Protests ramp up in Baltimore. The President apologizes for a drone strike gone wrong. And Listeria fears plague another line of ice cream.
It’s Friday, and here are the five things to know for your New Day.
FREDDIE GRAY
More protests: Anger over the death of Freddie Gray spilled into the streets of Baltimore yesterday, when two people were arrested during a protest march from city hall to a police station. There were no other arrests and the protests — on the whole — were peaceful. Gray died Sunday, one week after he was arrested by Baltimore police. Sometime while he was in police custody, Gray suffered a severe spinal cord injury. The circumstances of the arrest and the injury are being investigated.
HOSTAGES KILLED
‘Full responsibility’: President Obama apologized yesterday while announcing that a U.S. drone strike accidentally killed two hostages held by al Qaeda, including one American. The incident happened in January when a counterterrorism operation targeted an al Qaeda compound. U.S. officials had “no reason to believe” the hostages — American Warren Weinstein and Italian national Giovanni Lo Porto — were there, the White House said. U.S. officials also didn’t know that two Americans, both al Qaeda operatives, were present at targeted drone strike sites. They were also killed. An independent investigation into the mishap is being conducted by the Office of the Inspector General.
LORETTA LYNCH
History: It took five months, but Loretta Lynch finally made history yesterday, becoming the first African-American female attorney general in U.S. history. The vote was 56-43. Her nomination was delayed during a dust-up between Republicans and Democrats over abortion language tucked inside an anti-human trafficking bill. That skirmish finally ended earlier this week, when Democrats and the GOP reached a deal, ultimately clearing the way for the vote on Lynch. She replaces Eric Holder, who made history himself as the first black to hold the position.
DAVID PETRAEUS
No prison time: Two years probation and $100,000 fine. That’s what retired Gen. David Petraeus got for giving classified information to his biographer and lover, Paula Broadwell. Prosecutors agreed not to jail Petraeus because the information he gave Broadwell was never publicly released or published in the biography. He became something of a star during his time leading all forces in Afghanistan. He left the military in 2011 after President Obama tapped him to be the director of the CIA. He only lasted a year in the job, however, because he resigned as word of his affair came out.
ICE CREAM RECALL
1 week, 2 recalls: This week started with Blue Bell recalling all of its products over Listeria fears. The week ends with Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream doing the same thing. Jeni’s, based in Ohio, made the decision after a random sample tested by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture was found to be contaminated. Jeni’s doesn’t know of anyone getting sick, but pulled its products “out of an abundance of caution.” In addition to the recall, Jeni’s is also temporarily closing all of its locations — 20 stores located in seven cities.
Those are your five biggies for the day. Here are a few others that are brewing and have the Internet buzzing.
‘Holy cow!’: The new “Star Wars” trailer is so popular, we’re now watching videos of people watching it. Here’s one with a priest.
Not eating alone: Dinner time is much better with a buddy, as this cute puppy demonstrates.
Close call: This man almost lost his drone to the ocean.
Card shark: Let’s finish this off with about 90 seconds worth of card tricks.