Dylann Roof has been convicted of the racially motivated killings of nine black churchgoers in South Carolina.
The self-professed white supremacist could face the death penalty for the shootings, which took place during a Bible study at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on 17 June last year.
It took less than two hours for the jury to convict the 22-year-old on all 33 charges.
They found him guilty of federal hate crimes resulting in the deaths of the nine parishioners, firearms violations and obstruction of the practice of religion.
Roof stared ahead, expressionless, as the verdicts were read out.
During the six-day trial, the jury had heard a taped confession from Roof in which he said that he carried out the shootings in retaliation for what he said were crimes committed by black people against whites.
He had told the FBI that he had researched "black on white crime" on the internet and had chosen a church because the setting posed little danger to him and because the building was significant to the black community.
Whether he committed the shootings was not disputed but his lawyers, hoping to spare him from execution, had asked jurors to consider what had driven Roof to his crimes, suggesting he may be delusional.
Defence lawyer David Bruck described Roof as a suicidal loner who never realised the seriousness of what he did.
He said Roof was imitating what he had seen on the internet and believed he had to devote his life to "a fight to the death between white people and black people that only he" could see and act on.
During closing arguments, prosecutors said Roof's guilt was proved "beyond any doubt - much less reasonable doubt".
Assistant US Attorney Nathan Williams said: "He must be held accountable for each and every action he took inside that church.
"For every life he took."
He added: "This defendant chose to take their lives, he chose to break their bodies. But he does not get to choose who they were."
:: June 2015 - Relatives tell Charleston suspect: Hate won't win
The court had heard that Roof sat in the church carpark for 28 minutes in his car before going inside.
He had been given a Bible and a worksheet and sat with the Bible study group members for nearly 45 minutes before shooting them as they closed their eyes for a final prayer.
The jury, made up of nine white people and three black people, will gather again next month to decide whether Roof should get the death penalty or serve a life sentence in prison.
Roof has said he wants to represent himself at this hearing.
Thursday, December 15, 2016
GOP voters warm to Russia, Putin, WikiLeaks, poll finds
After Donald Trump seized the Republican presidential nomination, pollsters found the party's voters shifting their opinions on trade to match up with the candidate. On Wednesday, new polling by YouGov finds a similar phenomenon moving Republican views of WikiLeaks and Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the party's voters increasingly fond of both.
The Economist-YouGov poll, which has tracked partisan sentiment about WikiLeaks since 2013, now finds a majority of Republicans viewing the organization favorably. In the summer of 2013, WikiLeaks was viewed more negatively than positively by Republicans by a 47-point margin; Democrats, by a 3-point margin, also viewed it negatively. Now, Republicans view WikiLeaks favorably by a 27-point margin, a 74-point swing; Democrats have swung against it by just 25 points.
That's probably a result of the presidential campaign, which closed with 33 days of WikiLeaks dumps from the stolen emails of Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta. On the stump, Trump frequently drew applause simply by saying the word “WikiLeaks,” then drew more as he gave a quick-and-dirty version of an allegation from the emails. “Boy, we love WikiLeaks!” he told a mid-October crowd in North Carolina. Despite steady media coverage of the stolen emails, Trump also accused the press of suppressing their revelations.
Trump was not alone on the right. WikiLeaks stories rippled through conservative media, and some WikiLeaks revelations — like an exchange between liberal Catholic Clinton campaign staff in which they criticized their church leadership — were advanced or hyped by fitful Trump critics like House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.).
There's been similar movement on the Putin question. In the summer of 2014, both Democrats and Republicans held negative views of the Russian president. His net negative rating with Democrats was 54 points; with Republicans, it was 66 points. At the time, the mainstream Republican foreign policy opinion was that a wily, aggressive Putin was rolling over U.S. interests in Europe. There was some punditry about Putin as a greater leader than President Obama, but it did not shift views of Putin himself.
Trump's campaign did so. There's been a 56-point positive shift among Republicans in their views of Putin; his net negative rating is now just 10 points. While Clinton voters view Putin negatively by 72 points, Trump voters do so by a slim 16-point margin.
During the campaign, Democratic attacks on Trump for his praise of Russia and Putin drew media attention but didn't appear to move voters. Among the reasons: Many of the Republican voters seen as gettable by Democrats were more ready to shift their views of Russia than shift their views of Clinton.
