Homeless white man stabs Father and daughter in California while fixing their car

By Edward Era Barbacena

A California man and his 22-year-old daughter have been stabbed to death by a homeless man while they were working on their car outside a Kohl’s, police said.

Ken Evans, 54, and McKenna Evans were spending time together around noon Thursday tinkering on their sedan in Palmdale, just north of Los Angeles, when the man attacked them for no apparent reason, the LA Times reported.

Ken was rushed to a hospital, where he died, while his daughter was pronounced dead at the scene.

LA County sheriff’s deputies have arrested a suspect, who they said may be a transient, the newspaper reported.

Elizabeth Evans, the victims’ devastated wife and mother, mourned the shocking loss 

“She wasn’t just my daughter, she was my best friend,” the mom said Sunday about McKenna. “She was just full of joy, and she cared for both people and animals.”

She told KTLA: “She was an absolute beacon … She didn’t know a stranger. Everybody became her best friend.”

Elizabeth said her husband was a “doting father” who “loved spending as much time as he could with his daughter.”

Jesse Mercado, McKenna’s boyfriend, told KTLA that he ran to the scene after the shocking crime.

“I wanted to hold her again. It was hard to know that the person who changed my life so drastically — in just one day was taken,” he told the outlet.

He described McKenna as a kind, caring and ambitious young woman.

Elizabeth said her husband was a “doting father” who “loved spending as much time as he could with his daughter.”

Jesse Mercado, McKenna’s boyfriend, told KTLA that he ran to the scene after the shocking crime.

“I wanted to hold her again. It was hard to know that the person who changed my life so drastically — in just one day was taken,” he told the outlet.

He described McKenna as a kind, caring and ambitious young woman.

“The first time I met her was at work,” Jesse told KTLA. “The moment she presented herself was the day I fell in love with her.”

The two met at an ice cream shop where they both worked and had been dating since February, the LA Times reported.

McKenna, who had been waiting to take her aesthetician exam, preferred vegan products that were not tested on animals, her mom said, “because she paid attention to kindness and comfort.”

Elizabeth said her husband had been planning to move to Missouri and had been trying to spend more quality time with his youngest child before leaving.

“That was Ken — a risk-taker, always adventurous,” she told the paper.

The couple met in Kansas before returning to her native California, where Ken worked in construction and real estate, she said.

 

Dog spotted in Mexico running with human head in its mouth

By Edward Era Barbacena

FOX: Residents of Zacatecas, Mexico, witnessed a dog carrying a human head in its mouth as it ran down the streets of the violence-plagued state.

Police were eventually able to pull the head out of the canine's mouth, according to local officials.

A law enforcement official said the head and other body parts were left in an automatic teller booth in the town of Monte Escobedo on Wednesday.

The body parts were left next to a message referring to a drug cartel. Before police could secure the scene, the stray dog grabbed the severed head and took off.

Footage posted to social media shows the dog running down a street at night carrying the head by the neck.

Zacatecas has seen bloody, extended turf wars between gangs in the area supported by the Sinaloa and Jalisco drug cartels.

The Mexican drug cartels often leave notes next to dismembered human remains as a form of intimidation toward rivals or authorities.

 

Twitter to start charging $20 a month for verification under new owner Elon Musk

Twitter plans to raise its optional $4.99 a month premium subscription called Twitter Blue to $19.99 a month.

By Edward Era Barbacena

Twitter plans to start charging nearly $20 a month for users to keep their blue checkmarks as part of a premium service that will be rolled out under Elon Musk’s leadership, according to a report.

“The whole verification process is being revamped right now,” Musk, who took over as the CEO of the social media platform Friday, tweeted Sunday.

The hefty price bump is reportedly one of the revamps, The Verge reported.

The company plans to raise its optional $4.99-a-month premium subscription called Twitter Blue to $19.99 a month. However, that price is subject to change, the outlet reported, citing internal correspondence and people familiar with the matter.

The billionaire plans to make verified users fork over the cash to keep their status.

Existing verified users have 90 days to subscribe to the new Twitter Blue after its launch or they’ll lose their checkmarks, according to The Verge.

The current Twitter Blue launched about a year ago and offers subscribers a way to view ad-free articles from some publishers as well as additional customization settings.

Musk has been outspoken about his desire to grow subscription numbers to account for half of Twitter’s revenue as well as his eagerness to overhaul the platform’s verification process in the months ahead of his $44 billion takeover of the company on Thursday.

Employees working on the Twitter Blue upgrades were informed on Sunday that they need to meet a November 7 deadline or face firing, according to the outlet.

Since acquiring Twitter, Musk has moved swiftly in making cuts to the staff. Starting at the top, he ousted chief executive Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Sega, the company’s top legal and policy executive Vijaya Gadde and general counsel Sean Edgett.

 

Climate activists glue themselves to Berlin museum dinosaur exhibit

By Edward Era Barbacena

Climate activists superglue themselves to a dinosaur display inside a Berlin museum – the latest exhibit targeting cultural institutions to warn about global warming.

On Sunday, two women attacked inside the German city’s natural history museum and called on government officials to do more to tackle climate change.

He affixed himself to the railing around a large display of a dinosaur skeleton from millions of years ago, holding a banner saying: “What if the government doesn’t have control over it?”

“Unlike dinosaurs, we keep our fate in our own hands,” said 34-year-old protester Caris Connell. “Do we want to go extinct like the dinosaurs, or do we want to survive?”

Another worker said she feared for the future of her four children.

“This peaceful resistance is the means we have chosen to protect our children from the deadly ignorance of the government,” said Solvig Shinkothe, 42.

The protest lasted 20 minutes before officers arrived, and it took another 40 minutes for the pair to be released.

The Natural History Museum said it had filed a criminal complaint for trespassing and damage to property.

Behind the protests was the Last Generation group, which has called for Germany to immediately reduce emissions to reverse climate change and also wants Berlin to impose speed limits on roadways.

German authorities have set a target of becoming carbon neutral by 2045; No action has been taken on the speed limit.

Climate activists across Europe have resorted to strange and sometimes messy measures to attract attention to their cause.

