CHICAGO: Thirteen people were shot to death over the Labor Day weekend in Chicago, making it the deadliest holiday weekend of one of the deadliest summers the United States' third most populous city has experienced in decades.
The police department has not released its final tally for the weekend, but according to local media reports at least 65 people were shot over the weekend, including the 13 who died. Among the wounded was a pregnant woman who delivered a nearly full-term baby after she was shot in the abdomen. The woman was listed in critical condition Tuesday, and the infant’s condition has not been released.
The holiday weekend slayings come amid a dramatic spike in homicides. Ninety fatal shootings in August alone pushed the homicide total for 2016 beyond the 473 homicides recorded for all of last year. Nearly 230 homicides happening during June, July and August — the deadliest single month in Chicago since June 1996.
The number of shootings and homicides over the Labor Day weekend were both higher than the Memorial Day and July 4 weekends and it was the last of the summer holidays before the school year started Tuesday.
Police have said the reasons for the uptick in homicides are tied to the easily availability of guns and gang violence. Most of the killings have been concentrated in neighborhoods on the city’s South and West sides that are plagued with high unemployment and poverty and where gang membership is particularly high.
13 shot to death, dozens wounded in US shootings
13 shot to death, dozens wounded in US shootings
Czech Prime Minister Babiš faces confidence vote as government shifts Ukraine policy
- “I’d like to make it clear that the Czech Republic and Czech citizens will be first for our government,” Babiš said
- Babiš has rejected any financial aid for Ukraine and guarantees for EU loans
PRAGUE: The Czech Republic’s new government led by populist Prime Minister Andrej Babiš was set to face a mandatory confidence vote in Parliament over its agenda aimed at steering the country away from supporting Ukraine and rejecting some key European Union policies.
The debate in the 200-seat lower house of Parliament, where the coalition has a majority of 108 seats, began Tuesday. Every new administration must win the vote to govern.
Babiš, previously prime minister in two governments from 2017-2021, and his ANO, or YES, movement, won big in the country’s October election and formed a majority coalition with two small political groups, the Freedom and Direct Democracy anti-migrant party and the right-wing Motorists for Themselves.
The parties, which share admiration for US President Donald Trump, created a 16-member Cabinet.
“I’d like to make it clear that the Czech Republic and Czech citizens will be first for our government,” Babiš said in his speech in the lower house.
The political comeback by Babiš and his new alliance with two small government newcomers are expected to significantly redefine the nation’s foreign and domestic policies.
Unlike the previous pro-Western government, Babiš has rejected any financial aid for Ukraine and guarantees for EU loans to the country fighting the Russian invasion, joining the ranks of Viktor Orbán of Hungary and Robert Fico of Slovakia.
But his government would not abandon a Czech initiative that managed to acquire some 1.8 million much-needed artillery shells for Ukraine only last year on markets outside the EU on condition the Czechs would only administer it but would not contribute money.
The Freedom party sees no future for the Czechs in the EU and NATO, and wants to expel most of 380,000 Ukrainian refugees in the country.
The Motorists, who are in charge of the environment and foreign ministries, rejected the EU Green Deal and proposed revivals of the coal industry.
