KELOLAND.com - National & World News https://www.keloland.com KELOLAND Local News and Weather Tue, 15 Aug 2023 01:42:10 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.3 https://www.keloland.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/103/2019/06/apple-touch-icon-ipad-retina.png?w=32 KELOLAND.com - National & World News https://www.keloland.com 32 32 Thousands in Bosnia protest against violence after man livestreamed killing of ex-wife on Instagram https://www.keloland.com/news/national-world-news/ap-thousands-in-bosnia-protest-against-violence-after-man-livestreamed-killing-of-ex-wife-on-instagram/ Tue, 15 Aug 2023 01:38:15 +0000 SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina (AP) — Thousands of Bosnians took to the streets on Monday to demand authorities act to curb violence against women after a man last week shot and killed his ex-wife while streaming the slaying live on Instagram.

Protests were held simultaneously in several Bosnian cities. In Sarajevo, the capital, a huge crowd of people walked through the city center to press for more protection for women, curbing of violent media content and control of police work in cases of violence.

Participants carried banners reading “Silence is approval,” “We won't live in fear” or “Stop femicide.” Protesters in Sarajevo held up a huge banner reading “Sarajevo against violence," echoing a slogan of monthslong street protests in neighboring Serbia.

“Today Sarajevo is saying no to violence and showing support to all the victims of violence,” said Mayor Benjamina Karic, who was at the front of the marching protesters.

Bosnia's Human Rigths Minister Sevlid Hurtic called for legal changes to enable strict punishment for violence against women and femicide.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said: ""We are horrified by the fact that the murder of a woman was livestreamed via a social network, which is one of the latest attacks in a streak of femicide and severe cases of gender-based violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina."

“Femicide, the intentional killing of women and girls based on their gender, represents a glaring and grave violation of human rights,” Dujarric said.

Bosnia's citizens were angered in particular because of reports that the women who was killed Friday in the northeastern town of Gradacac had reported harassment and violence to the authorities, and because the shooter had a police record.

The man posted a video on Instagram on Friday morning, telling viewers that they would see a murder live. The video then shows him taking a gun and firing a bullet into a woman’s forehead as the cry of child is heard from somewhere nearby. The video later was removed from Instagram.

The shooter, identified as Gradacac resident Nermin Sulejmanovic, also killed two more people and wounded three others before killing himself. Bosnian media said Sulejmanovic, 35, was a bodybuilder and fitness coach with past arrests on charges of drug smuggling and attacking a police officer.

The victim, Nizama Hecimovic, was buried on Monday in Gradacac; several thousand people attended her funeral.

Violence against women is widespread in Bosnia and elsewhere in the Balkans where societies are mainly conservative and male-dominated. The region also is still reeling from a series of bloody conflicts in the 1990s that followed the breakup of the former Yugoslavia.

Bosnia remains ethnically tense and impoverished after the 1992-95 conflict that killed 100,000 people. In Serbia, two mass shootings in May triggered street demonstrations calling for an end to the culture of violence, fueled by mainstream media and officials.

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2023-08-15T01:42:10+00:00
Libya asks Lebanon to release Gadhafi's detained son who is on hunger strike, officials say https://www.keloland.com/news/national-world-news/ap-libya-asks-lebanon-to-release-gadhafis-detained-son-who-is-on-hunger-strike-officials-say/ Tue, 15 Aug 2023 01:30:14 +0000 BEIRUT (AP) — Libya’s judicial authorities have formally asked Lebanon to release one of the late dictator Moammar Gadhafi’s sons, held without charges in Lebanon since 2015, because of his deteriorating health, officials said Monday.

The health of Hannibal Gadhafi has been deteriorating since he went on hunger strike on June 3, to protest his detention without trial. He was taken to hospital at least twice since then and has been only drinking small amounts of water.

According to two Lebanese judicial officials, Libya’s prosecutor general Al-Sediq al-Sour, sent a request earlier this month to his Lebanese counterpart, Ghassan Oueidat, regarding Hannibal Gadhafi. The officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

The note stated that Lebanon’s cooperation in this matter could help reveal the truth regarding the fate of a prominent Lebanese Shiite cleric, Moussa al-Sadr, who went missing in Libya in 1978.

It questioned why Gadhafi was being held and asked that he be either handed over to Libya or be allowed to return to Syria, where he had been living in exile with his Lebanese wife, Aline Skaf, and children until he was abducted and brought to Lebanon eight years ago.

The Lebanese prosecutor then referred the case to Zaher Hamadeh, the investigative judge in the missing cleric's case, who is studying the Libyan request and would respond in time.

Hannibal Gadhafi has been detained in Lebanon since 2015 after he was abducted by Lebanese militants demanding information on the whereabouts of the cleric. Lebanese police later announced it had picked up Gadhafi from the city of Baalbek in northeastern Lebanon, where he was being held. He has since been held in a Beirut jail.

The disappearance of al-Sadr in 1978 has been a long-standing sore point in Lebanon. The cleric’s family believes he may still be alive in a Libyan prison, though most Lebanese presume al-Sadr is dead. He would be 94 years old.

He was the founder of the Amal group, Arabic for “hope,” and an acronym for the militia’s Arabic name, the Lebanese Resistance Brigades. The group later fought in Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war. Lebanon’s powerful Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri heads the group.

