WASHINGTON
Obama backs women in draft
The Obama administration declared its support Thursday for requiring women to register for the military draft, a symbolic but significant shift that reflects the U.S. military’s evolution from a male-dominated force to one seeking to incorporate women at all levels. President Barack Obama has been considering whether to adopt the position since last December, when Defense Secretary Ash Carter ordered the military to open all jobs to women, including the most arduous combat posts. Ned Price, a spokesman for the White House’s National Security Council, said Obama believes women have “proven their mettle,” including in Afghanistan and Iraq. “As old barriers for military service are being removed, the administration supports — as a logical next step — women registering for the Selective Service,” Price said, using the formal name for the military draft. The new posture from the Obama administration came at an unusual time, just two days after House and Senate negotiators agreed to strip a provision from the annual defense policy bill that would have required young women to register.
PELLA, IOWA
Trucks hits store, killing 3
A pickup truck smashed through the front doors of a Wal-Mart store on Thursday, killing three people and scattering merchandise on the floor before it came to a stop at the fresh produce section in what authorities believe was an accident. “At this time, we don’t have any reason to believe it was intentional,” said Patrol Sgt. Nathan Ludwig. Three people — all outside of the vehicle — were killed; the driver and another person were injured, Ludwig said. Don French, a Wal-Mart employee who was off duty and shopping in the store Thursday morning, told the Des Moines Register that the truck had been traveling fast enough to smash through the concrete barriers intended to protect the entrance from such crashes.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.
SWAT team frees hostages
After an armed robbery suspect put a gun to the back of one hostage’s head, SWAT team members resolved at the first chance they had Thursday to storm the credit union where nearly a dozen people were being held, authorities say. That moment came, they say, when two people hiding inside the building, unbeknown to the suspect, made a run for it, distracting the man. SWAT team members stormed the credit union and put themselves between the gunman and the 11 hostages, ending a two-hour standoff, said Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams. The sheriff’s office identified the suspect as Nicholas Daquan Humphrey, 23, of Tampa. He was charged Thursday with one count of armed robbery and 13 counts of kidnapping.
ALLENTOWN, Pa.
Day-care employee arrested
Coaxed by an adult off camera, small children gleefully use filthy language in a 22-second video shot at a Pennsylvania day care, posted on Facebook and viewed nearly 170,000 times since October. Prosecutors on Thursday filed a corruption of minors charge against the video’s alleged creator, Rashanna Gyles, 24, of Allentown. Gyles was a bus monitor at Creative Minds Daycare Academy in early October when prosecutors say she instructed a half-dozen children to direct obscenities toward another child. She made videos of the cursing kids and sent one to a friend, who called police and the day care, according to Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin. Gyles was arraigned Thursday and released on unsecured bail.
Compiled from wire reports