The Economist-YouGov poll, which has tracked partisan sentiment about WikiLeaks since 2013, now finds a majority of Republicans viewing the organization favorably. In the summer of 2013, WikiLeaks was viewed more negatively than positively by Republicans by a 47-point margin; Democrats, by a 3-point margin, also viewed it negatively. Now, Republicans view WikiLeaks favorably by a 27-point margin, a 74-point swing; Democrats have swung against it by just 25 points.
That's probably a result of the presidential campaign, which closed with 33 days of WikiLeaks dumps from the stolen emails of Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta. On the stump, Trump frequently drew applause simply by saying the word “WikiLeaks,” then drew more as he gave a quick-and-dirty version of an allegation from the emails. “Boy, we love WikiLeaks!” he told a mid-October crowd in North Carolina. Despite steady media coverage of the stolen emails, Trump also accused the press of suppressing their revelations.
Trump was not alone on the right. WikiLeaks stories rippled through conservative media, and some WikiLeaks revelations — like an exchange between liberal Catholic Clinton campaign staff in which they criticized their church leadership — were advanced or hyped by fitful Trump critics like House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.).
There's been similar movement on the Putin question. In the summer of 2014, both Democrats and Republicans held negative views of the Russian president. His net negative rating with Democrats was 54 points; with Republicans, it was 66 points. At the time, the mainstream Republican foreign policy opinion was that a wily, aggressive Putin was rolling over U.S. interests in Europe. There was some punditry about Putin as a greater leader than President Obama, but it did not shift views of Putin himself.
Trump's campaign did so. There's been a 56-point positive shift among Republicans in their views of Putin; his net negative rating is now just 10 points. While Clinton voters view Putin negatively by 72 points, Trump voters do so by a slim 16-point margin.
During the campaign, Democratic attacks on Trump for his praise of Russia and Putin drew media attention but didn't appear to move voters. Among the reasons: Many of the Republican voters seen as gettable by Democrats were more ready to shift their views of Russia than shift their views of Clinton.
Angelina Jolie's mastectomy led to breast cancer test increase
Angelina Jolie's decision to publicise her double mastectomy led to a sharp rise in breast cancer genetic testing, researchers have said.
The star announced in May 2013 that she had undergone surgery in order to reduce her chances of getting the disease.
"My doctors estimated that I had an 87% risk of breast cancer and a 50% risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman," she wrote in the New York Times.
Women who carry the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genetic faults have a higher risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
"Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimise the risk as much I could," she said.
"I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy."
:: Jolie's breast op honesty will help others
In 2015, an NHS clinic in Manchester attributed a sharp rise in preventive double mastectomies to women being inspired by Jolie's decision.
Now, experts in the US have said they found a steep increase in breast cancer gene testing in the weeks following her announcement - but no change in overall mastectomy rates.
The team of researchers looked into data concerning nine million insured American women aged 18 to 64, and said they found a 64% increase in BRCA testing rates in the 15 working days after Jolie's editorial was published.
The Hollywood actress, who is one of the world's highest paid performers, says the cost of getting tested for BRCA1 and 2 is more than $3,000 (£2,390) in the US.
The actress says this "remains an obstacle for many women".
NHS guidelines in the UK recommend that anyone who is at "high risk" of developing breast cancer at some point in their life should be gene tested.
The star announced in May 2013 that she had undergone surgery in order to reduce her chances of getting the disease.
"My doctors estimated that I had an 87% risk of breast cancer and a 50% risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman," she wrote in the New York Times.
Women who carry the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genetic faults have a higher risk of breast and ovarian cancer.
"Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimise the risk as much I could," she said.
"I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy."
:: Jolie's breast op honesty will help others
In 2015, an NHS clinic in Manchester attributed a sharp rise in preventive double mastectomies to women being inspired by Jolie's decision.
Now, experts in the US have said they found a steep increase in breast cancer gene testing in the weeks following her announcement - but no change in overall mastectomy rates.
The team of researchers looked into data concerning nine million insured American women aged 18 to 64, and said they found a 64% increase in BRCA testing rates in the 15 working days after Jolie's editorial was published.
The Hollywood actress, who is one of the world's highest paid performers, says the cost of getting tested for BRCA1 and 2 is more than $3,000 (£2,390) in the US.
The actress says this "remains an obstacle for many women".
NHS guidelines in the UK recommend that anyone who is at "high risk" of developing breast cancer at some point in their life should be gene tested.