Most of al-Sadr’s followers are convinced that Moammar Gadhafi ordered al-Sadr killed in a dispute over Libyan payments to Lebanese militias.

Libya has maintained that the cleric and his two traveling companions left Tripoli in 1978 on a flight to Rome and suggested he was a victim of a power struggle among Shiites.

Moammar Gadhafi was killed by opposition fighters during Libya's 2011 uprising-turned-civil war, ending his four-decade rule of the North African country.

Hannibal Gadhafi, who was born two years before al-Sadr disappeared, fled to Algeria after his father was toppled and Tripoli fell to opposition fighters, along with his mother and several other relatives. He later made it to Syria where he was given political asylum and stayed there until he was abducted.

Syrian authorities at the time blasted Hannibal Gadhafi’s seizure “by an armed gang” and have been demanding he be returned to Syria.

The late Moammar Gadhafi had eight children from two marriages. Most of them had significant roles in his regime. His son Muatassim was killed at the same time as Gadhafi was captured and slain. Two other sons, Seif al-Arab and Khamis, were killed earlier on in the uprising.

Seif al-Islam, the one-time heir apparent to his father, has been in Libya since his release from detention there in 2017. Gadhafi's son Mohammed and daughter Aisha live in Oman. Al-Saadi, a former soccer player, was released from prison in Libya in 2021 after being jailed following repatriation from Niger in 2014.

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2023-08-15T01:30:14+00:00
A fiery explosion in Dominican Republic kills 3 and injures dozens of others https://www.keloland.com/news/national-world-news/ap-a-fiery-explosion-in-dominican-republic-kills-3-and-injures-dozens-of-others/ Tue, 15 Aug 2023 01:27:17 +0000 SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — A powerful explosion rocked a bustling market area in a city near the capital of the Dominican Republic on Monday, killing at least three people and injuring more than 30 others, authorities said.

The explosion occurred at a bakery in the town of San Cristobal, which lies just west of Santo Domingo. Officials said in a statement that the fire then spread to a hardware store located next door and a nearby furniture store. It wasn't immediately clear what caused the explosion.

Charred cars and debris from several collapsed buildings lined the streets as thick black smoke rose from the city’s center and enveloped several blocks, prompting businesses to evacuate while crowds gathered to film the incident.

The death toll is expected to increase, with firefighters unable to enter certain buildings while they continued to fight the blaze. As health officials announced the death of three people, civil defense authorities could be seen lifting the bodies of two people who lay on the street near the smoldering site hours after the explosion.

“Our main objective here has been to safeguard the greatest number of human lives,” Joel Santos, minister of the presidency, said during a press conference.

Dominican President Luis Abinader said he dispatched a government team to San Cristobal, adding that officials have been tending to victims and their families from the start.

The explosion occurred Monday afternoon in an area known as “Old Marketplace,” where throngs of people shop daily for goods ranging from fruits to clothes. The victims were a four-month-old baby who died from a head injury and two adults whose bodies were 90% burned, according to a statement from Dr. Mario Lama, director of the country's National Health Service.

At least 39 people were reported injured as of late Monday night.

Pura Casilla, the governor of San Cristobal province, told Noticias SIN that the explosion occurred in a commercial area and greatly affected businesses near the town center.

Firefighters were still battling the blaze on Monday night as authorities ordered people to clear the area, warning that other buildings could collapse.

Government officials arrived on scene, including legislator Franklin Rodríguez, who told local media he was worried about people’s health and safety given the heavy smoke still streaming from several buildings.

“These buildings are very weak,” he said.

He added that toll roads leading to San Cristobal were suspended to allow a greater number of ambulances into the area, with dozens of people rushing to nearby hospitals and clinics to search for loved ones. Some cried outside the main hospital as others hugged them for comfort.

Eddy Montás, a local representative, told Noticias SIN that he saw a couple of bodies in the area, in addition to the three deaths that authorities reported.

“We are saddened by what happened today,” he said.

San Cristobal, the birthplace of dictator Rafael Trujillo, was the site of another explosion nearly 23 years ago. An arms depot exploded in October 2000, killing at least two people and injured more than two dozen others, forcing authorities to evacuate thousands.

___

Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

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2023-08-15T01:27:17+00:00
Indictment returned in Georgia as grand jury wraps up Trump election probe https://www.keloland.com/news/national-world-news/indictment-returned-in-georgia-as-grand-jury-wraps-up-trump-election-probe/ Tue, 15 Aug 2023 01:26:08 +0000 https://www.keloland.com/news/national-world-news/indictment-returned-in-georgia-as-grand-jury-wraps-up-trump-election-probe/ ATLANTA (AP) — A grand jury in Georgia that has been investigating former President Donald Trump over his efforts to undo the 2020 election results in that state returned at least one indictment Monday, though it was not immediately clear against whom.

Documents were presented around 9 p.m. by the county courts clerk to the Fulton County judge who for months has been presiding over the investigation.

The grand jury heard from witnesses into the evening Monday in the election subversion investigation into Donald Trump, a long day of testimony punctuated by the mysterious and brief appearance on a county website of a list of criminal charges against the former president that prosecutors later disavowed.

Prosecutors in Fulton County presented evidence to the grand jury as they pushed toward a likely indictment, summoning multiple former state officials including the ex-lieutenant governor as witnesses.

