Suspect charged with murder in Ill. stabbing, beating rampage
ROCKFORD, Ill. – An Illinois man charged in a deadly stabbing and beating spree told police that he became paranoid after smoking marijuana that may have been laced with another drug, a chief prosecutor said Thursday.
Christian Soto, 22, was charged with four counts of first-degree murder, seven counts attempted first-degree murder and two counts of home invasion in connection with a series of violent attacks in Rockford, authorities said at a news conference. He made his first court appearance Thursday and remains held without bond, according to Winnebago County jail records.
Soto is accused of killing four people and injuring seven others at multiple scenes in Rockford and Winnebago County on Wednesday afternoon. Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara identified the victims who were killed as Romona Schupbach, 63; Jacob Schupbach, 23; Jay Larson, 49; and Jenna Newcomb, 15.
Soto was arrested by police Wednesday. He will remain in Winnebago County Jail until at least April 2, when his detention hearing is scheduled.
“sensitive locations,” including public transportation, in 2022. The law is being challenged by gun owners’ rights groups, which say it conflicts with a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier in 2022 that found people have a constitutional right to carry weapons in public.
George Floyd university scholarship sued, accused of discrimination
Minnesota’s North Central University is being sued by a group that says its George Floyd memorial scholarship discriminates against non-Black students.
A legal complaint filed with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights on Monday says the public institution’s scholarship violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The law prohibits intentional discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin in any federally funded program or activity.
The scholarship’s requirements say an applicant must “be a student who is Black or African American, that is, a person having origins in any of the Black racial groups of Africa.”
North Central University did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Ex-bus driver sentenced for cyberstalking 8-year-old boy
CONCORD, N.H. – Former school bus driver Michael Chick was sentenced Thursday to nine years in prison after pleading guilty to cyberstalking an 8year-old boy.
Chick, 40, of Eliot, Maine, committed the crime in 2022 while employed by the First Student bus company. He told the boy elaborate lies about a secret organization, and that he would be kidnapped and tortured and his family murdered if he did not do as “the organization” directed, according to Jane Young, U.S. attorney for New Hampshire.
Chick also followed and photographed the boy and his family without their knowledge, photographing them in public places and putting GPS tracking devices on their vehicles. He also made recordings of the boy on the school bus, went to their home in overnight hours and took photographs of them through windows, according to Young.
“Michael Chick’s crimes caused unimaginable pain and fear for the survivor and his family.” Young said.
His sentence also includes three years of supervised release.
Lawsuit alleges Chicago hospital ignored sex abuse by doctor
A lawsuit filed this week alleges a Chicagoland hospital system ignored complaints about a gynecologist, allowing a now-convicted sex offender to abuse more than 300 women.
“The allegations brought forth by these brave survivors paint a disturbing picture of systemic failure and institutional negligence,” Symone Shinton, attorney for Jane Doe 300, said in a statement.
Jane Doe 300’s suit says patients and staff reported Dr. Fabio Ortega for performing intrusive acts under the guise of medical care. It says he targeted vulnerable patients who “were less likely to understand that they were being sexually abused and report his abuse.”
More than 20 lawsuits have been filed against Ortega and Endeavor Health, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Turkey’s Erdogan to visit US in May, official says
ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan will visit the United States on May 9, a Turkish security official said on Friday, setting the stage for his first White House meeting during the Biden Administration.
The Washington visit would be Erdogan’s first since 2019 when he met thenpresident Donald Trump, with whom he enjoyed good personal ties. Since President Joe Biden’s 2020 election, Ankara has sought another face-to-face meeting.
Ties between the NATO allies, long strained by differences on a range of issues, have thawed since Ankara ratified Sweden’s NATO membership bid in January, following a 20-month delay that had caused frustration in Washington.
The official did not provide any further information on the visit, but said Turkey’s top intelligence official Ibrahim Kalin will meet with members of the U.S. House of Representatives for talks on the planned visit and other bilateral issues.
There was no immediate comment from Washington or the U.S. Embassy in Ankara on the visit.
8-year-old only survivor of South Africa bus crash that killed 45
Forty-five people aboard a bus to Easter church service in South Africa’s Limpopo province died in a fiery crash, authorities said Thursday.
Only an 8-year-old child survived the crash and has been transported to a nearby hospital, the Limpopo Department of Transport and Community Safety said.
The bus was reportedly transporting people from Botswana to the Limpopo town of Moria for the Easter weekend church service, according to the department.
The driver appeared to have lost control, and the bus fell roughly 55 yards before catching fire, according to officials.
Births fall in Italy for 15th year running, at to record low
ROME – Births in Italy dropped to a record low in 2023, the 15th consecutive annual decline, national statistics bureau ISTAT said on Friday, as the population continued to shrink.
Italy’s ever-falling birth rate is considered a national emergency, but despite successive governments pledging to make it a priority, none have so far been able to halt the drop.
Last year, Italy recorded 379,000 births, a 3.6% decline on 2022 and a 34.2% drop on 2008 – the last year Italy saw an increase in the number of babies born. It was also the lowest number since the country’s unification in 1861.
By contrast, some 661,000 deaths were registered last year, a fall on the previous three years when COVID boosted the mortality rate in Italy. ISTAT said life expectancy also jumped last year to 83.1 years, up six months on 2022.
Italy’s overall population has been falling steadily since 2014, with a cumulative loss since then of more than 1.36 million people, equivalent to the residents of Milan, the country’s second-biggest city.