Senators: Duterte impeachable over claims of killings
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte risks impeachment after he admitted "personally" killing criminals when he was the mayor of Davao City, according to two Philippine senators.
The firebrand leader boasted to business leaders on Monday that as Davao City mayor he used to prowl the streets on a motorcycle looking for "an encounter to kill", just to show to local law enforcers he was able to do so.
"I used to do it personally," Duterte said. "If I can do it why can't you?"
More than 2,000 people have been killed in police anti-drug operations since Duterte became president in July. Almost all were shot when they resisted arrest.
Another 3,000 deaths are under investigation, with critics calling them vigilante killings.
Senator Leila de Lima, a staunch critic of Duterte, said the president's admission could be a ground for impeachment.
"That is betrayal of public trust and that constitutes high crimes because mass murders certainly fall into the category of high crimes. And high crimes is a ground for impeachment under the constitution," de Lima told CNN on Thursday.
Senator Richard Gordon, who heads the senate justice committee, also said Duterte opened himself to possible impeachment proceedings following his controversial comments.
"When he says that, he's opening himself up, so what's the legal way, then go ahead and impeach him," he told reporters, adding he was not surprised by the statement.
Duterte's 'bravado'
Duterte's allies in Congress dared the president's opponents and critics to file an impeachment motion, saying that removing the leader through a political process is a numbers game.
There are fewer than 50 opposition politicians in the 293-member lower house of Congress. A two-thirds vote is needed to impeach a president.
Peter Wallace, who organised the business forum where Duterte spoke, thought the president's statement was his "usual bravado".
"He talked as he often does about drugs, and killings and criminality. And we had expected that he would but we were there not to listen to that," said Wallace.
"We were there to talk to him or listen to him about business issues and I was pleased that...he moved on to those subjects," he said.
Justice Minister Vitaliano Aguirre dismissed Duterte's statement as an exaggeration.
"It's like a hyperbole, that's the president, he is used to exaggerate just to put his message across," Aguirre was quoted in radio reports as saying on Thursday.
Even if that were true, Aguirre said it did not necessarily mean that he violated the law.
"It could be done with a justifiable cause and justified circumstances as a public officer in order to arrest but if they resisted. He must have been forced," Aguirre said, referring to Duterte.
The firebrand leader boasted to business leaders on Monday that as Davao City mayor he used to prowl the streets on a motorcycle looking for "an encounter to kill", just to show to local law enforcers he was able to do so.
"I used to do it personally," Duterte said. "If I can do it why can't you?"
More than 2,000 people have been killed in police anti-drug operations since Duterte became president in July. Almost all were shot when they resisted arrest.
Another 3,000 deaths are under investigation, with critics calling them vigilante killings.
Senator Leila de Lima, a staunch critic of Duterte, said the president's admission could be a ground for impeachment.
"That is betrayal of public trust and that constitutes high crimes because mass murders certainly fall into the category of high crimes. And high crimes is a ground for impeachment under the constitution," de Lima told CNN on Thursday.
Senator Richard Gordon, who heads the senate justice committee, also said Duterte opened himself to possible impeachment proceedings following his controversial comments.
"When he says that, he's opening himself up, so what's the legal way, then go ahead and impeach him," he told reporters, adding he was not surprised by the statement.
Duterte's 'bravado'
Duterte's allies in Congress dared the president's opponents and critics to file an impeachment motion, saying that removing the leader through a political process is a numbers game.
There are fewer than 50 opposition politicians in the 293-member lower house of Congress. A two-thirds vote is needed to impeach a president.
Peter Wallace, who organised the business forum where Duterte spoke, thought the president's statement was his "usual bravado".
"He talked as he often does about drugs, and killings and criminality. And we had expected that he would but we were there not to listen to that," said Wallace.
"We were there to talk to him or listen to him about business issues and I was pleased that...he moved on to those subjects," he said.
Justice Minister Vitaliano Aguirre dismissed Duterte's statement as an exaggeration.
"It's like a hyperbole, that's the president, he is used to exaggerate just to put his message across," Aguirre was quoted in radio reports as saying on Thursday.
Even if that were true, Aguirre said it did not necessarily mean that he violated the law.
"It could be done with a justifiable cause and justified circumstances as a public officer in order to arrest but if they resisted. He must have been forced," Aguirre said, referring to Duterte.