A week ago two demonstrators threw mashed potatoes at Oscar-Claude Monet’s 130-year-old work “Les Meules” before sticking themselves to the wall. Earlier this month another pair tasted Heinz tomato soup in Vincent van Gogh’s “Sunflower” painting.

Just days earlier, a climate protester affixed her shaved head to the famous “Girl with a Pearl Earring” painting, while another activist glued her hand to the wall next to the painting and put tomato sauce on her partner’s head. put it

 

Climate Activists in Germany Glued Themselves to the Volkswagen Showroom Floor

The organization urges the company to do its part to slow climate change.

By Edward Era Barbacena

On Wednesday, Oct.19, climate protesters glued themselves to the Porsche pavilion floor at Volkswagen's Autostadt, joined by concerned researchers and environmental activists from an organization called Scientist Rebellion, to lobby their calls to decarbonize the German transportation sector.

Autostadt is a visitor attraction facility located next to the Volkswagen factory in Wolfsburg, Germany.

According to a recent News.com.au report, the protesters are claiming that the company has denied providing them with "a bowl to urinate and defecate" in, and they have declared a hunger strike to raise public awareness about the environmental crisis.

Following reports, the protester group consists of 15 members from the aforementioned organization. They have decided to glue their hands to the floor of the Volkswagen showroom as part of their climate protest.

The organization is urging the company to do its part to slow climate change. They also stated that Volkswagen has the ability to persuade lawmakers to support the climate agenda.

In a series of tweets, Gianluca Grimalda, a Kiel Institute researcher who has joined the protesting group, stated that there is an actual connection between CO2 emissions and rising global temperatures.

"Decarbonization is important, and it must happen as fast as possible because the Roadmap 2050 target for net-zero greenhouse gas emissions is too far away to have a meaningful impact," the researcher explained in a Twitter video.

The researcher later tweeted updates from the demonstration. Grimalda claimed that Volkwagen refused their request for a bowl to urinate and defecate on while they are confined to the company's visitor facility. Grimalda also stated that facility personnel had turned off the heating.

Some Twitter users were not pleased with the recent update, and some mocked the group's means of protest. Some even commented on how ironic it is to bring up heating systems while protesting carbon emissions in the first place. Meanwhile, a number of people have expressed their support for the group on social media.

Later, he expressed frustration, saying, "We can't order our food; we must use the one provided by Volkswagen." "Lights off. random, unannounced checks by security guards with bright torches. Police just came in," he wrote. A picture of the group "getting ready for the first night of sleep" was also posted by Grimalda.

In a petition that has already received more than 200 signatures, Scientist Rebellion stated that the scientific community has historically used its authority to inform society of the true possibility of a global apocalypse and to demand that those in positions of authority take appropriate action.

 

White man Mark Wilson of Florida gets death penalty for killing 2 boys with hammer

Jury unanimously recommended the death penalty for convicted murderer Mark Wilson at his sentencing trial on Friday.

By Edward Era Barbacena

A white man from Florida convicted earlier this month of brutally murdering two boys is slated to receive the death penalty after a jury unanimously recommended the punishment Friday following a five-day sentencing trial.

Mark Wilson was found guilty of first-degree murder earlier this month for killing 14-year-old Tatyen and 12-year-old Robert Baker in August 2020, according to local ABC affiliate First Coast News.

Wilson, who was living with his wife, the boys’ aunt, in a shed on the family’s Melrose property at the time, beat the boys in the head with a hammer before slitting their throats.

Their mother, Sarah Baker, was sleeping in the house during the murders, but a homicide detective testified that she would have been unable to hear them in the living room from her bedroom because of insulation.

The Putnam County sheriff claimed the murder scene at the property was one of the worst he had ever seen.

In a news conference shortly after the killings, State Attorney R.J. Larizza said: “I can tell you, I’ve been working in the criminal justice system since 1980 and these are some of the most brutal murders that I’ve ever heard of. He attacked these two kids without mercy.”

According to courtroom testimony from Assistant State Attorney Jennifer Dunton, it appeared as though Wilson had either tried to slit older brother Tayten’s throat multiple times or saw through his neck.

Robert, the younger brother, reportedly had his throat slashed “end to end,” nearly decapitating him.

Baker testified during the trial that before the murders, she had seen Wilson outside sharpening a knife that would later be matched to the murder weapon. She found the body of her oldest son at the end of an 18-foot trail of blood. Both of the boys were covered in blankets, at first hiding the extent of their injuries.

Wilson’s mother, Chrisy Adkins, played a pivotal role in the investigation as a confidential informant who agreed to record the conversation with her son that would ultimately lead to his arrest.

“I told Mark that he needed to cooperate,” she said on the stand. “Take a lie detector test and clear his name. He got out of the bed, and he said, ‘Mom, I can’t do that,’ and I asked if he hurt those babies… and in a voice that wasn’t his own, he said, ‘Yes, mom, I did it.'”

Adkins claimed her son often spoke strangely, especially when he was using drugs. Both Wilson and his wife were drug users, according to witnesses and police records.

In the recorded conversation that was played in the courtroom, Wilson explained that he killed the boys because he believed the family was going to report him and his wife to the Department of Children and Families. He also claimed he and his wife had plotted to annihilate the entire family, according a Putnam County Sheriff’s Office arrest warrant.

In a different story, Wilson had claimed the boys had sexually abused his daughter.

 

Man in Nazi uniform kicked out of Manhattan bar: ‘Wants to get humiliated? 

By Edward Era Barbacena

A man in a Nazi uniform was intimidated into leaving a Soho bar as patrons shamed and threatened him.

The incident was captured on a video posted to Twitter Saturday night, as costumed Halloween revelers imbibed across the boroughs.

In the clip, the smiling young man, donning full regalia including a swastika armband, sidled up to the bar at Fanelli Cafe, leaving other patrons aghast.

“What is wrong with you?,” one woman demanded.

The would-be customer shrugged as he appeared to be denied service and exchanged words with a customer that told him to leave in vulgar terms.

a guy just walked into fanelli cafe in soho dressed as a nazi i have no words pic.twitter.com/4szraZgVEd

— matt (@mattxiv) October 30, 2022

“F–k you mate,” the offensively costumed man retorted.

