High school wrestling: Area wrestlers compete at EPC tourney

A lawyer representing the leaders of North Carolina’s state employee health plan has defended its exclusion of gender affirming treatments before a federal appeals court. State Treasurer Dale Folwell and the State Health Plan’s executive administrator are seeking to overturn a trial court order demanding that the plan pay for “medically necessary services,” including hormone therapy and some surgeries, for transgender employees and their children. Attorney John Knepper told a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday that the plan routinely excludes some medically necessary procedures based on cost, but does not make any of those determinations based on sex or gender.

A prosecutor says the five fired Memphis police officers who are charged with murder in the killing of Black motorist Tyre Nichols played different roles in his death, but “they are all responsible." Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said during a news conference Thursday that a grand jury handed up indictments against Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills, Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith. The fired officers, who are all Black, each face charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. Mulroy says police video of the traffic stop, in which Nichols’ family says the 29-year-old father and FedEx worker was savagely beaten for three minutes, will be released to the public Friday.

Boeing has pleaded not guilty to a criminal charge in a case revolving around two crashes of Boeing 737 Max planes. A federal judge in Texas took Boeing's plea Thursday. The judge is considering whether to appoint a special monitor to examine safety issues at the company. It's an unusual case because Boeing thought it had settled the issue when it reached a deal with federal prosecutors two years ago. But relatives of some of the passengers who died are challenging the settlement because they weren't informed about secret negotiations between Boeing and the Justice Department.

An Islamic extremist who killed eight people with a speeding truck in a 2017 rampage on a popular New York City bike path has been convicted of federal charges and could face the death penalty. Jurors found Sayfullo Saipov guilty on Thursday. Prosecutors say the Halloween attack was inspired by his reverence for the Islamic State group. The jury announced its verdict in a Manhattan courtroom just a few blocks from where Saipov’s attack ended. The jury will return to court within days to hear more evidence to help decide whether Saipov should be executed or spend the rest of his life in prison.

Palestinian officials say Israeli forces have killed at least nine Palestinians and wounded several others during a raid in a flashpoint area of the occupied West Bank. It was one of the deadliest days in years in the territory and increased the risk of a major flare-up in Israeli-Palestinian fighting. In retaliation, the Palestinian Authority declared it would cut security ties with Israel. The Palestinian leadership has made such threats before, with little success. Thursday's gunbattle erupted when the Israeli military conducted a rare daytime operation in the Jenin refugee camp that it said was meant to prevent an imminent attack against Israelis.

Stocks are moving higher on Wall Street following reports suggesting the economy and corporate profits may be doing better than feared. The S&P 500 was 0.8% higher Thursday after an earlier gain of roughly that size briefly vanished. More swings may still be ahead, as Wall Street digests a growing torrent of earnings and economic reports. Thursday's headliner showed the economy held up better through the last three months of 2022 than expected. Reports from Tesla and others helped build optimism a day after worries flared following forecasts from Microsoft widely seen as discouraging.

The first officer to arrive after Alex Murdaugh called 911 and reported his wife and son were shot noted the the attorney was upset but that he had no tears in his eyes. Colleton County Sgt. Daniel Greene’s body camera footage was shown Thursday during the first day of testimony in Murdaugh’s double murder trial. Murdaugh’s lawyer questioned Greene at length on what he did at the crime scene, suggesting officers disturbed potential evidence by walking around in the dark without flashlights, failing to look for shoe prints or tire tracks, and standing near the bodies. Murdaugh rocked back and forth with his head down as gruesome footage was shown.