NATION & WORLD NEWS Suspect in Planned Parenthood attack makes 1st appearance

NATION & WORLD NEWS

Suspect in Planned Parenthood attack makes 1st appearance

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The man accused in the shooting rampage at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic made his first court appearance Monday and learned that he will face first-degree murder charges in the deaths of three people killed in the standoff with police.

Speaking in a raspy voice, Robert Lewis Dear appeared via a video hookup from the El Paso County Jail, where he has been held since surrendering after Friday’s five-hour siege.

The white-bearded suspect wore a padded vest with black straps and gazed downward during most of the hearing. Victims’ relatives watched from a courtroom.

When asked by Chief District Judge Gilbert Martinez if he understood his rights, Dear replied, “no questions.”

Public defender Daniel King, who represented Colorado theater shooter James Holmes, stood beside Dear and will act as his attorney. The suspect is expected to be formally charged on Dec. 9.

Pope urges peace while visiting Central African Republic mosque

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Pope Francis made a historic visit to the last remaining Muslim neighborhood in Central African Republic’s capital Monday, a move that almost immediately opened up a part of the divided city troubled for months by retaliatory violence between Muslim and Christian militias.

Moments after he left, hundreds of Muslims who had essentially been barricaded inside by armed Christians burst into what had been a no-man’s land only a day earlier. Some jubilant residents even followed the pope into the city center shouting, “The war is over!” — a hopeful sign for potential reunification.

The bold visit by the pope, who traveled into the most volatile part of Bangui in his open-air popemobile, underscored his message of faith over fear. He was not without heavy security, though, including armed peacekeepers in the central mosque’s minarets high above the crowds.

Francis had insisted on visiting the PK5 neighborhood to appeal for peace in a country where two years of Christian-Muslim violence has forced nearly 1 million people to flee their homes, including thousands living in a camp at the airport, amid wrecked planes. The neighborhood’s once vibrant markets are now largely shuttered and many of the Muslim-owned businesses stand in ruins.

At the Central Mosque, Pope Francis removed his shoes, bowed his head and stood silently at the mihrab, or area of the mosque that faces Mecca.

Turkey won’t apologize to Russia over warplane downing

(AP) — Turkey won’t apologize to Russia for shooting down a warplane operating over Syria, the Turkish prime minister said Monday, stressing that the military was doing its job defending the country’s airspace.

Ahmet Davutoglu also said Turkey hopes Moscow will reconsider economic sanctions announced against Turkish interests following last week’s incident. The Turkish resort town of Antalya is “like a second home” to many Russian holidaymakers, he said, but refused to yield on Turkish security.

“No Turkish prime minister or president will apologize … because of doing our duty,” Davutoglu told reporters after meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels.

“Protection of Turkish airspace, Turkish borders is a national duty, and our army did their job to protect this airspace. But if the Russian side wants to talk, and wants to prevent any future unintentional events like this, we are ready to talk.”

Turkish F-16s shot down a Russian warplane on Nov. 24, sparking Cold War-style tensions between Russia and NATO, of which Turkey is a member. One of the Russian pilots was killed, while a second was rescued.

Police shooting of black teen cited in University of Chicago threat

CHICAGO (AP) — Federal authorities said an online threat that led the University of Chicago to cancel classes Monday targeted whites and was motivated by the police shooting of a black teenager, video of which was released last week and led to protests.

Jabari R. Dean, 21, of Chicago, threatened to kill 16 white male students or staff at the school on Chicago’s South Side, according to the criminal complaint.

Dean, who is black, was arrested Monday morning. He did not enter a plea later in the day on a charge of transmitting a threat in interstate commerce in court.

The threat was posted Saturday, just days after the city released a video of Officer Jason Van Dyke, who is white, shooting 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who was black, 16 times. Van Dyke is charged with first-degree murder. His bond was set for $1.5 million earlier Monday, and hours later, he paid the $150,000 needed and was released.

Authorities said Dean posted online from a phone that he would “execute approximately … 16 white male students and or staff, which is the same number of time (sic) McDonald was killed” and “will die killing any number of white policemen that I can in the process.”

McCarthy predicts no gov’t shutdown over Planned Parenthood

WASHINGTON (AP) — A top House leader predicted Monday that Washington will avoid stumbling into a government shutdown next week over a tea party-backed drive to take away Planned Parenthood’s funding.

Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy added, however, that Congress may need additional time to work through a massive, $1.1 trillion catchall spending bill that tops the agenda as lawmakers return to Capitol Hill for a two- or three-week sprint to finish this year’s session.

McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters that “I do not hear people shutting the government down over it right now,” referring to demands by some conservatives to attach language to “defund” Planned Parenthood to the must-do spending bill. Such a move would guarantee gridlock.

Other business includes highway spending, taxes and a rewrite of the George W. Bush-era No Child Left Behind education law.

The Senate’s top Democrat, exiting a meeting with the chamber’s GOP leader, offered a downcast assessment on prospects for a successful wrap-up of such a long roster of unfinished business.