Indian police kill 4 men suspected of gang rape, murder; draw cheers

HYDERABAD, India - Indian police shot dead four men on Friday who were suspected of raping and killing a 27-year-old veterinarian in the city of Hyderabad, a police official told Reuters, drawing applause from her family and citizens outraged over crimes against women.

The men had been in police custody and were shot dead near the scene of last week's crime where they tried to snatch the weapons of accompanying policemen, said N. Prakash Reddy, a deputy commissioner of police in Shamshabad, near Hyderabad.

Reddy said that the four men - two truck drivers and two truck cleaners, aged between 20 and 26 years - had been taken to the spot to re-construct the crime around 6 a.m. (0030 GMT)

"And there was a cross-fire. In this, all the four accused have died," Reddy said. "Two policemen have been injured."

No details were immediately available about how many police had escorted the four accused and whether they were handcuffed or roped together as is usually the case.

Earlier, a local police official had put the time of the deaths at around 3:30 a.m. There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy.

Indian police have frequently been accused of extra-judicial killings, called "encounters," especially in gangland wars in Mumbai and insurrections in the state of Punjab and in disputed Kashmir. Police officers involved in such killings were called "encounter specialists" and were the subject of several movies.

During the past week, thousands of Indians have protested in several cities following the alleged rape and murder of the veterinarian.

The woman had left home for an appointment on her motor-scooter and later called her sister to say she had a flat tire. She said a lorry driver had offered to help and that she was waiting near a toll plaza.

Police said she was abducted, raped and asphyxiated and her dead body then set alight on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

Her family welcomed the news of the killings of the alleged perpetrators.

"It has been 10 days to the day my daughter died. I express my gratitude towards the police & government for this. My daughter’s soul must be at peace now," Reuters partner ANI quoted her father as saying.

A crowd gathered at the site of the shooting and threw flower petals at police vans in support of the action. Some shouted "Long live police"; others hoisted police officials onto their shoulders.

UNABATED

Crimes against women have been unabated in India despite tough new laws that were enacted following the 2012 gang rape and murder of a woman in a Delhi bus that led to an outpouring of anger across the country.

Despite the setting up of fast track courts, cases have moved slowly, for lack of witnesses and the inability of many families to go through the long legal process. Some victims and their families have ended up being attacked for pursuing cases against powerful men, often local politicians.

Many Indians applauded the killings on Friday, taking to Twitter to support the police.

"Great work #hyderabadpolice ..we salute u," wrote Indian badminton star and former world No. 1 Saina Nehwal.

On Twitter, #encounter was the top-trending hashtag in India and No. 4 worldwide.

In Uttar Pradesh state, where a rape victim was set ablaze on Thursday while she was on her way to court, opposition politician Mayawati said the police there should take "inspiration" from what happened in Hyderabad.

Indian police registered more than 32,500 cases of rape in 2017, according to the most recent government data. But courts disposed of only about 18,300 cases related to rape that year, leaving more than 127,800 cases pending at the end of 2017.

But some people said the lack of progress in the courts did not mean the police had a free hand to dispense justice.

"This isn't instant justice - this is the absence of justice. We're not going to make women safer by abandoning the rule of law - is that so hard to understand?" said Rukmini S., an Indian columnist, in a tweet.

Supreme Court lawyer Vrinda Grover said the police who were involved in Friday's incident should face an inquiry, but in all likelihood would be rewarded with medals. "Killing accused like this is a short cut, but in the long run this won't work, it will carry its own consequences."

There was no immediate word from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government on the incident, but Maneka Gandhi a lawmaker from his Bharatiya Janata Party said the police appeared to have over-reached.

"You can't take law in your hands, they (accused) would've been hanged by Court anyhow. If you're going to shoot them before due process of law has been followed, then what's the point of having courts, law & police?"

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Shock and fury: Veterinarian gang raped, set on fire in India

HYDERABAD - Hundreds of people on Saturday laid siege to a police station where four men are being held over the latest gruesome rape-murder to shock India.

Baton-wielding police pushed back crowds from the building in the southern city of Hyderabad where they said the 27-year-old veterinary doctor was gang-raped, killed and then her body burned.

While the suspects were quickly detained, the killing sparked new outrage in a country that has been in the international spotlight over its handling of sex assaults since the brutal gang-rape and murder of a student on a Delhi bus in 2012.

"How anyone could subject another human being to such terrible, unprovoked violence is beyond imagination," said former opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi on Twitter.

Police had to bring in reinforcements to bolster security around the Hyderabad police station. The suspects were to appear before a magistrate for what was expected to be the start of "fast-track" proceedings later Saturday.

But police were also criticised as protests spread to other cities.

ASHES DISCOVERED

A woman who tried to stage a one-person demonstration outside the Indian parliament in New Delhi said she was beaten by police after refusing to go home.

Anu Dubey had sat outside the assembly carrying a sign questioning why she could not "feel safe" in her own country.

"The only purpose of this protest is to ensure that I am not burned to death tomorrow," she told reporters later, fighting back tears.

"That woman died, other girls have also died. Every 20 minutes, there is a rape in India. I don't want to die. And I can't be a spectator to any more rape cases. I'm tired of seeing such cases over and over again," she said. 

According to government figures, more than 32,000 rape cases were reported in 2017, however, experts say that the crime is vastly unreported. 

Other cases reported Saturday included a 16-year-old girl who died in a Delhi hospital 10-days after being allegedly raped by a neighbour and then set ablaze.

Police said the 27-year-old Hyderabad vet, who cannot be named, was abducted on Wednesday night after she left her scooter near an express-way toll booth. 

The four men are alleged to have deflated a tyre whilst she was away and offered to help when she returned to collect it.

