Northern Syrian city of Aleppo dragged deeper into violence
BEIRUT (AP) — A maternity hospital in a government-held section of Aleppo was struck by rocket fire Tuesday as battles killed 20 people and dragged the contested city in northern Syria deeper into chaos for a 12th straight day.
The new bloodshed came as the diplomatic focus moved to Moscow, where the U.N. envoy for Syria raced to restore a partial cease-fire in the civil war that would include Aleppo.
The envoy, Staffan de Mistura, met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, one day after meeting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Geneva.
“We need to make sure the cessation of hostilities is brought back on track,” de Mistura said.
Aleppo has been at the center of the conflict for the past two weeks, shattering a limited cease-fire that began in late February. Tuesday’s attack on the Dubeet hospital in the government-held central Muhafaza neighborhood that killed four people echoed an airstrike on a hospital on the rebel-held side of the city that killed about 50 civilians nearly a week ago.
Police begin wider body camera use after months of testing
BOSTON (AP) — After months of testing, many of the nation’s big-city police forces are planning to expand their use of body cameras by the summer, but the number of officers with such gear will still be relatively small, an Associated Press review found.
The 2014 killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and other deaths at the hands of police around the U.S. have led to demands that officers be issued wearable cameras to deter misconduct and document shootings and other clashes. But because of cost concerns, union resistance and other factors, the rollout has been slower than some cities envisioned.
An AP look at the nation’s 20 largest local departments found that Chicago has begun issuing the devices to over 2,000 officers, or less than 17 percent of its roughly 12,000-member force, though it says it will eventually offer them across the department. Philadelphia has begun equipping about 5 percent of its force and Houston nearly 6 percent.
New York, the nation’s largest city police force, says it plans to purchase 1,000 cameras by the summer, or enough to outfit less than 3 percent of its 34,000-plus officers. But the department said Tuesday there is no date for when those will be put to use, and no plan as yet to equip more officers.
For some cities, the expansion comes in anticipation of the summer, when crime typically rises. For others, the availability of federal money to help pay for the technology is a driving factor.
Former Prince assistant says he was healthy, energetic
NEW YORK (AP) — A former assistant to Prince until last year has spent the days since his death trying to figure out how her boss, whom she described as very healthy, could have died so suddenly, adding that she never saw him ingest any drugs during her employ.
Mariah Brown, 25, said Prince didn’t even drink, and she never saw him take any pills, nor did she get any on his behalf.
“He was a very, very healthy person. … That man has more energy than me, and anyone I know,” she told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday.
She added: “The whole death didn’t make sense to me. … He never came across as sick, or anything like that. “
Prince was found dead April 21 at his compound in Chanhassen, Minnesota. Toxicology reports will not be available for weeks, but a law enforcement official has told the AP that investigators are looking into whether Prince died from an overdose and whether a doctor was prescribing him drugs in the weeks beforehand. The official has been briefed on the investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media.
Dear Mama: Afeni Shakur, mother of rapper Tupac Shakur, dies
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Afeni Shakur, the former Black Panther who inspired the work of her son, rap icon Tupac Shakur, and fostered his legacy for decades after he was slain, has died of an apparent heart attack, authorities said Tuesday. She was 69.
Responding to a 911 call to Shakur’s home in Sausalito Monday night, deputies and firefighters performed CPR, rushed her to a hospital and tried to revive her for about an hour, but “she had in fact died from what is believed to be some kind of cardiac event,” Marin County Sheriff’s Lt. Doug Pittman said.
A statement from her family and the Tupac Shakur estate, Amaru Entertainment, mourned her loss.
“Afeni embodied strength, resilience, wisdom and love. She was a pioneer for social change and was committed to building a more peaceful world,” it read in part. “Her spirit will forever inspire all of those who had the honor and privilege of knowing her.”
The statement also quoted “Dear Mama,” the classic hit her son wrote about her: “You always was a black queen, mama.”
