Midday Roundup: Former Marine gets life sentence for Chris Kyle's murder

Guilty. A Texas jury has sentenced Eddie Ray Routh to life in prison without parole for killing former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle and his friend Chad Littlefield in 2013. Routh pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, claiming he suffered from PTSD after serving in Iraq. But prosecutors argued any psychosis he suffered was caused by alcoholism and marijuana abuse. Kyle recorded the most sniper kills in U.S. military history, and his story was recounted in the recently released movie American Sniper, based on his memoir of his time in Iraq and Afghanistan. Kyle befriended Routh and tried to help him deal with his PTSD, partly at the request of Routh’s mother. Prosecutors faulted her for not telling Kyle of her son’s violent history. Routh’s attorneys claimed he killed Kyle and Littlefield because he suffered from the delusion that they wanted to kill him.

Mass abduction. Human rights groups now say Islamic State (ISIS) militants might have abducted more Assyrian Christians than previously thought. Some estimates put the number as high as 200, more than double what reports indicated yesterday. According to witnesses, most of those captured were women, children, and elderly. Some may already have been killed, villagers who fled the area say. ISIS launched an attack on predominantly Christian villages in northern Syria on Monday. Kurdish forces and Christian militia are battling the Islamic militants in the area. Analysts say they’re not sure why ISIS would take so many hostages but speculated they might plan to use them as bartering chips in a prisoner swap with Kurdish forces.

Destructive? National Security Advisor Susan Rice in an interview yesterday reiterated the Obama administration’s opposition to next week’s planned speech before Congress by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The speech will be “destructive” to U.S.-Israeli relations, Rice told PBS’s Charlie Rose. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, invited Netanyahu, who plans to offer his objections to a potential nuclear deal with Iran, to speak on Capitol Hill on March 3, two weeks before Israeli elections. President Barack Obama has said he will not meet with Netanyahu during his visit, and some top Democrats say they plan to boycott the speech. “It’s always been bipartisan,” Rice said of the U.S. approach to Israeli politics. “We need to keep it that way. We want it that way. I think Israel wants it that way. The American people want it that way. And when it becomes injected or infused with politics, that’s a problem.”

Blessing and curse. Afghan officials say 92 people have died in two avalanches amid the worst winter storm to hit the country in 30 years. The heavy snow has blocked roads and cut off villages. Local officials warn of a humanitarian disaster if food and heavy machinery isn’t brought into the area soon. Although the snow is making life miserable for now, it could help save the country’s agriculture industry later this year. Farmers feared the country was entering a drought, but the snow has ensured the crops will have enough moisture to make it through the spring and summer months. “Now we are optimistic about the agriculture situation around the country,” Ministry of Agriculture spokesman Lotfullah Rashid said. “There will be snow and rain for several days, so the country won’t face a lack of water during the coming year.”

Not so fast. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel will not cruise to an easy reelection victory as many had predicted. Emanuel failed to win 50 percent of the vote in last night’s primary election and must now face challenger Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, currently a Cook County commissioner, in an April 7 runoff. Emanuel’s controversial decision to close 50 public schools in 2013 cost him support in African-American neighborhoods. The mayor currently exercises control over the city’s education system, appointing members to its board of education. But on Tuesday, voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum that would make the board an elected one.