“You want to get f—ed up? [Leave] for your own safety,” the woman implored as a man walked up to the unwanted patron and pointed to the door, prompting him to exit.

The 18 second clip had been viewed 1.7 million times on Sunday morning.

“Perfect response from the people in the bar though,” one viewer wrote.

“Shocked no one punched his smirking face,” another said.

“Honestly is so disgusting to still see stuff like this in 2022. People seem to think it was a long time, when in fact I’m only the 2nd generation after the Holocaust,” one woman replied.

 

Halloween celebration - gone wrong in Seoul, South Korea leaves 146 people dead and 150 injured

By Edward Era Barbacena

At least 140 people were killed and 150 more were injured as they were crushed by a large crowd pushing forward on a narrow street during Halloween festivities in the capital of Seoul, South Korean officials said.

Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul’s Yongsan fire department, said the death toll could rise and that an unspecified number among the injured were in critical condition.

He said 74 of the dead have been sent to hospitals while the bodies of the remaining 46 who had been kept on the streets were being transported to a nearby gym so that workers could identify them.

Officials say it was believed that people were crushed to death after a large crowd began pushing forward in a narrow alley near Hamilton Hotel, a major party spot in Seoul.

More than 400 emergency workers and 140 vehicles from around the nation, including all available personnel in Seoul, were deployed to the streets to treat the injured.

The National Fire Agency separately said in a statement that officials were still trying to determine the exact number of emergency patients.

TV footage and photos from the scene showed ambulance vehicles lined up in streets amid a heavy police presence and emergency workers moving the injured in stretchers. Emergency workers and pedestrians were also seen performing CPR on people lying in the streets.

In one section, paramedics were seen checking the status of a dozen or more people who lied motionless under blue blankets.

Police, which were restricting traffic in nearby areas to speed up the transportation of the injured to hospitals across the city, also confirmed that dozens of people were being given CPR on Itaewon streets. The Seoul Metropolitan Government issued emergency text messages urging people in the area to swiftly return home.

A local police officer said he was also informed that a stampede occurred on Itaewon’s streets where a crowd of people gathered for Halloween festivities. The officer requested anonymity, saying the details of the incident was still under investigation.

Some local media reports earlier said the crush happened after a large number of people rushed to an Itaewon bar after hearing an unidentified celebrity visited there.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol issued a statement calling for officials to ensure swift treatment for those injured and review the safety of the festivity sites. He also instructed the Health Ministry to swiftly deploy disaster medical assistance teams and secure beds in nearby hospital to treat the injured.

Local media said around 100,000 people flocked to Itaewon streets for the Halloween festivities, which were the biggest since the start of the pandemic following the easing of COVID-19 restrictions in recent months.

 

Father Indicted of Child Abused After Burying Daughter, 6, In A Hole As Punishment Overnight

John Kraft, punished his six-year-old daughter by burying her in a hole in his backyard and covering her in mud. He is also accused of brutally assaulting her, leaving her with bruises on her face.

By Edward Era Barbacena

A Pennsylvania father is facing decades in prison after he was charged with multiple accounts of child abuse in a case that Greene County District Attorney David Russo described as one of the worst he has ever seen to KDKA reporter Jennifer Borrasso.

Russo said that John Kraft, 50, allegedly punished his six-year-old daughter by burying her in a hole in his backyard and covering her in mud. He is also accused of brutally assaulting her, leaving her with bruises on her face.

"There are numerous allegations that are very severe and barbaric in nature," Russo said. "It is alleged that he had brutally beaten a child, that the child was choked to the point of unconsciousness, that the child's head was slammed off the floor and off the wall, that the child was buried in the backyard as punishment. One allegation even states that the child was thrown in a hole and left in a hole overnight."

A family friend spoke with WTAE and said that she saw signs of abuse over a year ago and filed several reports to the Greene County Children and Youth Services Department.

"For one thing, the kids were always dirty. There wasn't much food in the house, especially the little girl. She would always have knots in her hair. There was countless times that I had to cut them out because I couldn't get them out," Larissa Fonner told the news station. "At one point, I saw cigarette burns on them, and I had reported that."

Despite her reports, no action was taken until last month, when a social worker noticed bruises on the young girl's face.

Officials said that the girl and her siblings are in foster care.

 

Donald Trump says he’s glad Twitter’s in ‘sane hands’ with Elon Musk as he touts Truth Social app

By Edward Era Barbacena

Donald Trump said Friday he’s glad Twitter is now in Elon Musk’s “sane hands” — but didn’t mention any prospect of returning to the platform as he touted his own social networking app Truth Social.

“I am very happy that Twitter is now in sane hands, and will no longer be run by Radical Left Lunatics and Maniacs that truly hate our country,” the 45th president wrote in his Truth Social post.

Trump was permanently banned from Twitter after the rioting at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but Musk has previously vowed to reinstate the account.

On Friday afternoon, Must tweeted that “Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints,” adding that “No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.”

Musk closed the $44 billion deal to buy the site Thursday and immediately fired Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal, along with other top executives. The mogul named himself CEO and reportedly pledged to lift all lifetime bans, according to Bloomberg.

“Twitter must now work hard to rid itself of all of the bots and fake accounts that have hurt it so badly,” Trump wrote.

He ended his “truth” by posting: “It will be much smaller, but better. I LOVE TRUTH!”

Trump began the post by plugging his own platform, which has had a chaotic launch marred by technical glitches and trouble raising cash.

“TRUTH SOCIAL has become somewhat of a phenomena,” the former president wrote.

Trump bragged that Truth Social last week “had bigger numbers than all other platforms, including TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, and the rest.”

It is unclear which numbers Trump was referring to since those sites dwarf his startup in number of users. Truth Social has about 500,000 daily users.

Trump took one last shot at the social network rivals, saying: “[Truth Social] also looks and works better to my eye.”

