Pope returns Greece’s Parthenon Sculptures in ecumenical nod

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis will send back to Greece the three fragments of the Parthenon Sculptures that the Vatican Museums have held for two centuries, in the latest case of a Western museum bowing to demands for restitution of artifacts to their countries of origin.

U.S. court rejects maintaining COVID-19 asylum restrictions

REYNOSA, Mexico — Restrictions that have prevented hundreds of thousands of migrants from seeking asylum in the U.S. in recent years remained on track to expire in a matter of days after an appeals court ruling Friday, as thousands more migrants packed shelters on Mexico’s border with the U.S.

Happy Camper for Friday, December 16, 2022

Faith Campbell of the Wilcox Health Center said everyone is invited to view the Christmas trees and vote for their favorite (hopefully, she’ll send along the results, too) tree that’s on display in the hospital’s lobby (you can even stop at the cafeteria for a healthy pick-me-up at the same time). This is the first time the hospital’s put this on since the pandemic.

Russia: U.S. air defense systems could be targets in Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine — Russia’s Foreign Ministry warned Thursday that if the U.S. delivers sophisticated air defense systems to Ukraine, those systems and any crews that accompany them would be a “legitimate target” for the Russian military, a blunt threat that was quickly rejected by Washington.

El Paso grapples with surge of migrants, braces for more

SANTA FE, N.M. — Authorities in El Paso, Texas, described a humanitarian crisis Thursday as they grapple with the daily release of roughly 1,600 migrants to local shelters and the streets of the border city amid preparations for even larger flows if Trump-era asylum restrictions end next week as scheduled.

Oregon judge halts voter-approved high-capacity magazine ban

PORTLAND, Ore. — An Oregon judge handed guns rights advocates a victory Thursday and placed a new, voter-approved ban on high-capacity magazines that was intended to curtail mass shootings on hold until questions about its constitutionality can be decided.

$698M deal to end Monsanto PCB pollution lawsuit in Oregon

PORTLAND, Ore. — Bayer, the German pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, will pay Oregon $698 million to end a lawsuit over PCB pollution associated with products made by Monsanto, the agriculture giant it now owns, the state’s attorney general announced Thursday.