Man formally charged in 4 freeway shootings

Man formally charged in 4 freeway shootings

PHOENIX

Prosecutors announced formal charges Wednesday against a 21-year-old man suspected in some of the freeway shootings that have rattled the Phoenix area.

Leslie Allen Merritt Jr. was charged with 16 counts, including aggravated assault, unlawful discharge of a weapon, disorderly conduct, endangerment and carrying out a drive-by shooting.

But prosecutors did not file terrorism charges that police originally sought against the landscaper arrested Friday night at a suburban Phoenix Wal-Mart.

Using ballistics tests, detectives tied Merritt to four of the 11 shootings reported on Phoenix-area freeways, Arizona Department of Public Safety Director Frank Milstead said.

Supermoon, eclipse mean rare sky show

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLA.

Get ready for a rare double feature this weekend, starring our very own moon.

A total lunar eclipse will share the stage with a so-called supermoon Sunday night or early Monday, depending where you are. That combination hasn’t been seen since 1982 and won’t happen again until 2033.

When a full or new moon makes its closest approach to Earth, that’s a supermoon. Although still about 220,000 miles away, this full moon will look bigger and brighter than usual. It will be the closest full moon of the year, about 30,000 miles closer than the average distance.

Iraqis are facing outbreak of cholera

BAGHDAD

Iraq, which already is facing a prolonged battle against the Islamic State group and mass protests against government corruption and inefficiency, is struggling with a new challenge: a growing cholera outbreak.

As of Tuesday, at least 54 cases have been confirmed in Baghdad, as well as in the southern provinces of Najaf, Diwaniyah, Babil and Samawah, Health Ministry spokesman Rifaq al-Araji told The Associated Press. At least 20 cholera cases were confirmed in the town of Abu Ghraib alone, which lies on the border between Baghdad province and Anbar province – much of which is under the control of the Islamic State group.

Al-Jazeera journalists receive pardons

CAIRO

President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi pardoned and released two Al-Jazeera English journalists Wednesday, ending a case that was condemned by human-rights groups and had raised questions about Egypt’s commitment to democracy and free speech.

The move to free Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian national Baher Mohammed came days before el-Sissi’s appearance at the U.N. General Assembly, as well as on the eve of a major holiday in Islam, Eid al-Adha.

Also receiving presidential pardons were 100 people, including dozens of human-rights activists.

US-trained Syrian rebels probe defection

BEIRUT

U.S.-trained rebels who recently returned to Syria said Wednesday they have lost contact with one of their officers and that they are investigating reports that he defected and handed over his weapons to al-Qaida’s branch in the country. The U.S. military said it had no indication that any U.S.-trained fighters have defected.

The allegations come only days after the group of about 70 rebels returned to Syria after training in Turkey as part of the U.S. program to train and equip rebels to take part in the fight against the Islamic State group.

Defection among the ranks of U.S.-trained rebels would be an embarrassment to the program, which has already been criticized as failing to provide enough protection for those trained rebels once inside Syria.

Associated Press