Midday Roundup: Russian pilot says Turkey shot without warning

Conflicting reports. Syrian and Russian forces have rescued one of the pilots from the plane Turkey shot down Tuesday. The Russian pilot said the cockpit received no warnings from Turkish jets before they opened fire. Capt. Konstantin Murakhtin also said the plane was flying over Syrian airspace and did not cross into Turkey, as the Turkish government claims. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the incident a “planned provocation,” and Russia has pummeled Syrian rebels in the area where the plane was shot down in retaliation for the killing of the other pilot, who was shot after ejecting from the plane. Lavrov tempered his statement by saying his country has no intention of going to war with Turkey. In Russia, residents denounced Turkey in their own way: Travel agencies stopped selling tours there and protesters pelted the Turkish embassy in Moscow with eggs.

Serious offense. A police officer in Chicago has been charged with murder in the 2014 fatal shooting of an African-American teenager. City officials are bracing today for protests following the release of dash-cam video of the incident. A white officer, Jason Van Dyke, fatally shot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald 16 times. The official report stated the teenager behaved erratically and refused to obey police commands to drop a 4-inch knife. It also said the teen had PCP in his system when he died. The charges come less than a week after a Cook County judge ordered video of the incident released to the public, something Mayor Rahm Emanuel sought to prevent. Emanuel met with Chicago pastors and community leaders this week to get their help in keeping today’s expected protests peaceful.

Human error. The bombing of a Doctor’s Without Borders hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan, in October resulted from human error, Gen. John Campbell said today. The military has suspended some of the people involved. Campbell, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said the crew of the AC-130 gunship that attacked the hospital misidentified it as a nearby government building based on a description given by Afghan forces. “Tragically this misidentification continued throughout the remainder of the operation, even though there were some contradictory indicators,” Campbell said. The individuals, whom he did not name, will face investigation under the military justice or administrative discipline systems. Brig. Gen. Wilson Shoffner said some military personnel involved in the airstrike violated U.S. rules of engagement.

Papal visit. Pope Francis landed today in Kenya for a tour of African nations, where Catholicism is growing rapidly. He will also visit Uganda and the Central African Republic (CAR), where he plans to go to a mosque. “We are living at a time when religious believers and persons of goodwill everywhere are called to foster mutual understanding and respect and to support each other as members of our one human family,” the pope said in a pre-trip message. Violence between Christians and Muslims has plagued the area where the pope will travel in CAR, but he told reporters he was not concerned for his safety. “To tell you the truth, the only thing I’m concerned about is the mosquitoes,” he said.

Suicide bombing. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for a bus bombing in Tunisia that killed 15 people on Tuesday. The Presidential Guard bus was parked near a main street where members of the guard are picked up and dropped off, CNN reported. Tunisia is one of the few nations to form a democracy after the Arab Spring. A group of leaders from the country won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of their efforts to peacefully form a representative government. Authorities there say a suicide bomber was behind Tuesday’s blast.

WORLD Radio’s Kristen Eicher and The Associated Press contributed to this report.