A former Power Rangers star has been jailed for six years after killing his roommate with a sword.
Prosecutors said Ricardo Medina Jr stabbed Josh Sutter "multiple times" at a home they shared in Green Valley, Los Angeles county, in January 2015.
Medina, who played the red Power Ranger in the TV show in 2002, claimed he was acting in self-defence after Mr Sutter broke into his bedroom following an argument.
The 38-year-old actor was originally charged with first degree murder but later pleaded guilty to a count of voluntary manslaughter.
Medina's lawyer, Stanley Friedman, said the actor agreed to plead guilty to manslaughter so as not to risk a murder conviction and possible life sentence.
During the sentencing at Superior Court in Lancaster, California, Mr Sutter's father asked Judge Daviann Mitchell to show no leniency towards Medina.
Donald Sutter said: "Put this killer in general (prison) population so he will see and feel the same fear that Joshua must have felt."
After stabbing Mr Sutter, Medina called 911 and took his roommate to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.
The victim's sister, Rachel Kennedy, told ABC News a post-mortem found her brother sustained 10 sharp force injuries.
These were said to have included hand injuries and a stab wound through the abdomen.
Last year, the TMZ website reported that the blade used had been a "Conan The Barbarian-style broadsword".
Friday, March 31, 2017
Thursday, March 30, 2017
Kim Jong-Nam's body to be returned to North Korea under deal with Malaysia
Malaysia has agreed to release the body of Kim Jong-Nam to North Korea in return for the release of nine Malaysians being held there.
Mr Kim, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, died last month after two women smeared a deadly nerve agent on his face at Kuala Lumpur airport.
The killing, which has been widely blamed on Pyongyang, led to the breakdown of Malaysia's normally close relations with the secretive regime.
In tit-for-tat moves, the two countries first withdrew their ambassadors, then banned each other's citizens from leaving its soil.
But the day after, Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak, adopted a more conciliatory tone, saying the dispute would be solved through quiet negotiations.
Those talks, which he described as "very sensitive", have been successful as on Thursday, Mr Razak announced the deal.
He said: "I had a deep personal concern about this matter, and we worked intensively behind the scenes to achieve this successful outcome.
"Many challenges were overcome to ensure the return of our fellow Malaysians."
Mr Kim, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, died last month after two women smeared a deadly nerve agent on his face at Kuala Lumpur airport.
The killing, which has been widely blamed on Pyongyang, led to the breakdown of Malaysia's normally close relations with the secretive regime.
In tit-for-tat moves, the two countries first withdrew their ambassadors, then banned each other's citizens from leaving its soil.
But the day after, Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak, adopted a more conciliatory tone, saying the dispute would be solved through quiet negotiations.
Those talks, which he described as "very sensitive", have been successful as on Thursday, Mr Razak announced the deal.
He said: "I had a deep personal concern about this matter, and we worked intensively behind the scenes to achieve this successful outcome.
"Many challenges were overcome to ensure the return of our fellow Malaysians."
Vladimir Putin Denies Russia Meddled in the Presidential Election
Russian President Vladimir Putin denied any Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election on Thursday, claiming any allegations are politically motivated lies.
"Read my lips, no," Putin said during a panel moderated by CNBC.
"All those things are fictional, illusory and provocations, lies," he said. "All these are used for domestic American political agendas."
Putin made the comments, which come as the FBI is investigating Russia's election interference, during a panel moderated by CNBC co-anchor Geoff Cutmore at the International Arctic Forum in Arkhangelsk, Russia. FBI Director James Comey confirmed at a congressional hearing this month that the FBI was looking into Russian interference during the election, but did not reveal any information about the investigation.
Earlier this week, the White House said Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, would testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee as part of its inquiry into the matter. But Putin's comments echo those of Trump, who has repeatedly taken to Twitter to call allegations of a connection between his campaign and Russia a "hoax."
"Read my lips, no," Putin said during a panel moderated by CNBC.
