Police shooting cited in U of Chicago threat
CHICAGO – An online threat against the University of Chicago that led the school to cancel all classes and activities on Monday appears to have been motivated by the fatal shooting of a black teenager by a Chicago officer in 2014, federal authorities said.
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 was arrested Monday morning and is charged with transmitting a threat in interstate commerce.
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. The video sparked days of protests in Chicago, including one that blocked off part of Michigan Avenue in the downtown shopping district known as the Magnificent Mile on Black Friday.
VW closes in on fixes for dirty diesel motors
Volkswagen is closing on regulatory approval for a series of low-cost fixes to 8.5 million rigged diesel vehicles in Europe, a step forward in its effort to overcome a scandal over cheating on emissions.
The proposals for the three affected engines have been submitted to German motor vehicle agency KBA and have made a “positive” impression on regulators, Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt said in an emailed statement Monday. Germany is responsible for approving those vehicles in Europe, and the final go-ahead there would provide a template for a recall across the region.
After equipping some diesel cars with technology to circumvent emissions test, VW has proposed software updates for rigged 1.2- and 2.0-liter engines. For the 1.6-liter motors, the automaker has proposed to add an air filter, avoiding more costly changes to engine components. The plan would allow the company to start a European recall in January.
Ga. 6-year-old finds gun in couch, shoots herself
Ja’Mecca Smith, 6, accidentally shot herself in the head with a loaded gun she found tucked between the cushions of a sofa in her father’s home in Atlanta. Police say a combination of negligence, a child’s curiosity and cruel circumstance ended her life Saturday.
According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, police arrived at Ja’Mecca’s father’s apartment Saturday morning to find the 6-year-old dead and her father gone. Authorities said the father, 25-year-old Demarqo Smith, briefly fled the apartment before returning to speak with police.
Smith was arrested Sunday and charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct, according to Fulton County Jail records.
6 percent of refugees want to move to North America
According to a new Gallup poll, a tiny fraction of would-be Syrian refugees say their desired home lies in the United States or Canada. The survey, which was conducted in January through face-to-face interviews, found that only 6 percent of Syrians who said they were contemplating leaving their country imagined North America as their chosen destination.
An overwhelming majority, instead, envisioned their future in Europe or elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa.
More than 4 million Syrians have fled their country since the conflict there erupted in 2011, and roughly half the country’s population – or about 11 million Syrians – have been forced to leave their homes.
Associated Press