The victim called her younger sister to say she was stranded and that a group of men had offer to fix her scooter.

The woman said she was "afraid", according her sister's testimony to police. The sister called back later but the victim's phone was switched off.

Police said the ashes of the woman's body were found on Thursday morning. The body had been wrapped in a blanket and doused with kerosene. 

The killing has set off a firestorm of social media comment, many calling for a tough reaction.

"The culprits must be given severest punishment," commented Rajasthan state's chief minister Ashok Gehlot, one of tens of thousands to post Twitter comments.

Women's groups turned against a minister in Telegana state, which includes Hyderabad, who said the dead woman could have been saved if she had called police first instead of her sister.

"Is there no shame," hit back Swati Maliwal, head of the Delhi Women's Commission. "Now the blame is being put on the dead victim."

ash/tw/ecl

Agence France-Presse

16 sentenced to death for burning alive Bangladesh teen

FENI, Bangladesh – Sixteen people were sentenced to death Thursday for burning alive a Bangladeshi teenager who refused to withdraw sexual assault charges against her head teacher.

The case highlights what activists say is a culture of impunity over sexual violence in the South Asian country of 168 million people, as well as abuse rife in around 20,000 seminaries that educate mostly poor and rural students.

Nusrat Jahan Rafi was doused in kerosene and set on fire on April 6 after she made a sexual harassment complaint against the principal of her rural Islamic seminary.

The head teacher, who a court in the southern coastal town of Feni found had ordered the brutal killing from jail after being arrested over the harassment claim, was among those sentenced to death.

Others included activists from the ruling Awami League party and some students -- including two females -- who either participated in the killing or guarded the gates of the seminary while it took place.

"The verdict proves that nobody will get away with murder in Bangladesh. We have the rule of law," prosecutor Hafez Ahmed told reporters after the verdict in a crowded courtroom.

Rafi was lured to the rooftop of the seminary in Sonagazi where her attackers pressed her to withdraw the complaint she had filed with police.

When she refused, she was tied up, doused in kerosene and set on fire.

She suffered burns to 80 percent of her body and died in hospital four days later.

Her death triggered widespread horror across the nation, with protesters in the capital Dhaka staging days of demonstrations seeking "exemplary punishment" for the killers.

The murder put pressure on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to do more to protect women, with her government ordering some 27,000 schools to set up committees to prevent sexual violence.

'NOT A BIG DEAL'

Rafi had gone to police in late March to report the sexual harassment, and a leaked video shows the local station chief registering her complaint but dismissing it as "not a big deal".

Police said the attackers' plan had been to pass off her death as suicide, but this failed after Rafi managed to stagger down the stairs while still engulfed in flames.

Activists say many of the women and children who report sexual violence in Bangladesh often suffer a backlash, and that successful prosecutions are rare.

Rafi's case was fast-tracked, with the hearing taking only 62 days at a special tribunal hearing cases of violence against women and children.

Maleka Banu, head of a woman's rights group, told AFP: "It is an exemplary punishment. We hope it will send a serious message to the perpetrators and collaborators of sexual violence."

She said she hoped the verdict would work as a deterrent and would bring down "alarming rise" in sexual violence in the country.

Since the arrest of the principal, at least five more madrasa teachers have been held on charges of rape and sexual assault of their students.

The head of the Mahila Parishad, another women's rights group, gave a "guarded welcome" at the quick conclusion of the case, but said more needed to be done to ensure increased convictions for sexual harassment and rape cases.

According to that group, there were 731 incidents of sexual violence reported in the first six months of the year, including 592 rapes, 113 gang rapes and 26 women who were killed after being sexually assaulted.

Researcher Rezaur Rahman Lenin said on average more than 200 people are sentenced to death each year in Bangladesh, and as of May around 1,500 people were on death row

The number of executions carried out is less than 10 a year.

Defense lawyers said they would appeal against Thursday's verdict in the high court.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

White US ex-cop guilty of murder for shooting black neighbor

WASHINGTON - A former Texas policewoman was convicted of murder Tuesday for shooting dead a neighbor in his own home in what her lawyer said was a "tragic mistake."

The case sparked outrage as it became a flashpoint over police violence and racial bias because Amber Guyger is white, while her victim was black.

Guyger, who worked in Dallas, claimed that she believed she had returned to her own apartment on September 6, 2018 and that she thought Botham Jean, 26, was an intruder.

In fact, the 31-year-old had entered Jean's unlocked apartment, located in the same building but one floor above hers.

"We the jury unanimously find the defendant, Amber Guyger, guilty of murder as charged in the indictment," the jury foreman announced.

After the verdict was read, Jean's mother, Allison Jean, stood and looked upward as she celebrated the decision, raising her arms high and wide.

"I cannot sleep, I cannot eat, it's just been the most terrible time for me," she later told the jury that will decide on Guyger's sentence.

"I try to busy myself to try to get this out of my head. It is very difficult."

The jury, which retired on Monday, deliberated for five hours before delivering its guilty verdict. 

Guyger, who was off duty after a nearly 14-hour shift, lived in apartment 1378 on the third floor, while Jean lived in apartment 1478 directly above her. 

"She knows she's made a tragic mistake, but it's not out of evil," Guyger's lawyer, Robert Rogers, told the court when the trial opened, describing it as human error and an act of self-defense.

Guyger -- a police officer for four years until her sacking following the shooting -- sobbed when she took the stand last week.

APPEALS FOR JUSTICE 

"I ask God for forgiveness, and I hate myself every single day," she said, voice trembling.

"I wish he was the one with the gun who had killed me. I never wanted to take an innocent person's life."

