[Updated at 3:26 p.m. ET] Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales could be sentenced to death if convicted on any of the 17 counts of murder filed against him Friday for allegedly embarking on a bloody shooting rampage in Afghan villages, the U.S. military said.
In addition to the charges accusing him of murder "with premeditation," the 38-year-old faces six counts of assault and attempted murder.
Authorities say Bales left a remote outpost in Kandahar province's Panjwai district early March 11 and went house-to-house, gunning down villagers.
U.S. and Afghan officials initially said 16 people, including nine children, died in those attacks. The counts indicate that one more person died, though Afghan government officials in Kabul have they have no record of another death.
Col. Gary Kolb, a spokesman with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, said only that the investigators assigned to the case felt they had enough evidence to charge Bales with 17 counts of murder. There was no indication as to where the other fatality came from, though it was not related to a pregnant woman, as has been rumored.
FULL STORYPresident Barack Obama weighed in on a growing controversy over the February shooting death of an unarmed black Florida teenager Friday, as students in several South Florida high schools walked out of class to protest the killing and the investigation.
Obama called the February killing of Trayvon Martin, 17, a "tragedy."
Martin, 17, was unarmed when he was shot and killed in Sanford, Florida, by a neighborhood watch volunteer while walking home from a convenience store on February 26, according to police.
George Zimmerman, who police said was the man who killed Martin, claimed he did so in self-defense. Zimmerman, whose family says he is Hispanic, has not been arrested or charged in the killing of the teenager, sparking a national debate over Florida's "stand your ground" deadly force law amid concerns about racial profiling. A grand jury will convene April 10 to look into the case.
Here is a roundup of Friday's developments in the controversy:
[Updated at 5:34 p.m. ET] Martin's parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, said in a statement that it was "humbling that President Obama took time from his busy scheduled to talk about Trayvon."
"The president's personal comments touch us deeply and made us wonder: If his son looked like Trayvon and wore a hoodie, would he be suspicious too?"
Martin was wearing a hoodie, or hooded sweatshirt, the day he died.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said no particular development prompted Obama to speak out. He said the president had been monitoring the situation and was prepared to answer a question if he received one.
FULL STORYEditor's note: This post is part of the Overheard on CNN.com series, a regular feature that examines interesting comments and thought-provoking conversations posted by the community.
Would you give up your Facebook password to get a job? Reacting to reports that some employers were requiring job applicants to do so, a lot of CNN.com commenters said no - or more accurately, @%&#@ no!
The American Civil Liberties Union is fighting to block employers from requiring users to share their social-networking passwords, arguing that it is an invasion of privacy.
ACLU: Facebook password isn't your boss' business
Facebook also weighed in about the controversial practice, telling employers not to ask for the passwords unless they possibly want to get sued.
Facebook speaks out against employers asking for passwords
Commenter IamBobBobIam says the first thing he does when considering job candidates is check out their Facebook page.
"If they have anything on there bashing a previous employer or anything of the sort, their resume immediately goes into the recycle bin."
(But asking for a password crosses the line, he says.) "In my mind it is the same as asking for their personal e-mail password."
Jason Fournier agreed that it was invasive and said job hunters should sue.
"Demanding an applicant's Facebook password is equivalent to demanding a copy of the key to their house. Civil lawsuits against such prospective employers should easily succeed, and once the first multimillion dollar penalty against an employer idiotic enough to insist the applicant provide their password is won, this whole story will happily go away.
Several commenters evoked the ghost of Johnny Paycheck, who famously sang "Take This Job and Shove It".
Dan Overholtz: If a boss ever asked me to do that, I'd tell 'em where to shove it. I need a job badly but not that bad!
Some commenters sided with companies and understood why these firms would want to know what prospective employees were doing online.
Cat Nippy: In certain jobs, such as those requiring a security clearance, it might be a valid requirement. Some jobs also have a character clause in the employment contract, and the employer might like to know in advance of hiring and training you if you have nasty things posted on your (Facebook) page.
Qroozer: I think it's fair for companies to do this. They should be able to find out everything they can about who they are hiring.
The race to the Republican presidential nomination heads to Louisiana. Watch CNN.com Live Saturday for results and reactions from the Louisiana primary.
Today's programming highlights...
10:30 am ET - Romney health care event - On the second anniversary of the Affordable Care Act becoming law, GOP candidate Mitt Romney will call for its repeal at an event in Metairie, Louisiana. He'll also discuss energy policy in Shreveport at 3:40 pm ET.
A former Rutgers University student convicted of spying on and intimidating his gay roommate says he was not bullying his roommate and he doesn't hate gay people.
"He knew I wasn't trying to intimidate him and scare him because he was gay. I think he understood that," Dharun Ravi, told ABC television network news program "20/20" in several excerpts released on Thursday.
Ravi was found guilty this month of all counts against him - including invasion of privacy and the more severe charges of bias intimidation - in a case that thrust cyberbullying and homophobia into the national spotlight.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 21.
FULL STORYArmy Staff Sgt. Robert Bales faces 17 counts of murder and six counts of assault and attempted murder when he is charged Friday for his alleged role in the killings of Afghan villagers, a senior U.S. official said.
Bales, 38, stands accused of leaving a remote outpost in Kandahar province's Panjwai district on March 11 and going on a deadly house to house rampage.
U.S. and Afghan officials initially said 16 people, including nine children, were killed. The official, who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because of the nature of the case, could not explain why the count is now 17, when 16 were reportedly killed.
Afghan government officials in Kabul said the death toll remained at 16, and that they did not have record of another death.
FULL STORYCurrent and former neighbors call George Zimmerman caring, passionate and polite, a regular guy they enjoyed being around.
But critics of the investigation into the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin at the hands of the Florida neighborhood watch volunteer have portrayed Zimmerman in other terms. They say he recklessly pursued Martin and possibly engaged in racial profiling.
They're demanding that Zimmerman, 28, be arrested in the death of Martin, who was shot last month while walking to the house of his father's fiancee after a trip to a Sanford convenience store.
Zimmerman has said he acted in self-defense.
FULL STORYThe Japanese defense minister said Friday that he had ordered the country's military to prepare a missile defense system ahead of a planned rocket launch by North Korea next month.
North Korea said last week that it is planning to carry out a rocket-powered satellite launch between April 12 and 16, alarming countries around the region.
South Korea has said it considers the satellite launch an attempt to develop a nuclear-armed missile, while the United States has warned the move would jeopardize a food-aid agreement reached with Pyongyang in early March.
Naoki Tanaka, the Japanese defense minister, said at a news conference Friday that he had requested that officials get ready for the deployment of anti-missile PAC3 and Eagis ships ahead of the launch.
FULL STORY
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