dozens of residents to leave. He said men were forced to strip to their underwear and four were detained. The rest were blindfolded and ordered to follow a tank south as blasts thundered around them.

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Hardy souls across New England and New York dig out after major winter storm

BOSTON (AP) — Thousands of hardy souls across New England spent Sunday digging out after a major weekend storm dumped more than two feet of snow in some areas, caused multiple road accidents, downed power lines and left hundreds of thousands across the Northeast in the dark, some perhaps for days.

Heavy snowfall from the storm stretched across the region, including upstate and northern New York through Vermont, New Hampshire, and most of Maine. Many areas saw totals of 8 inches to 12 inches (20 to 30 centimeters) of snow, and some of the highest totals exceeded 30 inches (76 centimeters) in south central Vermont, said Zack Taylor, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service.

“So overall, it was a pretty significant winter storm and for some areas that was some of the most snow they’ve seen all winter with a single storm,” Taylor said.

The combination of sleet, freezing rain and heavy wet snow took down trees and power lines and was blamed for hundreds of delayed and canceled flights.

In New York City, floodwaters snarled subway service, closed part of the Cross Island Parkway and trapped motorists on flooded roads through Central Park, where more than 3.5 inches (9 centimeters) of rain fell. On Fifth Avenue, a giant tree fell down over several cars, prompting a road closure.

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Mifepristone access is coming before the US Supreme Court. How safe is this abortion pill?

The U.S. Supreme Court will take up a case Tuesday that could impact how women get access to mifepristone, one of the two pills used in the most common type of abortion in the nation.

The central dispute in the case is whether the Food and Drug Administration overlooked serious safety problems when it made mifepristone easier to obtain, including through mail-order pharmacies.

Legal briefs filed with the court describe the pill’s safety in vastly different terms: Medical professionals call it “among the safest medications” ever approved by the FDA, while the Christian conservative group suing the agency attributes “tens of thousands” of “emergency complications” to the drug.

Earlier this year, a medical journal retracted two studies that claimed to show the harms of mifepristone. The studies were cited in the pivotal Texas court ruling that brought the matter before the Supreme Court. The publisher cited conflicts of interest by the authors and flaws in their research, although the studies’ lead author called the retractions a baseless attack.

Here’s what to know about the safety of mifepristone, which is typically used with misoprostol in a medication abortion.

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New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy suspends her Senate campaign to replace indicted Sen. Menendez

WASHINGTON (AP) — New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy on Sunday suspended her U.S. Senate campaign to replace Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez as he faces federal corruption charges,

Murphy said in a video posted to social media that winning the Democratic primary would require her to wage “a very divisive and negative campaign.”

“With Donald Trump on the ballot and so much at stake for our nation, I will not in good conscience waste resources tearing down a fellow Democrat,” Murphy said.

Her decision to drop out probably clears the way for U.S. Rep. Andy Kim in the Democratic primary on June 4. Kim is mounting a more formidable challenge than is typical against a well-connected political figure in a state where connections count for a lot.

Menendez announced that he would not run in that primary but did not rule out seeking reelection as an independent.

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Chick-Fil-A backtracks from its no-antibiotics-in-chicken pledge, blames projected supply shortages

ATLANTA (AP) — The fast-food chain Chick-Fil-A backtracked from its decade-old “no antibiotics ever” pledge intended to help prevent human antibiotic resistance linked to the rampant use of the drugs in livestock production.

Instead, the company said in a statement that it will embrace a standard known as “no antibiotics important to human medicine,” often abbreviated as NAIHM, which entails the avoidance of medications commonly used to treat people and limits the use of animal antibiotics to cases of actual animal illness.

Livestock producers have long used antibiotics to boost rapid weight gain in animals such as chickens, pigs, cows and sheep, improving the profitability of their businesses. Over the past decade, however, many nations, including the United States, have begun to restrict the practice as evidence mounted that it was contributing to drug resistance and reducing the effectiveness of antibiotics against disease in humans.

Chick-Fil-A said it will begin shifting to the new policy in the spring of 2024. A company spokesman added that the move reflects company concerns about its ability to acquire sufficient supplies of antibiotic-free chicken. One of the poultry industry’s largest companies, Tyson Foods, said last year that it was reintroducing some antibiotics to its chicken production and removing its “No Antibiotics Ever” package labeling. It began to eliminate antibiotics from some of its poultry production in 2015.

In a May 2023 video featured on the Tyson Foods YouTube channel, Tyson’s senior director of animal welfare, Karen Christensen, described the shift as “based on scientific research and industry learnings.” She noted that Tyson planned to begin using antibiotics known as ionophores, which don’t play a role in human medicine, to “improve the overall health and welfare of the birds in our care.” Ionophores have long been used to promote growth in livestock.

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Ireland poised to get its youngest ever premier as Simon Harris elected leader of Fine Gael party

LONDON (AP) — Ireland is poised to get its youngest-ever premier next month after Simon Harris secured the leadership of the Fine Gael party on Sunday, replacing Leo Varadkar who announced his surprise resignation last week.

The 37-year-old Harris, who has been the coalition government’s further and higher education minister, was the only candidate to put his name forward to succeed Varadkar, who had been Ireland’s previous youngest prime minister, or what Ireland calls its taoiseach.

Harris is expected to be formally elected premier in the Irish parliament in early April after lawmakers return from their Easter break.

In his victory speech in the central Ireland town of Athlone, Harris said this was a “moment for Fine Gael to reconnect” with the people and pledged to fight against populist forces in Irish politics.

“I want this party to fight against populism and deliberate polarization,” he said.

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Over 130 abducted schoolchildren in Nigeria’s northwest are rescued after weeks in captivity

KADUNA, Nigeria (AP) — More than 130 children abducted more than two weeks ago from their school in Nigeria’s northwestern state of Kaduna were rescued Sunday and are getting psychological support before being returned to their families, the West African nation’s military and government officials said.

School authorities had told the state government that a total of 287 students were kidnapped when motorcycle-riding gunmen invaded the remote Kuriga school March 7. However, Kaduna Gov. Uba Sani told local media late Sunday that only 137 young people had been abducted during the attack.

“All of them have come back home safely,” the governor said in a broadcast by the Lagos-based Channels Television. The Associated Press could not reach villagers or school authorities in Kuriga town, which does not have cellphone service.

Such varying reports are common in Nigeria’s kidnapping crisis, sometimes because of inadequate recordkeeping or because some hostages escape moments after their abduction.

“As the leader, I shouldn’t bother myself about figures. What is more important is the return of the children,” the governor said.

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Ohtani to speak to media for 1st time since illegal gambling, theft allegations against interpreter

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani plans to speak to the media Monday for the first time since the illegal gambling and theft allegations involving the Los Angeles Dodgers star and his interpreter emerged during the team’s trip to South Korea.

The interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, was fired by the Dodgers last week when the team opened the season with two games against the San Diego Padres in Seoul.

Manager Dave Roberts endorsed Ohtani addressing the matter publicly. He said it was the two-way superstar’s decision to do so.

“It’s the right thing to do,” Roberts said. “I’m happy he’s going to speak and speak to what he knows and give his thoughts on the whole situation. I think it will give us all a little bit more clarity.”

Mizuhara was let go from the team following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and claims from Ohtani’s attorneys that the Japanese star had been the victim of a “massive theft.”

The Associated Press