DURHAM, N.C. – A Confederate monument in Durham, North Carolina, has once again been vandalized.
The News & Observer reports some type of cement or other hard substance was smeared atop the statue and covered raised sections of the monument's plaque.
Durham police say the vandalism was reported to the department Sunday afternoon. This is at least the second time vandals have defaced the monument, which was created in 2014 by the local faction of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
In 2015, "Black Lives Matter" and "Tear It Down" were found painted on the monument. In 2017, protesters tore down a Confederate monument that used to sit outside of the county courthouse. Charges were later dismissed against them. Last year, protesters tore down a Confederate monument named "Silent Sam" at UNC-Chapel Hill.
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Information from: The News & Observer, http://www.newsobserver.com
MIAMI – The Latest on a police officer accused of shooting and wounding a severely man's caretaker (all times local):
5 p.m.
A jury is deadlocked on three charges against a Florida police officer accused of shooting and wounding a severely autistic man's caretaker. The officer was acquitted on one misdemeanor count.
The Miami Herald reports that the six-person jury found North Miami police officer Jonathan Aledda not guilty Friday on a misdemeanor count of culpable negligence. A second negligence charge and two attempted manslaughter counts resulted in a hung jury.
The jury foreperson said the vote was 5-1 to acquit Aledda of the other charges. Prosecutors must decide whether to retry Aledda on those counts.
Aledda testified this week that he thought Arnaldo Rios Soto had a gun and was holding his caretaker, Charles Kinsey, hostage. It turned out Rios was holding a toy truck. Aledda insisted he never heard another message on police radio that it wasn't a gun.
Prosecutors say Rios had left his nearby group home and sat down in the road to play with his toy. A motorist called 911, saying the man was holding what may be a gun and appeared suicidal. Kinsey was trying to coax him back into the home when police arrived and surrounded them.
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12:30 p.m.
The fate of a police officer accused of shooting and wounding a severely autistic man's caretaker is now in the hands of a Miami jury.
North Miami police officer Jonathan Aledda is accused of attempted manslaughter. He testified this week that he thought Arnaldo Rios Soto had a gun and was holding his caretaker, Charles Kinsey, hostage. It turned out Rios was holding a toy truck. Aledda insisted he never heard another message on police radio that it wasn't a gun.
The Miami Herald reports the six-person jury got the case Thursday night. Miami-Dade Chief Assistant State Attorney Don Horn told jurors that Aledda's gunshots were not a misfire but intentional, as he tried to kill Rios but wounded Kinsey.
Defense attorney Douglas Hartman blamed faulty radios and poor supervision.
PINEVILLE, La. – A 71-year-old Louisiana man has been charged with 100 counts of first-degree rape over allegations of criminal sexual conduct involving minors.
The Rapides Parish Sheriff's Office tells news outlets that the earliest allegations against Harvey Joseph Fountain date back to the 1970s.
The sheriff's office says deputies received a tip on April 1 that Fountain was sexually involved with juveniles. Deputies say an investigation found evidence supporting the allegations and Fountain was arrested on 50 counts of first-degree rape on April 9. Days later, additional victims were identified -- the sheriff's office isn't saying how many -- and the still-jailed Fountain was charged with an additional 50 counts of first-degree rape.
Deputies say the investigation is ongoing and more arrests are possible. It's unclear if Fountain has a lawyer.
Apr 13, 2019; Atlanta, GA, USA; (Editors Note: Graphic Content) Max Holloway (red gloves) fights Dustin Poirier (blue gloves) during UFC 236 at State Farm Arena. Poirier won by unanimous decision. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
April 14, 2019
The championships on the line at UFC 236 on Saturday night were just of the interim variety, but the competitors in both bouts put in Fight of the Year-caliber performances nonetheless.
Dustin Poirier (25-5) of Lafayette, La., won the interim lightweight belt in the main event at Atlanta’s State Farm Arena, defeating current UFC featherweight titleholder Max Holloway (20-4) of Waianae, Hawaii, via unanimous decision.