It’s unclear whether Trump would be allowed back on Twitter in the near term, Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources

MSNBC anchor Alex Wagner aired a fake statement attributed to Trump that claimed his Twitter account would be reinstated during her show Thursday night

 

Pelosi Attacker David Depape Appears to Be Antisemite and White Supremacist

By Edward Era Barbacena

The Berkeley man suspected in the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband has a history of inflammatory social media posts tying conspiracy theories to the COVID pandemic and 2020 presidential election

San Francisco police on Friday identified David Depape, 42, as the man suspected of breaking into Pelosi’s San Francisco home early Friday morning and shouting “Where’s Nancy?” before attacking her husband Paul Pelosi with a hammer. Nancy Pelosi was in Washington and not at home.

A complicated picture of Depape’s fringe beliefs began to surface Friday through his online presence and connection to a Bay Area nude activist community. An online blog, Facebook page, and personal website included virulent viewpoints, spanning anti-Semitism, promotion of the far-right QAnon theory, and 2020 election denialism .

A blog, which lists Depape as the author, includes a flurry of posts slamming “woke racists,” proclaiming that Hitler “did nothing wrong,” and lauding podcaster Joe Rogan.

A main focus of Depape’s anger in recent weeks also appears to be social media restrictions. “Tech giants and private industry would be so powerful they could single handedly silence the people,” he wrote on his blog. The blog site, which is now removed, was titled: “Welcome to Big Brothers Censorship hell”

Depape’s stepfather Gene Depape told CNN the alleged attacker grew up in Powell River, British Columbia, and left Canada about two decades ago.

“I really don’t know what to think,” the suspect’s uncle, Mark Depape told CNN. “Hopefully it’s a scam. I don’t want to hear something like that.”

Depape’s name turns up in a series of local news articles connected to Oxane “Gypsy” Taub, a longtime Bay Area nude activist, who once attempted to hold a naked wedding in front of San Francisco City Hall. A 2008 article in The Oakland Tribune said Depape had three children with Taub.

A 2013 San Francisco Chronicle article referred to Depape as a “hemp jewelry maker and father figure” who doubled as best man at Taub’s wedding. Depape also attended a 2013 “nudity ban protest,” in 2013, according to a story in Indybay, an independent news site.

Linda Schneider, a Bay Area resident, told CNN she has known Depape for about eight years. Depape has housesat at her home, Schneider said.

She said Depape had lived in a storage unit in the Berkeley area and struggled with drug use but was “trying to create a new life for himself,” according to CNN.

Schneider said Depape later sent “really disturbing” emails. He sounded like a “megalomaniac and so out of touch with reality,” she said.

Depape “seemed so dangerous,” she said, claiming that Depape “using biblical justification to do harm.”

 

Mass shooting outside Pittsburg funeral leaves 6 people injured

By Edward Era Barbacena

At least six people were injured after a shooting erupted on Friday outside a church in Pittsburgh where a funeral was taking place, according to Pittsburgh Police Commander Rick Ford.

One individual injured in the shooting remains in critical condition and is being treated at Allegheny General Hospital, while the other five victims are in stable condition at area hospitals, Ford said during a news conference.

At least one of the victims in stable condition was transported to Children’s Hospital in the city, Ford said.

Police were alerted to two ShotSpotter activations shortly after noon Friday. The first alert indicated five rounds shot, and the second alert indicated 15 rounds shot, Ford said. Once at the scene, responding officers determined the gunfire was heard outside the church. It’s believed at least some of the people shot were attending the funeral, Ford said.

Authorities do not have any information on a motive at this time, nor do they have any information to release regarding potential suspects, he added. It also hasn’t been determined where the shots were fired from, what kind of weapon was used or whether anyone was targeted in the shooting, according to Ford.

Police believe there was “most likely” more than one gunman, but Ford stressed the investigation is still in its early stages. When asked whether gang activity may be involved, Ford said, “We believe there is a dispute going on, we’re looking into that.”

Ford also said of the six shooting victims, four transported themselves to nearby hospitals and two were transported by medics. He declined to release their ages or other identifying information at this time since police are still working to notify families.

All schools in the vicinity of the shooting have also been notified the area is now safe for dismissal of students, Ford said.

 

Oleg Sviridov (left) and Vyacheslav Matrosov
(right) were friends prior to the incident. Matrosov
said he discovered evidence of his friend's alleged
crimes while they were drinking together

Russian father who forced his ​paedophile ​best friend to dig his own grave and kill himself after ​discovering he had sexually abused​ his daughter, six, is freed from jail a year early after serving just six months

Vyacheslav Matrosov, 35, has been released early after a wave of sympathy. His friend Oleg Sviridov repeatedly sexually abused his daughter, then aged six 

By Edward Era Barbacena

A distraught father who forced his best friend to kill himself when he discovered the man had sexually abused his daughter has been freed from jail after only six months.

Vyacheslav (Slava) Matrosov, 35, was jailed for 18 months but now has been allowed home a year early.

There was a wave of sympathy in Russia for the father who forced child sex abuser Oleg Sviridov, 32, to dig his own grave in a forest.

The paedophile died soon afterwards following a fight with Matrosov, who secretly buried his corpse in the unmarked grave. 

Investigators concluded that Sviridov took his own life during the forest fracas in which Matrosov made clear his fury over the sex abuse.

Sviridov had repeatedly sexually abused Matrosov's daughter, then aged six.

Upon being released from prison early, the father posted a picture with his wife Natalya, 35, with the words: 'Home. Love very much.'

Matrosov was initially held on suspicion of murder but this triggered a public outcry in Russia.

In April he was convicted of 'inciting' his friend 'to suicide' by Krasnoglinsky Court in Samara, and sentenced to 18 months in a strict Russian penal colony.

The close friendship broke down when the father found sickening and graphic footage on his friend's mobile showing Sviridov forcing his daughter to perform a sex act on him.

The girl, now nine, was heard pleading: 'Oleg, that's enough, I can't take it any more. I want to go home'.

They supported him for 'saving our children by ridding us of a child sex attacker'.

Prominent TV journalist and former Russian presidential candidate Ksenia Sobchak told her followers: 'All parents are standing up for the paedophile's killer.'

Matrosov was charged with 'inciting a person to suicide... by threats or abuse'.

Matrosov, 35, forced his former best friend to dig
his own grave in the Samara region of Russia

Sources close to the case said that detailed forensic evidence showed that Matrosov had not stabbed Sviridov in a forest where the dead man's body was found later in the makeshift grave.