After hearing the verdict, Guyger stood as the jury filed out of the courtroom and then sank into her chair.

Prosecutor Jason Hermus said Jean, a native of the Caribbean island of St. Lucia who worked for an accounting firm, "paid the ultimate price" for Guyger's errors.

"She walks past 16 different apartments and fails to register the number four on any one of them," Hermus said during the testimony phase of the trial last week.

Prosecutors played Guyger's frantic 911 call, in which she repeatedly tells a dispatcher she is in the wrong apartment.

Bodycam footage from responding officers showed them trying to save his life as he lay bleeding, US media reported.

The shooting and its aftermath sparked demonstrations and appeals for justice in a nation where white police officers who shoot people of color often go free.

Demonstrators rallied outside the Dallas police headquarters and city hall.

Jurors were given the option of finding Guyger guilty of the lesser offense of manslaughter, but a grand jury indicted her on the more serious charge of murder following the protests.

She faces up to life in prison when she is expected to be sentenced later Tuesday. 

str-bgs/wd

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Ex-cop missed clues before shooting man eating ice cream in own home-prosecutor

DALLAS - A Dallas police officer missed clues including the smell of marijuana when she entered an apartment she believed was her own and shot dead a man eating a bowl of ice cream, a prosecutor said on Monday at the start of the former officer's murder trial.

Amber Guyger, who is white, has told investigators in Texas that she mistook 26-year-old Botham Jean, who is black, for a burglar after she mistakenly entered his central Dallas apartment one floor above hers.

Assistant District Attorney Jason Hermus told the jury of four men and 12 women that Guyger had a 16-minute phone conversation with her former partner, with whom she had a romantic relationship, on the way home from work that night after a 13-1/2 hour shift.

"Whatever is on her mind after that conversation has consumed her attention entirely," Hermus said in his opening statement.

The shooting, one of a series of high-profile killings of unarmed black men and teens by white U.S. police, sparked street protests, particularly because prosecutors initially moved to charge Guyger, 31, with manslaughter, a charge for killing without malice that carries a lesser sentence than murder.

In contrast to cases like the killings of Michael Brown in Missouri and Philando Castile in Minnesota, Guyger shot Jean, a PwC accountant who was a native of the Caribbean island nation of Saint Lucia, while she was off duty, rather than while responding to a reported crime.

Hermus told the jury that when Guyger got to her apartment complex, she parked on the fourth floor instead of the third floor, where she had lived for two months.

When she arrived at what she thought was her unit, she failed to notice the bright red semi-circle welcome mat in front of Jean's apartment, he said.

Jean's apartment was also unlocked, messy and smelled of marijuana, three more signs that should have tipped Guyger off that it was not her apartment, Hermus said.

Despite the clues, she still burst through the door and opened fire, striking Jean once in the chest as he watched television and ate a bowl of vanilla ice cream.

"He was in the sanctuary of his home doing no harm to anyone," Hermus said. "There he lie on his back in his home bleeding to death alone with his killer."

Guyger then called 911.

"I shot a guy thinking it was my apartment," Hermus said, recounting what Guyger told the dispatcher, noting that she never said that Jean posed a threat to her.

Guyger's lawyers are due to make their opening statement later on Monday.

Before opening statements began, state District Judge Tammy Kemp sequestered the jurors, shielding them from possible outside influence and local news coverage of the case.

Kemp also denied a motion to exclude evidence from Guyger's texts and phone calls and a motion for a mistrial from Guyger's attorneys who claimed Dallas District Attorney John Creuzot defied a gag order by giving an interview about the case to a local television station over the weekend.

The district attorney's office reexamined the case after the public protests, and a grand jury in late November indicted Guyger on murder charges, with the maximum punishment of life in prison. 

After the incident, she was initially placed on administrative leave but was fired days later.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

US student convicted in gruesome killing of Chinese scholar

WASHINGTON, United States—A former graduate student at a US university was found guilty Monday in the kidnapping and gruesome killing of a visiting Chinese scholar.

Brendt Christensen could now face the death penalty, with sentencing hearings due to begin next month.

A federal jury deliberated for less than 2 hours before convicting the 29-year-old, whose own lawyer admitted during the closely-watched trial that his client was responsible for Zhang Yingying's death.

Christensen kidnapped Zhang in June 2017 at a bus stop near the University of Illinois campus in Champaign, a small midwestern city surrounded by farmland.

Prosecutors said he lured Zhang into a car before choking and beating her with a baseball bat, stabbing her, and decapitating her body to dispose of it.

Her body has never been found. 

Christensen was convicted of kidnapping resulting in death, as well as 2 charges of lying to the FBI, who investigated the case. 

The trial generated enormous interest in the Chinese community in Illinois, and China. Beijing authorities sent consular representatives and the victim's relatives came from China to attend the hearing.

A large scrum of journalists gathered outside the Peoria, Illinois courthouse Monday as Zhang's tearful family members read a statement.

Zhang, who was 26, was visiting the University of Illinois to conduct research. Christensen was a graduate student instructor in physics. 

The court listened to secret recordings made by an ex-girlfriend of Christensen in which he described in detail how he sexually assaulted and killed Zhang.

But defense lawyers expressed doubts about Christensen's claims in the FBI recordings, in which he also described Zhang as his thirteenth victim, despite no evidence found to support it. 

In closing arguments Monday, the defense team said Christensen had struggled with mental health and alcohol issues. 

Zhang's family also filed a civil complaint against the accused and against 2 university social workers in whom Christensen had confided.

The workers allegedly failed to inform authorities when Christensen mentioned ideas of murder and suicide and "an obsession with serial killers."

