National news at a glance

Former student to plead guilty in Parkland school shooting

The former student accused of fatally shooting 17 people at his high school in Parkland, Florida, in 2018 plans to plead guilty to 17 counts of premeditated murder and 17 counts of attempted murder, one of his lawyers said Friday. The rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School killed 14 students and three faculty members. Seventeen others were wounded. The former student, Nikolas Cruz, was 19 at the time and had a history of mental health and behavior problems. A judge said she would schedule a hearing for Wednesday for Cruz to change his plea.

Prosecutors: Capitol cop told Jan. 6 rioter to hide evidence

A U.S. Capitol Police officer has been indicted on obstruction of justice charges after prosecutors say he helped to hide evidence of a rioter’s involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection. The officer, Michael A. Riley, is accused of tipping off someone who participated in the riot by telling them to remove posts from Facebook that had showed the person inside the Capitol during the attack. Riley, 50, appeared virtually in federal court in Washington and was released with several conditions, including that he surrender any firearms and not travel outside the U.S. without permission from a judge. He was ordered to return to court later this month.

Surprise Russian thruster firing prompts Space Station emergency

The International Space Station was briefly tilted out of its normal position in orbit Friday during a test firing of thrusters on one of Russia’s docked spacecraft. The Russian space agency said in a statement on its website that the crew and station were never in any danger. The incident occurred as Russian astronaut Oleg Novitsky was performing a test of the engines aboard the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft, a crew module that has been docked to the station since April. The spacecraft is scheduled to return three passengers to Earth on Sunday. NASA did not immediately respond to a request for more information.

Illinois Democrats’ map aims to grab 2 GOP seats in Congress

Illinois Democrats on Friday proposed a new set of gerrymandered congressional maps that would most likely cut the number of Republican seats in the state to three from five. The proposal would eliminate the Republican-friendly seat held by Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican and a Donald Trump antagonist. The maps, if approved by the state’s Democrat-controlled House and Senate, would be among the most gerrymandered in the country. The current Illinois House delegation is made up of 13 Democrats and five Republicans. The proposal would most likely result in 14 Democrats and three Republicans. The state is losing a seat to reapportionment.

By the New York Times

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