Americans show resilience on two terror attack anniversaries. ISIS tells Christians to convert, pay up, or die. And hundreds of migrants appear to have drowned seeking a safer life.
It’s Monday, and here are the five things to know for your New Day.
FREDDIE GRAY
Many questions, few answers: Exactly one week after he was taken into police custody in Baltimore, Freddie Gray died yesterday under fuzzy circumstances. The 27-year-old was healthy when police tackled him — though there was no evidence he had committed a crime, says his lawyer. Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake is doing a lot of the asking about how police acted, so answers may be forthcoming at a planned press conference today.
MIGRANT DROWNINGS
Lost at sea: They had no chance to swim for it. Many migrants on a ship that capsized in the Mediterranean Sea this weekend were locked behind closed doors, a witness said. Altogether hundreds of migrants were on board the multi-level boat when it turned over, according to some of the 50 people who survived. Rescuers have recovered two dozen bodies. The rest are missing at sea — a fate that keeps repeating itself, as refugees flee the cruelty of conflict in Libya in hopes of a safer life in Europe.
ISIS ATTACKS
Convert, pay, or die: ISIS beheaded Christians in Libya in a video released yesterday. The victims — in two groups — knelt in orange jump suits on a beach. They are thought to have been Ethiopian Christians. There may have been a way out for them, the narrator said — pay money. There is a provision in strict interpretations of Sharia for Christians to live under Islamic rule, if they pay a tax. The video gave an example: Christians in Mosul, Iraq, were given the choice to convert or pay.
IRAQ OFFENSIVE
Progress: ISIS can’t always hold what it captures. Their victories grab headlines, but Iraqi forces and coalition airstrikes are eating into the extremists’ territory. Over the weekend, Iraqis took back the country’s largest refinery in Baiji from ISIS. A week earlier, the terror group purported to be holding part of it and posted photos to back up its claim. ISIS took a big one on the chin in the north as well, as Kurdish Peshmerga soldiers cleared 32 square miles of territory ISIS previously held.
BOMBING ANNIVERSARIES
Oklahoma City and Boston: In the shadow of two gruesome anniversaries, two cities are saying: We are resilient. Yesterday, Oklahoma City commemorated the victims of the country’s worst domestic terror act that killed 168 people 20 years ago, when anti-government extremists set off a bomb. Victims’ names were read aloud, and former President Bill Clinton thanked residents for moving forward without forgetting. “You have inspired us with the power of your renewal,” he said.
In Boston, 30,000 runners will charge down streets two years after terrorists’ bombs killed three people and injured 260 more. More than two dozen of those who were injured will run in the race a day before the sentencing phase begins for convicted bomber Dzhokar Tsarnaev.
Those are your five biggies for the day. Here are a few others that are brewing and have the Internet buzzing.
Let it go! Serious faces in a Washington finance committee meeting crack up, when Sen. Pat Roberts’ cell phone lets loose with its ring tone “Let it go!” Yep, the “Frozen” song.
Making waves: Wanna board but no surf? Wait for a friendly motorboat to pass and hitch a ride on its wake.
18-wheeler pile-up: Snow in April, and an interstate full of semis end in a long, behemoth pile-up.
Stripes and beats: Escaped Zebras trot down a Brussels street to the beat of a song on a car radio.
Don’t monkey with the monkey: Or he might break something, like this gorilla that cracked viewing glass at a zoo.