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Has 'the sacrificial lamb' arrived?: UN cites new recordings in Khashoggi murder

RIYADH - Moments before Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed and dismembered last October, two of his suspected murderers laying in wait at the kingdom's Istanbul consulate fretted about the task at hand, according to a UN report published on Wednesday.

Will it "be possible to put the trunk in a bag?" asked Maher Mutreb, a Saudi intelligence officer who worked for a senior advisor to Saudi crown prince, according to a report from the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions.

"No. Too heavy," responded Salah al-Tubaigy, a forensics doctor from the Interior Ministry who would dismember and dispose of the body. He expressed hope his task would "be easy".

Tubaiqy continued: "Joints will be separated. It is not a problem. The body is heavy. First time I cut on the ground. If we take plastic bags and cut it into pieces, it will be finished. We will wrap each of them."

Mutreb and 10 others are now standing trial in closed hearings in Saudi Arabia for their role in the crime.

Saudi Arabia's minister of state for foreign affairs, Adel al-Jubeir, rejected the investigator's report as "nothing new".

He added in a tweet: "The report of the rapporteur in the human rights council contains clear contradictions and baseless allegations which challenge its credibility."

The report, which calls for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other senior Saudi officials to be investigated over their liability for Khashoggi's death, relies on recordings and forensic work conducted by Turkish investigators and information from the trials of the suspects in Saudi Arabia.

Khashoggi, a critic of the prince and a Washington Post columnist, was last seen at the consulate where he was to receive papers ahead of his wedding.

TEXT MESSAGE

The report concludes that his murder was deliberate and premeditated. The CIA and some Western countries believe the crown prince ordered the killing, which Saudi officials deny.

Media reports have published the contents of some recordings obtained from inside the consulate, but the UN report discloses chilling new details.

At the end of the exchange with Tobaigy, Mutreb asks if "the sacrificial lamb" has arrived. At no point is Khashoggi's name mentioned, but two minutes later he enters the building.

Khashoggi is ushered to the consul general's office on the second floor where he meets Mutreb, whom he knew from when they worked together at the Saudi Embassy in London years earlier.

Mutreb tells Khashoggi to send his son a mobile text message.

"What should I say? See you soon? I can’t say kidnapping," Khashoggi responds.

"Cut it short," comes the reply. "Take off your jacket."

"How could this happen in an embassy?" Khashoggi says. "I will not write anything."

"Type it, Mr. Jamal. Hurry up. Help us so that we can help you because at the end we will take you back to Saudi Arabia and if you don’t help us you know what will happen at the end; let this issue find a good end," Mutreb says.

The report says the rest of the recordings contain sounds of movement, heavy panting and plastic sheets being wrapped, which Turkish intelligence concluded came after Khashoggi's death as Saudi officials dismembered his body. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Minneapolis to pay police shooting victim's family $20 million

NEW YORK, United States - Minneapolis city officials on Friday announced a $20 million settlement with the family of an Australian woman who was fatally shot by a police officer in 2017, just days after the officer was convicted of crimes associated with the killing.

The settlement of a civil suit brought by the family of Justine Ruszczyk Damond, which came after 2 days of talks, includes $18 million for the family and $2 million to be donated to an anti-gun violence group, city officials said.

"This is not a victory for anyone, but rather a way for our city to move forward," Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in announcing the settlement at a news conference.

"And I do believe that we will move forward together, united in the belief that such a tragedy should never have occurred in our city," he said.

Damond, 40, had called police on the night of July 15, 2017 to report a possible sexual assault outside her house. When Damond approached the patrol car that responded, Officer Mohamed Noor fired a shot through a window of the car, killing her.

The incident drew international criticism, including from Australia's prime minister, who called the incident "shocking."

Noor, 33, who is no longer with the force, testified at his trial that he acted in self-defense after he and his partner Matthew Harrity, who was driving, heard a loud noise.

But a jury on Tuesday convicted him of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The prosecutor said it was the first time a police officer in Minnesota was convicted of murder.

A wave of killings of black men and teens by US police in recent years has prompted street protests, but in this case Damond was white and Noor is a black Somali immigrant.

City officials said $2 million of the settlement, which the City Council unanimously approved and the mayor said he would sign off on, will go to the Fund for Safe Communities of the Minneapolis Foundation, which said on its website that it supports "community-led efforts to address gun violence."

"We know that no amount of money can heal the pain of the Ruszczyk family, or any family that has lost a loved one in this way," said City Council President Lisa Bender. "It is our continued commitment to work together with our community to demand and support change to our policing."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Mom kills 2 kids before self in California

SAN JOSE, California - An Asian woman and her 2 young sons were found dead inside their apartment in San Jose, California Wednesday in what police are calling a double murder-suicide.

Multiple reports say the father, also of Asian descent, discovered the incident and called for help from their neighbors. Authorities were called to the scene.

The family was initially reported to be from the Philippines, but the San Jose Police confirmed to ABS-CBN News a day after that they were Vietnamese.

The causes of death have yet to be released, but authorities say the boys, aged 4 and 7, had no signs of trauma. It is believed the mother poisoned her children before hanging herself.

Neighbors described the mother as happy and sweet, but they believed she may have suffered from depression after losing her job last year and being the only provider for her family.

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Editor's note:

A group in the Philippines is dedicated to addressing those who have suicidal tendencies.

The crisis hotlines of the Natasha Goulbourn Foundation aim to make these individuals feel that someone is ready to listen to them.

These are their hotline numbers:

(02) 804-HOPE (4673)
0917 558 HOPE (4673)
2919 (toll-free number for all GLOBE and TM subscribers)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Uber driver pleads guilty to killing 6 in US shooting spree

CHICAGO - An Uber driver who went on a shooting spree that killed 6 people in the Midwestern US state of Michigan pleaded guilty to all charges Monday.