Poirier came out with a sensational start in an offensive onslaught that would have felled most fighters. Holloway persevered, though, and hung in there for five compelling rounds. Poirier’s power against an opponent coming up in weight spelled the difference as he won on scores of 49-46 across the board that didn’t indicate how competitive the fight was.
“This feels amazing, I feel like I’m in a dream right now,” Poirier said. “I just beat one of the pound-for-pound best in the world. This is my belt, I earned it in full, paid in blood.”
The main event came just one bout after what might be 2019’s Fight of the Year as Israel Adesanya (17-0) of New Zealand and Kelvin Gastelum (16-4) of Yuma, Ariz., threw down in a tremendous battle won by Adesanya on a unanimous decision to claim the interim middleweight belt.
The undersized but hard-hitting Gastelum took the first round by closing the distance and landing heavy left hands. Adesanya, a kickboxer, mixed up his strikes to take the second and third. Gastelum landed a surprise head kick in the fourth to claim that round. But Adesanya answered with a hellacious fifth round, battering Gastelum, who was saved by the bell.
Adesnaya took scores of 48-46 from all three judges for the victory.
“I was ready for war,” Adesanya said. “I was ready for war, I fought through this adversity.”
The interim middleweight title was created because current champ Robert Whittaker is out following hernia surgery; the lightweight belt due to champion Khabib Nurmagomedov’s ongoing suspension, related to his October arena brawl after a fight with Conor McGregor.
White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway destroyed the fake news media at a press conference following Thursday’s release of the Mueller report.
“This is the success of the Democrats in the first 100 days,” Conway began the presser, holding up a blank piece of paper.
Elsewhere in the interview, Conway referred to the FBI Special Counsel’s probe as a “political proctology exam” from which the president emerged with a “clean bill of health,” and told the media it was “time to move on” from the investigation.
“That should make people very good about democracy,” Conway said, referring to the report. “And it should make people feel really great that a campaign I managed to its successful end did not collude with any Russians.”
“We’re accepting apologies today, too,” Conway offered, “for anybody who feels the grace in offering them.”
Speaking to the narrative pushed by the media that the Trump campaign had relied on Russia in order to beat Democrat challenger Hillary Clinton, Conway noted:
“When I needed to find negative information about Hillary Clinton and how to beat her, I looked no further than Hillary Clinton.”
She later elaborated on Twitter: “We had Wisconsin. We didn’t need WikiLeaks. Don’t lose sight of what an awful day this is for awful candidate with awful excuses for running awful campaign.”
We had Wisconsin
We didn’t need WikiLeaks
Don’t lose sight of what an awful day this is for awful candidate with awful excuses for running awful campaign. https://t.co/RyWLaf3HBG
The wreckage of a bus that was set ablaze by its driver in protest against the treatment of migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea, is seen on a road in Milan, Italy, March 20, 2019. Vigili del Fuoco/Handout via REUTERS
March 20, 2019
MILAN (Reuters) – A bus full of schoolchildren was hijacked and set on fire by its own driver on Wednesday in an apparent protest against migrant drownings in the Mediterranean, Italian authorities said.
All 51 children managed to escape unhurt before the bus was engulfed in flames on the outskirts of Milan, Italy’s business capital. Police named the driver as Ousseynou Sy, a 47-year-old Italian citizen of Senegalese origin.
“He shouted, ‘Stop the deaths at sea, I’ll carry out a massacre’,” police spokesman Marco Palmieri quoted Sy as telling police after his arrest.
A video posted on Italian news sites showed the driver ramming the bus into cars on a provincial highway before the fire took hold. Children can be seen running away from the vehicle screaming and shouting “escape”.
One of the children told reporters that the driver had threatened to pour petrol over them and set them alight. One of group managed to call the police, who rushed to the scene and broke the bus windows to get everyone to safety.
Palmieri said some children were taken to hospital as a precautionary measure because they had bruises or were in a state of shock, but none suffered serious injuries.