But the process hit an unexpected snag in the middle of the day, when Reuters reported on a document listing criminal charges to be brought against Trump, including state racketeering counts, conspiracy to commit false statements and solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer.

Reuters, which later published a copy of the document, said the filing was taken down quickly. A spokesperson for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said the report of charges being filed was “inaccurate,” but declined to comment further on a kerfuffle that the Trump legal team rapidly jumped on to attack the integrity of the investigation.

The office of the Fulton County courts clerk later released a statement that seemed to only raise more questions, calling the posted document “fictitious,” but failing to explain how it got on the court's website. The clerk's office said documents without official case numbers “are not considered official filings and should not be treated as such.” But the document that appeared online did have a case number on it.

Asked about the “fictitious" document Monday evening, the courts clerk, Che Alexander, said: “I mean, I don’t know what else to say, like, grace … I don’t know, I haven’t seen an indictment, right, so I don’t have anything.” On the question of whether the website had been hacked, she said, “I can't speak to that.”

Trump and his allies, who have characterized the investigation as politically motivated, immediately seized on the apparent error to claim that the process was rigged. Trump’s campaign aimed to fundraise off it, sending out an email with the since-deleted document embedded.

“The Grand Jury testimony has not even FINISHED – but it’s clear the District Attorney has already decided how this case will end,” Trump wrote in the email, which included links to give money to his campaign. “This is an absolute DISGRACE.”

Trump’s legal team said it was not a “simple administrative mistake." Rather it was “emblematic of the pervasive and glaring constitutional violations which have plagued this case from its very inception,” said lawyers Drew Findling, Jennifer Little and Marissa Goldberg.

It was unclear why the list was posted while grand jurors were still hearing from witnesses in the sprawling investigation into actions taken by Trump and others in their efforts to overturn his narrow loss in Georgia to Democrat Joe Biden. It was also unclear whether grand jurors were aware that the filing was posted online. They still would need to vote on charges, so the counts listed in the posting may or may not ultimately be brought against Trump.

Legal experts said it was likely a clerical error listing charges prosecutors were planning to ask the grand jury to vote on. Prosecutors draft indictments and present them to the grand jury, which ultimately decides whether to hand charges down.

“I think this tells us what they are planning to present to the grand jury, and the grand jury could say no,” said Clark Cunningham, a Georgia State University law professor. He said while the error will give Trump's legal team fodder to complain, “it will not scuttle the case.”

"Will his lawyers make a lot of noise about it? Yes, they will. Will Mr. Trump make a lot of noise about it? Yes, he will. I’m sure there will have to be an explanation for it,” Cunningham said.

One person who said he’d been called to testify to the grand jury suggested on Monday that the process may be moving more quickly than anticipated. George Chidi, an independent journalist, had tweeted previously that he was asked to testify on Tuesday, but later posted he was going to court on Monday, adding: “They’re moving faster than they thought.”

Chidi wrote in The Intercept last month that he barged “into a semi-clandestine meeting of Republicans pretending to be Georgia’s official electors in December 2020.” He described being thrown out of the room just after entering, told that it was an “education meeting.”

Former lieutenant governor Geoff Duncan, who over the weekend said he'd also been asked to testify Tuesday, instead appeared before the grand jury Monday. He told reporters outside the courthouse that the 2020 election had been “fair and legal” and said now was the “opportunity to get the real story out.”

The document listing criminal charges filed midday Monday listed more than a dozen felony counts, including Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO. Willis has long been expected to levy that charge against Trump and his associates, accusing them of participating in a wide-ranging conspiracy to overturn the state’s 2020 election results.

Two counts — including solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer — listed the date of offense as Jan. 2, 2021, which was when Trump during a phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said he wanted to “find” enough votes to overturn his loss in the state. Other counts list the date of offense as Sept. 17, 2021, which is the same day Trump sent Raffensperger a message urging him to investigate “large scale voter fraud," decertify the election and “announce the true winner” if the investigation found the fraud.

Former Democratic state Sen. Jen Jordan, who had been subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury, said as she left the Fulton County courthouse late Monday morning that she had been questioned for about 40 minutes. Former Democratic state Rep. Bee Nguyen also confirmed that she testified. News outlets reported that Gabriel Sterling, a top official in the secretary of state’s office, was seen arriving at the courthouse earlier Monday.

“No individual is above the law, and I will continue to fully cooperate with any legal proceedings seeking the truth and protecting our democracy,” Nguyen said in a statement.

Nguyen and Jordan both attended legislative hearings in December 2020 during which former New York mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and others made false claims of widespread election fraud in Georgia. Trump lawyer John Eastman also appeared during at least one of those hearings and said the election had not been held in compliance with Georgia law and that lawmakers should appoint a new slate of electors.

Sterling and his boss, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — both Republicans — forcefully pushed back against allegations of widespread problems with Georgia's election.

Trump famously called Raffensperger on Jan. 2, 2021, and suggested the state's top elections official could help “find” the votes Trump needed to beat Biden. It was the release of a recording of that phone call that prompted Willis to open her investigation about a month later.

