Facing Charges, Parents of Michigan Shooting Suspect Are Now Fugitives
The gun was an early Christmas gift from his parents: a semi-automatic 9 mm Sig Sauer handgun. A day later, authorities say Ethan Crumbley, 15, fatally shot four classmates in the halls of Oxford High School in suburban Detroit. On Friday, Karen D. McDonald, the Oakland County prosecutor, laid out those and other chilling details as she took the rare step of filing involuntary manslaughter charges against the suspect’s parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley. McDonald said the Crumbleys were culpable in the year’s deadliest school shooting because they had allowed their son access to a handgun while ignoring glaring warnings that he was on the brink of violence.
Omicron Variant Spreading Twice as Quickly as Delta in South Africa
Underscoring increasing concerns about omicron, scientists in South Africa said Friday that the newest coronavirus variant appeared to spread more than twice as quickly as delta, which had been considered the most contagious version of the virus. Omicron’s rapid spread results from a combination of contagiousness and an ability to dodge the body’s immune defenses, the researchers said. But the contribution of each factor is not yet certain. On Thursday, researchers reported that the new variant may partly dodge immunity gained from a previous infection. It’s still unclear whether, or to what degree, omicron may evade protection conferred by the vaccines.
Jury Chosen in Trial of Kimberly Potter, Officer Who Fatally Shot Daunte Wright
A nurse, a teacher, a bassist and a student who will have to postpone her final exams are among the jurors seated for the trial of Kimberly Potter, the former police officer who faces manslaughter charges in the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright, when she seemed to mistake her gun for her Taser. Potter’s trial is scheduled to begin next week and is expected to continue until about Christmas. Potter, who is white, was an officer with the police department in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, when she fired one shot into Wright, who was Black, as he tried to break free of another officer who had begun to handcuff him.
English Teenager Finds Bronze Age Ax Using a Metal Detector
In Britain, success with metal detectors often involves discoveries of treasures from ancient eras — such as the 3,000-year-old ax a teenager unearthed in eastern England in September. Milly Hardwick, 13, said she and her father and grandfather were looking in a field where an organized dig was taking place when she heard the beeping noise that indicates a possible find. About 10 minutes later, her father pulled out an item that resembled part of an ax. They kept digging and found socketed ax heads, winged ax heads, cake ingots and blade fragments made of bronze. Milly’s findings were reported by The Searcher, a magazine about metal detecting.
‘We cannot keep quiet’: Pope laments indifference on migrants
On the Greek side of the divided island of Cyprus, Pope Francis celebrated an open-air Mass on Friday morning, urging openness to migrants. As he finished, the Muslim call to prayer resounded over the courtyards and streets in the Turkish north across the guarded border. There, university students from Africa expressed hope that they could one day leave Cyprus’ economically struggling north and reach the European Union. Later Friday, speaking in a parish where the pews were filled with migrant families, Francis put aside his prepared remarks and spoke in unusually blunt terms. “We cannot keep quiet” about a “culture of indifference,” he said.
Philippine Court allows Maria Ressa to attend Nobel Peace Prize ceremony
The Court of Appeals in the Philippines said Friday it would allow journalist Maria Ressa to travel to Norway to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, after the government tried to block her from the ceremony. Ressa’s attorney filed the appeal last month after the Philippines’ solicitor general said the journalist could not travel to Norway. The government called her a flight risk because her “recurring criticisms of the Philippine legal processes in the international community reveal her lack of respect for the judicial system.” Ressa was awarded the prize along with Dmitry Muratov, a Russian investigative journalist, for “their courageous fight for freedom of expression.”
Iran Nuclear talks head for collapse unless Tehran shifts, Europeans say
Western negotiators trying to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal said Friday that the new, more hard-line government in Iran is proposing unacceptable changes to the existing draft agreement, even as it is proceeding apace with its nuclear program. Unless Tehran shifts its stance quickly, diplomats from Britain, France and Germany warned after meetings in Vienna, there is little possibility of success. The talks were suspended for consultations with governments and may resume next week. Iran says it wants to return to the 2015 deal. But the Europeans said some of Iran’s proposals are not only inconsistent with that deal, but they also “go beyond” its provisions.
US intelligence finds Russia planning Ukraine offensive
President Joe Biden pledged Friday to make it “very, very difficult” for Russia’s Vladimir Putin to take military action in Ukraine as U.S. intelligence officials determined that Russian planning is underway for a possible military offensive that could begin as soon as early 2022. The new intelligence finding estimates that the Russians are planning to deploy an estimated 175,000 troops and almost half of them are already deployed along various points near Ukraine’s border, according to a Biden administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the finding. It comes as Russia has picked up its demands on Biden to guarantee that Ukraine will not be allowed to join the NATO alliance.