10 things you need to know today: April 17, 2023

1. 4 killed in mass shooting at Alabama teen's birthday party

Four people were killed in a shooting rampage at a sweet 16 party at a Dadeville, Alabama, dance studio over the weekend, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said Sunday. Another 15 teenagers were wounded. One of the victims shot and killed was Philstavious Dowdell, a high school football and track star who won the 3A 100-meter dash in last year's state track championship. He was the brother of the birthday girl. Dowdell, who was about to graduate from high school, had earned a scholarship to play football at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Alabama. He was "kind of like the hometown hero," said Keenan Cooper, who was the DJ at the party.

CNN AL.com

2. Sudan fighting intensifies

Fighting spread in Sudan on Monday as clashes continued for a third day between the army and rival Rapid Support Forces paramilitaries. The civilian death toll climbed to at least 97 as airstrikes and shelling intensified in parts of Khartoum. "Gunfire and shelling are everywhere," said Wadeya Mahmoud Koko, head of a union for tea vendors and other food workers. The army said it seized several RSF bases; the rival faction said it occupied sites in Omdurman and Darfur. The two sides observed a brief humanitarian ceasefire so wounded people could be transported to hospitals. Leading Arab states and the United States called for restarting talks on restoring the civilian government. The African Union dispatched its top diplomat to negotiate a longer ceasefire.

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BBC News The Associated Press

3. Judge delays Fox News' Dominion lawsuit amid settlement push

The Delaware judge overseeing Dominion Voting Systems' $1.6 billion defamation suit against Fox News delayed the start of the high-profile trial from Monday to Tuesday. Superior Court Judge Eric Davis did not explain the 24-hour delay in his statement late Sunday, but The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post report that Fox News is pushing for a possible settlement. Neither Fox News nor Dominion commented on the delay. Davis has already ruled that Fox News clearly made false and harmful statements about Dominion after the 2020 election, and that Fox's projected defense — that it was covering former President Donald Trump's false claims about Dominion rigging the election because they were newsworthy — is no defense against defamation.

The Washington Post The Wall Street Journal

4. Former India lawmaker, brother killed

Former Indian lawmaker Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were fatally shot on live TV in northern India, officials said Sunday. Atiq Ahmad, who was convicted of kidnapping and faced murder and assault charges, was under police escort with his brother, heading for a medical checkup when three men posing as journalists shot them at close range in Prayagraj city in Uttar Pradesh state. The suspects quickly surrendered to police. One of them chanted "Hail Lord Ram," a slogan used by Hindu nationalists in their campaign against Muslims. More than 180 people have been killed in so-called police encounters since 2017, when the ruling Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party took control of Uttar Pradesh.

The Associated Press

5. Former leaders meet for conference marking Good Friday Agreement anniversary

Former President Bill Clinton, former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, former Irish leader Bertie Ahern, and other leaders, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, are meeting in Belfast on Monday for a conference marking 25 years since they helped Northern Ireland reach the historic Good Friday Agreement that ended three decades of sectarian violence known as "the Troubles." Northern Ireland has changed dramatically since 1998, when the peace deal was signed, with a younger generation that increasingly sheds the rival British unionist and Irish nationalist identities. "There has been a huge amount of gain and there are people alive today who otherwise wouldn't be," Blair said. But a political crisis threatens to upset the peace.

The Associated Press BBC News

6. South Korean ship confronts North Korean patrol boat that crossed sea border

South Korea said Sunday that one of its naval vessels fired warning shots to turn around a North Korean patrol vessel that crossed the two countries' disputed maritime boundary in pursuit of a Chinese fishing boat. The North Korean patrol boat crossed the so-called Northern Limit Line near South Korea's Baekryeong island, but turned back after the South Korean vessel fired the warning shots, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff. The high-speed South Korean vessel collided with the Chinese fishing boat in poor visibility, causing minor injuries to some South Korean sailors. North Korea last week launched a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile in its latest provocative weapons test in response to joint exercises involving the U.S. and South Korean militaries.

The Associated Press

7. Iran sentences 10 to prison over downing of Ukrainian airliner

Iran's judiciary on Sunday sentenced 10 air defense service members to prison for their involvement in the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane near Tehran in 2020. Mizan Online, the official news outlet of Iran's judiciary, said in a statement that the verdicts and sentences of one to 13 years came after three years of "detailed investigations." The main defendant, "the commander of the Tor M-1 defense system," received a three-year prison sentence for involuntary manslaughter for the deaths of 176 passengers and crew members on Ukrainian International Airlines Flight PS752. He got another 10 years for ignoring protocol and the "scale" of the damage. The tragedy came in the tense aftermath of an Iranian strike on a U.S. base, and sparked protests in Iran.

Bloomberg

8. EU warns Poland, Hungary over Ukraine grain import ban

The European Union on Sunday warned Poland and Hungary that it was "not acceptable" for the trade bloc's member states to take "unilateral actions" on trade after the two countries banned imports of grain and other foods from Ukraine. Russia blocked some Black Sea ports after it invaded Ukraine last year, flooding Central European countries with Ukrainian grain that couldn't be shipped elsewhere. Ukrainian grain is cheaper, so the imports hurt prices and sales of locally grown crops, angering people in rural areas and creating a political problem for Poland's ruling nationalist Law and Justice party in an election year.

Reuters

9. Tunisian soccer player dies after setting himself on fire in protest

Tunisian soccer player Nizar Issaoui died over the weekend after setting himself on fire to protest "police injustice," his family said. Issaoui posted a video of himself online shouting that police had accused him of terrorism after a dispute involving a fruit vendor. Issaoui said he had been charged 10 dinars ($3.30), double the price of bananas set by the government. "I have no more energy," Issaoui said. In another post, he said he had sentenced himself to "death by fire." Mourners threw rocks at police, who responded by firing tear gas. The incident was reminiscent of protests that erupted after a street vendor set himself on fire in 2010. President Zine al Abidine Ben Ali was overthrown the next year.

BBC News

10. 'Super Mario Bros. Movie' dominates box office for 2nd weekend

The Super Mario Bros. Movie dominated the domestic box office again with $87 million in ticket sales in its second weekend. The haul was down just 41 percent from its opening weekend, giving the movie the best second weekend ever for an animated film, and lifting its total to $347.8 million in North America and $678 million worldwide. Universal's horror-comedy Renfield, starring Nicolas Cage as Count Dracula, made a disappointing $7.7 million to come in fourth place, behind Sony's R-rated demonic thriller The Pope's Exorcist at $9.1 million and Lionsgate's John Wick: Chapter 4.

Variety