In the news today: A bomb kills the head of Russia’s nuclear defense forces in Moscow; police name 15-year-old girl as Wisconsin school shooter; and a judge has refused to throw out Donald Trump’s hush money conviction. Also, Charles Dickens’ characters come alive in a Dutch town.
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Igor Kirillov attends a briefing outside Moscow, Russia, June 22, 2018. (AP Photo)
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A Russian general was killed by a bomb in Moscow. Ukraine official says secret service was behind it
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The head of Russia’s Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defence Forces, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, was killed Tuesday by a bomb hidden in a scooter outside his apartment building in Moscow, a day after Ukraine’s security agency leveled criminal charges against him. A Ukrainian official said the country’s security service carried out the attack. Read more.
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Kirillov’s assistant also died in the blast, officials said. The explosion was triggered remotely, according to Russian news reports.
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Kirillov was under sanctions from several countries, including the U.K. and Canada, for his actions in Moscow’s war in Ukraine. On Monday, Ukraine’s Security Service, or SBU, opened a criminal investigation against him, accusing him of directing the use of banned chemical weapons. An official with the SBU said the agency was behind the attack. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described Kirillov as a “war criminal and an entirely legitimate target.”
The SBU has said it recorded more than 4,800 occasions when Russia used chemical weapons on the battlefield since its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Russia has denied using any chemical weapons in Ukraine and, in turn, has accused Kyiv of using toxic agents in combat.
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15-year-old girl fatally shoots teacher and teenager at a Christian school in Wisconsin
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The teenage student wounded six others in Monday’s shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School, including two pupils who are in a critical condition, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said. A teacher and three students were taken to a hospital with less serious injuries, and two of them were later released. Read more.
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Police said the shooter was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound when officers arrived and died en route to a hospital. A motive for the shooting was not immediately known, nor was it clear if the victims were targeted, Barnes said.
Barbara Wiers, the school’s director of elementary and school relations, said when they practice safety routines, leaders always announce that it’s a drill. That didn’t happen Monday. “When they heard, ‘Lockdown, lockdown,’ they knew it was real,” she said. Wiers said the school does not have metal detectors but uses other security measures including cameras.
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Investigators believe the shooter used a 9mm pistol, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation. Firearms were the leading cause of death among children in 2020 and 2021, according to KFF, a nonprofit that researches health care issues.
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Judge rejects Trump’s bid to dismiss hush money conviction because of Supreme Court immunity ruling
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A judge Monday refused to throw out U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s hush money conviction because of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity. But the overall future of the historic case remains unclear. Read more. |
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Trump takes office Jan. 20. He’s the first former president to be convicted of a felony and the first convicted criminal to be elected to office. Trump’s defense argued that anything other than immediate dismissal would undermine the transfer of power and cause unconstitutional “disruptions” to the presidency.
Trump’s lawyers have cited the Supreme Court opinion to argue that the hush money jury got some improper evidence, such as Trump’s presidential financial disclosure form, testimony from some White House aides and social media posts made while he was in office. In Monday’s ruling, Manhattan Judge Juan M. Merchan denied the bulk of Trump’s claims that some of prosecutors’ evidence related to official acts and implicated immunity protections.
- Merchan’s decision blocks one potential off-ramp from the case ahead of Trump’s return to office next month. It’s unclear when — or whether — a sentencing date might be set.
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People in costumes from Charles Dickens' 19th-century English era at a Dickens Festival, in Deventer, Netherlands. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
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Charles Dickens’ characters come alive in a Dutch town enamored with the English author
The Dutch city of Deventer transformed Saturday into a pocket of 19th-century England as 950 people in costumes brought characters from Charles Dickens’ books to life. Oliver Twist, Ebenezer Scrooge and Miss Havisham were among the characters mingling with chimney sweeps, livestock and Christmas carol singers in Deventer’s historic center. |
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Please let us know what you think of this newsletter. You can sign up for more and invite a friend here. For news in real time visit APNews.com. - Sarah
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