Leaked documents obtained by the Alabama Justice Project reveal that, since the mid-1990s, members of the Dothan, Alabama police department's narcotics investigation team have been planting drugs and weapons on young black men. The revelation came to light when a group of anonymous officers from the Dothan Police Department handed over documents from an internal investigation that had not been reported to federal or state officials, and that was later "covered up by the district attorney," according to the Henry County Report.

Black defendants began issuing complaints of evidence planting as early as 1996, and when the incidents were finally addressed within the department two years later, most of the officers asked about the incidents reportedly failed a polygraph test. The officers responsible for leaking the documents told the Henry County Report they believe that the evidence planting has likely resulted in "nearly a thousand wrongful convictions."

The narcotics officers involved in targeting young black men were reportedly part of a "a Neoconfederate organization" that has "advocated for blacks to return to Africa [and] published that the civil rights movement is really a Jewish conspiracy and that blacks have lower IQ's," Henry County Report reveals. Two of the three officers supervising the team, Lt. Steve Parrish, current Dothan police, and Sgt. Andy Hughes, the assistant director of Homeland Security for the State of Alabama, were reportedly in leadership positions in the Neoconfederate group.

The group of officers that leaked the documents have informed the federal authorities and the U.S. Attorney.

Read the full story at the Henry County Report. Becca Stanek

Gretchen Carlson, the former Fox News anchor who has filed a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit against the network's CEO Roger Ailes, seemingly has some video evidence that Ailes wasn't the only Fox employee who allegedly liked to comment on her appearance. In a video montage compiled by Bloomberg Politics, Carlson's co-hosts on Fox & Friends can be seen commenting on Carlson's appearance — be it her skirts or how "hot" she is — time and time again. At one point, Carlson even jokes about bringing the HR manual to her coworker's office. Take a look. Becca Stanek

President Obama departs for Europe on Thursday in what's likely his last presidential visit to the continent that's currently in turmoil over the Brexit vote. Obama will first head to Poland for the annual NATO summit in Warsaw, which will likely focus on Britain's vote to exit the European Union, recent terrorist incidences, the conflicts in Syria and Iraq, and Russia's hostility. Obama spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of his departure, and he is set to meet with top European leaders upon his arrival to underscore America's "continued, very strong support for the European project which has been at the center of so much security and prosperity” worldwide, Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said.

After the summit, Obama will head to Seville and Madrid to squeeze in his first presidential visit to Spain. Becca Stanek

Hundreds of protestors gathered outside Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton's (D) home in St. Paul on Wednesday night, demanding he take action in response to the fatal officer-involved shooting of Philando Castile. An estimated 200 people were there as of early Thursday morning.

The crowds chanted "No justice, no sleep. Mark Dayton, do you care?," and also sang songs:

More videos of the scene can be seen here and here.

Castile, 32, died Wednesday after he was shot by an officer during a routine traffic stop in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. Becca Stanek

A Minnesota woman appeared to live-stream on Facebook the aftermath of an officer-involved shooting Wednesday that left her boyfriend, 32-year-old Philando Castile, dead.

St. Anthony Police confirmed the shooting in Falcon Heights, and said it took place after a traffic stop. Castile's uncle told the Star Tribune he died Wednesday night a few minutes after he arrived at a local hospital. In the 10-minute video, the girlfriend explains she was driving with Castile and her 4-year-old-daughter when they were pulled over for having a broken tail light. Castile was asked to show his license and registration, she said, and he notified the officers that he was licensed to carry a concealed weapon. When he went to get his ID out of his wallet, she said, "the officer just shot him in the arm four or five times."

In the video, an officer can be heard screaming, "I told him not to reach for it! I told him to get his hand out," WCCO reports. The video shows Castile's body covered in blood, and his girlfriend can be heard saying, "Please don't tell me my boyfriend's gone." The video was briefly removed from Facebook, but was back up early Thursday. Shortly after midnight, dozens of peaceful protesters gathered at the scene, with some chanting anti-police slogans, the Star Tribune reports. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating. Catherine Garcia

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been placed on the U.S. sanctions list for human rights abuses, the State Department announced Wednesday.

The State Department and Treasury spent years on an investigation into North Korea, and said the government "continues to commit serious human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and detention, forced labor, and torture." Beyond Kim, 22 other individuals and entities are named, including the director of the Organization and Guidance Department, which enforces ideological discipline, and officials from the Reconnaissance General Bureau, which tracks down defectors after they leave North Korea.

While the sanctions are mostly symbolic, companies would be prohibited from doing business with Kim or any companies he controls and assets he owns in the U.S. would be frozen, international trade attorney Thad McBride told USA Today. Other heads of state previously sanctioned by the U.S. include Bashar al-Assad of Syria, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, and Saddam Hussein of Iraq. Catherine Garcia

A super typhoon being described as "near perfect" is expected to hit Taiwan early Friday morning.

With winds clocking in at 170 mph and gusts even higher, super typhoon Nepartak is currently the equivalent of a category 5 hurricane, and almost as strong as Soudelor, a super typhoon that slammed into Taiwan and China in 2015, killing at least 36 people and causing billions of dollars worth of damage. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense said thousands of troops have been deployed across Taiwan, and the Taiwan Power Company is estimating more than 3.1 million homes will experience power outages, CNN reports. Extreme flooding could take place in the eastern counties of Yilan and Hualien, areas where the typhoon will first make landfall, and thousands of tourists have been evacuated from the Green and Orchid Islands. Catherine Garcia

The San Diego County medical examiner ruled the death of James Derek Lovelace, 21, during Navy SEAL training a homicide.

Lovelace was participating in a training exercise May 6 in the pool area of the Naval Amphibious Base on Coronado when he was observed in distress in the water, the autopsy report, released Wednesday, states. During the exercise, an unnamed Navy instructor repeatedly dunked him underwater over the course of five minutes, the report says, something that SEAL instructors are not supposed to do. The report concluded that while the incident could be viewed as an accident, "actions, or inactions, of the instructors and other individuals involved were excessive and directly contributed to the death."

Only 25 percent of candidates make it through the grueling six-month SEAL course without dropping out, and Lovelace, of Crestview, Florida, was in his first week. The pool training is called "combat swimmer orientation," and the candidates must swim and tread water while wearing masks, boots, and fatigues. Lovelace previously had been treated for asthma and a heart abnormality, which the report says could have been a contributing factor in his death. While Lovelace is at least the fifth SEAL candidate to die during training in the last three decades, this is believed to be the first time a candidate's death has been ruled a homicide, the Los Angeles Times reports. The Navy is still investigating the incident and has not yet decided if charges will be filed. Catherine Garcia