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2023-08-15T01:41:21+00:00
Indictment returned in Georgia as grand jury wraps up Trump election probe https://www.keloland.com/news/national-world-news/ap-prosecutors-have-started-presenting-georgia-election-investigation-to-grand-jury/ Tue, 15 Aug 2023 01:19:21 +0000 ATLANTA (AP) — A grand jury in Georgia that has been investigating former President Donald Trump over his efforts to undo the 2020 election results in that state returned at least one indictment Monday, though it was not immediately clear against whom.

Documents were presented around 9 p.m. by the county courts clerk to the Fulton County judge who for months has been presiding over the investigation.

The grand jury heard from witnesses into the evening Monday in the election subversion investigation into Donald Trump, a long day of testimony punctuated by the mysterious and brief appearance on a county website of a list of criminal charges against the former president that prosecutors later disavowed.

Prosecutors in Fulton County presented evidence to the grand jury as they pushed toward a likely indictment, summoning multiple former state officials including the ex-lieutenant governor as witnesses.

But the process hit an unexpected snag in the middle of the day, when Reuters reported on a document listing criminal charges to be brought against Trump, including state racketeering counts, conspiracy to commit false statements and solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer.

Reuters, which later published a copy of the document, said the filing was taken down quickly. A spokesperson for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said the report of charges being filed was “inaccurate,” but declined to comment further on a kerfuffle that the Trump legal team rapidly jumped on to attack the integrity of the investigation.

The office of the Fulton County courts clerk later released a statement that seemed to only raise more questions, calling the posted document “fictitious,” but failing to explain how it got on the court's website. The clerk's office said documents without official case numbers “are not considered official filings and should not be treated as such.” But the document that appeared online did have a case number on it.

Asked about the “fictitious" document Monday evening, the courts clerk, Che Alexander, said: “I mean, I don’t know what else to say, like, grace … I don’t know, I haven’t seen an indictment, right, so I don’t have anything.” On the question of whether the website had been hacked, she said, “I can't speak to that.”

Trump and his allies, who have characterized the investigation as politically motivated, immediately seized on the apparent error to claim that the process was rigged. Trump’s campaign aimed to fundraise off it, sending out an email with the since-deleted document embedded.

“The Grand Jury testimony has not even FINISHED – but it’s clear the District Attorney has already decided how this case will end,” Trump wrote in the email, which included links to give money to his campaign. “This is an absolute DISGRACE.”

Trump’s legal team said it was not a “simple administrative mistake." Rather it was “emblematic of the pervasive and glaring constitutional violations which have plagued this case from its very inception,” said lawyers Drew Findling, Jennifer Little and Marissa Goldberg.

It was unclear why the list was posted while grand jurors were still hearing from witnesses in the sprawling investigation into actions taken by Trump and others in their efforts to overturn his narrow loss in Georgia to Democrat Joe Biden. It was also unclear whether grand jurors were aware that the filing was posted online. They still would need to vote on charges, so the counts listed in the posting may or may not ultimately be brought against Trump.

Legal experts said it was likely a clerical error listing charges prosecutors were planning to ask the grand jury to vote on. Prosecutors draft indictments and present them to the grand jury, which ultimately decides whether to hand charges down.

“I think this tells us what they are planning to present to the grand jury, and the grand jury could say no,” said Clark Cunningham, a Georgia State University law professor. He said while the error will give Trump's legal team fodder to complain, “it will not scuttle the case.”

"Will his lawyers make a lot of noise about it? Yes, they will. Will Mr. Trump make a lot of noise about it? Yes, he will. I’m sure there will have to be an explanation for it,” Cunningham said.

One person who said he’d been called to testify to the grand jury suggested on Monday that the process may be moving more quickly than anticipated. George Chidi, an independent journalist, had tweeted previously that he was asked to testify on Tuesday, but later posted he was going to court on Monday, adding: “They’re moving faster than they thought.”

Chidi wrote in The Intercept last month that he barged “into a semi-clandestine meeting of Republicans pretending to be Georgia’s official electors in December 2020.” He described being thrown out of the room just after entering, told that it was an “education meeting.”

Former lieutenant governor Geoff Duncan, who over the weekend said he'd also been asked to testify Tuesday, instead appeared before the grand jury Monday. He told reporters outside the courthouse that the 2020 election had been “fair and legal” and said now was the “opportunity to get the real story out.”

The document listing criminal charges filed midday Monday listed more than a dozen felony counts, including Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO. Willis has long been expected to levy that charge against Trump and his associates, accusing them of participating in a wide-ranging conspiracy to overturn the state’s 2020 election results.

Two counts — including solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer — listed the date of offense as Jan. 2, 2021, which was when Trump during a phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said he wanted to “find” enough votes to overturn his loss in the state. Other counts list the date of offense as Sept. 17, 2021, which is the same day Trump sent Raffensperger a message urging him to investigate “large scale voter fraud," decertify the election and “announce the true winner” if the investigation found the fraud.

Former Democratic state Sen. Jen Jordan, who had been subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury, said as she left the Fulton County courthouse late Monday morning that she had been questioned for about 40 minutes. Former Democratic state Rep. Bee Nguyen also confirmed that she testified. News outlets reported that Gabriel Sterling, a top official in the secretary of state’s office, was seen arriving at the courthouse earlier Monday.

“No individual is above the law, and I will continue to fully cooperate with any legal proceedings seeking the truth and protecting our democracy,” Nguyen said in a statement.

