Suspect in killing of 5 at Colorado club held without bail
The alleged shooter facing possible hate crime charges in the fatal shooting of five people at a Colorado Springs gay nightclub has been ordered held without bail in an initial court appearance. Twenty-two-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich appeared by video from jail Wednesday and could be seen slumped over in a chair with injuries visible on their face and head. Aldrich appeared to need prompting by defense attorneys when asked to state their name by the judge. Police say 17 people were injured by gunshots in last weekend’s attack. The suspect faces possible murder and hate crime charges. Aldrich’s attorneys say in court filings that the suspect is nonbinary but didn’t elaborate.
Walmart manager kills 6 in Virginia attack
Police and witnesses say a manager at a Virginia Walmart pulled out a handgun before a routine employee meeting and began firing wildly in the break room, killing six people and injuring at least six others. It was the country’s second high-profile mass shooting in four days. Police in Chesapeake say the gunman, who apparently shot himself, was dead when they found him. He was identified as 31-year-old Andre Bing, an overnight team lead who had been with Walmart since 2010. There was no clear motive for Tuesday night’s shooting. Employee Briana Tyler says the stocking team gathered in the break room when Bing turned around and opened fire on the staff.
Georgia high court reinstates ban on abortions after 6 weeks
The Georgia Supreme Court has reinstated the state’s ban on abortions after roughly six weeks of pregnancy. The high court on Wednesday put a lower court ruling overturning the ban on hold while it considers an appeal. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney had ruled on November 15 that the state’s abortion ban was invalid, because when it was signed into law in 2019, U.S. Supreme Court precedent under Roe. v. Wade and another ruling had allowed abortion well past six weeks. The decision immediately prohibited enforcement of the abortion ban statewide. Doctors had resumed providing abortions past six weeks.
Most Ukrainians left without power after new Russian strikes
A punishing new barrage of Russian strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure has caused power outages across large parts of the country as well as neighboring Moldova, piling more damage onto Ukraine’s already battered power network and adding to the misery for civilians as winter begins. Multiple regions reported attacks in quick succession on Wednesday and Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said that “the vast majority of electricity consumers were cut off.” Authorities said three people were killed and 11 wounded in a strike in Kyiv and another four people were killed and 35 wounded in the wider Kyiv region.
Reformist leader Anwar close to becoming Malaysia’s next PM
Reformist opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is close to becoming Malaysia’s new prime minister after a political party agreed to support a unity government following inconclusive elections. Any agreement must be approved by Malaysia’s king. Last Saturday’s election deadlock led to a hung parliament that renewed a leadership crisis in Malaysia, which has had three prime ministers since 2018. Anwar’s multiethnic alliance has 82 parliamentary seats, short of the 112 needed for a majority. Former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s Malay-centric bloc won 73 seats. The United Malays National Organization said it will now support a unity government that is not led by Muhyiddin. If all 30 lawmakers from UMNO’s alliance support Anwar, he will secure a majority to form a government.
UN: Children in Haiti hit by cholera as malnutrition rises
UNICEF officials say a cholera outbreak sweeping through Haiti is claiming a growing number of children amid a surge in malnutrition. The United Nations agency said Wednesday that the deadly combination means about 40% of cholera cases in the impoverished country of more than 11 million inhabitants now involve children, with 9 out of 10 cases reported in areas where people are starving. Haiti’s Health Ministry says cholera has killed more than 188 people and sickened more than 10,600 others since the first deaths were announced in early October. Experts believe the number is much higher due to underreporting.
Monsoon rains force halt in Indonesia quake rescue efforts
Searchers in Indonesia have rescued a 6-year-old boy who was trapped for two days under the rubble of his house, which collapsed in an earthquake that killed at least 271 people. Heavy monsoon rains lashed survivors in makeshift shelters and forced a suspension of rescue efforts. The death toll was likely to rise with many people still missing, some remote devastated areas still unreachable, and more than 2,000 people injured in Monday’s 5.6 magnitude quake. Hospitals near the epicenter on densely populated Java island were already overwhelmed. More than 12,000 army personnel were deployed Wednesday to bolster search efforts.
BY wire sources