Filipino workers: Oil company abandoned us in Hurricane Ida

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — As Hurricane Ida struck the Louisiana Gulf Coast in August 2021, Renato Decena and Rosel Hernandez watched the storm punch a hole in the roof of the bunkhouse where they were sheltered — abandoned, they allege, by their offshore oil industry employer as the hurricane bore down. “I could not think of anything to do but to pray and to pray,” Decena, who court records indicate worked for the company for about four years, told The Associated Press.

US charges 3 in plot to kill Iranian-American author in NYC

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has charged three men in an alleged plot that originated in Iran to kill an Iranian American author and activist who has spoken out against human rights abuses there, officials said Friday. The men, Rafat Amirov, 43, of Iran, Polad Omarov, 38, of the Czech Republic and Slovenia and Khalid Mehdiyev, 24, of Yonkers, New York, were charged with money laundering and murder-for-hire in an indictment unsealed in federal court in New York. The three men were in custody and one was awaiting extradition to the U.S. Masih Alinejad, an Iranian opposition activist and writer in exile in New York City, confirmed to The Associated Press that she was the intended target.

4 people die, ‘multiple’ injured in northern Iowa van crash

WELLSBURG, Iowa (AP) — Four people were killed Friday morning and others were injured when a van they were in went out of control on a slick highway in northern Iowa. The crash happened a little before 7 a.m. when the driver of a westbound 15-passenger van lost control on icy Highway 20 near the small community of Wellsburg, about 70 miles northeast of Des Moines, according to the Iowa State Patrol. The van entered the median and rolled before coming to rest in the highway’s eastbound lanes.

6th teen pleads guilty in 2022 shooting near Iowa school

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A sixth teenager pleaded guilty Friday to charges in a 2022 shooting outside a Des Moines high school that left one person dead and two others injured. Braulio Hernandez-Salas, 17, pleaded guilty to two counts of intimidation with a dangerous weapon, according to the Des Moines Register. Prosecutors dropped other charges, including first-degree murder and attempted murder. Hernandez-Salas, who will be sentenced Feb. 22, was among 10 teens charged in the March 7 drive-by shooting near East High School.

Teen who fired at Florida deputies sentenced to 20 years

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A teenage girl who, along with a younger boy, engaged in a shootout with Florida deputies from a home they had broken into in 2021 was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison after reaching a plea deal. During a hearing, 15-year-old Nicole Jackson-Maldonado pleaded no contest to attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, burglary of a dwelling while armed with a weapon, and criminal mischief, among other charges, according to prosecutors. A no contest plea isn’t an admission of guilt but is treated as such for the purposes of sentencing.

In addition to the 20 years of incarceration, she faces 40 years of probation, the Office of the State Attorney in Daytona Beach said in a news release.