Nguyen and Jordan both attended legislative hearings in December 2020 during which former New York mayor and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and others made false claims of widespread election fraud in Georgia. Trump lawyer John Eastman also appeared during at least one of those hearings and said the election had not been held in compliance with Georgia law and that lawmakers should appoint a new slate of electors.

Sterling and his boss, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger — both Republicans — forcefully pushed back against allegations of widespread problems with Georgia's election.

Trump famously called Raffensperger on Jan. 2, 2021, and suggested the state's top elections official could help “find” the votes Trump needed to beat Biden. It was the release of a recording of that phone call that prompted Willis to open her investigation about a month later.

___

Associated Press reporter Alanna Durkin Richer in Boston and Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.

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2023-08-15T01:22:27+00:00
Texas woman who helped hide US soldier Vanessa Guillén’s body sentenced to 30 years in prison https://www.keloland.com/news/national-world-news/ap-texas-woman-who-helped-hide-us-soldier-vanessa-guillens-body-sentenced-to-30-years-in-prison/ Tue, 15 Aug 2023 01:01:57 +0000 AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas woman was sentenced Monday to 30 years in prison for helping dispose of the body of a U.S. soldier, whose 2020 killing sparked a movement of women speaking out about sexual abuse in the military and led to changes in how they can report it.

Cecily Aguilar is the only suspect arrested in the death of Vanessa Guillén, who was killed at Fort Cavazos, formerly known as Fort Hood, near Killeen, Texas. Aguilar was 24 years old when she pleaded guilty in November at a federal court in Waco, Texas, to one count of accessory to murder after the fact and three counts of making a false statement.

The sentence came after hours of testimony from attorneys, experts and Guillén's family. It was the maximum punishment Aguilar could receive, said Jaime Esparza, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas.

“Our hope is that today’s sentence brings a sense of relief and justice to the Guillén family, who have endured such pain throughout these past few years," Esparza said.

Aguilar aided boyfriend Army Spc. Aaron Robinson, 20, of Calumet City, Illinois, in dismembering and disposing of Guillén’s body in a rural, wooded area near the base, according to federal and state authorities. Robinson died by suicide on July 1, 2020, the day Guillén’s remains were found.

“We finally have closure in this case,” said attorney Natalie Khawam, who represents Guillén's family.

A psychologist called as a witness for the defense testified Monday that Aguilar has reactive attachment disorder, meaning she did not form healthy emotional bonds with her parents or caregivers. Dr. Jon Matthew Fabian said the condition wouldn't keep Aguilar from knowing right or wrong.

Guillén was declared missing in April 2020, when her family said they did not hear from her for an unusual amount of time after she was called in for a shift in the military base's armory room.

According to a criminal complaint, Aguilar said she and Robinson — who authorities accuse of bludgeoning Guillén to death at the base — disposed of her body by mutilating it and hiding the remains in nearby woods.

Two weeks after Guillén's body was found, Aguilar pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges. Later, a judge dismissed her legal team's attempt to throw out her confession because she said she had not been read her Miranda rights at the time her statement was taken.

Guillén’s family has said they believe she was sexually harassed during her time at the Texas military base. While Army officials have said they do not believe Robinson harassed Guillén, they admitted in a report a year later that Guillén was harassed by another soldier at the base.

Following Guillén's death, her family's claims that she was harassed and assaulted at the Texas base ignited a movement on social media of former and active service members who shared their experiences at military bases throughout the country using the hashtag #IAmVanessaGuillen.

Then-U.S. Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said during a visit to the Texas base that it had one of the highest rates of murder, sexual assault and harassment in the Army, later adding that the patterns of violence were a direct result of " leadership failures. "

State and federal lawmakers passed legislation in 2021 honoring Guillén that removed some authority from commanders and gave survivors more options to report abuse and harassment. Army officials disciplined 21 commissioned and non-commissioned officers in connection with Guillén's death.

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2023-08-15T01:06:33+00:00
Hawaii's governor warns that scores more people could be found dead following wildfires on Maui https://www.keloland.com/news/national-world-news/ap-hawaii-mourns-the-dead-in-ferocious-wildfires-while-officials-warn-the-full-toll-is-not-yet-known/ Tue, 15 Aug 2023 00:59:39 +0000 LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Hawaii's governor warned that scores more people could be found dead following the Maui wildfires as search crews go through neighborhoods where the flames galloped as fast as a mile a minute and firefighters struggled to contain the inferno with what some officials complained was a limited water supply.

The blazes that consumed most of the historic town of Lahaina are already the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century, with a death toll of at least 96. The cause was under investigation.

“We are prepared for many tragic stories,” Gov. Josh Green told “CBS Mornings” in a recorded interview that aired Monday. "They will find 10 to 20 people per day, probably, until they finish. And it’s probably going to take 10 days. It’s impossible to guess, really.”

As cellphone service has slowly been restored, the number of people missing dropped to about 1,300 from over 2,000, Green said.

Twenty cadaver dogs and dozens of searchers are making their way through blocks reduced to ash.

“Right now, they’re going street by street, block by block, between cars, and soon they’ll start to enter buildings,” Jeff Hickman, director of public affairs for the Hawaii Department of Defense, said Monday on NBC’s “Today.”