In a surprise turn as the trial was scheduled to begin, Jason Dalton pleaded guilty to embarking on a deadly February 2016 shooting spree in the small city of Kalamazoo, in between driving for customers of the ride-sharing service Uber.

Dalton was charged with 6 counts of murder, 2 counts of attempted murder and 8 firearms charges. He faces a mandatory life sentence without parole.

Prosecutors said no deal was offered for the guilty plea.

When asked by the presiding judge whether he was pleading guilty "voluntarily of your own free will," Dalton replied: "Yes. I've wanted this for quite a while."

Dalton reportedly had told police that he was made a "puppet" by the Uber application, which directed him to shoot people at random over the course of several hours.

His victims were a 25-year-old mother wounded while shielding a group of children from bullets, a father and son fatally shot at a car dealership and four senior citizens killed in a restaurant parking lot where a teen was also wounded.

NBC television affiliate WOOD reported that Dalton chose to plead guilty to spare his family and victims' families the ordeal of a trial.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

US gay student Matthew Shepard laid to rest 20 years after murder

WASHINGTON - More than 2 decades after his savage murder shocked America and launched a reckoning about homophobic violence, Matthew Shepard was finally laid to rest Friday at Washington National Cathedral.

There were plenty of tears but also a few laughs -- and a few political jabs -- as hundreds of people including Shepard's parents Judy and Dennis gathered to say a final farewell to the Wyoming man, who became a symbol for the gay rights movement.

"It's so important that we now have a home for Matt, a home that's safe, a home that others can visit, a home that is safe from haters, a home that he loved dearly," Dennis Shepard said at the towering Episcopal church.

"Matt loved the church, he loved the ceremony, he loved the fact that it was a safe place for anyone who wanted to enter," he added, thanking the cathedral for "showing acceptance and inclusiveness."

Shepard, a 21-year-old political science and foreign languages student at the University of Wyoming who wanted to become a diplomat, was lured away from a bar in Laramie in October 1998 by 2 young men pretending to be gay.

They stripped him, violently beat him, and left him to die, bound to a fence in a field in the bitter cold. 

Shepard was found 18 hours later by passers-by, who initially mistook him for a scarecrow. He died in hospital a few days later of head injuries.

The two men, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, were convicted of murder. Each received 2 consecutive life sentences.

At his funeral, extremist Baptist protesters picketed, brandishing signs that read: "God hates fags." 

Fearing that any final resting place would be vandalized, Shepard's parents held on to his ashes -- until Friday.

They were laid to rest in the cathedral's crypt -- a rare honor -- in a private ceremony after the public service. 

Shepard is now one of around 200 people interred at the Cathedral, including deaf-blind activist Helen Keller and former US president Woodrow Wilson.

'WELCOME HOME'

The remembrance ceremony was presided over by Gene Robinson, the first openly gay US bishop in the Episcopal Church, who is close with Shepard's parents.

Robinson, struggling to contain his own emotion, paid tribute to Shepard in an emotional homily that had congregants laughing and crying. 

"Matt was luckier than most young gay men in 1998. He had parents and a brother who loved him," Robinson said, hailing Judy and Dennis Shepard for turning "this horrendous event into something good."

The reverend then turned political, making a plea to those gathered to vote in the country's midterm elections on November 6.

In 2009, 10 years after Shepard's death, then president Barack Obama signed a law bearing his name, expanding existing federal hate crimes law to include crimes sparked by sexual orientation and gender identity.

But Robinson warned that the rights of LBGTQ Americans were once again at risk of being curbed.

"Right now, the transgender community is the target," Robinson said, referring to reports that the administration of President Donald Trump is mulling whether to narrowly define gender as purely biological.

"There are forces about who would erase them from America, deny the right they have to define themselves -- and they need us to stand with them," he added, earning applause.

Robinson finished with a heartfelt message for the slain student.

"There are three things I want to say to Matt: Gently rest in this place. You are safe now. Oh yeah, and Matt? Welcome home," he said.

Greg Fuller, a resident of the US capital, said he came to Friday's ceremony to celebrate Shepard's life, and appreciated Robinson's call to action.

"There's too much divisiveness -- we need to learn from history," Fuller told AFP. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Saudi crown prince calls Khashoggi murder 'repulsive'

RIYADH - Saudi Arabia's crown prince Wednesday denounced the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and vowed justice would prevail, without addressing US accusations of a botched cover-up over the killing by the Gulf kingdom.

After phoning Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss the October 2 killing in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul which has triggered an international diplomatic crisis, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pledged there would be "no rupture" in ties with Ankara.

"The incident was very painful for all Saudis, it's a repulsive incident and no one can justify it," Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in his first comments since the journalist's murder.

"Those responsible will be held accountable... in the end justice will prevail," the heir apparent to the Saudi throne told a major investment forum in Riyadh, speaking in Arabic in his first public comments on the scandal.

Three weeks since Khashoggi, a Saudi citizen living in self-imposed exile, disappeared after walking into the consulate to get some marriage documents the crisis shows no signs of abating.

Washington moved late Tuesday to revoke the visas of a number of Saudis even though the two countries have long been allies, with Britain following suit on Wednesday.

Saudi leaders have denied involvement in Khashoggi's murder, pushing responsibility down the chain of command.


'No rift' 

But Turkey has been leading their own investigation and Erdogan said the killing was meticulously planned, calling for 18 Saudis who have been detained by Saudi authorities to be tried in Istanbul.

Erdogan spoke with Prince Mohammed in their first telephone conversation since the killing, a Turkish presidential source said.