"All those things are fictional, illusory and provocations, lies," he said. "All these are used for domestic American political agendas."
Putin made the comments, which come as the FBI is investigating Russia's election interference, during a panel moderated by CNBC co-anchor Geoff Cutmore at the International Arctic Forum in Arkhangelsk, Russia. FBI Director James Comey confirmed at a congressional hearing this month that the FBI was looking into Russian interference during the election, but did not reveal any information about the investigation.
Earlier this week, the White House said Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, would testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee as part of its inquiry into the matter. But Putin's comments echo those of Trump, who has repeatedly taken to Twitter to call allegations of a connection between his campaign and Russia a "hoax."
Alleged Islamic State sympathisers arrested over plot to bomb Venice's Rialto Bridge
Three alleged Islamic State extremists have been arrested on suspicion of plotting to blow up the Rialto Bridge in Venice.
The group had expressed unconditional support for IS and had celebrated after last week's deadly terror attack in London, Venice's chief prosecutor said.
Police had been monitoring the Kosovars since last year - bugging their apartments, tapping their phones and tracking their online communications.
A search of an apartment in the city suggested the suspects had been getting in physical shape and watching Islamic extremist videos demonstrating knife attacks, chief prosecutor Adelchi D'Ippolito said.
The men, who all had regular residency permits to live in Italy, were named as Fisnik Bekaj, 24, Dake Haziraj, 25 and Arjan Babaj, 27.
A minor from Kosovo was also detained to prevent him from interfering with the investigation, police said, while up to three other Kosovars are under investigation over their ties to those arrested.
Mr D'Ippolito said all those detained lived in the historic centre of Venice, the ancient city famous for its canals and packed with tourists for much of the year.
The 426-year-old Rialto Bridge is the oldest of four spanning the Grand Canal. George Clooney and his wife Amal were photographed taking a boat trip under the bridge after their wedding in 2014.
In a statement, Venice's mayor Luigi Brugnaro thanked police for "breaking up a dangerous and active jihadist cell in the centre of the city".
Police also carried out 10 raids overnight in Venice, one in the neighbouring town of Mestre and one in nearby Treviso.
The group had expressed unconditional support for IS and had celebrated after last week's deadly terror attack in London, Venice's chief prosecutor said.
Police had been monitoring the Kosovars since last year - bugging their apartments, tapping their phones and tracking their online communications.
A search of an apartment in the city suggested the suspects had been getting in physical shape and watching Islamic extremist videos demonstrating knife attacks, chief prosecutor Adelchi D'Ippolito said.
The men, who all had regular residency permits to live in Italy, were named as Fisnik Bekaj, 24, Dake Haziraj, 25 and Arjan Babaj, 27.
A minor from Kosovo was also detained to prevent him from interfering with the investigation, police said, while up to three other Kosovars are under investigation over their ties to those arrested.
Mr D'Ippolito said all those detained lived in the historic centre of Venice, the ancient city famous for its canals and packed with tourists for much of the year.
The 426-year-old Rialto Bridge is the oldest of four spanning the Grand Canal. George Clooney and his wife Amal were photographed taking a boat trip under the bridge after their wedding in 2014.
In a statement, Venice's mayor Luigi Brugnaro thanked police for "breaking up a dangerous and active jihadist cell in the centre of the city".
Police also carried out 10 raids overnight in Venice, one in the neighbouring town of Mestre and one in nearby Treviso.
Cheaters Don’t Stop After The First Time For Alarming Reason, Science Says
Once a cheater, always a cheater. It’s a warning that you should be wary of a serial cheater — that people who aren’t loyal to a partner will cheat again. Whether you believe it’s true or not, a new study linking dishonesty and the brain may explain why serial cheaters continue to commit infidelity. The paper, titled “The brain adapts to dishonesty,” claims each time a person lies, they feel less guilty about doing so.
It’s all because of the amygdala, a region of the brain that provides a negative response when humans lie — but every time we are dishonest, the response weakens. The study states, We speculate that the blunted response to repeated acts of dishonesty may reflect a reduction in the emotional response to these decisions or to their affective assessment and saliency.