Meanwhile, some state officials say there is a shortage of water available for firefighters, and they blame a recent ruling by an environmental court judge. It’s part of a long-running battle between environmentalists and private companies over the decadeslong practice of diverting water from East Maui streams that started during Hawaii’s sugar plantation past.

Elsewhere, evacuees were expected to begin moving into hotels Monday evening. Green said Sunday that 500 hotel rooms were being made available for displaced locals and an additional 500 rooms will be set aside for workers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency who are aiding in the recovery.

In addition, FEMA has started to provide $700 to displaced residents to cover the cost of food, water, first aid and medical supplies, agency administrator Deanne Criswell said Monday. The money is in addition to whatever amount residents qualify for to cover the loss of homes and personal property.

"We’re not taking anything off the table, and we’re going to be very creative in how we use our authorities to help build communities and help people find a place to stay for the longer term,” Criswell said. More than 3,000 people have registered for federal assistance, according to FEMA, and that number was expected to grow.

On the water-supply issue, the deputy head of the U.S. Fire Administration, Tonya Hoover, said she did not have details on the island's current water supply. She said the head of her agency has been meeting with firefighters, including one who was badly hurt and hospitalized.

The Biden administration is seeking $12 billion more for the government’s disaster relief fund as part of its supplemental funding request to Congress.

Authorities had required anyone traveling into the disaster areas to get a police-issued placard, but that was suspended Monday due to overwhelming demand. Lahaina resident Kevin Eliason said when he was turned away, the line of cars with people waiting to get a placard had grown to at least 3 miles (4.8 km) long.

“It’s a joke,” Eliason said. “It’s just crazy. They didn’t expect, probably, tens of thousands of people to show up there.”

The blaze that swept into centuries-old Lahaina last week destroyed nearly every building in the town of 13,000. That fire has been 85% contained, according to the county. Another blaze known as the Upcountry fire has been 60% contained, officials said.

“There’s very little left there,” Green said of Lahaina in a video update Sunday, adding that “an estimated value of $5.6 billion has gone away.”

Even where the fire has retreated, authorities have warned that toxic byproducts may remain, including in drinking water, after the flames spewed poisonous fumes. And many people simply have no home to return to.

The Red Cross said 575 evacuees were spread across five shelters on Monday, including the War Memorial Gymnasium in Wailuku. Among the visitors was Oprah Winfrey, who told Hawaii News Now that she delivered personal hygiene products, towels and water in recent days.

Winfrey, a part-time Maui resident, warned that news crews will eventually depart from the destruction and the world will move on. But she said that “we’re all still going to be here trying to figure out what is the best way to rebuild. … I will be here for the long haul, doing what I can.”

As firefighters battled the flames, a flurry of court actions were lodged last week over access to water. On Wednesday morning, Judge Jeffrey Crabtree issued an order temporarily suspending water caps he imposed for 48 hours. He also authorized water distribution as requested by Maui fire officials, the county or the state until further notice if the judge could not be reached.

But that wasn’t enough for the state attorney general’s office, which later filed a petition with the state Supreme Court blaming Crabtree for a lack of water for firefighting. The state asked the court not to let Crabtree alter the amount of water to be diverted or to put a hold on his restrictions until the petition is resolved.

The judge “substituted his judgment for that of the agency,” the petition said, referring to the Board of Land and Natural Resources. “As a result, there was not enough permitted water to ... battle the wildfires."

Wayne Tanaka, executive director of the Sierra Club, said Monday that the attorney general’s office exaggerated the effect of water diversion caps on firefighting.

“It’s a shameless exploitation of this horrible tragedy,” he said. “The central Maui reservoirs are of no use to west Maui, where most of the devastation is ongoing.”

He said he’s concerned the state is out to help a private company monopolize water.

Representatives for former sugar plantation land owner Alexander & Baldwin and the East Maui Irrigation Company did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. A spokesperson for the Board of Land and Natural Resources said it does not comment on pending litigation.

The attorney general’s office said in a statement Monday that Alexander & Baldwin uses water for wetting the ground for preventative fire suppression, and that Crabtree’s previous orders affect only the central Maui area water supply and “does not directly affect the water situation for Lahaina.”

The main focus of the petition “is that administrative review is more appropriate than having the court monitor this type of activity,” the statement said.

Fueled by a dry summer and strong winds from a passing hurricane, the flames on Maui raced through parched brush. One fire moved as fast as a mile (1.6 kilometers) every minute, according to Green.

“With those kinds of winds and 1,000-degree temperatures, ultimately all the pictures that you will see will be easy to understand,” the governor said.

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Kelleher reported from Honolulu, and Weber from Los Angeles. Associated Press journalists Haven Daley in Kalapua, Hawaii; Beatrice Dupuy in New York; and Josh Boak in Washington contributed.

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Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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2023-08-15T01:03:08+00:00
The EPA is investigating how California manages its water following complaints from tribes https://www.keloland.com/news/national-world-news/ap-the-epa-is-investigating-how-california-manages-its-water-following-complaints-from-tribes/ Tue, 15 Aug 2023 00:57:35 +0000 SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — President Joe Biden's administration has agreed to investigate how California manages its water after some Native American tribes and environmental groups complained the state's policies are “rooted in white supremacy.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced last week it would investigate the California State Water Resources Control Board. The board, whose members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate, sets rules for how to use much of the state's water, including 211,000 miles (339,572 kilometers) of rivers and streams.

