Jon Hallford, condemned in court as ‘monster’, stashed decaying bodies and gave grieving families fake ashes
A Colorado funeral home owner who stashed 189 decomposing bodies in a building over four years and gave grieving families fake ashes was sentenced to 40 years in state prison Friday.
During the sentencing hearing, family members told Judge Eric Bentley they have had recurring nightmares about decomposing flesh and maggots since learning what happened to their loved ones.
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© Photograph: Thomas Peipert/AP
© Photograph: Thomas Peipert/AP
© Photograph: Thomas Peipert/AP
Ukrainian president says faster work also needed to restore power, while Trump says ‘something could be happening’ after latest round of talks. What we know on day 1,445
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for faster action in boosting Ukrainian air defences and repairing damage to electricity grids and heating systems after huge Russian air attacks in freezing temperatures. The Ukrainian president said personnel changes would be made in areas where air defences had less than satisfactory results. Kyiv has been hit particularly hard and Zelenskyy said more than 1,110 apartment blocks remained without heat in the aftermath of the latest assault on the Ukrainian capital last Tuesday. Night-time temperatures have eased somewhat but were still due to hit -8C (18F). “The small-scale air defence component, specifically countering attacks drones, must work more efficiently and prevent the problems that exist,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address on Friday. “In some areas, defence lines are built better. In others, much more work is needed.”
Zelenskyy also said even faster work was needed in restoring power and heat to residents weary from the recurring night-time attacks. “Every day matters. All decisions must be implemented as quickly as possible,” he said. “There are not weeks and months available for repairs or supplying equipment. Many, many things are being actively accelerated.” Assistance was being redirected to Kyiv from other regions, he said.
Donald Trump has said “very good talks” are ongoing over Russia’s war in Ukraine and that there could be movement as a result. “Very, very good talks today, having to do with Russia-Ukraine,” the US president told reporters on Friday. “Something could be happening.” The Kremlin said earlier that a third round of peace talks should take place “soon”, although there was no fixed date yet. The latest round of talks this week resulted in the two agreeing to a major prisoner swap but failed to yield a breakthrough on the thorny issue of territory. “For two days there was constructive and very difficult work,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday, a day after the talks ended. Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff earlier cautioned that “significant work remains” while Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the talks were “not easy” but that Ukraine would remain constructive.
A top Russian military official who plays a major role in the country’s intelligence services has been shot in Moscow and hospitalised, Pjotr Sauer reports state media as saying. Lt Gen Vladimir Alekseyev, 64, was shot several times on the stairwell of his apartment on Friday by an unknown gunman in the city’s north-west and was in serious condition, according to reports. Oleg Tsaryov, a pro-Kremlin Ukrainian figure close to Alekseyev, said the general had undergone surgery and remained in a coma. No party has claimed responsibility for shooting Alekseyev but Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov accused Ukraine of being behind it, while Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said Ukraine had nothing to do with the shooting.
The European Commission has proposed a sweeping ban on any services that support Russia’s seaborne crude oil exports, going far beyond previous piecemeal EU sanctions in its effort to stunt Moscow’s key source of income for its war on Ukraine. Russia exports over a third of its oil in western tankers – mostly from Greece, Cyprus and Malta – with the help of western shipping services. The ban would end that practice, which mostly supplies India and China, and render obsolete a price cap on purchases of Russian crude oil that the Group of Seven western powers have tried to enforce with mixed success. EC president Ursula von der Leyen did not specify how the ban would be phased in or whether it would later include refined products – whose price cap is different – and other energy exports such as liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Von der Leyen said on Friday the ban would be “in coordination with like-minded partners” and that Russian LNG tankers and icebreakers would encounter “sweeping bans” on maintenance and other services. She said the package would also include a new import ban on metals, chemicals and critical minerals not yet under sanctions, and restrict even more European exports to Russia.
The US state department has approved the potential sale of spare parts for military equipment and related items to Ukraine for an estimated cost of $185m, the Pentagon said on Friday.
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© Photograph: Global Images Ukraine/Getty Images
© Photograph: Global Images Ukraine/Getty Images
© Photograph: Global Images Ukraine/Getty Images
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