A teacher who was with the middle school children was quoted by Ansa news agency as saying that the driver had said he wanted to get to the runway at Milan’s Linate airport.
An unnamed girl was also quoted as saying that Sy blamed deputy prime ministers Matteo Salvini and Luigi Di Maio for the deaths of African migrants at sea.
The United Nations estimates that some 2,297 migrants drowned or went missing in the Mediterranean in 2018 as they tried to reach Europe.
A Libyan security official said on Tuesday that at least 10 migrants died when their boat sank off the Libyan coast near the western town of Sabratha.
The Italian government has closed its ports to charity rescue ships that pick up migrants off the Libyan coast. Salvini says this has helped reduce deaths because far fewer people are now putting to sea.
Human rights groups say deaths might have increased with hardly any boats now searching for the would-be refugees.
(Reporting by Sara Rossi and Crispian Balmer; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
This week, President Trump fired his homeland security secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen. Nielsen was, according to media and the Democrats, a monster of the highest order. She was allegedly the force behind the caging of children (that practice began under President Barack Obama and actually ended under President Trump); she was supposedly a barbarian focused on keeping innocent brown children out of America.
And Trump dumped her because even she was not cruel enough to please Genghis Trump, the left claimed. Stephen Colbert joked, "Sure, she put kids in cages, but Trump was upset. ... So he just needs someone who can be crueler to children than Kirstjen Nielsen." Jimmy Kimmel made nearly the same joke: "Goodbye, Kirstjen, and whoever replaces you permanently is going to have some very big cages to fill." Trevor Noah quipped, "Basically, the only job she can get now is working with R. Kelly."
In reality, Trump fired Nielsen because he believed she hadn't properly taken measures to rein in the humanitarian crisis at the border. That was half true -- she didn't react with alacrity to change the necessary Homeland Security regulations, for example. But it was also a result of Trump's changing whims with regard to border strategy. Trump was in favor of a no-tolerance border policy that necessarily resulted in family separations; then he was against it; then he was for it; then he was against it.
Most of that vacillation resulted not from brutal bigotry, however, but from a simple fact: Democrats have simply not provided Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement with the resources necessary to properly control the border. Federal courts have ruled that families cannot be held together in custody for longer than 20 days; children must be released to guardians outside detention. This means that the Trump administration, like the Obama administration before it, was left with a choice: Either release parents along with children, or separate parents from children.
The federal courts have made the situation even less tenable. They have stated that the Trump administration cannot work with the Mexican government to house potential asylum claimants on the Mexican side of the border to keep families together; they have stated that the Trump administration cannot separate families for prolonged periods of time. A series of conflicting lower-court rulings has left the general policy in limbo.
This means that Congress ought to act. Everyone should be on the same page with regard to those crossing the border illegally. We should have an expedient system for determining the validity of asylum claims; we should give families the option of staying together in detention pending such determination.
But Democrats in Congress refuse to act. They won't change the regulations to allow families to remain together in custody, and they won't provide the funding necessary to keep detained families in some level of comfort. Instead, they snipe at the supposed cruelty of the Trump administration, which simply seeks to end the policy of "catch and release" that results in hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants remaining indefinitely in the country.
This week, Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, revealed the truth about the Democratic agenda: It's not about compassion at all, but about politics. "Tough doesn't equal smart," Perez stated. "Tough equals dumb." The only truly dumb thing is continuing to play politics with the lives of people crossing the border illegally and American citizens being forced to cope with the price of illegal immigration.
Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond looks on during an interview with Reuters at the British Ambassador’s residence in Beijing, China April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Pool
April 26, 2019
BEIJING (Reuters) – British finance minister Philip Hammond said on Friday that he had a “very constructive meeting” with his counterpart in the opposition Labour Party before leaving for Beijing and that he was optimistic about finding common ground.
Hammond, speaking on the sidelines of a summit on China’s Belt and Road initiative in Beijing, said talks with Labour aimed at finding a way forward on Brexit had not stalled.
