News on the go: Nov. 20, 2013

Carrie Blazina

Police reported Tuesday that Gus Deeds, 24, stabbed his father, State Sen. Creigh Deeds, in the head and chest the morning before he was found dead of apparent suicide. Authorities were still attempting to figure out what happened, but they said they were not seeking any other suspects, and Deeds and his son were the only people home at the time. Deeds, who was a Democratic nominee for Virginia governor four years ago, was in fair condition as of Tuesday evening.

George Zimmerman appeared in court Tuesday on domestic-violence-related charges, and his girlfriend said he tried to choke her about a week ago in a separate, unreported incident. Samantha Scheibe, Zimmerman’s girlfriend, said she feared for her life because Zimmerman mentioned suicide. Zimmerman was released from jail hours after his hearing Tuesday, and a judge ordered him to stay away from Scheibe and wear a monitoring device.

Thousands of people gathered at Gettysburg National Park Tuesday to honor the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett and other speakers praised the 272-word speech for reinvigorating national ideals of freedom, liberty and justice. Lincoln gave the speech four months after the July 1863 battle, which is considered the turning point of the Civil War after Union forces fought back a Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania. Read full story here.

President Barack Obama continued Tuesday to seek a nuclear agreement with Iran on the eve of new negotiations in Geneva despite opposition from American allies and Congress. Iran wants the deal so it can ease its economic sanctions, and Obama is willing to embrace a deal even though it is currently short of United Nations efforts to halt uranium enrichment. All sides appear to have the same goal of preventing Iran from developing atomic weapons, but there is some disagreement about how to prevent that.

Contact Carrie Blazina at [email protected].