Elite Daily spoke to Neil Garrett, a co-author of the paper and researcher at Princeton Neuroscience Institute. He said the findings would need to be tested specifically on relationships to determine whether it applies to infidelity, but that a “similar mechanism could apply.” He told Elite Daily, The idea would be the first time we commit adultery we feel bad about it. But the next time we feel less bad and so on, with the result that we can commit adultery to a greater extent.
Garrett added, What our study and others suggest is a powerful factor that prevents us from cheating is our emotional reaction to it, how bad we feel essentially, and the process of adaptation reduces this reaction, thereby allowing us to cheat more. With serial cheaters, it could be the case that they initially felt bad about cheating, but have cheated so much they’ve adapted to their ways and simply don’t feel bad about cheating any more. Another possibility is that they never felt bad about cheating to begin with, so they didn’t need adaptation to occur, they were comfortable with it from the get-go.
Essentially, those little white lies — regardless of what they’re about, and whether you tell them to your parents, boss or friends — grow into more significant lies because we can deal with them better. Or, of course, you’re a raging sociopath with an inability to feel guilt about hurting someone you care about. Garrett also said the study would need to be modified to assess the impact of cheating on the amygdala, adding, I think one of the key differences would be that cheating in relationships often takes place over shorter timescales than in my study. So whether adaptation takes place at slower time scales and whether it generalizes to other types of behavior we find aversive like adultery, violence, etc are the key two things we’d need to test to start to answer this. The authors behind the study came to their conclusion after an experiment that tested participants’ capacity to lie. People were shown a jar filled with coins and asked to help a partner, who was only given a blurry image, guess how many were in the jar. But when they were told they would receive a financial reward if their partner overestimated the amount of money in the jar, they were more likely to lie — prompting a response from the amygdala.
It’s all because of the amygdala, a region of the brain that provides a negative response when humans lie — but every time we are dishonest, the response weakens. The study states, We speculate that the blunted response to repeated acts of dishonesty may reflect a reduction in the emotional response to these decisions or to their affective assessment and saliency.
Elite Daily spoke to Neil Garrett, a co-author of the paper and researcher at Princeton Neuroscience Institute. He said the findings would need to be tested specifically on relationships to determine whether it applies to infidelity, but that a “similar mechanism could apply.” He told Elite Daily, The idea would be the first time we commit adultery we feel bad about it. But the next time we feel less bad and so on, with the result that we can commit adultery to a greater extent.
Garrett added, What our study and others suggest is a powerful factor that prevents us from cheating is our emotional reaction to it, how bad we feel essentially, and the process of adaptation reduces this reaction, thereby allowing us to cheat more. With serial cheaters, it could be the case that they initially felt bad about cheating, but have cheated so much they’ve adapted to their ways and simply don’t feel bad about cheating any more. Another possibility is that they never felt bad about cheating to begin with, so they didn’t need adaptation to occur, they were comfortable with it from the get-go.
Essentially, those little white lies — regardless of what they’re about, and whether you tell them to your parents, boss or friends — grow into more significant lies because we can deal with them better. Or, of course, you’re a raging sociopath with an inability to feel guilt about hurting someone you care about. Garrett also said the study would need to be modified to assess the impact of cheating on the amygdala, adding, I think one of the key differences would be that cheating in relationships often takes place over shorter timescales than in my study. So whether adaptation takes place at slower time scales and whether it generalizes to other types of behavior we find aversive like adultery, violence, etc are the key two things we’d need to test to start to answer this. The authors behind the study came to their conclusion after an experiment that tested participants’ capacity to lie. People were shown a jar filled with coins and asked to help a partner, who was only given a blurry image, guess how many were in the jar. But when they were told they would receive a financial reward if their partner overestimated the amount of money in the jar, they were more likely to lie — prompting a response from the amygdala.
