Italy calls on EU, UN in migrant crisis

Italy calls on EU, UN in migrant crisis

ROME

Italy pressed the Eurpean Union on Wednesday to devise robust steps to stop the deadly tide of migrants crossing the Mediterranean, including considering military intervention against smugglers and boosting U.N. refugee offices in countries bordering Libya.

“We know where the smugglers keep their boats, where they gather,” said Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti. “The plans for military intervention are there.”

Some 90 percent of smugglers’ boats leave from Libya, where the lack of a central authority coupled with extremists affiliated with the Islamic State group have contributed to chaos and lawlessness that have allowed criminal trafficking networks to proliferate.

5 nursing students killed in Ga. crash

ELLABELLE, Ga.

Five nursing students died early Wednesday in a chain- reaction crash in southeast Georgia that authorities said began when a tractor-trailer failed to slow down and smashed into stop-and-go traffic.

Those killed were traveling on Interstate 16 near Savannah in two passenger vehicles mangled by the crash. The tractor-trailer plowed into an SUV, then rolled over a small passenger car that burst into flames, said Sgt. 1st Class Chris Nease of the Georgia State Patrol. The big truck came to a halt after slamming into the back of a tanker.

All five of the dead were nursing students at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, about 30 miles from the crash site.

Brutality lawsuits continue in Baltimore

BALTIMORE

The city of Baltimore — which is investigating whether police misconduct played a part in Freddie Gray’s death — continues to pay out tens of thousands of dollars in settlements for lawsuits alleging brutality.

In the past two weeks, for example, the city’s spending board approved two settlements totaling $255,000. One lawsuit was filed by the estate of a man shot and killed by police in 2012. The other was filed by a man who said he incurred more than $55,000 in medical and dental expenses after being punched by an officer in 2011.

Overall, the city has paid roughly $6.3 million since 2011 to settle police-misconduct claims, according to a Baltimore Sun review of city and court records.

Rand Paul’s son cited on charge of DUI

FRANKFORT, Ky.

A son of Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul has been cited on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Police in Lexington say William H. Paul was driving a 2006 Honda Ridgeline at 11:24 a.m. Sunday when he crashed into the back of an unoccupied parked car. Some people nearby heard the crash and alerted authorities.

Lexington Police spokeswoman Sherelle Roberts said a police officer cited Paul with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and failure of a nonowner/operator to maintain insurance.

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