Islamic State militants kill captured Ethiopian Christians in Libya
CAIRO — Islamic State militants in Libya shot and beheaded groups of captive Ethiopian Christians, a video purportedly from the extremists showed Sunday. The attack widens the circle of nations affected by the group’s atrocities while showing its growth beyond a self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq.
The 29-minute video mirrored a film released in February showing militants beheading 21 captured Egyptian Christians on a Libyan beach, which immediately drew Egyptian airstrikes on the group’s suspected positions in Libya. Whether Ethiopia would — or could — respond with similar military force remains unclear.
The video, released via militant social media accounts and websites, could not be independently verified by The Associated Press. However, it corresponded to other videos released by the Islamic State group and bore the symbol of its al-Furqan media arm.
Europe shocked as smuggler’s boat sinks off Libya
ROME — A smuggler’s boat crammed with hundreds of people overturned off Libya’s coast as rescuers approached, causing what could be the Mediterranean’s deadliest known migrant tragedy and intensifying pressure on the European Union Sunday to finally meet demands for decisive action.
Italian prosecutors said a Bangladeshi survivor flown to Sicily for treatment told them 950 people were aboard, including hundreds who had been locked in the hold by smugglers. Earlier, authorities said a survivor told them 700 migrants were on board.
It wasn’t immediately clear if they were referring to the same survivor, and Premier Matteo Renzi said Italian authorities were “not in a position to confirm or verify” the death toll.
Eighteen ships joined the rescue effort, but only 28 survivors and 24 bodies were pulled from the water by nightfall, Renzi said.
These small numbers make more sense if hundreds of people were locked in the hold, because with so much weight down below, “surely the boat would have sunk,” said Gen. Antonino Iraso, of the Italian Border Police, which has deployed boats in the operation.
On 20th anniversary of Oklahoma City bombing, empty chairs honor 168 victims
OKLAHOMA CITY — Every day when Dr. Rosslyn Biggs goes to work as a federal government veterinarian she is reminded of her mother, one of 168 people killed in the Oklahoma City bombing and honored Sunday on the 20th anniversary of the deadliest terrorist attack on U.S. soil until Sept. 11, 2001.
Biggs has the same job once held by her mother, Dr. Margaret L. “Peggy” Clark, as a food safety veterinarian at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. She interacts often with some of the people who worked with and recall her mother’s professionalism.
“I remember her spirit and her dedication,” Biggs said as she and other family members gathered around an empty chair adorned with flowers in a field of empty chairs designed to memorialize the victims of the April 19, 1995 bombing.
“It’s wonderful to see that people still remember and still care,” Biggs said.
Former President Bill Clinton, who was president when the attack occurred, spoke at Sunday’s service at the Oklahoma City National Memorial &Museum, where the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building once stood. Memorial officials estimated that 2,500 people attended the observance.
Thirsty California almonds get roasted in sharp debate about water use
SAN FRANCISCO — California almonds are becoming one of the world’s favorite snacks and creating a multibillion-dollar bonanza for agricultural investors. But the crop extracts a staggering price from the land, consuming more water than all the showering, dish-washing and other indoor household water use of California’s 39 million people.
As California enters its fourth year of drought and imposes the first mandatory statewide water cutbacks on cities and towns, the $6.5 billion almond crop is helping drive a sharp debate about water use, agricultural interests and how both affect the state’s giant economy.
Almonds have claimed the spotlight as “the poster child of all things bad in water,” almond grower Bob Weimer said.
People around the world are eating over 1,000 percent more California almonds than they did just a decade ago, and last year almonds became the top export crop in the nation’s top agriculture state. China’s booming middle class is driving much of the demand.
That strong Asia market is producing up to 30 percent returns for investors, prompting agri-businesses to expand almond planting in the state by two-thirds in the past decade. The crop has come to be dominated by global corporations and investment funds.
Gyrocopter pilot who landed on Capitol Hill frustrated that security fears miss his message
RUSKIN, Fla. — The letter carrier who caused a full-scale security review in Washington when he violated national airspace by landing his gyrocopter on Capitol Hill expressed frustration Sunday that his message wasn’t getting through.
Doug Hughes had hoped to raise awareness about the influence of big money in politics by deliberately breaking the law to deliver 535 letters, one for each member of Congress. Instead, the overwhelming focus of news coverage has been about the gaps he exposed in national security.
“We’ve got bigger problems in this country than worrying about whether the security around DC is ironclad,” Hughes told The Associated Press. “We need to be worried about the piles of money that are going into Congress.”
Hughes, 61, spoke as he returned to his home in Florida to await prosecution on charges of violating national airspace and operating an unregistered aircraft. He said his house arrest begins Monday, and he will wear an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet until a May 8 court hearing in Washington.
Hughes said people weren’t scared when they saw his gyrocopter. He says they waved to each other as he flew in low.
By wire sources.