Midday Roundup: Migrants storm Chunnel in attempt to escape France

Chunnel blockage. Immigrants trying to get from France to England have launched coordinated attacks on the fences surrounding the Eurotunnel entrance for two consecutive nights, sparking denunciations over lax security and little help for desperate people. Most of the immigrants are from Africa and the Middle East and came to Europe on boats across the Mediterranean. After arriving in Italy or Greece, they made their way across Europe in search of jobs and a place to settle. An Eritrean man in his 20s died last night after he was crushed by a cargo truck on which he tried to stow away. Nearly a dozen people have died attempting to stow away on trains, trucks, and cars crossing the tunnel under the English Channel. “This exceptional migrant situation has dramatic human consequences,”said French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve. “Calais is a mirror of conflicts tearing up regions of the world.”

Dead already. Afghan officials say Taliban leader Mullah Omar died in 2013, quelling rumors of his recent demise. The latest claim of his death came less than two days before the next round of peace talks between the Afghan government and the Islamic militant group, prompting some to speculate the news was an attempt to derail the talks. Omar disappeared in 2001 when U.S. forces toppled the terrorist-supporting Taliban government in Afghanistan. Since then, rumors of his death came out every few years. Although intelligence officials say he’s been dead for some time, jockeying for his leadership position could throw a wrench in the peace talks. Taliban fighters have mounted an ongoing insurgency that has gained territory in recent months. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is anxious to make peace with the group and end the violence that has plagued the country for the last 13 years.

Sit tight. President Barack Obama does not plan to grant early release to convicted spy Jonathan Pollard, a White House spokesman said last night. A parole board unanimously agreed earlier this week to release Pollard, 60, on Nov. 21. Supporters had hoped he could get out of prison earlier. Pollard, then a civilian Navy analyst, pleaded guilty in 1985 to passing classified information to Israel. He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years. Israeli officials have tried for years to secure his release, insisting his activities did not harm the United States since he was acting on behalf of a U.S. ally. Pollard has a wife in Israel, and his lawyers hope he will be freed from post-parole travel restrictions so he can be reunited with her there as soon as he is freed.

Lion killer. A Minnesota dentist is facing a backlash at home and an investigation in Zimbabwe after he shot and killed one of the country’s most famous male lions. Cecil lived at Hwange National Park and was a major tourist attraction for Zimbabwe. Local guides who organized the hunt for Walter Palmer, who reportedly paid as much as $55,000 for the experience, lured Cecil away from the park so the dentist could shoot him with a bow and arrow. But the single shot didn’t kill Cecil, and the guides had to track him down, 40 hours later, and shoot him again with a gun. They tried to destroy the GPS tracking device Cecil wore around his neck, which was when Palmer said he discovered he hadn’t shot just any lion. “I deeply regret that my pursuit of an activity I love and practice responsibly and legally resulted in the taking of this lion,” Palmer said in a statement issued yesterday. But this isn’t the first time he’s been accused of illegal activity. Several years ago he illegally killed a black bear in Wisconsin and served one year of probation and paid a $3,000 fine for lying about it to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.