Oleg Sviridov

There are claims Sviridov was given an ultimatum to go to the police and confess to sexually abusing the girl, or face the father's wrath.

A relative said Sviridov was seen badly beaten on the day he disappeared in September 2021, more than a week before his body was found in the makeshift grave near Vintai village.

Two other children are feared to have been abused by Sviridov.

Mass shooting in Shah Cheragh, Iran leaves leaves 15 worshipers dead

By Edward Era Barbacena

On 26 October 2022, at least 15 people were killed in a mass shooting at Shah Cheragh mosque, a Shia pilgrimage site in Shiraz in southern Iran. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.

The three attackers are described by Iranian state media as apparently being takfiri terrorists. Two attackers have been arrested; the other is at large. Later the same day, Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. The Iranian authorities claimed that the attackers were not Iranian nationals. Iranian semi official Tasnim news agency stated that children are among the dead.

The Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack[9] via Amaq, the group's propaganda media. According to Voice of America Persian News Network, some Iranian protestors speculated that this terrorist attack was a conspiracy of the Iranian government to divert public opinion from Iran's nationwide protests.

According to the Institute for the Study of War, it is likely that the Iranian government will exploit the massacre to deflate the protests, and use it to redirect "public attention away from the protests and channel anger toward foreign adversaries such as the Islamic State and Saudi Arabia".

The United Nations Secretary-General strongly condemned the terrorist assault on the Shah Cheragh Holy Shrine in Shiraz, Iran, claimed by the Islamic State. The message said that targeting religious places is heinous and the 

Secretary-General emphasized "bring to justice the perpetrators of this crime against civilians exercising their right to practice their religion." Also, the Secretary-General expressed his condolences to the bereaved families, the Iranian people, and the Iranian government wished a swift recovery for the injured.

Iranian Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi blamed the Mahsa Amini protests for paving the ground for the attack on the mausoleum.

Horrific footage of  white teen bashing kangaroo joey to death sparks outrage

Disgusting footage of a young  white man bashing a kangaroo joey to death has been filmed and shared on Snapchat and Facebook, sparking outrage from animal activists.

By Edward Era Barbacena

The eastern grey kangaroo can be seen attempting to crawl to get away. Its leg appears to have already been snapped at the hip before the teenager hauled it from the ute tray.

Laughter can be heard in the background of the footage as the young white  man pretends to be a boxer, and punches and stomps the joey.

A woman who sounds so white was seen filming and encouraging him, before the footage shows her stomping on the joey’s head herself.

The joey can be seen bleeding from the head and nose as it lies on the ground.

“This revolting behavior is symptomatic of a culture propagated by the Federal, State and Local Governments, who treat kangaroos and native wildlife as pests and generously dole out permits to shoot and kill them,” he said in a statement.

“The Australian Government does not have respect for our wildlife, and this top-down disrespect gives rise to a culture in which a young man will bash a joey to death for the purpose of a Snapchat video – while his friends laugh.

“Kangaroos have become one of the most persecuted animals in the country. We take them for granted. The Government oversees a commercial kangaroo industry that shoots them in their thousands for pet food and leather, while also doling out permits to kill for farmers and property owners, local Councils are culling, even golf courses are culling, and there is recreational shooting in rural areas.

“This is all while their desperate dead bodies line our roads after they’ve managed to survive catastrophic climate change bushfires, floods and droughts.”

Pearson said the government’s “trigger happy” approach to kangaroos was somewhat to blame for the horrific video.

“How can we expect a culture of respect for native animals when at every level of Government kangaroos are treated as disposable?

“Kangaroos are not okay and it’s time to stop taking them for granted. This change needs to come from the top down, because it’s the Australian Government’s trigger-happy approach to kangaroos that we are now seeing reflected in wider culture, with incidents of animal cruelty inflicted by young people increasingly coming into the light.”

The Animal Justice Party has written formal complaints to the RSPCA and NSW Police demanding the crime be thoroughly investigated.

 

 

Mass shooting in a memorial service in North Carolina leaves six people injured

By Edward Era Barbacena

Six people were shot in an Oxford neighborhood on Saturday night, including two children.

Police told CBS 17 that someone fired their gun into a crowd of more than 100 people on Piedmont Avenue around 9:30 p.m. The group had gathered after a memorial service, mourning the loss of a family member and friend.

Victims were transported to a local hospital, where four of them were airlifted to another hospital for treatment.

On Monday afternoon, Oxford Police Chief Patricia Ford told CBS 17 that an 18-month-old girl is among the victims. She is still in the ICU, with six gunshot wounds to her lower body.

A 10-year-old was also injured. Ford said she was released from the hospital, with a bullet still in her thigh. She will need to see a specialist to get it removed.

Ford said she’s never heard of anything like this happening in her community. 

“I have a caller from Piedmont Avenue. Advise shots fired, people running behind her house,” a dispatcher said on police radio traffic obtained by CBS17.

A time of reflection and mourning quickly turned into chaos and fear.

“Shootings happen every day and, in every community,” said Ford. “But when children are involved, we tend to look at things a little differently.”

Investigators said the crowd had gathered in a green space in the neighborhood to remember the life of Curtis White.

“[White] was killed in an automobile accident. They were there as a family mourning and celebrating the life and loss of their loved one,” explained Ford. “It just took a negative turn very quickly.”

Pastor Ronnie Morton, of the Greater Joy Baptist Church, was at the service for White earlier in the afternoon. He told CBS17 he had concerns.

“I told my wife on the way home that something was going to happen. I just felt like that in my bones,” he said. “There was a lot of drinking and marijuana smoking.”

Oxford Police could not confirm there was drug use at the event but did confirm there was alcohol involved.

Morton, and people living nearby, never expected the extent of the violence that ensued later in the night.

One woman told CBS 17 that she grabbed her niece and nephew and ran as fast as she could, ducking behind a neighbor’s home. 

“A child could lose their life over something that’s pointless, meaningless,” another neighbor said. “I don’t want to lose one of my children to something like that.” 

Police do not have a suspect in mind, nor have they pinpointed a motive.

They said they believe someone in the crowd was targeted, but that most of the people in the gathering were innocent.

