US and world news for Oct. 26

Moscow court upholds Griner sentence: A Moscow regional court upheld the drug conviction of U.S. women”™s basketball star Brittney Griner. The two-time Olympian was arrested at a Moscow airport last February and was sentenced in August to nine years in a penal colony for the possession and smuggling of less than a gram of hashish oil. U.S. officials criticized the decision, but no progress has been reported in efforts to negotiate Griner”™s release in a U.S.-Russian prisoner exchange.

Bay Area earthquake: An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.1 struck the San Francisco Bay Area on Tuesday morning. The earthquake occurred roughly 12 miles east of San Jose and recorded a 3.1 aftershock. This was the largest quake to hit the Bay Area in eight years. However, there were no reports of injury or property damage and the U.S. National Tsunami Warning Center stated that a tsunami was not expected as a result of the quake.

Emperor penguins added to the Endangered Species Act list: The federal government has listed the emperor penguins as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The inclusion of emperor penguins came about because the animals”™ habitat on Antarctica’s sea ice is shrinking, with some experts warning that 99% of the emperor penguin population could be lost by 2100 due to the impact of climate change on the Antarctic. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated there are between 625,000 and 650,000 emperor penguins in the wild, with less than half of that figure as breeding pairs.

Amazon expands Aplenty grocery brand: The e-commerce giant Amazon has expanded its Aplenty grocery brand with more than 100 new food items. According to a report in Supermarket News, new items announced this week under the Aplenty brand include apple pie granola clusters, caramel pumpkin spice popcorn, pumpkin spice granola, honey crisp apple cider, cinnamon bun pancake mix and truffle cheese crisps. The Aplenty product line was introduced earlier this year and is available from Amazon online and in-store at the 44 Amazon Fresh supermarkets across the country.

Former Defense Secretary Carter dies: Ashton Carter, who served as U.S. Secretary of Defense in the Obama administration, died from a heart attack on Monday night at the age of 68. Carter was the director of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University”™s John F. Kennedy School of Government at the time of his death. He had earlier served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy during President Clinton’s first term.

WWE plans 2023 European return: WWE is returning to Europe in the spring, with three shows planned for the U.K. and an event scheduled in Paris. According to a Wrestling Inc. report, the Stamford-based company will host shows in Birmingham and Manchester in England, in Northern Ireland”™s capital of Belfast and in Paris between April 26 and April 29. WWE was in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, last month for its Clash at the Castle event that packed 62,296 fans into Principality Stadium.

Photo: Laurie Scholl / Wikimedia Commons