Lloyd's of London confirms Brussels as EU base in Brexit shift
Lloyd's of London is to shift around 100 jobs to the heart of the EU to limit potential damage to the world's biggest insurance market from Brexit.
It made the announcement, as Sky News reported, less than 24 hours after Theresa May began the formal process to commence divorce talks with the EU.
The decision highlights the pressure felt by financial services firms to secure their continued access to the bloc once the UK leaves as so-called passport rights - which currently allow them to trade seamlessly across borders - are expected to be lost.
Lloyd's, which derives 10% of its revenue from the EU, said it intended to have the Brussels office "ready to write business" for the 1 January 2019 renewal season, subject to regulatory approval.
It had considered Luxembourg instead.
Chief executive, Inga Beale, said: "It is important that we are able to provide the market and customers with an effective solution that means business can carry on without interruption when the UK leaves the EU.
"Brussels met the critical elements of providing a robust regulatory framework in a central European location, and will enable Lloyd's to continue to provide specialist underwriting expertise to our customers.
"I am excited about the opportunities this venture will offer the market by providing that important European access efficiently."
Lloyd's has not been alone in mulling its response.
Large investment banks are also weighing the future of their UK-based operations, with Sky News revealing that Deutsche Bank had signed a 25-year lease on a new City base.
Goldman Sachs signalled earlier this week that it was accelerating plans to create more jobs on the Continent, with its London-based operations calling a halt to expansion.
JPMorgan, HSBC and UBS have also given strong indications that thousands of jobs may cross the Channel or go to Dublin.
Ms Beale called for the EU and UK to come to a sensible compromise in their looming divorce deal.
She said: "It is now crucial that the UK Government and the European Union proceed to negotiate an agreement that allows business to continue to flow under the best possible conditions once the UK formally leaves the EU.
"I believe it is important not just for the City but also for Europe that we reach a mutually beneficial agreement. We stand ready to help and support the Government as best we can."
Lloyd's made the announcement as it published annual results - with 2016 profits flat on the previous 12 months.
It said pricing pressures made for an "extremely challenging" environment despite gross written premiums rising 11%.
Pre-tax profits came in a £2.1bn.
It made the announcement, as Sky News reported, less than 24 hours after Theresa May began the formal process to commence divorce talks with the EU.
The decision highlights the pressure felt by financial services firms to secure their continued access to the bloc once the UK leaves as so-called passport rights - which currently allow them to trade seamlessly across borders - are expected to be lost.
Lloyd's, which derives 10% of its revenue from the EU, said it intended to have the Brussels office "ready to write business" for the 1 January 2019 renewal season, subject to regulatory approval.
It had considered Luxembourg instead.
Chief executive, Inga Beale, said: "It is important that we are able to provide the market and customers with an effective solution that means business can carry on without interruption when the UK leaves the EU.
"Brussels met the critical elements of providing a robust regulatory framework in a central European location, and will enable Lloyd's to continue to provide specialist underwriting expertise to our customers.
"I am excited about the opportunities this venture will offer the market by providing that important European access efficiently."
Lloyd's has not been alone in mulling its response.
Large investment banks are also weighing the future of their UK-based operations, with Sky News revealing that Deutsche Bank had signed a 25-year lease on a new City base.
Goldman Sachs signalled earlier this week that it was accelerating plans to create more jobs on the Continent, with its London-based operations calling a halt to expansion.
JPMorgan, HSBC and UBS have also given strong indications that thousands of jobs may cross the Channel or go to Dublin.
Ms Beale called for the EU and UK to come to a sensible compromise in their looming divorce deal.
She said: "It is now crucial that the UK Government and the European Union proceed to negotiate an agreement that allows business to continue to flow under the best possible conditions once the UK formally leaves the EU.
"I believe it is important not just for the City but also for Europe that we reach a mutually beneficial agreement. We stand ready to help and support the Government as best we can."
Lloyd's made the announcement as it published annual results - with 2016 profits flat on the previous 12 months.
