January 5, 2017
CHARLESTON, S. C. — One by one, friends and family members walked up to the witness stand and testified about the nine black church members gunned down during a Bible study in Charleston on June 17, 2015. They described personalities, future plans and final conversations.
The testimony came during the sentencing phase of Dylann Roof’s death penalty trial. The same jury that convicted the 22-year-old white man of hate crimes and other charges will decide whether to sentence him to life in prison or death. Here are highlights from the testimony Wednesday and Thursday.
A PREMONITION AND A DREAM
Myra Thompson seemed to know something would happen to her. A month before the shootings, daughter Denise Quarles says her mother talked about being confident she’d raised her children with strong morals that would serve them after her death. She also made it clear what she wanted, and didn’t want, for her funeral: Use red nail polish and don’t let the funeral home dye her hair gray or cake-on the makeup.
On the night of the shooting, Quarles said she woke suddenly after a dream about watching her mother drown and hearing a voice saying her mother was gone. Quarles picked up her phone, checked Facebook and learned of the shooting — and her mother’s likely fate.
«I just feel like that was God who spoke to me,» she said. «That’s why I know where my mom is. She’s in heaven, with everybody else. She’s fine. »
‘DADDY’S DEAD?’
Jennifer Pinckney huddled under a desk with her 6-year-old daughter, her hand clasped over the girl’s mouth to keep her quiet, as Roof opened fire.
Not knowing for certain if the danger had passed, Pinckney dialed 911 and breathlessly told an operator she had heard shots inside the church.
«I think there’s been a shooting. I’m in the closet, under a desk,» Pinckney told the operator. «Please hurry. »
On the call, Pinckney tries to comfort her daughter Malana, who had been watching cartoons in her father’s office as he participated in Bible study.
«Daddy’s dead? » Malana says.
«No, baby, no,» the mother says. But at that moment, Pinckney said she knew her husband, church pastor Clementa Pinckney, had been killed.
A FUTURE IN THE CHURCH
The Rev. Anthony Thompson said his wife, Myra, was a dedicated person of faith who did her best to enjoy life.
Thompson cried as he described a conversation with his wife about their future plans to move and pursue studies and careers in the church.
«She was my world, and she was gone,» he said. «I’m just glad to know she’s somewhere… where somebody can take care of her better than I ever could. »
DEVOTED FRIEND
Sharonda Coleman-Singleton was a high school track coach. But the ministry was her calling. She was able to relate to a room full of people like they were talking one-on-one.
«She wanted to teach you,» said friend Rita Whidbee.
Coleman-Singleton’s daughter told jurors her mother would pray over her children before they went to sleep.
«Before I went to her with all my problems, and now I go to God,» Cam’Ryne Singleton said.
AN ANGEL
Bethane Middleton described her sister, Depayne Middleton-Doctor, 49, as a tender woman who took care of her. She had a beautiful voice.
«I consider her a borrowed angel,» Middleton said.
THE OPEN ROAD
Daniel «Dapper Dan» Simmons, 74, was so nicknamed for his shiny shoes and fine hats. His son, Dan Simmons Jr., said his father adored his grandchildren and spoke with them often, always willing to travel wherever was necessary to spend time with people he loved.
One of the first black drivers hired by Greyhound, Simmons loved to drive, up until the day of his death, his son said.
«He just loved everything about life,» Simmons said.
OTHER VICTIMS
Cynthia Hurd, 54, was a librarian. Ethel Lance, 70, was the church sexton who kept the bathrooms and building immaculately clean.
Susie Jackson, 87, sang in the church choir and Tywanza Sanders, 26, was Jackson’s nephew and an aspiring poet.

Similarity rank: 1.1

Sentiment rank: -94.5

© Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2017/0105/A-premonition-a-dream-Church-slaying-victims-remembered
All rights are reserved and belongs to a source media.

