Fatal encounters: 97 deaths point to pattern of border agent violence across America

 

For six long years the family of Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez have been caught in a legal saga seeking justice for the 16-year-old who was killed by a US border patrol agent who fired 16 times from Arizona into Mexico.

Ending criminal proceedings that have dragged on since 2012, a jury last week cleared agent Lonnie Swartz of second-degree murder and could not agree on a verdict for two lesser charges of manslaughter. The shooting has compelled judges up to the US supreme court to deliberate whether the American government can be sued in civil court for wrongful deaths on Mexican soil – placing the incident, and eight other cross-border fatal shootings, at the center of scrutiny surrounding the use of force by agents in response to allegedly thrown However, lesser known are similar shootings which have occurred inside the US. Such as that of Francisco Javier Dominguez Rivera, who was shot and killed “execution-style”, in the language of a wrongful death complaint the government paid $850,000 to settle. An Arizona agent responding to an alert from the National Guard in 2007 alleged Rivera threatened him with a rock.

Whatsapp now lets you shut up annoying friends by locking down group chats

WhatsApp has rolled out a new feature which will give users a lot of power over their irritating friends. The chat app has unleashed a ‘restricted groups’ function which lets anyone named as an administrator of a group silence other members.
Anyone who invokes this dreaded option will force all members of the group to press a ‘message admin’ button to send messages. If the admin doesn’t approve the message, it won’t be seen by other members of theMeanwhile, the despot in charge can send as many messages as they want. If they switch on the restricted group function, they can also stop other members changing the name of the group. ‘All participants can normally edit the group description, icon and subject, but finally the administrator can restrict this feature today, preventing no-administrators to modify the group description,’ wrote WABetaInfo, a website which specialises in covering Whatsapp updates.

Driver jailed for five years crashing and leaving family with life-changing injuries

A driver who smashed his powerful car into a family’s front room and caused life-changing injuries has been jailed for five years, police have said. James Andrew Sparham’s high-performance VW Golf R burst into flames when it came off the road in Rawcliffe, York.

North Yorkshire Police said David Garnett, who was watching television at the time of the crash, suffered serious life-changing injuries and had to endure a long stay in hospital, while his wife Claire is still recovering from the stress of the incident. The 29-year-old driver’s two passengers – a woman in her 30s and a man in his 20s – also sustained broken bones and lacerations. The labourer, of Geldof Road, Huntington, York, was jailed at York Crown Court after he pleaded guilty to three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and criminal damage.

Cardinal George Pell, Australia's highest ranking Catholic, to stand trial on historical sex offence charge

Cardinal George Pell will stand trial over one historical sex offence charge.

Melbourne magistrate Belinda Wallington on Tuesday found there is evidence of sufficient weight on one of multiple charges against Australia's most senior Catholic cleric for him to stand trial.

Several other charges against the 76-year-old were struck out.

Pell has strenuously denied all charges, and Tuesday's committal comes after a four-week-long hearing to determine whether the allegations would go to trial in the County Court.

Pell, who took leave from his position as Vatican treasurer to fight the charges, was in court to hear the decision.

Foul play suspected in the death of Black college student found hanging in Atlanta

A Black man was found hanging off the MLK Bridge in Atlanta and initial report from local authorities was that the man "committed suicide". However some evidence suggest he may have been killed.

A video shared online shows the Morehouse College student hanging by his neck with a metal chain, not a rope or belt. He is also seen wearing his backpack.

Atlanta police were called to MLK Drive at about 6:30 p.m. Friday and wiithin hours of the body being located and without any witnesses, police closed the case and classified it as a suicide. But reports say someone around the area claim they heard someone yelling, "don't do it."

London-born scientist flies to Swiss euthanasia clinic from his Australian home to end his own life because he 'regrets having lived to 104'

Australia's oldest scientist plans to fly business class to Switzerland next week to end his life.

Dr David Goodall, a former university lecturer from Western Australia, doesn't have a terminal illness but says he regrets having reached the age of 104 as his quality of life continues to deteriorate.

'I greatly regret having reached that age,' he told the ABC.

'I'm not happy. I want to die. It's not sad particularly. What is sad is if one is prevented.

'If one chooses to kill oneself, then that should be fair enough. I don't think anyone else should interfere.'

'Infinity War' sets record with biggest opening weekend ever

A whole lot of superheroes added up to a whole lot of ticket sales. The superhero smorgasbord "Avengers: Infinity Wars" opened with predictable shock and awe, earning $250 million at the box office over the weekend and passing "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" for the biggest opening weekend of all time.

"Infinity War," which brings together two dozen superheroes in the 10-year culmination of Marvel Studio's "cinematic universe," also set a global opening record with $630 million worldwide, even though it has yet to open in China, the world's second-largest movie market. It opens there May 11.

According to Walt Disney Co.'s estimates Sunday, "Infinity War" overwhelmed the previous global best ("The Fate of the Furious," with $541.9 million) but narrowly topped "The Force Awakens" in North America. The "Star Wars" reboot opened with $248 million in 2015, which would translate to about $260 million accounting for inflation.