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Man taking into custody for poisoning homeless people in California
A man in California has been charged with poisoning eight homeless people with a substance described as “twice as strong” as pepper spray.
William Robert Cable, 38, is indict for giving not less than eight people food containing oleoresin capsicum and filming them as they became ill.
Many of the alleged victims were hospitalised and authorities believe the suspect could have targeted others.
Mr Cable faces up to 19 years in prison if convicted.
“These human beings were preyed upon because they are vulnerable,” Orange County’s district attorney Todd Spitzer said.
“They were exploited and poisoned as part of a twisted form of entertainment, and their pain was recorded so that it could be relived by their attacker over and over again.”
According to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, the suspect approached vulnerable homeless people in the Huntington Beach area in May and offered them food laced with a substance “twice as strong” as the pepper spray used by police.
Some of the victims were told they would be taking part in a “spicy food challenge” and were given beer to encourage them to take part, while others were unaware the food had been tampered with.
After eating the food, they ached reactions including seizure-like symptoms, difficulty breathing and vomiting, the District Attorney’s Office said.
Source___,BBC
Lebanon objection increases as their currency descends
Dozens of people have taken to the streets in cities all over Lebanon amid increasing protests as the country faces a collapse in its currency.
Outrage has surged as the Lebanese pound tumbled to record lows, having lost 70% of its value since October when protests began.
The prime minister has called an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss the economic crisis.
The protests paused during coronavirus lockdown but recently resumed.
The depreciation of the Lebanese pound has plunged the country into its worst economic crisis in decades.
Dozens of Lebanese citizens who rely on hard currency savings have fallen into poverty and their plight worsened by the Corona Virus
Source___BBC
UK authorise new high commissioner to Gambia
Mr David Belgrove, OBE, has been ‘appointed’ British High Commissioner to The Gambia in replacement to Ms Sharon Wardle who will be moving to another diplomatic service appointment.
A statement from the British High Commission yesterday said Mr Belgrove will take up his appointment in August 2020.
Biography
“From 2015 to now Mr Belgrove has been serving as ambassador to Liberia.
He served as deputy head of mission in Sudan from 2012 to 2015, and Chargé d’Affaires in Monrovia from 2010 to 2012. From 2009 to 2010, he served as deputy head of Afghan Interdepartmental Drugs Unit at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office and headed the Counter-Narcotics Team in Kabul from 2007 to 2009.
“From 2004 to 2007 he was the team leader of the Peacekeeping and Peace building Section, Conflict Issues Group at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
From 2002 to 2004, Mr Belgrove served as head of section and security sector reform manager for the Caribbean team. He also served as the first secretary, head of media and public affairs in Ottawa, Canada from 2000 to 2002.
The father of two is married to Mrs Mette Ofstad”.
Source___Standard Newspaper
Nigeria Court liberate Girl Alleged Of killing a 51-Year-Old Man Who Tried To Rape Her
A Magistrates’ Court sitting in the Yaba area of Lagos has acquitted and discharged a 15-year-old girl accused of murdering her father’s 51-year-old friend who tried to rape her.
Magistrate Philip Ojo struck out the murder charge filed by the police against the Senior Secondary School (SSS) 3 student, following an advice from the office of the Lagos State Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP).
On March 24, the State Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department (SCIID) had alleged that the teenager stabbed Mr Babatunde Ishola to death on March 7, 2020.
The incident occurred in his home located at Nwadolu Street, Aboru, Lagos.
The police said the girl’s act contravened Section 225 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2015.
It obtained an order for the student to be remanded at the Lagos State Correctional Home for Girls, Idi Araba while the case was adjourned for the legal advice from the DPP.
She is now freed according to Nigerian law and her act is seen to be base on self defense.
Source___Channel’s TV
Boko Haram killings in Nigeria state of Borno Village Rises To 81, Seven Kidnapped
Number of death in latest Boko Haram attack on Borno State in Nigeria rose to eighty-one on Wednesday, with authorities stating that 13 persons are still critically injured from the attack.
Lately reports suggested that sixty-nine persons died on Tuesday after Boko Haram fighters attacked Zowo, a village in Gubio town of Borno State, however, latest figures show that more deaths were recorded in the early hours of Wednesday.