The two discussed "the issue of joint efforts and the steps that need to be taken in order to shed light on the Jamal Khashoggi murder in all its aspects," the source added. 

Speaking at the investment forum, Prince Mohammed said: "Many are trying to exploit the Khashoggi affair to drive a wedge between Saudi Arabia and Turkey".

"But they will not succeed as long as there is a king named Salman and a crown prince named Mohammed bin Salman."

Since becoming heir apparent last year, Prince Mohammed has won plaudits for reforms including to end a decades-long ban on women drivers.

But his image has been tarnished by Khashoggi's murder despite repeated denials he had any involvement. And Riyadh's changing narrative has triggered deep skepticism abroad.

US President Donald Trump said the Saudis had a "very bad original concept" in killing the 59-year-old Saudi insider-turned-critic.

"It was carried out poorly and the cover-up was one of the worst in the history of cover-ups," Trump said.


'Punitive measures ' 

Trump for the first time also appeared to indicate Prince Mohammed may have had a role in the Khashoggi case, telling the Wall Street Journal: "Well, the prince is running things over there more... so if anybody were going to be, it would be him."

The conference, nicknamed "Davos in the desert" aimed at drumming up funds to help Riyadh diversify its oil-reliant economy, has been overshadowed by the outcry over Khashoggi's murder with an array of big names pulling out of the event.

Faced with mounting calls for tough measures by US lawmakers across the political spectrum, the State Department said it had identified 21 Saudis whose visas would either be revoked or who would be ineligible for future visas.

"We are making very clear that the United States does not tolerate this kind of action to silence Mr Khashoggi, a journalist, through violence," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

British Prime Minister Teresa May said Britain was "taking action against all suspects to prevent them entering the UK. If these individuals currently have visas, those visas will be revoked today".

France also weighed in, saying it would take "punitive measures" if Saudi Arabia was "proven" to be behind the murder.

'Unravelling the case'

Turkish pro-government media reported Wednesday that Turkish intelligence had shared "all the evidence" with the CIA gathered from its investigation into the killing of the Washington Post columnist.

The evidence included video and audio recordings from the consulate and the consul's residence and were shared with visiting CIA chief Gina Haspel, Sabah newspaper reported.

The whereabouts of Khashoggi's corpse is still unknown.

State media in Turkey said Wednesday that Saudi authorities had denied permission to Turkish police to search a well in the consulate's garden.

Erdogan vowed Turkey would not allow the culprits to get away with their "savage murder".

"It is not over yet," he said. "We are unravelling, dismantling (the case) and the world is closely following."

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Saudi cleric slams 'fabrications' over missing journalist

The prayer leader at Mecca's Grand Mosque called Friday for "unity" in the face of "fabrications" against Saudi Arabia, over two weeks after a dissident journalist's disappearance sparked a diplomatic crisis.

Riyadh has faced mounting international pressure since Jamal Khashoggi went missing after entering Saudi Arabia's Istanbul consulate on October 2.

Pro-government Turkish media have reported he was tortured and dismembered by a Saudi hit squad, claims rejected by Riyadh.

"Repeated accusations, allegations and biased media campaigns will not discourage (Saudi Arabia) from holding to its principles," Sheikh Abderrahman al-Sadis said during a sermon accompanying Friday prayers at the mosque in Mecca, the holiest site in Islam.

The kingdom "depends on God alone, then on the wisdom of its leadership and the unity of its sons to fight false allegations", he added.

He urged Saudis to "depend on the facts and avoid jumping into speculation and basing positions on... fabrications", adding that a "campaign" against the kingdom was "a provocation against the feelings of more than a billion Muslims" around the world.

Sermons accompanying Friday prayers at the Grand Mosque are seen as reflecting the Saudi leadership's take on world events.

Saudi public figures have taken to Twitter to express support for authorities' handling of the Khashoggi affair, while newspapers in the kingdom have condemned a "media campaign" against it.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Chinese ridesharing giant admits 'responsibility' for murder

BEIJING - Chinese ridesharing giant Didi Chuxing said Saturday it bore "responsibility" for the rape and murder of a passenger by a driver who had been reported by another user just a day before the killing.

Police in the city of Wenzhou said Saturday they had arrested a 27-year-old man who worked as a driver on suspicion of raping and killing a female passenger who had used the app to hail a ride.

The killing has sparked criticism of the company -- known as the "Chinese Uber" due to its overwhelming popularity in the country -- and raised fresh concerns over the safety of its users.

In a statement released Saturday the company admitted it had failed to act after receiving a complaint about the same driver from another female passenger, who claimed he drove her to an isolated area and followed her in his vehicle after she left the car.

"Our customer service did not... investigate this report quickly enough, no matter the reason, we take on an undeniable responsibility", it said.

"We have a responsibility and we feel guilty. As a platform, we betrayed the trust of the public."

In May a 21-year-old air stewardess was killed by a Didi Chuxing driver, prompting criticism of the company's security measures and a tightening up of its rules of use.

The latest murder has prompted renewed and widespread anger online.

"How can a driver who has been reported still go on taking passengers?" asked one user of the Twitter-like Weibo social network.

"Get out of the market! I do not want to see your next apology," said another.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Danish inventor gets life term for Swedish journalist's murder

COPENHAGEN - A Copenhagen court on Wednesday found Danish inventor Peter Madsen guilty of the murder and sexual assault of Swedish journalist Kim Wall on his homemade submarine last year, handing him a life sentence.

Madsen, 47, had admitted chopping up the 30-year-old's body and throwing her remains overboard in waters off Copenhagen on the night of August 10, 2017, but claimed her death was accidental.

