Thursday, March 17, 2016
Officer who killed teen is facing charge
ADDISON, TEXAS
An off-duty suburban Dallas police officer who fatally shot a 16-year-old and wounded another juvenile was arrested Wednesday on charges of murder and aggravated assault, authorities said, while a funeral service for the teen was underway.
Farmers Branch officer Ken Johnson was taken into custody Wednesday night by Addison police officers and was being booked into Dallas County Jail.
The shooting happened Sunday evening at a gas station in Addison. Officials have said that Johnson saw a vehicle being burglarized in his apartment complex parking lot and that he gave chase when the suspects fled. After the suspects’ vehicle spun out about a half-mile away, an altercation led to the shooting.
DC subway shutdown
washington
An unprecedented 29-hour safety shutdown of subways in the nation’s capital inconvenienced hundreds of thousands of people Wednesday, but despite predictions of “Metromageddon” or “Metropocalypse,” it was hardly the end of the world.
Many riders shrugged it off, saying it’s what they’ve come to expect from the aging, troubled Metro system. The nation’s second-busiest rail system stopped its trains at midnight Tuesday for a system-wide inspection of its third-rail power cables after an electrical fire Monday.
Several punished for mistaken attack
WASHINGTON
More than a dozen U.S. military personnel have been disciplined – but face no criminal charges – for mistakes that led to the bombing of a Doctors Without Borders hospital that killed 42 people in Afghanistan on Oct. 3, 2015, U.S. defense officials say.
The punishments, which have not been publicly announced, are largely administrative. But in some cases the actions, such as letters of reprimand, are tough enough to effectively end chances for further promotion. The military has previously said some personnel were suspended from their duties but has given no further details.
19 extremists killed; had tried ambush
NAIROBI, Kenya
Kenya’s military says it has killed 19 fighters from the Somali extremist group al-Shabab who were attempting to ambush Somali national troops.
Military spokesman Col. David Obonyo said Wednesday Kenyan troops on patrol Tuesday night, in the southern city of Afmadow, found a group of militants suspected to have been preparing to attack a Somali National Army camp.
Al-Shabab, which is allied to al-Qaida, is waging an insurgency against Somalia’s United Nations-backed government.
Migrant arrivals hit 1 million in Greece
athens, greece
The European Union told member states Wednesday they “urgently need to deliver” on commitments to resettle more refugees on the continent, as the number of refugees arriving in Greece since the start of 2015 reached the 1 million mark.
The demand came on the eve of a summit of leaders from the EU and Turkey that aims to try and limit the number of refugees coming to Europe.
“We need to see a substantial increase in relocations in the coming days and weeks,” EU migration commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos said.
U.N. refugee agency envoy Angelina Jolie was in Athens on Wednesday to visit overcrowded refugee shelters, as the number of refugees stranded in Greece neared 44,000.
Associated Press