Seven individuals were also reportedly kidnapped in the onslaught which took place late in the night.
The insurgents stormed the village in large numbers shooting sporadically and killing many in sight.
The terrorists also set the village on fire on their way out.
More than a thousand cows were confirmed to be rustled while hundreds of other livestock were either shot to death or burnt alive.
Source___Channels TV
Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza is death
Burundi’s government has make known the sudden death of President Pierre Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader who took office following a bloody civil war in 2005.
He was 55 at the time of his death.
In a briefing on Tuesday, the government said Nkurunziza had died of heart failure.
It came just weeks before the president was meant to hand over power to political ally Evariste Ndayishimiye, the winner of last month’s presidential election, bringing down the curtain on a 15-year reign whose latter part was marked by political violence and increasing criticism over the government’s response to dissent.
Nkurunziza initially served as the minister of good governance in a transitional administration before taking Burundi’s highest post in August 2005 after legislators elected him president.
Source___Aljazeera
North Korea Forewarn US to”control it’s tongue” over inter-Korean ties
North Korea said on Thursday the United States has no standing to comment on inter-Korean affairs, and it is in Washington’s interest to stay quiet if it wants the upcoming presidential election to go smoothly, state media reported.
The statement comes after the US State Department said it was disappointed at North Korea for suspending communication hotlines with South Korea on Tuesday.
“If the US pokes its nose into others’ affairs with careless remarks, far from minding its internal affairs, at a time when its political situation is in the worst-ever confusion, it may encounter an unpleasant thing hard to deal with,” Kwon Jong Gun, director-general for US affairs at North Korea’s Foreign Ministry, said in comments carried by state news agency KCNA.
The United States should “hold its tongue” and address its own domestic problems unless it wants to “experience a hair-raiser”, he said.
“It would be good not only for the US interests, but also for the easy holding of upcoming presidential election.”
It is unclear what North Korea would do to disrupt the election or cause problems for US President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, said James Kim, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul.
Source ___Aljazeera
George Floyd’s death Spark Amazon block of police use of facial recognition tech
Technology giant Amazon has blocked the police from using its facial recognition software for a year.
This comes after civil rights advocates lift concerns about potential racial bias in surveillance technology.
This week IBM also said it would stop offering its facial recognition software for “mass surveillance or racial profiling”.
The decisions follow growing pressure on firms to respond to the death in police custody of George Floyd.
Amazon said the suspension of law enforcement use of its Rekognition software was to give US lawmakers the opportunity to enact legislation to regulate how the technology is employed.
We’ve advocated that governments should put in place stronger regulations to govern the ethical use of facial recognition technology, and in recent days, Congress appears ready to take on this challenge,” Amazon said in a statement.
“We hope this one-year moratorium might give Congress enough time to implement appropriate rules, and we stand ready to help if requested.”
Nonetheless, the company said that it would still allow organisations that deal with human trafficking to use the technology.
Source___BBC
Donald Trump to reopen election demo on pivotal slavery date
US President Donald Trump is to begin his first re-election campaign rally for several months in Tulsa, Oklahoma on the date that African Americans celebrate the end of slavery.
The rally will take place on 19 June, known as “Juneteenth”.
In 1921 the city of Tulsa was the site of one of the worst slaughtersc of black people in US history.
The news follows weeks of anti-racism protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, a black man, in police custody.
The Trump campaign, referring to the date of the rally, said his Republican Party was proud of its role in winning the Civil War and ending slavery.
Mr Trump’s rallies, seen as vital for energising his base, were suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak in March.
He faces re-election in November but is lagging behind his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, in the polls.
Correspondents say that while the virus remains a threat, Mr Trump’s campaign considers that large crowds at the recent protests will make it harder for his opponents to criticise his meetings.
Source___BBC
US passes two million Covid-19 cases as states report rises
US cases pass the two million mark, according to Johns Hopkins University
The US has the most recorded cases in the world, followed by Brazil and Russia
Infections are still rising in 20 US states even as restrictions continue to be relaxed
Disneyland announces phased reopening in July
Coachella music festival, originally rescheduled to October, has been cancelled
There have been more than 7.3 million infections globally and more than 416,000 deaths
Source___BBC
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