Back in the United States, in Flint, Michigan, new criminal charges have been filed in the ongoing Flint water contamination crisis that exposed nearly 100,000 residents to high levels of lead. Four former Flint officials have been charged with criminal conspiracy to violate safety rules: former state-appointed emergency managers Darnell Earley and Gerald Ambrose, and former city employees Howard Croft, a public works superintendent, and Daugherty Johnson, a utilities manager. This is Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announcing the charges.

Attorney General Bill Schuette: “The tragedy that we know as the Flint water crisis did not occur by accident. No, Flint was a casualty of arrogance, disdain and a failure of management, an absence of accountability, shirking responsibility. We will proceed. We will proceed to deliver justice and hold those accountable who broke the law, period. These are governor-appointed emergency managers that we’re charging today with 20-year felonies, and it’s serious. And, as Andy Arena said, it’s—we’re going up, and we’re going broader.”

The Flint water crisis began when the city’s unelected emergency manager, Darnell Earley, who was appointed by Governor Rick Snyder, switched the source of the city’s drinking water from the Detroit system to the corrosive Flint River. The water corroded Flint’s aging pipes, causing poisonous levels of lead to leach into the drinking water. Residents continue to call for Michigan Governor Rick Snyder to be charged. We’ll have more on Flint after headlines.