Federal law requires the board to review those rules every three years. But the board hasn't kept up with that timeline for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento San Joaquin Delta Estuary. The estuary is one of the largest in the country and is home to threatened species of fish. It also irrigates California's powerful agriculture industry while providing drinking water to 25 million people.

The tribes say the state is relying on outdated rules that have led to overgrowths of toxic algae and cyanobacteria, which prevent the Single Springs Band of Miwok Indians and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe from performing their cultural, religious and subsistence practices. Little Manila Rising, a nonprofit based in Stockton, says the algae blooms “spread like a lime green film across the surface of the water ... giving off a smell of slowly rotting grass” and preventing communities of color from using the waterways to escape the heat during the summer.

California's water is governed by a complex system based on seniority that does not recognize Native American tribes' historic uses of the state's rivers and streams. Attempts to update the water rules usually end up in court, a process that can take a decade or more to resolve. The board has delayed reviewing the rules in part because Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration has been privately negotiating with big water agencies on what the rules should be.

Newsom wants the water agencies to voluntarily agree on those rules to avoid lawsuits. Last year, those negotiations had a breakthrough when some of the state's largest water agencies signed an agreement with state and federal officials. But Native American tribes and other communities of color say they were not included in the negotiations.

The agreements "are an embodiment of the injustice that’s at the core in many respects of our water rights system,” said Stephanie Safdi, an attorney with the Stanford Environmental Law Clinic who is representing the tribes and environmental groups.

The EPA's Office of External Civil Rights Compliance will handle the investigation. Anhthu Hoang, the office's acting director, said the decision to investigate does not mean the state is guilty. Hoang said the office is a “neutral fact finder” and said the board will have 30 days to respond to the allegations in writing.

The board hasn't done that yet. Ailene Voisin, a spokesperson for the board, said the board “will cooperate fully with the investigation and believes US EPA will ultimately conclude the board has acted appropriately.”

Federal law requires the water rules protect certain beneficial uses of that water. The board is considering adding two tribal beneficial uses to these rules: tradition and culture and subsistence fishing. The board plans to release a report on that proposal this year.

“The State Water Board deeply values its partnership with tribes to protect and preserve California's water resources,” Voisin said. “The board's highest water quality planning priority has been restoring native fish species in the Delta watershed, which are central to the lifeways of many tribes.”

Safdi said any resolution of the allegations must include a “quick and timely update” of the rules done through an “open and public and inclusive process that isn't centered on these exclusionary negotiations with water rights holders.” She also said these rules would need to be updated before the state completes major water infrastructure projects, including building a new reservoir and a tunnel to divert water to Southern California.

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2023-08-15T01:02:47+00:00
Utah man accused of threatening president pointed gun at agents, FBI says https://www.keloland.com/news/national-world-news/ap-utah-man-accused-of-threatening-president-pointed-gun-at-agents-fbi-says/ Tue, 15 Aug 2023 00:35:30 +0000 SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Utah man accused of making violent threats against President Joe Biden before a trip to Salt Lake City last week pointed a handgun at FBI agents attempting to arrest him, the agency said on Monday.

Craig Robertson, a 75-year-old Air Force veteran, was killed during a raid on his home in Provo last Wednesday, hours before Biden arrived. FBI agents went to his home early in the morning to arrest him for three felonies, including making threats against the president and agents who had been investigating him for months, according to court records unsealed after the raid.

“Robertson resisted arrest and as agents attempted to take him into custody, he pointed a .357 revolver at them,” FBI spokesperson Sandra Barker said in a statement Monday.

Two law enforcement sources — who spoke to The Associated Press last week on the condition of anonymity to discuss details of an ongoing investigation — said Robertson was armed at the time of the shooting. Monday's statement provides additional details about Robertson's weapon and that he pointed it at officers. The FBI did not respond to questions about whether Robertson shot at agents or if agents were wearing body cameras while attempting to arrest Robertson.

Robertson's daughter, Shanda Robertson, said she had no comment at this time. In a statement last week, his family rebuffed the idea that he could have hurt anyone.

For months, Robertson had been making threats against high-profile Democrats, including key players in the legal proceedings against former President Donald Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris and Biden. The threats grew more specific in the lead-up to the president's visit, with Robertson threatening on social media to wear a camouflage “ghillie suit” and “dust off the M24 sniper rifle” to “welcome” the president.

Those threats followed months of Robertson posting photographs on social media of various firearms, which he called “eradication tools,” along with threats against public officials. The posts painted a markedly different picture of Robertson than how some neighbors described him, as a caring, religious man.

Several neighbors said Robertson — a homebound, overweight man who used a cane to walk — wasn’t shy about his right-wing political beliefs. But they questioned whether he posed a credible enough threat to the president to justify the raid.

They said FBI agents arrived early in the morning to attempt an arrest of Robertson. Several who knew Robertson said his home and the two sheds behind it contained large caches of firearms, which he modified as a post-retirement hobby.

Katie Monson, Robertson’s next-door neighbor, said last week that she saw agents attempt to breach his front door with a battering ram before driving a tactical vehicle onto his lawn, close enough to pierce his front window.