It said pricing pressures made for an "extremely challenging" environment despite gross written premiums rising 11%.
Pre-tax profits came in a £2.1bn.
Samsung Galaxy S8: Firm unveils 'comeback' phone after Note 7 fire woes
Samsung has unveiled new versions of its flagship smartphone as it looks to bounce back from the disaster of its fire-prone Note 7 handset.
The Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus bump up the screen size by doing away with a physical home button and dramatically reducing the frame - or bezel.
Taking up nearly all of the front of the phone, the screen curves around the side like the previous model.
The Samsung logo is gone and the home button is instead 'virtual' and on the display itself.
The S8 comes in at 5.8 inches (up from 5.1 on the S7) and the Plus measures 6.2 inches (up from 5.5 on the S7 Edge).
Apple's iPhone 7, one of the phone's closest rivals, is sold in 4.7 inch and 5.5-inch versions.
But - possibly to cover the cost of such a fancy screen - Samsung has also significantly hiked the price.
The S8 will be £689 and the Plus £779 (that's up from £569 and £639 on the S7).
Tech fans saving up for the release can also look forward to trying out the firm's new Siri-like personal assistant, Bixby.
The voice-activated feature can handle many of the functions done via touch and can recognise and retrieve information from the web when a user scans an object, such as an item of clothing or book, with their camera.
As for the battery - which sparked last year's PR disaster and subsequent recall of the Note 7 - Samsung says the S8 cells will go through multiple inspections that include X-rays and extreme temperature stress tests.
They are also said to have better longevity, retaining most of the charge after several years of use.
Last year's Note 7 fire debacle, where battery problems caused some to combust, led to the device being banned from planes in the US and forced Samsung to remove the handset from sale.
"The Galaxy S8 is the most important phone for Samsung in a decade and every aspect will be under the microscope following the Note 7 recall," said Ben Wood, a smartphone industry analyst with UK-based CCS Insight.
Other features of the S8 include iris scanning to unlock the phone, the front-facing camera boosted from five to eight megapixels, and an optional docking station to turn the phone into a desktop computer.
The new models, unveiled at dual events in London and New York, will go on general sale in the UK on 28 April and a week earlier in the US.
The Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus bump up the screen size by doing away with a physical home button and dramatically reducing the frame - or bezel.
Taking up nearly all of the front of the phone, the screen curves around the side like the previous model.
The Samsung logo is gone and the home button is instead 'virtual' and on the display itself.
The S8 comes in at 5.8 inches (up from 5.1 on the S7) and the Plus measures 6.2 inches (up from 5.5 on the S7 Edge).
Apple's iPhone 7, one of the phone's closest rivals, is sold in 4.7 inch and 5.5-inch versions.
But - possibly to cover the cost of such a fancy screen - Samsung has also significantly hiked the price.
The S8 will be £689 and the Plus £779 (that's up from £569 and £639 on the S7).
Tech fans saving up for the release can also look forward to trying out the firm's new Siri-like personal assistant, Bixby.
The voice-activated feature can handle many of the functions done via touch and can recognise and retrieve information from the web when a user scans an object, such as an item of clothing or book, with their camera.
As for the battery - which sparked last year's PR disaster and subsequent recall of the Note 7 - Samsung says the S8 cells will go through multiple inspections that include X-rays and extreme temperature stress tests.
They are also said to have better longevity, retaining most of the charge after several years of use.
Last year's Note 7 fire debacle, where battery problems caused some to combust, led to the device being banned from planes in the US and forced Samsung to remove the handset from sale.
"The Galaxy S8 is the most important phone for Samsung in a decade and every aspect will be under the microscope following the Note 7 recall," said Ben Wood, a smartphone industry analyst with UK-based CCS Insight.
Other features of the S8 include iris scanning to unlock the phone, the front-facing camera boosted from five to eight megapixels, and an optional docking station to turn the phone into a desktop computer.
The new models, unveiled at dual events in London and New York, will go on general sale in the UK on 28 April and a week earlier in the US.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)