A life sentence in Denmark averages around 16 years. 

Madsen, wearing a black T-shirt and blazer, stood in the courtroom to hear the verdict. As it was read out by the judge, he sat down next to his lawyer, visibly affected and dejected.

Madsen's lawyer said he would appeal the verdict.

Wall, a freelance reporter, had set off with Madsen on his vessel on the evening of August 10 to interview him for a story she planned to write.

During the trial, prosecutors argued that Madsen killed Wall as part of a dark sexual fantasy, stressing that he enjoyed watching videos of women being beheaded and tortured.

But Madsen, who changed his version of events several times, told the court she died when the air pressure suddenly dropped and toxic fumes filled his vessel as he was up on deck.

Despite the testimony of many experts, the lack of tangible evidence in the case and the decomposed state of Wall's remains made it impossible to determine her exact cause of death.

An autopsy report said she probably died as a result of suffocation or having her throat slit.

But the professional judge and two lay judges found the incriminating circumstances were enough to find Madsen guilty, including the gruesome videos he watched, and the fact that he brought a saw, plastic strips and a sharpened screwdriver on board.

Psychiatric experts who evaluated Madsen -- who described himself to friends as "a psychopath, but a loving one" -- found him to be "a pathological liar" who poses "a danger to others" and who was likely to be a repeat offender.

Madsen is the 15th person in 10 years to receive a life sentence in the Nordic nation, which has a reputation as tranquil and safe. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Double murder at luxury Hong Kong hotel

HONG KONG - A foreign man has been arrested for the suspected murder of a woman and a boy on Sunday at the luxurious Ritz-Carlton hotel on Hong Kong's harbor front, police said.

Officers rushed to the hotel after receiving a report on Sunday morning that a man and a woman were fighting.

The woman and a boy were found dead at the scene and the man was arrested on suspicion of murder and sent to a hospital.

Police did not confirm the relationship between the three people but told AFP they were all foreign nationals.

According to local news site Apple Daily, the couple, in their 40s, and their seven-year-old son were of Korean nationality and had checked into the five-star hotel a few days before.

The upscale hotel is located on the top floors of Hong Kong's tallest skyscraper -- the ICC -- and is famous for panoramic views of the city and its Victoria Harbor.

"Our thoughts are with the family of the guests involved at this very difficult time," a spokesperson at the Ritz-Carlton in Hong Kong told AFP, but declined to comment further as an investigation was ongoing.

In a separate incident, Hong Kong police are also investigating the murder-suicide of a couple who were found dead at a public housing estate near the border with mainland China, local media reported.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Police seek US suspect accused of committing murder on Facebook

CHICAGO - Police on Sunday were searching for a gunman they said murdered a man live on Facebook in the US state of Ohio.

Officials in the city of Cleveland said the suspect, Steve Stephens, 37, shot his 74-year old victim at random -- a cold-blooded killing which was livestreamed on the internet.

"Suspect did broadcast the killing on Facebook Live and has claimed to have committed multiple other homicides which are yet to be verified," Cleveland police wrote on Twitter.

At a press conference late Sunday, authorities urged Stephens to turn himself in.

"Everyone is out there looking for Steve. We want this to end with as much peace as we can bring to this right now, and we want him to turn himself in," Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams told reporters, adding that local authorities were working with the FBI and regional law enforcement.

"We have all of our partners in on this, and we'll look until we find him," Williams said.

Mayor Frank Jackson told reporters police were still trying to communicate with the suspect.

"We want to communicate to him that we know who he is, and that he will eventually be caught. And that we're saying to him that he need not do any more," said Jackson.

Stephens was at large after fleeing in a white Ford Fusion with temporary license plates, police in the midwestern US city said.

Some local media reported that he had boasted on Facebook of killing more than a dozen people in an Easter Day massacre, but authorities said there was no indication of a broader killing spree.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

US jury condemns Charleston church shooter to death

CHARLESTON - A US jury on Tuesday condemned self-described white supremacist Dylann Roof to death over the massacre of nine black worshippers in a South Carolina church in June 2015 -- a crime that shocked the nation.

Roof, 22, was convicted last month of 33 federal charges -- including hate crimes resulting in death -- in connection with the shooting spree at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston.

A Bible study group at "Mother Emanuel," which had welcomed Roof, was just beginning its closing prayer when the self-avowed Nazi and Ku Klux Klan sympathizer opened fire, killing nine people ranging in age from 26 to 87.

The slayings once again exposed the deep divides in America over race and access to guns.

Roof showed little reaction to the decision, delivered just hours after the 12-member jury retired to deliberate, though he occasionally seemed to be slightly smiling.

Federal judge Richard Gergel will formally deliver Roof's sentence on Wednesday morning at the Charleston courthouse. The verdict unanimously reached by the jury is binding.

"I still feel like I had to do it," Roof told jurors earlier in a semi-coherent closing argument.

Roof represented himself in the sentencing phase of the trial, against the advice of his lawyers and the judge. He called no witnesses and offered no evidence for the jury to consider.

After the jury offered its sentencing verdict, Roof asked for new attorneys so he could move for a retrial, but Gergel told him to provide specific reasons for his request on Wednesday.

Relatives of the victims will be invited to speak at Wednesday's hearing.

'NOT ONE TEAR'

Earlier, prosecutor Jay Richardson urged jurors to sentence Roof to death for "this cold, calculated, malicious killing."

"Not one tear did he shed for those that he killed," he said. "Unrepentant. No remorse."

Richardson noted Roof only expressed sorrow that he put his parents through an emotional trial during which his mother suffered a heart attack after a survivor's gripping testimony.

