Man shot to death awaiting court appearance
Man shot to death awaiting court appearance
CANTON, Miss. (AP) — A man got out of his pickup, walked up to the defendant in a drug-dealing case and fatally shot him in the chest, then set down his gun and surrendered as deputies confronted him outside a Mississippi courthouse Monday morning, law enforcement officials said.
Police and other officials said they weren’t sure why the suspect — 24-year-old William B. Wells, a former Canton firefighter with no history of trouble — would shoot Kendrick Armond Brown. But it came just days after Wells’ own mother was shot and wounded, a case that police are investigating.
Brown was in a small courtyard outside the Madison County Courthouse with his lawyer when he was shot, District Attorney Michael Guest said. Brown, 37, faced charges of selling cocaine and was a habitual offender who had been sentenced to prison time on past drug counts, according to an indictment. He was expected to reject a plea offer on his latest charges Monday and was not a witness or a suspect in other current criminal cases, Guest said.
Wells was in the county jail with a bail hearing set for Tuesday. Before Monday, “he hadn’t been in any trouble or anything,” Canton police Chief Otha Brown said.
Wells only had minor traffic tickets on his record, including a speeding ticket from 2009 and two tickets for improper license plates in 2013 and 2014, according to court documents.
Obama: Power plant emissions limits ‘most important step’ US has taken to fight climate change
WASHINGTON (AP) — Calling it a moral obligation, President Barack Obama unveiled the final version of his plan to dramatically cut emissions from U.S. power plants, as he warned anew that climate change will threaten future generations if left unchecked.
Touting the plan at a White House event on Monday, Obama said the unprecedented carbon dioxide limits are the “the single most important step” America has ever taken to fight climate change. He warned that because the problem is so large, if the world doesn’t get it right quickly, it may become impossible to reverse, leaving populations unable to adapt.
“There is such a thing as being too late when it comes to climate change,” Obama said.
Opponents immediately announced they would sue the government to stop the rules from taking effect. West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, speaking at a summit of Republican state attorneys general, said West Virginia would be among a group of states “launching an aggressive legal campaign.”
“Their legal foundation is very, very shaky,” Morrisey said of the Obama administration. “We are confident that we will prevail.”
Report: US-led strikes in Iraq, Syria killed 459 civilians
BAGHDAD (AP) — U.S.-led airstrikes targeting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria have likely killed at least 459 civilians over the past year, a report by an independent monitoring group said Monday.
The report by Airwars, a project aimed at tracking the international airstrikes targeting the extremists, said it believed 57 specific strikes killed civilians and caused 48 suspected “friendly fire” deaths. It said the strikes have killed more than 15,000 Islamic State militants.
While Airwars noted the difficulty of verifying information in territory held by the IS group, which has kidnapped and killed journalists and activists, other groups have reported similar casualties from the U.S.-led airstrikes.
“Almost all claims of noncombatant deaths from alleged coalition strikes emerge within 24 hours — with graphic images of reported victims often widely disseminated,” the report said.
Greek stock market bloodbath as exchange reopens
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece suffered its worst stock market bloodbath in decades on Monday, when it opened after a forced five-week closure, and new data showed a dismal outlook for the bailout-dependent country’s shrinking economy.
The main stock index shed over 22 percent just minutes into the opening, as investors got their first opportunity since late June to react to the latest twists in the country’s nearly six-year economic drama.
The index closed 16.2 percent lower, with bank shares hitting or nearing the daily trading limit of a 30 percent loss. Collectively, Greek-listed companies lost about a sixth of their market value — almost 8 billion euros ($8.7 billion).
“There’s a sense of panic,” said Evangelos Sioutis, financial analyst and head of equities at Guardian Trust. He noted some traders are selling stock merely to raise cash because there is so little liquidity in the Greek economy.
House GOP says it has the votes to disapprove of Iran deal; Dems stepping up to support it
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans said Monday that they have the GOP votes to disapprove of the Iran nuclear deal as Democrats stepped up their support of the agreement the Obama administration and other world powers negotiated with Tehran.
Since Republicans hold a commanding 246 seats in the House, it was widely expected that the GOP would come up with 218 votes to support a resolution of disapproval, which has been introduced by Rep. Peter Roskam, R-Ill.
“Time is not the friend of this deal,” Roskam said in a statement. “The more time members spend evaluating this agreement, the more they realize it’s an historic mistake.”
It’s unclear, however, if there would be enough votes in the House to override President Barack Obama’s expected veto of the legislation. The president is counting on Democrats to sustain his veto, and House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi has said they will.
Obama would need 34 members of the Senate or 146 members of the House to stand with him.