MEXICO CITY — Anger over gasoline price hikes in Mexico fueled more protests and looting Thursday, and officials said the unrest had resulted in the death of a policeman and a bystander, the ransacking of 300 stores and arrests of over 600 people.
The country’s business chambers said the combination of highway, port and terminal blockades and looting this week forced many stores and businesses to close and threatened supplies of basic goods and fuel.
Mexicans were enraged by the 20 percent fuel price hike announced over the weekend as part of a government deregulation of the energy sector. Protesters began blocking highways and gas stations, and some people have broken into stores to carry off merchandise.
Authorities said one policeman was run over and killed and another was seriously injured when they tried to stop robberies at a gas station in Mexico City. Police in the capital said they had arrested 76 people for looting about 29 stores.
In the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, a pickup truck trying to flee police during a store looting ran over a pedestrian, killing him, officials said.
Veracruz Gov. Miguel Angel Yunes Linares ventured out Thursday and tried to persuade a crowd not to attack a grocery store that had already been looted a day earlier. He offered the crowd coupons for $23.25 if they would desist from looting.
In Mexico State, which borders Mexico City, 430 people had been detained as suspected looters. Four state police officers were fired and detained after they were caught on video taking some looted items and putting them in their patrol vehicles.
With blockades affecting gas distribution terminals to gas stations, the Communications and Transport Department announced it would cancel permits for truckers who block roads.
Truck and taxi drivers have been among the most affected by the fuel price increases, which took effect as the government ends regulated prices for gasoline and diesel, which it says represented subsidies that unduly benefited wealthier Mexicans.
The change boosted the average price for a liter of premium gasoline to about 90 cents. That makes 4 liters, or about a gallon, equal to nearly as much as Mexico’s just raised minimum wage for a day’s work – about $4.
President Enrique Pena Nieto said Wednesday that he would try to help groups hit hard by the increases.
“I understand the anger and irritation felt by the general public” over the price increases, Pena Nieto said. But, he added, “If this decision had not been taken, the effects and consequences would have been far more painful.”
Were you interviewed for this story? If so, please fill out our accuracy form
Send questions/comments to the editors.

Similarity rank: 1.1

Sentiment rank: -8.9

© Source: http://www.pressherald.com/2017/01/05/mexico-gas-price-protests-looting-leave-2-dead-600-arrested/
All rights are reserved and belongs to a source media.

Investigators say a man with a gun may have fired at officers before he was shot and killed in Tennessee.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokesman Josh DeVine says the shooting occurred Thursday afternoon after a man called 911 saying he was in the woods in Franklin County with a gun.
DeVine says six officers tried negotiation but the situation escalated. TBI is working to verify that the man fired at the officers, resulting in up to five officers returning fire.
He was rushed to a hospital and died. TBI identified him as 40-year-old Randy Wayne Cole.
The officers were from Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Monteagle Police Department and Sewanee Police Department.
TBI won’t identify officers involved.
The investigation is ongoing.

Similarity rank: 2.1

Sentiment rank: -96.4

© Source: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/nation-world/national/article124870454.html
All rights are reserved and belongs to a source media.

MANILA, Philippines — More than 50 of the 158 inmates who escaped in the biggest jailbreak ever in the Philippines have been caught or killed, officials said Friday, with a manhunt underway for the others.
Of the prisoners who escaped after suspected heavily armed Muslim rebels stormed a jail in the country’s south, 43 have been recaptured and eight were killed.
Two others are being treated in hospital for injuries, said Maria Joyce Birrey, the Cotabato provincial police spokeswoman. As well, a jail guard died in the attack on the jail and a village official who allegedly drew a gun when encountered by police was killed.
The breakout from the jail in Kidapawan took place before dawn Wednesday when more than 100 gunmen attacked the facility. Kidapawan city is about 930 kilometers (580 miles) southeast of the capital, Manila, in a restive region where Muslim rebels have been active for generations.
Acting Provincial Jail Warden Superintedent Peter John Bongngat Jr. earlier said the attackers were thought to have included members of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and guerrillas who broke away from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the main Muslim separatist group in the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines that has signed a peace deal with the government.
The two groups have denied involvement.
The jail held 1,511 inmates, including rebels facing murder charges for a series of bombings in the province, officials said. It was the third attack on the provincial jail facility since 2007. /rga

Similarity rank: 2.1

Sentiment rank: -3.7

© Source: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/859849/53-of-158-inmates-accounted-for-after-north-cotabato-jailbreak
All rights are reserved and belongs to a source media.

