4 arrested in slaying of Honduran environmental activist
4 arrested in slaying of Honduran environmental activist
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Honduran authorities arrested four people Monday in the killing of environmental activist Berta Caceres, including an active duty army officer and at least one man who worked for a hydroelectric project she opposed.
A spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office, Yuri Mora, said the three did work for or were direct employees of Desarrollos Energeticos SA, also known as DESA, which was developing the project that Caceres’ organization successfully stopped.
The Hidroelectrica Agua Zarca Company, which is managed by DESA, said in a statement that only one of the men was employed by the firm, and denied it had anything to do with Caceres’ killing.
The Goldman Environmental Prize-winning activist was shot dead March 3 by gunmen who invaded her home. Caceres had reported death threats from security personnel for the company, which is known as DESA.
Caceres’ children and the group she founded, the Council of Indigenous and Popular Organizations of Honduras, said in a statement that they wanted an international group of experts from the Inter American Human Rights Commission to participate in the investigation, because “we do not know if these arrests reach all the levels of the masterminds” behind the killing.
Bitcoin’s creator unmasks himself — well, maybe
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The mystery creator of the digital currency bitcoin has finally stepped forward. Or has he?
Australian inventor Craig Steven Wright announced Monday that he is “Satoshi Nakamoto,” the elusive, pseudonymous bitcoin founder.
In interviews with the Economist, BBC, GQ and a few bitcoin insiders, bolstered by a technical demonstration intended to prove that he and Nakamoto are one and the same, Wright tried to lay to rest one of the biggest mysteries in the tech world.
But Wright, who first emerged as a leading Nakamoto contender last December , may not have closed the case.
While some bitcoin experts accept his demonstration as evidence that Wright is indeed Nakamoto, others argue that his supposed proof — a series of complex mathematical operations listed in a blog post — doesn’t prove anything.
Prince siblings in probate court in 1st hearing on estate
CHASKA, Minn. (AP) — Five of Prince’s six surviving siblings appeared in court Monday for the first hearing to start sorting out an estate certain to be worth millions, a task complicated because the star musician isn’t known to have left a will.
In a hearing that lasted a little over 12 minutes, Carver County District Judge Kevin Eide formalized his appointment last week of Bremer Trust to handle matters involving the estate of Prince, who died suddenly last month at age 57.
Prince’s sister, Tyka Nelson, requested the appointment so that the company can manage Prince’s estate until an executor is named. Eide asked the packed courtroom whether anyone knew of a will, and the courtroom was silent. Lawyers for Bremer Trust said they hadn’t found one but would keep looking.
“The court is not finding that there is no will, but that no will has yet been found,” the judge said.
The hearing didn’t address how long the estate may take to settle or how much it is worth. His property holdings alone in Minnesota, including his Paisely Park studios in the Minneapolis suburb of Chanhassen, were worth about $27 million, but music industry experts say his earnings after death are likely to be far more.
Prosecutor: Evidence speaks for 10 ‘Grim Sleeper’ victims
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The victims were all young black women, some were prostitutes and most had been using cocaine before their bodies were discovered in alleys in a rough part of Los Angeles, hidden in trash bins or covered by mattresses or debris.
For decades, the serial killer dubbed the “Grim Sleeper” eluded police, dumping at least 10 bodies and leaving one woman for dead after shooting her in the chest.
After months of testimony, a prosecutor Monday said that the evidence overwhelmingly points to Lonnie Franklin Jr. and speaks for the vulnerable victims he silenced as he spent years hiding in plain sight.
“How do we figure out what happened here? How do we know who committed these crimes?” Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman asked as she closed her case in Los Angeles Superior Court.
“Ten of the victims can’t tell you themselves. The defendant took their voices when he brutally murdered them. … The evidence in this case is the voice of the victims.”