“I’m optimistic that we will find common ground,” he said. “Both sides have got clear positions and both sides will have to compromise in order to reach an agreement.”
Hammond added that he absolutely did not favor a no deal exit from the European Union.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; editing by Darren Schuettler)
Police secure the area where the body of a woman was discovered near the village of Orounta, Cyprus, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Stefanos Kouratzis
April 26, 2019
NICOSIA (Reuters) – Cypriot police searched on Friday for more victims of a suspected serial killer, in a case which has shocked the Mediterranean island and exposed the authorities to charges of “criminal indifference” because the dead women were foreigners.
The main opposition party, the left-wing AKEL, called for the resignation of Cyprus’s justice minister and police chief.
Police were combing three different locations west of the capital Nicosia for victims of the suspected killer, a 35-year-old army officer who has been in detention for a week.
The bodies of three women, including two thought to be from the Philippines, have been recovered. Police sources said the suspect had indicated the location of the third body, found on Thursday, and had said the person was “either Indian or Nepali”.
Police said they were searching for a further four people, including two children, based on the suspect’s testimony.
“These women came here to earn a living, to help their families. They lived away from their families. And the earth swallowed them, nobody was interested,” AKEL lawmaker Irene Charalambides told Reuters.
“This killer will be judged by the court but the other big question is the criminal indifference shown by the others when the reports first surfaced. I believe, as does my party, that the justice minister and the police chief should resign. They are irrevocably exposed.”
Police have said they will investigate any perceived shortcomings in their handling of the case.
One person who did attempt to alert the authorities over the disappearances, a 70-year-old Cypriot citizen, said his motives were questioned by police.
The bodies of the two Filipino women reported missing in May and August 2018 were found in an abandoned mine shaft this month. Police discovered the body of the third woman at an army firing range about 14 km (9 miles) from the mine shaft.
Police are now searching for the six-year-old daughter of the first victim found, a Romanian mother who disappeared with her eight-year-old child in 2016, and a woman from the Phillipines who vanished in Dec. 2017.
The suspect has not been publicly named, in line with Cypriot legal practice.
A public vigil for the missing was planned later on Friday.
(Reporting By Michele Kambas; Editing by Gareth Jones)
FILE PHOTO: An employee looks up at goods at the Miniclipper Logistics warehouse in Leighton Buzzard, Britain December 3, 2018. REUTERS/Simon Dawson
April 26, 2019
LONDON, April 26 – British factories stockpiled raw materials and goods ahead of Brexit at the fastest pace since records began in the 1950s, and they were increasingly downbeat about their prospects, a survey showed on Friday.
The Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) quarterly survey of the manufacturing industry showed expectations for export orders in the next three months fell to their lowest level since mid-2009, when Britain was reeling from the global financial crisis.
The record pace of stockpiling recorded by the CBI was mirrored by the closely-watched IHS Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index published earlier this month.
(Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by David Milliken)
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad speaks at the opening ceremony for the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China April 26, 2019. REUTERS/Florence Lo
April 26, 2019
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Fewer than half of Malaysians approve of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, an opinion poll showed on Friday, as concerns over rising costs and racial matters plague his administration nearly a year after taking office.
The survey, conducted in March by independent pollster Merdeka Center, showed that only 46 percent of voters surveyed were satisfied with Mahathir, a sharp drop from the 71 percent approval rating he received in August 2018.
Mahathir’s Pakatan Harapan coalition won a stunning election victory in May 2018, ending the previous government’s more than 60-year rule.
But his administration has since been criticized for failing to deliver on promised reforms and protecting the rights of majority ethnic Malay Muslims.
Of 1,204 survey respondents, 46 percent felt that the “country was headed in the wrong direction”, up from 24 percent in August 2018, the Merdeka Center said in a statement. Just 39 percent said they approved of the ruling government.
High living costs remained the top most concern among Malaysians, with just 40 percent satisfied with the government’s management of the economy, the survey showed.
It also showed mixed responses to Pakatan Harapan’s proposed reforms.