"He had sorrow for them. He had pity for himself. That he had lost his freedom. His ability to watch movies and drive a car," he said.

"But his sadness was reserved for the little white children that have to live with African Americans."

During the first phase of the trial, Roof exhibited no signs of remorse as survivors recounted the rampage in heart-rending detail.

A video of Roof's chilling confession was shown to the jury.

"Somebody had to do something because black people are killing white people every day," Roof said without emotion to the FBI special agent questioning him. "They rape 100 white people a day."

In notes confiscated from Roof in prison in August 2015, he wrote that he was "not sorry."

"I have not shed a tear for the innocent people I killed," the notes said.

Roof's lawyers had suggested their client was not mentally fit, but Gergel found Roof competent to stand trial -- twice.

His family said in a statement posted in US media Tuesday that they would "continue to pray for the Emanuel AME families and the Charleston community."

"We will struggle as long as we live to understand why he committed this horrible attack, which caused so much pain to so many good people," the statement said.

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who is herself black, said in a statement that "we hope that the completion of the prosecution provides the people of Charleston -- and the people of our nation -- with a measure of closure."

Tim Scott, one of South Carolina's two senators, added that "nineteen months ago, a heartless murderer attempted to start a race war."

"Today that man was rightly sentenced to death," said Scott, who is black.

Capital punishment is only rarely meted out in federal cases, in part because violent crimes more typically are tried under state laws.

Federal authorities have executed only three inmates since 1976.

Roof is also facing state murder charges in South Carolina, and prosecutors were planning to seek the death penalty, but those proceedings were indefinitely put on hold last week.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Judge dismisses murder case against former wrestling star Snuka

A judge on Tuesday ended a murder case against ex-professional wrestler Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka in Pennsylvania, after ruling him mentally incompetent to stand trial over the 1983 death of his girlfriend, media reports said.

Lehigh County Judge Kelly L. Banach granted a request from Snuka's attorney to end the case, The Morning Call newspaper said.

"It would be unjust to resume the prosecution," the judge said in a statement, according to the newspaper, based in Allentown.

In June, Banach had found Snuka, 73, incompetent to stand trial.

Snuka's attorney and prosecutors in the case could not immediately be reached for comment late on Tuesday.

"We are considering our options and will decide at the appropriate time what actions we will take," the Lehigh County District Attorney's Office said in a statement about the judge's decision, The Morning Call reported.

Snuka was charged in 2015 with third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in the death of Nancy Argentino, 23, who, prosecutors said, was found with head injuries in their shared motel room in Allentown, shortly before she died.

In the lead-up to the filing of criminal charges, a county grand jury found Snuka had assaulted Argentino and then left her in bed to die, the paper said.

The Fiji-born Snuka was scheduled to attend a court hearing last month but was too sick to travel from Florida to appear in person, the paper added.

At last month's hearing, his attorney showed the judge a doctor's note indicating Snuka was in hospice care and had six months to live, and on Tuesday he said Snuka was suffering from a serious infection, the paper said.

A defense expert last year testified that Snuka could no longer recognize family members and he believed police officers who arrested him were actually fans seeking an autograph, the paper said.

In the 1980s, Snuka was a World Wrestling Federation star, along with Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper and Andre the Giant. He was known for climbing to the top rope and diving onto the chest of a prone opponent.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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Pistorius jailed for 6 years for murder of girlfriend

PRETORIA -- South African Paralympic gold medallist Oscar Pistorius was sent to prison for six years on Wednesday for the 2013 murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, the latest twist in a trial that has gripped the world.

The state and large sections of the South African public had called for him to receive no less than the prescribed minimum 15-year sentence for murder, saying Pistorius had shown no remorse for the killing.

Judge Thokozile Masipa disagreed, accepting the defense's arguments for a lesser punishment.

"Public opinion may be loud and persistent but it can play no role in the decision of this court," Masipa said. "I am of the view that a long term in prison will not serve justice."

It was not clear whether the state would appeal the verdict.

Dressed in a dark suit, the 29-year-old stared straight ahead as Masipa read out the sentence.

Pistorius was found guilty of murdering Steenkamp by an appeals court last December. He had initially received a five-year sentence for a manslaughter conviction in 2014 handed down by Masipa, a ruling derided by women's groups as too lenient.

In her ruling on Wednesday, Masipa said that although the Steenkamp family had suffered great loss, Pistorius' life and career was also in ruins.

"The life of the accused shall also never be the same. He is a fallen hero and can never be at peace," she said.

The athlete had the lower part of his legs amputated when he was a baby and his lawyers argued that his disability and mental stress should be considered as mitigating circumstances to reduce his sentence.

Pistorius was freed from prison last October after almost a year behind bars to serve out the remainder of his five-year term under house arrest at his uncle's house in a wealthy suburb of the capital.

Some rights groups have said Pistorius, a wealthy white man and international celebrity, has received preferential treatment compared to others without his status or wealth.

He argued that he fired four shots into the door of a toilet cubicle at his luxury Pretoria home in the mistaken belief that an intruder was hiding behind it.

Members of the Women's League of the ruling African National Congress (ANCWL), who have attended the trial in support of the murdered Steenkamp, said the sentence handed down by Masipa was not sufficient.

"First five years, now six years? She is an embarrassment to the justice system," ANCWL spokeswoman Jacqueline Mofokeng said of Masipa. "It is an insult to women in this country."

Outside the court, a group of people held up placards backing the athlete. One read: "Give Oscar his freedom back please."

Steenkamp's father Barry, who said during sentencing hearings that Pistorius must pay for his crime, declined to comment on the prospects for an appeal.

"We'll leave that to the state," he told reporters.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com