News in brief

By The Associated Press

Texas governor pardons ex-Army sergeant

AUSTIN, Texas | Texas Gov. Greg Abbot has issued a full pardon to a former U.S. Army sergeant convicted of murder for fatally shooting an armed demonstrator in 2020 during nationwide protests against police violence and racial injustice.

Abbott announced the pardon Thursday, just minutes after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles had issued a unanimous recommendation that Perry be pardoned. Perry has been held in state prison on a 25-year sentence since his conviction in 2023.

Rain, cooler temperatures help prevent Canadian wildfire from growing

FORT MCMURRAY, Alberta | A wildfire that has forced thousands of people out of their homes in Canada’s oil sands hub city of Fort McMurray was held in place Thursday, as rain and cooler temperatures swept the area.

Alberta provincial wildfire information officer Christie Tucker said the blaze remained out of control — the only such designated fire in the province — but it did not grow overnight and remained at 77 square miles in size.

The blaze remained just under 3.7 miles from the southwest outskirts of the community and less than three miles from the main highway south.

—From AP reports