Some 69 percent opposed plans to abolish the death penalty, while respondents were sharply divided over proposals to lower the minimum voting age to 18, or to implement a sugar tax.
“In our opinion, the results appear to indicate a public that favors the status quo, and thus requires a robust and coordinated advocacy efforts in order to garner their acceptance of new measures,” Merdeka Center said.
The survey also found 23 percent of Malaysians were concerned over ethnic and religious matters.
Some groups representing Malays have expressed fear that affirmative-action policies favoring them in business, education and housing could be taken away and criticized the appointments of non-Muslims to key government posts.
Last November, the government reversed its pledge to ratify a UN convention against racial discrimination, after a backlash from Malay groups.
Earlier this month, Pakatan Harapan suffered its third successive loss in local elections since taking power, which has been seen as a further sign of waning public support.
Despite the decline, most Malaysians – 67 percent – agreed that Mahathir’s government should be given more time to fulfill its election promises, Merdeka Center said.
This included a majority of Malay voters who were largely more critical of the new administration, it added.
(Reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Nick Macfie)
The German share price index DAX graph is pictured at the stock exchange in Frankfurt, Germany, April 25, 2019. REUTERS/Staff
April 26, 2019
By Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh
(Reuters) – European shares slipped on Friday after losses in heavyweight banks and Glencore outweighed gains in healthcare and auto stocks, while investors remained on the sidelines ahead of U.S. economic data for the first quarter.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.1 percent by 0935 GMT, eyeing a modest loss at the end of a holiday-shortened week. Banks-heavy Italian and Spanish indices were laggards.
The banking index fell for a fourth day, at the end of a heavy earnings week for lenders.
Britain’s Royal Bank of Scotland tumbled after posting lower first quarter profit, hurt by intensifying competition and Brexit uncertainty, while its investment bank also registered poor returns.
Weakness in investment banking also dented Deutsche Bank’s quarterly trading revenue and sent its shares lower a day after the German bank abandoned merger talks with smaller rival Commerzbank.
“The current interest rate environment makes it challenging for banks to make proper earnings because of their intermediary function,” said Teeuwe Mevissen, senior market economist eurozone, at Rabobank.
Since the start of April, all country indexes were on pace to rise between 1.8 percent and 3.4 percent, their fourth month of gains, while Germany was strongly outperforming with 6 percent growth.
“For now the current sentiment is very cautious as markets wait for the first estimates of the U.S. GDP growth which could see a surprise,” Mevissen said.
U.S. economic data for the first-quarter is due at 1230 GMT. Growth worries outside the United States resurfaced this week after South Korea’s economy unexpectedly contracted at the start of the year and weak German business sentiment data for April also disappointed.
Among the biggest drags on the benchmark index in Europe were the basic resources sector and the oil and gas sector, weighed down by Britain’s Glencore and France’s Total, respectively.
Glencore dropped after reports that U.S authorities were investigating whether the company and its subsidiaries violated certain provisions of the commodity exchange act.
Energy major Total said its net profit for the first three months of the year fell compared with a year ago due to volatile oil prices and debt costs.
Chip stocks in the region including Siltronic, Ams and STMicroelectronics lost more than 1 percent after Intel Corp reduced its full-year revenue forecast, adding to concerns that an industry-wide slowdown could persist until the end of 2019.
Meanwhile, healthcare, which is also seen as a defensive sector, was a bright spot. It was helped by French drugmaker Sanofi after it returned to growth with higher profits and revenues for the first-quarter.
Luxembourg-based satellite operator SES led media stocks higher after it maintained its full-year outlook on the back of the company’s Networks division.
Automakers in the region rose 0.4 percent, led by Valeo’s 6 percent jump as the French parts maker said its performance would improve in the second half of the year.
Continental AG advanced after it backed its outlook for the year despite reporting a fall in first-quarter earnings.
Renault rose more than 3 percent as it clung to full-year targets and pursues merger talks with its Japanese partner Nissan.
(Reporting by Medha Singh and Agamoni Ghosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Gareth Jones and Elaine Hardcastle)
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