The Democratic National Committee “inhibited” the FBI’s investigation of email hacks by refusing to grant investigators access to the party’s computer servers, the bureau is claiming.
“The FBI repeatedly stressed to DNC officials the necessity of obtaining direct access to servers and data, only to be rebuffed until well after the initial compromise had been mitigated,” an FBI official said Thursday, according to BuzzFeed News.
“This left the FBI no choice but to rely upon a third party for information. These actions caused significant delays and inhibited the FBI from addressing the intrusion earlier.”
The FBI’s response comes a day after a DNC official told BuzzFeed that the FBI has not inspected the party’s computer servers at any point in its months-long hacking probe.
Instead, the bureau relied on analysis conducted by CrowdStrike, a cyber security firm hired by the DNC which determined in June that the Russian government is behind the cyber attacks.
“The DNC had several meetings with representatives of the FBI’s Cyber Division and its Washington (DC) Field Office, the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, and U. S. Attorney’s Offices, and it responded to a variety of requests for cooperation, but the FBI never requested access to the DNC’s computer servers ,” DNC deputy communications director Eric Walker told BuzzFeed.
The FBI did not provide comment for that initial report, leaving the appearance that investigators failed to conduct a thorough and exhaustive investigation of the hacking.
In July, WikiLeaks released nearly 20,000 emails stolen from several top DNC officials. The publication led to the forced resignation of several of those officials as well as of chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. The White House and various federal agencies, including the FBI, have asserted that Russia’s spy agencies were behind the cyber attack against the DNC as well as one against the Hillary Clinton campaign.
A report laying out the intelligence community’s conclusions has been given to President Obama. A declassified version will be released next week.
Follow Chuck on Twitter

Similarity rank: 2.1

Sentiment rank: -2.9

© Source: http://dailycaller.com/2017/01/05/fbi-claims-dnc-inhibited-its-investigation-of-stolen-emails/
All rights are reserved and belongs to a source media.

A former Haitian rebel leader turned politician has been arrested after taking part in a radio show.
Guy Philippe, a former soldier, was the rebel leader of the 2004 Haitian rebellion, and was recently elected a Senator.
He was appearing on a radio programme in the capital, Port au Prince, before being arrested outside the studio.
He is wanted by the United States on drug charges, but it is not yet clear if that was why he was arrested.
Mr Philippe was elected as Senator for the Grand’Anse district in the November elections, but has yet to take his seat.
Local media outlets reported that he was arrested during a live radio broadcast, which the host interrupted once police arrived.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) lists Mr Philippe as a wanted man on charges of conspiracy to import cocaine and money laundering, but has yet to make any comment on the arrest in Haiti.
Associated Press reported that Mr Philippe has spent much of his time in recent years in a secluded mountainous part of southern Haiti.
In an interview with the New York Times last October , Mr Philippe spoke from his destroyed hometown in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, which battered the country’s south.
At the time, he accused the government of deliberately not providing aid to the area. «They are punishing the people because of me,» he told the Times.
The implication that he is linked to the drugs trade goes back to his time in exile in the Dominican Republic before the 2004 rebellion.
Mr Philippe was accused of involvement in drugs trafficking due to his reported use of expensive luxury hotels — a charge he vehemently denied.
«You can look in all the banks of the world, but you will not find any money of mine, because I am not rich,» he told reporters at the time .

Similarity rank: 2.1

Sentiment rank: 0

© Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-38525651
All rights are reserved and belongs to a source media.