National Obituaries

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) — Funeral services were being held Wednesday for longtime U.S. District Judge Neal Brooks Biggers Jr. of Mississippi, who issued significant rulings about prayer in public schools and funding of historically Black universities.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Richard Roundtree, the trailblazing actor who starred as the ultra-smooth private detective in several “Shaft” films beginning in the early 1970s, has died. He was 81.

LIVERPOOL, England — Bill Kenwright, a British theater impresario and film producer whose 34-year association with Everton soccer club included spending nearly two decades as its chairman, has died. He was 78.

LAUGHLIN, Nev. (AP) — Donald “Don” J. Laughlin, a resort owner and the namesake of a southern Nevada town that he turned into a tourist destination, has died. He was 92.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Vic Fischer, who was the last surviving delegate to the Alaska constitutional convention in the mid-1950s, has died. He was 99. His death Sunday in Anchorage was confirmed by Schawna Thoma, a family friend.

NEW DELHI (AP) — Bishan Bedi, the India cricket great whose dazzling left-arm spin claimed 266 test wickets, has died. He was 77.

Georgetown women's basketball coach Tasha Butts died Monday after a two-year battle with breast cancer , the school's athletic director said. The 41-year-old coach was diagnosed with advanced stage breast cancer in 2021.

LEWES, Del. (AP) — Betsy Rawls trained to be a physicist and instead devoted her life to golf, first as a four-time U.S.

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Bobby Charlton, an English soccer icon who survived a plane crash that decimated a Manchester United team destined for greatness to become the heartbeat of his country's 1966 World Cup triumph, has died. He was 86.

LONDON (AP) — Haydn Gwynne, a versatile and acclaimed performer on British stage and screen, has died. She was 66 and had recently been diagnosed with cancer.