News Headlines
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by Joe Frawley
News Editor |
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American spy plane crew returns home
The 24 crew members of the American spy plane that collided with a Chinese fighter were released on Thursday. They had been detained by the Chinese for 11 days.
The result of negotiations aimed at getting the crew released was a letter from U.S. Ambassador to China Joseph Prueher to China, in which Prueher said that the United States was "very sorry" for the loss of the Chinese pilot, and that the spy plane had entered China's airspace during its emergency landing without permission.
The crew left Hainan Island in China for Guam, before heading to Hawaii for debriefing. President Bush said that he wanted the crew to be home before Easter.
The spy plane is still in China. The return of the plane will be discussed during a meeting on April 18 between U.S. and Chinese officials. China wants the United States to stop flying its surveillance flights near China, however the U.S. has said they will continue.
Cincinnati riots after black man shot by cops
On Saturday, April 7, Timothy Thomas, a 19-year-old African-American was shot by a white police officer. This incident caused riots in Cincinnati for nearly a week. The violence was quieted by an overnight curfew that was put in place Thursday night.
Thomas was unarmed, and was the fifth African-American man to die since last September while being pursued or taken into custody by Cincinnati police officers. A grand jury is investigating the shooting, as well as the FBI, who is looking into possible civil rights violations. The officer who shot Thomas, Steve Roach, has been placed on administrative leave.
Cincinnati mayor Charles Luken declared a state of emergency on Thursday, which set up a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Police made more than 200 arrests, most of which were for curfew violations. "We had sporadic incidents," said Cincinnati Police Chief Thomas Streicher at a Friday news conference. "The most serious ... was a delicatessen that was set afire last night, causing approximately $100,000 damage. There were no injuries."
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