Daily Advertiser – by Ashley White

The 21-year-old son of a St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s deputy is the only suspect thought to be responsible for the burning of three predominantly black churches, and his interests in black metal music and pagan gods is of interest in the case, authorities said Thursday.

Holden Matthews, son of Deputy Roy Matthews, was arrested Wednesday and charged with three counts of simple arson of a religious building in connection with the church burnings that took place over 10 days. Once probable cause, including surveillance video, connected the younger Matthews to the crime, he was arrested within about 12 hours, State Fire Marshall Butch Browning said.  Continue reading “St. Landry Parish fires: 21-year-old suspect in custody but authorities say ‘we are not done’”

Haaretz

The Central Elections Committee published Thursday night the final results of the Israeli election, ending two tense days of specualtion as to the makeup of the 21st Knesset.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s Likud party has 36 seats in the next Knesset, after initially tying at 35 with Kahol Lavan, the political alliance led by former Israeli army chief of staff Benny Gantz.  Continue reading “Final Israeli Election Results: Bennett Wiped Out; Netanyahu’s Likud Gains One Seat”

Market Watch

WASHINGTON (AP) — It was a far cry from “I love WikiLeaks!”

President Donald Trump declared on Thursday that “I know nothing about WikiLeaks” after its disheveled founder Julian Assange was hauled out of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London to face charges, a stark contrast to how candidate Trump showered praise on Assange’s hacking organization night after night during the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign.  Continue reading “Trump says he knows ‘nothing’ about WikiLeaks — even though he praised it over 100 times in 2016”

BBC

The first privately funded mission to the Moon has crashed on the lunar surface after the apparent failure of its main engine.

The Israeli spacecraft – called Beresheet – attempted a soft landing, but suffered technical problems on its descent to the Moon’s surface.  Continue reading “Israel’s Beresheet spacecraft crashes on Moon”

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Archive: TWFTT 4-11-19

The Telegraph – by Helena Horton

The Co-op has launched a gender neutral gingerbread person in order to be “inclusive” and has asked the public to choose a “fitting” name.

Shoppers have been encouraged to sign up to the supermarket’s website and send name suggestions which would suit a gender-neutral biscuit.  Continue reading “Gender neutral gingerbread person launched by supermarket as they ask public to choose a ‘fitting’ name”

FAU – by Gisele Galoustian

There is no doubt that policing is a dangerous profession. But is it safer to be a cop today than it was 50 years ago? Yes, according to a study that analyzed police officer deaths (felonious and non-felonious) in the United States from 1970 to 2016. The study represents one of the most comprehensive assessments of the “dangerousness” of policing to date and provides an important historical context on the ongoing dialogue over a perceived “war on cops” in recent years.  Continue reading “It’s Safer To Be A Cop In The U.S. Today Than 50 Years Ago”

Campus Reform – by Cabot Phillips

The Eleventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that colleges in Georgia are not required to admit illegal immigrant students.

The decision further sparked a national conversation about the rights of Dreamers, as well as the legality of offering them in-state tuition benefits, which usually allow students attending college in their home states to pay far less than their peers from different states. Continue reading “Eighteen states offer in-state tuition for illegals…and legal resident students are NOT happy about that”

Yahoo News

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors announced charges on Thursday against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, accusing him of conspiring with former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning to gain access to a government computer as part of one of the largest compromises of classified information in U.S. history.

Assange, arrested by British police in London and carried out of Ecuador’s embassy, faces up to five years in prison on the American charge, the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement. His arrest paved the way for his possible extradition to the United States. Continue reading “U.S. charges WikiLeaks’ Assange with hacking conspiracy with Manning”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

Update (11:55 am ET): Swedish prosecutors have reopened their preliminary investigation into allegations of rape made by two women against Assange that were the initial reason why he sought asylum in the embassy.

After a lawyer for one of the women requested that Swedish prosecutors revisit the case, which we reported earlier, the prosecutors’ office has affirmed that it will be reopened. They didn’t give a deadline for the probe.  Continue reading “Sweden Reopens Assange Probe Following UK Arrest Of WikiLeaks Founder”

Fellowship of the Minds – by Grif

The Pittsburg, PA mayor and city council have used the October 2018 mass shooting at Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill as justification for imposing a nearly total ban on firearms within the city limits.  The ban, signed into law yesterday (April 10), would prohibit the use of any semi-automatic firearm that could accept a magazine with a capacity of more than 10 rounds. The new law uses the term “military style weapons” in the ban. However, the restrictions on magazine capacity would also ban the use of most common semi-auto handguns within city limits.  Continue reading “NRA sues Pittsburg over new gun ban law”

The Guardian

Russian politicians have approved a controversial bill that would allow Moscow to cut off the country’s internet traffic from foreign servers, in a key second reading that paves the way for the bill to become law on 1 November.

Lawmakers in the State Duma, parliament’s lower house, voted 320 to 15 to pass the proposed bill.  Continue reading “Russia passes bill to allow internet to be cut off from foreign servers”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

On Thursday, the 75-year-old three decade long president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir stepped down after a lighting fast military coup d’état, which involved very little gunfire or violence.

The military now has Sudan’s former strongman, who ruled since 1989 after himself coming to power in a coup, under house arrest and “heavy guard” in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. It’s widely believed, though unconfirmed, that the country’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf, who was appointed as Sudan’s first vice president last February and acting Defense minister, is the one behind Bashir’s removal.  Continue reading “Sudan’s Army Topples President Omar al-Bashir After Swift Takeover Of Capital”

AZ Central – by Uriel J. Garcia

A federal civil trial against a Phoenix police officer was scheduled to begin Tuesday in which a jury will determine if the officer’s use of force against a 56-year-old woman, who suffered four fractures to her skull, was excessive and violated her civil rights.

The woman, Martha Winkler, now 61, claimed in a lawsuit against the city of Phoenix that she suffered a fractured skull and injuries to her face and arm because of Officer Jason Gillespie’s actions.  Continue reading “She went to buy lottery tickets and ended up with a fractured skull. Now, civil trial begins for Phoenix officer”

The Guardian – by William M Arkin

Donald Trump’s three-quarters-of-a-trillion-dollar defense budget request submitted to Congress last month contains a dirty secret, one that should make us all think twice about perpetual war and public support for it.

The youth of America don’t want to serve in the military any more.

The situation has become so dire that just to maintain America’s ground forces – the army and Marine Corps – the two services are resorting to unprecedented pay raises, bonuses and socialist trappings.  Continue reading “Fewer Americans want to serve in the military. Cue Pentagon panic”

AP News

CROSBY, Texas (AP) — President Donald Trump’s support for shifting more power to states on Wednesday faded next to his affinity for oil and gas production, as he aimed to make it harder for states to block pipelines and other energy projects due to environmental concerns.

At the urging of business groups, Trump signed two executive orders designed to speed up oil and gas pipeline projects. The action came after officials in Washington state and New York used the permitting process to stop new energy projects in recent years, prompting complaints from Republican members of Congress and the fossil fuel industry.  Continue reading “Trump signs orders making it harder to block pipelines”