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In our news wrap Wednesday, three people were charged with murder after the birthday party shooting that killed four young people in Alabama, a Kansas City man pleaded not guilty in the shooting of Ralph Yarl, the army and paramilitary rebels in Sudan announced a second attempt at a ceasefire but fighting persisted and the UN says India’s population is on track to become the world’s largest.
Amna Nawaz:
In the day’s other headlines: Two teenagers and a 20-year-old were arrested and charged with murder in Alabama after a birthday party shooting that killed four young people.
It happened Saturday in Dadeville at a celebration for Alexis Dowdell. The local district attorney said today it’s a tragedy that demands justice.
Mike Segrest, Tallapoosa County, Alabama, District Attorney:
It’s Lexi’s 16th birthday party, sweet 16. There’s an uncut cake, an unburnt 16 candles that never got lit. Lexi’s brother was one of the victims. On her 16th birthday party, she’d been helped by her brother as he took his last breath.
Amna Nawaz:
The two teenage suspects will be tried as adults. Authorities would not comment on a possible motive.
A white Kansas City man pleaded not guilty today in the shooting of Ralph Yarl, a Black teenager who mistakenly knocked on his door; 84-year-old Andrew Lester had his first court appearance on charges of first-degree assault and armed criminal action. He turned himself in on Tuesday and is now free on bond; 16-year-old Yarl was shot in the forehead and the arm, but is now recovering.
Police in Texas are investigating yet another wrong place shooting, this time involving teenage cheerleaders. It happened early Tuesday in Elgin, east of Austin. One of the girls said she got into the wrong car at a carpool spot, then jumped out. She said a man then followed her and opened fire, grazing her and wounding another girl in the leg and the back. He has since been arrested.
In Sudan, the army and paramilitary rebels announced a second attempt at a cease-fire, but fighting persisted. It followed five days of heavy combat in Khartoum, where nearly 12 million people live.
Special correspondent Naba Mohiedeen is there with this report.
Naba Mohiedeen:
Across Khartoum this morning, signs of a failed cease-fire, as gunfire echoed and smoke poured skyward.
On the capital streets, bully-scarred walls told of heavy fighting, while homes in residential areas were set ablaze. Japan announced today it would evacuate its citizens. And a German effort to rescue 150 of its people failed because it’s too dangerous to land aircraft.
So far, the United States has no plans for an evacuation, urging its citizens to shelter in place. Behind the conflict are two warring generals, Army Chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and foreign military leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemedti, who heads the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF.
Once allies, they staged a coup in 2019, toppling Omar al-Bashir, the country’s longtime dictator. But, over the weekend, their rivalry erupted into violence, killing hundreds thus far. The U.N. says gunmen have targeted hospitals and humanitarian workers too.
Today, the balance of power appeared to shift, with footage showing Merowe Airport under control of the army, who’d captured it from the RSF.
Hadeel Mohamed, Khartoum Resident:
It’s a shock. No one knew about it, so no one was prepared.
Naba Mohiedeen:
Residents like Hadeel Mohamed are trapped and fear shortages and looting.
Hadeel Mohamed:
I’m worrying every night if people are going to come walk into the house trying to take whatever food we have and whatever money we have. And that’s been happening all around Khartoum.
Naba Mohiedeen:
Others have packed their bags, facing an uncertain future on the road, as their country teeters on the brink of civil war.
For the “PBS NewsHour,” I’m Naba Mohiedeen in Khartoum.
Amna Nawaz:
Late tonight, sporadic gunfire and explosions continued across the Sudanese capital.
The United Nations now says India’s population is on track to become the world’s largest by midyear. Today’s estimate projects India will have well over 1.4 billion people, about three million more than China. Together, they account for more than a third of the global population.
More than 150,000 federal workers in Canada went on strike today for higher wages. The strikers set up scores of picket lines in Ottawa and cities nationwide. They demanded that wages keep up with inflation and rejected a 9 percent hike over three years.
Back in this country, a federal judge in New York approved a congressional subpoena in a fight over investigating former President Trump. Manhattan’s Democratic district attorney Alvin Bragg has indicted Mr. Trump in a hush money case. Republican Congressman Jim Jordan has subpoenaed a former prosecutor who once led the investigation. The judge today rejected Bragg’s bid to quash the subpoena.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launched a long-shot bid today for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination. He’s a nephew of the late President Kennedy. His father was assassinated in 1968 during his own presidential campaign.
In Boston today, Kennedy touted his record as an environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine leader. And he warned the nation is dangerously divided.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (D), Presidential Candidate: Nobody can see a safe way or a good way out of. And people are preparing for a kind of a dystopian future. And part of — one of the principal missions of my campaign and of my presidency is going to be to end that division.
Amna Nawaz:
President Biden has said he plans to run for reelection, but has not formally announced a campaign yet.
And on Wall Street, stocks spent the day mostly treading water again. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 79 points to close at 33897. The Nasdaq rose three points. The S&P 500 was virtually unchanged.
Still to come on the “NewsHour”: a Ukrainian company uses open-source technology to counter Russia; Judy Woodruff’s America at the Crossroads series maps the nation’s rising extremism 28 years after the Oklahoma City bombing; who is eligible for a newly approved COVID booster shot and when; plus much more.
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