“The mindset of someone who would go into a large crowd and just randomly fire… I consider that person dangerous,” added Ford. 

Many people in the area are concerned about the growing level of gun violence. 

“We need to stop doubting our police officers. We need to work with our police officers,” said Morton. “How do you work with police officers? It’s not their responsibility to change the community. It’s ours.”

The investigation will be difficult for officers, given the size of the crowd, officials told CBS 17.

They will be interviewing each and every person there in an effort to find the person or people responsible.

 

Perth racist man Jack Steven James Brearley charged with murder over death of Cassius Turvey, 15, after alleged vicious attack

By Edward Era Barbacena

A Middle Swan man has been charged with murder over the alleged vicious attack of 15-year-old Aboriginal boy Cassius Turvey, who died over the weekend as a result of his injuries.

Multiple surgeries were not enough to save the boy, who passed away yesterday after being placed in an induced coma.

Jack Steven James Brearley, 21, was originally charged with one count of unlawful wounding, but homicide squad detectives upgraded the charge to murder.

Mr Brearley made a brief appearance at Midland Magistrates Court on Monday to hear the charge.

Dozens of friends and family appeared outside the court to show their support for Cassius's family.

"I'm just appalled at some of the violence going on in our communities,” Cassius’s mother Mechelle Turvey said.

The family has given the ABC permission to use a photo of Cassius that was taken as he lay in hospital in a critical condition before he died on October 23.

Detective Senior Sergeant Stephen Cleal said Cassius was walking with a group of friends on October 13 when they were approached by a black Ford Ranger ute.

Police allege Mr Brearley jumped out the car and ran towards the group before assaulting Cassius with a metal pole, which police are still searching for.

Cassius suffered lacerations to the ear and forehead and the family said scans at Midland St John of God Hospital revealed two brain haemorrhages.

He was transported to Perth Children's Hospital and was discharged after five days, but had a seizure just hours after, and was transported back to hospital.

The teenager underwent surgery and was put into a medically induced coma.

When asked about a possible motive for the alleged attack, Detective Senior Sergeant Cleal said police were "looking into all avenues" in the investigation.

"In terms of the motivation [behind] the attack, that is still subject to ongoing investigations by the homicide squad," he said.

He said there was no indication that Mr Brearley knew Cassius or the other alleged members of the group.

"We are working with the family, and local businesses and the school just to ensure that northing further escalates as a result of this," he said.

Emily Farmer, the mother of one of the other boys who was with Cassius on the day of the alleged attack, said his friends were distraught.

"They are all together at the moment just trying to get through it … this is one of a mother's worst nightmares," she said.

"For those people that are still out there, that were part of it, they should give themselves in. Don't know how they can live with themselves.

Cassius's family has organised a GoFundMe, which they've named #justiceforcassius, to cover costs for the boy's funeral and legal costs.

Mr Brearley has been remanded in custody and is due to appear at Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court on November 9.

Police asked anyone with information about the incident to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or report it online.

They asked that any dashcam or other relevant footage be uploaded to their website.

Detectives also wish to speak with anyone in the area at the time of the alleged incident, particularly anyone who saw a black ute driving in the area. 

 

North Carolina Sheriff Resigns After Shocking, Racist Comments About Black Employees

Columbus County Sheriff Jody Greene was recorded saying racial slurs not long after he took office.

By Edward Era Barbacena

A white sheriff in a rural North Carolina county resigned Monday after he was recorded saying blatantly racist comments about the Black deputies working under him.

Jody Greene, the now former sheriff of Columbus County, was caught spewing derogatory remarks on a phone call in 2019 — not long after he took office. Audio from the phone call was recorded and made public recently.

The Columbus County District Attorney’s office filed a petition on Friday presenting evidence of recorded conversations in court records, demanding for Greene’s removal from office following his recorded remarks. The petition detailed specific Black deputies and sergeants in the office that Greene targeted derogatory statements towards during the recorded conversation.

He referred to several Black deputies and sergeants as “Black bastards” and threatened to fire them as a result.

At least one Black person was fired following the conversation, the office said in the petition.

“Tomorrow’s gonna be a new fucking day. I’m still the motherfucking sheriff...Fuck them Black bastards, they think I’m scared? They’re stupid. I don’t know what else to do with it. So it’s time to clean them out,” Greene was recorded saying, according to the filing.

“I ain’t gonna have it. I’m gonna cut the snake’s fucking head off. Period...and Melvin Campbell is as big a snake as Lewis Hatcher ever dared to be. Every Black that I know, you need to fire him to start with, he’s a snake!” Greene continued on the recording.

Outrage was swift in the community. The NAACP, locally and nationally, blasted Greene, calling his remarks “divisive” and “horrifying.”

Columbus County District Attorney Jon David filed a petition Oct. 4 demanding Greene’s removal from office. A judge agreed the same day, effective immediately.

On Oct. 5, the Columbus County Board of Commissioners held an impromptu meeting to fill Greene’s temporary vacancy until a final decision is made on whether he will continue to be sheriff of the department.

The State Bureau of Investigations in North Carolina launched an investigation of obstruction of justice in the department after Greene’s recorded comments.

Following the reporting of his remarks, Greene resigned from the North Carolina Sheriff’s Association.

 

Man yelled racial slurs, hit woman outside bar late Sunday night

By Edward Era Barbacena

A 40-year-old Grayslake man is charged with a hate crime after police say he yelled racial slurs at and later hit a woman he encountered at a bar outside Grayslake late Sunday night.

Joseph R. Young, of the 100 block of Glen Street, remains in jail and would need to pay $15,000  to be released while his case is pending.

In addition to the felony hate crime charge, Young is charged with battery and disorderly conduct.

There is no evidence to suggest that Young had ever before met the 52-year-old Waukegan woman he is accused of victimizing at a bar on the 34000 block of North Route 45 near Grayslake, Lake County Sheriff's Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said.

Investigators believe the woman was with a group of friends inside the bar sometime before 10:50 p.m. when Young began yelling racial slurs at her. Soon after Ashley N. Anderson, a 36-year-old woman who lives with Young, also began insulting the 52-year-old woman, Covelli said.

The Waukegan woman left the building to try to get away from the couple, Covelli said.