She subsequently heard an exchange of shots before tactical officers dragged Robertson onto the sidewalk to wait for emergency medical personnel. FBI investigators spent the rest of the day clearing the home and photographing evidence.

The FBI also said on Monday that its inspection division would continue to review the shooting. FBI investigations into shootings involving agents typically take months.

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Associated Press writers Colleen Slevin in Denver and Lindsay Whitehurst in Washington contributed reporting.

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2023-08-15T00:36:44+00:00
Kansas police and a small newspaper are at the center of a 1st Amendment fight after a newsroom raid https://www.keloland.com/news/national-world-news/ap-a-central-kansas-police-force-comes-under-constitutional-criticism-after-raiding-a-newspaper/ Tue, 15 Aug 2023 00:19:37 +0000 MARION, Kan. (AP) — A small newspaper and a police department in Kansas are at the center of a dispute over freedom of speech as the newspaper struggled Monday to publish its next edition, days after police raided its office and the home of its owner and publisher.

Officials with the Marion Police Department confiscated computers and cellphones from the publisher and staff of the Marion County Record in Friday's raid. On Monday, Kansas state authorities confirmed they are also involved in a criminal probe of the newspaper over allegations that it illegally obtained and used personal information about a local business owner.

Friday's raids have been widely condemned by press freedom watchdogs as a blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution’s protection for a free press. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly called the raids “concerning.” An attorney for the newspaper deemed the searches and seizures illegal and said the police department's action “offends the constitutional protections the founding fathers gave the free press.” The Society of Professional Journalists pledged $20,000 toward the newspaper’s legal defense.

But some Marion residents hold a different view, accusing the newspaper of aggressive news coverage that has driven out businesses and painted a negative picture of the town of about 1,900 people.

Newspaper publisher and co-owner Eric Meyer said he believes the newspaper’s dogged coverage of local politics and Police Chief Gideon Cody’s record are the main reason for the raids. The Record was in the midst of digging into the newly hired chief’s past as a Kansas City, Missouri, police captain when the raids were carried out, Meyer said, although the newspaper hasn’t yet published a story.

The newspaper’s attorney, Bernie Rhodes of Kansas City, sent a letter to the Cody demanding that police not review any information on the computers or cellphones seized, saying they were taken illegally and contain identities of confidential sources. He also accuses Cody of misinterpreting laws on privacy and wrongly applying them to news reporters.

"These are Hitler tactics,” Rhodes said. “I can assure you that the Record will take every step to obtain relief for the damages your heavy-handed actions have already caused my client.”

The police searches appear to have been prompted by a complaint from a local restaurant owner, Kari Newell, who accused the newspaper of invading her privacy after it obtained copies of her driving record, including a 2008 drunken driving conviction. Newell says the newspaper targeted her after she ordered Meyer and a reporter out of her restaurant earlier this month during a political event.

Meyer says a source gave the newspaper the information unsolicited and that reporters verified it through public online records. The paper eventually decided not to run a story, but it did report on Newell's complaints about the newspaper’s investigation at a city council meeting, where she publicly confirmed she’d had a DUI conviction and that she drove after her license was suspended.

The search warrant names Newell as a victim and lists the underlying reasons for the searches as suspicion of identity theft and “unlawful acts concerning computers.”

Both Meyer and Newell have said they have fielded messages — and some threats — from as far away as London in the aftermath of the raids. Meyer worked with his staff Monday to reconstruct stories, ads and other materials for its next edition Wednesday.

Cody defended the raid on the newsroom, saying it was conducted legally, while press freedom and civil rights organizations have said that police overstepped their authority.

Jared Smith, a lifelong Marion resident, said Monday that he supports the police raid. Smith accused the newspaper of ruining his wife’s day spa business opened only a year ago by digging into her past and discovering she had appeared nude in a magazine years before. That fact was repeated in the Record more than 20 times over a six-month period, Smith said.

“The newspaper is supposed to be something that, yes, reports the news. But it’s also a community newspaper,” he said. “It’s not, ‘How can I slam this community and drive people away?' ”

Authorities appeared unprepared for the public backlash to the raids, as involved agencies either refused to comment Monday or took pains to acknowledge the constitutional right to a free press while defending the ability of police to investigate journalists.

Cody referred questions Monday to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, saying it was leading the investigation. The state agency, in turn, refused to say it had taken over the investigation, referring instead to a statement saying it had “joined” the investigation and seemed to try to distance itself from the raids.

The state police agency said it had assigned an agent to the case at the request of Cody on Aug. 8 — three days ahead of the raids — but did not apply for the search warrants and wasn't there when they were executed. While the agency declared freedom of the press as “a vanguard of American democracy,” it also appeared to defend the actions of local police, saying: “No one is above the law, whether a public official or a representative of the media."

Both Meyer and Newell are contemplating lawsuits — Newell against the newspaper and Meyer against the public officials who carried out the search.

Meyer also blames the raid at his home for stressing his 98-year-old mother enough to cause her death on Saturday. Joan Meyer was the newspaper’s co-owner.

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Beck reported from Omaha, Nebraska.

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The Associated Press receives support from several private foundations to enhance its explanatory coverage of elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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Follow John Hanna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/apjdhanna

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2023-08-15T00:21:37+00:00