Young and Anderson followed the woman outside, continued yelling at her and when she tried again to walk away Young struck the Waukegan woman on her body, Covelli said.

As the encounter escalated a staff member at the bar called 911 and sheriff's deputies arrived around 5 minutes after Young struck the woman, Covelli said.

Young and Anderson were on the premises when officers arrived and they were placed under arrest after deputies completed their initial investigation, Covelli said.

The Waukegan woman was treated on the scene by paramedics and released.

Anderson is charged with disorderly conduct and posted $1,500 cash to be released from jail while her case is pending.

Covelli said there is no evidence Anderson used racial slurs or committed battery so she was not charged with a hate crime. She is due back in court Nov. 16.

Young is due in court Nov. 8.

 

Mass shooting in St. Louis High School in Missouri leaves 3 dead and 7 injured

By Edward Era Barbacena

 A 19-year-old gunman opened fire at a high school in St. Louis, Missouri, on Monday, killing two people and injuring seven others before officers fatally shot the suspect, the city's police commissioner said.

The suspect in a Monday shooting at a St. Louis high school was carrying an AR-15-style rifle and what looked to be more than 600 rounds of ammunition, The Associated Press reported Tuesday, per Police Commissioner Michael Sack. Both a teacher — physical education teacher Jean Kuczka — and a 15-year-old girl — Alexzandria Bell — were killed in the attack; seven students were injured, all of which are said to be in stable condition.

The gunman, 19-year-old Orlando Harris, left behind a note that read, in part, "I don't have any friends, I don't have any family. I've never had a girlfriend. I've never had a social life. I've been an isolated loner my entire life. This was the perfect storm for a mass shooter," per the St Louis Post-Dispatch. Police found the note in the gunman's car.

Harris was killed following an exchange of gunfire with the police. He had graduated from the school, Central Visual and Performing Arts High School, last year.

The building was locked when the gunman first attempted to get inside, AP reported. A security guard then alerted school officials and contacted the police after seeing Harris try one of the school's doors. "[T]here was no mystery about what was going to happen," Sack said. "He had [the gun] out and entered in an aggressive, violent manner." Harris still somehow managed to get inside, but Sack did not say how.

"This could have been much worse," Sack said.

Monday's school shooting marked "the 40th this year resulting in injuries or death," AP wrote, per a "tally by Education Week — the most in any year since it began tracking shootings in 2018."

 

Missing grandma’s body found in monster python that swallowed her whole

By Edward Era Barbacena

A grandmother was swallowed whole by a 22-foot-long python in Indonesia — with shocking video capturing the moment her remains were found inside the cut-open beast.

Police told CNN Indonesia that a search was launched after the victim, only identified as Jahrah, 54, failed to return from collecting rubber from a plantation in Jambi province on Sunday.

Her husband searched the area, but only found his wife’s sandals, jacket, headscarf and knife, Betara Jambi Police Chief AKP Herafa told the outlet.

He returned to the same area with a search party the next day — stumbling across the giant snake with a swollen mid-section where it had eaten something large, police confirmed.

Wild video shows a volunteer carefully using a branch to pin the python’s head down as others started bashing it above the swollen area.

The disturbing clip then cut to villagers carefully slicing it open — revealing what officials say was the swallowed body of the missing grandma.

“Everyone was astonished,” Anto, the head of the local Terjun Gajah village, told ViralPress.

The snake likely bit Jahrah and then suffocated her by wrapping itself around her before swallowing her, said Anto — who estimated it would have taken at least two hours.

It was not even a record for the village — where a 27-foot-long python was previously spotted, Anto said.

That one got away, the official said, leaving locals “worried that bigger snakes are still in the forest.”

 

Father Charged With Murdering His Daughter For His Mistress 

Authorities say Adam Montgomery killed his daughter, Harmony, and also abused her corpse, and tampered with evidence and witnesses. Harmony went missing since 2019

By Edward Era Barbacena

Such horrendous can only be done by white people with no remorse 

Manchester police and the New Hampshire Attorney General accused Adam Montgomery, the father of missing Harmony Montgomery, of killing his daughter at a news conference Monday.

Adam Montgomery has been charged with second-degree murder. He is also charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence, and witness tampering charges.

Harmony Montgomery was last seen alive in 2019, and authorities were notified of her disappearance in December 2021. The Manchester police have been working to find Harmony until recently when they announced that she was presumed dead. At the time of announcing it was no longer a missing person case, the focus began on finding the person responsible for her death.

Adam Montgomery was transported from Valley Street Jail Monday to Manchester police. At that time, he was arrested and charged with murder and other charges. He will be arraigned Tuesday at Hillsborough County Court in Manchester.

Investigators accused Adam Montgomery of "repeatedly striking Harmony Montgomery in the head with a close fist in Manchester" on Dec. 7, 2019. The evidence and abuse of corpse charges were based on being accused of moving her body to impair an investigation on Dec. 7, 2019, and March 4, 2020. The tampering with witnesses or informants charge was an accusation that Adam Montgomery attempted to cause Kayla Montgomery, his wife, "to testify or inform falsely" between Dec. 7, 2019, and Jan. 4.

5 shot, 3 killed in mass shooting during 100 car caravan the Chicago's Southwest Side

By Edward Era Barbacena

Chicago police confirm that three people have died and two others were wounded in a mass shooting Sunday Morning on the city’s Southwest Side.

CPD Commander Don Jerome said officers responded to the scene, in the 4300 block of South Kedzie in the Brighton Park neighborhood around 4 a.m., for reports of a large caravan of 100 cars drifting in the middle of the street.

While responding to the scene, around 13 shots were reported through ShotSpotter. Upon arrival, an investigation revealed that five people were shot.

Police say three people have died as a result of the shooting. The victims were Hispanic males between the ages of 15 to 20 who had gang affiliations. Two other men remain at Mt. Sinai Hospital in critical condition but are expected to survive.

No weapon was recovered and multiple casings were found at the scene.

Area One detectives are investigating.

 

Filipino  Catholic priest in Cagayan indicted for sexually molesting a 16 year-old girl 

Catholic  priest  Israel Karole Reward also serves as Asst. Parish Priest of a church in the said town and from Barangay Tucalana, Lallo while the victim is a 16-year-old youth minister of the said church that the suspect serves.

By Edward Era Barbacena

A priest is now facing multiple charges for allegedly repeatedly raping a minor in the town of Solsona, Cagayan, according to the National Bureau of Investigation-Region 2 (NBI-R2) yesterday. .

According to NBI-R2, Catholic  priest  Israel Karole  Reward also serves as Asst. Parish Priest of a church in the said town and from Barangay Tucalana, Lallo while the victim is a 16-year-old youth minister of the said church that the suspect serves.

In the report, according to the authorities, the suspect was caught in a rescue operation by operatives in Barangay Iraga in the said town and based on the NBI-R2, and the victim's account, he and the disciple of God became close when he became an active member of the youth ministry year 2019.

During the investigation, on the night of February 8 this year,  Reward allegedly invited the victim to Aparri and returned to Solana the next morning. Before the victim got out of the car, the suspect was able to molest him until he got a chance to escape.

In the victim's complaint, on February 22, Reward  invited the girl again and introduced her to another relationship, but they went straight to a hotel and there the suspect committed the rape.

In the investigation, according to NBI-R2, it appears that the said rape was followed where from February to October the priest allegedly raped the victim 20 times.

Officials said that the victim was also afraid to report because of the priest's threat that he would spread the photos and their sex videos.

Right now, the victim's family is determined to file a case against the priest. 

 

Disturbing video shows man run, shove stranger onto Brooklyn subway tracks

By Edward Era Barbacena

NYPOST: Disturbing new video shows a subway shover charge a 32-year-old man from across a Brooklyn platform to knock him onto the tracks in an unprovoked attack.

The attack happened around 2:40 p.m. Friday on the northbound L-train tracks at the Wyckoff Avenue and Myrtle Avenue subway station, cops said.

Police released footage of the assailant on Saturday, showing him standing on one side of the platform with his arms folded and back to the tracks as he spots his target on the other side of the platform near another set of tracks.

 

Man viciously attacks passengers in NYC subway. These occurrences of random unprovoked attacks are becoming quite frequent.

 

After Jamaica, another incidence of Chinese business owner shot at point-blank this time in Panama in broad daylight

 

Brazilian vlogger kills an elderly man with her car - then posts it on social media just to make it as a content video 

By Edward Era Barbacena

An influencer who killed an 86-year-old man with her car in Brazil is under fire after complaining about the victim’s family in a video shared with her followers online.

“I had an accident, which caused a man here, from my city, to be run over,” singer and model Júlia Reis said in the clip describing the tragic automobile crash, which occurred Oct. 14 in Itabirito, Minas Gerais.

According to reports, the bombshell had reportedly run into the victim, Agostinho Ascenção da Silva, 86, outside his home, crushing him between her vehicle and a wall.

It’s unclear why Reis ran over da Silva; however, the social media star claimed she had swerved to dodge a toddler who had run into the road. 

Following the crash, bystanders and family members subsequently freed da Silva by pushing the car away. They then rushed him to the hospital, where he was forced to have both his legs amputated. Despite medics’ best efforts to save him, the man perished five days after the accident, Jam Press reported.

Meanwhile, although her car was totaled, Reis only suffered minor injuries in the accident. “The singer is not at risk of life and is doing well,” wrote the influencer’s representatives. They added that the model was reportedly taking medication on account of being so “shaken” by the incident, and that she cancelled an upcoming concert.

Not only that, but Reis claimed in a follow-up video that she was — perhaps unsurprisingly — ignored by the victim’s family following the accident.

“It so happens that even though I was advised by the doctor to take care of myself, I published on my social media, hours after the accident, an official statement offering my condolences to the elderly man’s family and making myself available to provide any necessary assistance,” she explained on camera. “However, as will be proven later, Mr Agostinho’s family refuses to respond to my attempts to contact them via WhatsApp.”

Da Silva’s family has since shared their side of the story. His son Nilson Ribeiro had reportedly heard his father’s screams following the crash and ran to see him trapped between Reis’ car and the wall.

The victim’s distraught progeny also alleged that Reis tried to drive away, and even repeatedly told him to “calm down” following the accident, G1 reported.

In addition, Reis’ father, businessman Carlos de Jesus Soares, who was also present at the scene, had gotten into an argument with the deceased’s relatives, which was subsequently broken up by the military.

Reis, meanwhile, claims to have little recollection of the incident, explaining that she only came to after hearing da Silva’s son shouting. Police had administered a breathalyzer test at the scene, which determined she was not under the influence at the time.

The car crash is currently under investigation by authorities.

 

16-month sentence for  Richard Bradley Stevens who assaulted Muslim women in mall parking lot

By Edward Era Barbacena

Richard Bradley Stevens, 43, has been sentenced to 16 months in jail and two years probation for assaulting two Muslim women in an Edmonton parking lot in 2020.

The Somali mother and her daughter told police they were sitting in their car in the Southgate Centre parking lot Dec. 8, 2020, when Stevens came up to the passenger side of their car and started yelling at them.

He shattered a car window before knocking one of the women to the ground and assaulting her.

The other woman tried to intervene, and was also pushed to the ground.

The women said Stevens swore at them and told them to go back to their country before witnesses stepped in and stopped the assault.

The case was heard in mental health court because Stevens has a history of drug-induced psychosis, but the judge found drugs and mental health were not factors in the attack.

The judge sentenced Stevens to more time than the eight to 10 months the Crown requested, saying his actions were motivated by hate, adding Stevens has a history of prejudice and had stated to others after his arrest for assault that he would do it again.

The judge also said Stevens’ actions emboldened others to target Muslim women in Edmonton in the months that followed.

“There’s no doubt that this heinous islamaphobic attack left a tremendous amount of pain on Edmonton and Alberta and especially on Black Muslim women, those who wear hijabs and other visible and vulnerable Muslims,” said Dalal Souraya of the National Council of Canadian Muslims. “Their voices and the voices of those who were attacked are reflected in today’s decision.”

The National Council of Canadian Muslims says it will launch a civil suit shortly to seek damages on behalf of the victims for the attack.