Pilots keep depression and suicidal thoughts under 'veil of secrecy'
Depression and suicidal thoughts among the world's airline pilots are being hidden behind a "veil of secrecy", according to new research.
An anonymous survey of 1,848 pilots from more than 50 countries suggests that 12.6% meet the criteria for clinical depression.
At some point in the preceding fortnight, 75 pilots said they had experienced suicidal thoughts.
Ten male pilots who were surveyed said they had thoughts of self-harm "nearly every day", or felt they would be better off dead.
Additionally, 34 men had feelings of failure and had frequent difficulty concentrating while in the cockpit.
Researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health said many pilots with depressive symptoms may not be seeking treatment because it could have a negative impact on their career.
Suicide is believed to have been behind a co-pilot's deliberate decision to crash a Germanwings aircraft into the French Alps, killing all 150 passengers and crew on board in March last year.
Andreas Lubitz had locked the captain out of the cockpit, and an investigation later determined he had suffered from severe depression.
The 27-year-old had seen 41 doctors over five years, and some of them believed he was suffering "psychosis" and was not fit to fly.
However, medical privacy rules meant his employers could not be informed.
Dr Rob Hunter, head of flight safety at the British Airline Pilots' Association, said: "In general, pilots have very good physical and mental health.
"But, as in all walks of life, some pilots suffer from depression and other mental health issues and the problem applies across many, if not all, safety-critical occupations."
There are calls for the airline industry to remove the stigma attached to mental health, in the hope it will remove the fear from discussing or reporting depression.
The president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Professor Sir Simon Wessely, added: "When pilots recover from depression - and people can recover - they are fully able to return to work and should be allowed to do so whilst continuing to be monitored.
"Incidents such as the Germanwings air crash are extremely rare and it is still unclear if this tragedy was related to depression."
An anonymous survey of 1,848 pilots from more than 50 countries suggests that 12.6% meet the criteria for clinical depression.
At some point in the preceding fortnight, 75 pilots said they had experienced suicidal thoughts.
Ten male pilots who were surveyed said they had thoughts of self-harm "nearly every day", or felt they would be better off dead.
Additionally, 34 men had feelings of failure and had frequent difficulty concentrating while in the cockpit.
Researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health said many pilots with depressive symptoms may not be seeking treatment because it could have a negative impact on their career.
Suicide is believed to have been behind a co-pilot's deliberate decision to crash a Germanwings aircraft into the French Alps, killing all 150 passengers and crew on board in March last year.
Andreas Lubitz had locked the captain out of the cockpit, and an investigation later determined he had suffered from severe depression.
The 27-year-old had seen 41 doctors over five years, and some of them believed he was suffering "psychosis" and was not fit to fly.
However, medical privacy rules meant his employers could not be informed.
Dr Rob Hunter, head of flight safety at the British Airline Pilots' Association, said: "In general, pilots have very good physical and mental health.
"But, as in all walks of life, some pilots suffer from depression and other mental health issues and the problem applies across many, if not all, safety-critical occupations."
There are calls for the airline industry to remove the stigma attached to mental health, in the hope it will remove the fear from discussing or reporting depression.
The president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Professor Sir Simon Wessely, added: "When pilots recover from depression - and people can recover - they are fully able to return to work and should be allowed to do so whilst continuing to be monitored.
"Incidents such as the Germanwings air crash are extremely rare and it is still unclear if this tragedy was related to depression."
Voices from inside war-torn Aleppo as ceasefire agreed
People in eastern Aleppo, which has been bombarded by months of shelling, bombing and airstrikes, give Sky News an insight into their lives.
They describe their experiences in the city they call home - as rebels and government forces agree another ceasefire and President Assad stands on the brink of a major victory.
Dr Suleiman, from the besieged district of eastern Aleppo, says an internationally-brokered truce was desperately needed to stop more people being killed.
Mojahed Abu Joud, an activist, says he knows people who have been wounded because of the fierce bombing. He recorded his message in the street as explosions rumbled in the background.
Ishmael Alabdullah, a White Helmets volunteer with the Syrian Civil Defense, says he is unable to do his job and save people from the rubble because the bombing is too intense.
Salah Ashkar, an activist and film-maker, says people hoping to get evacuated had to scramble for their lives after a missile fell on the roof of his building.
They describe their experiences in the city they call home - as rebels and government forces agree another ceasefire and President Assad stands on the brink of a major victory.
Dr Suleiman, from the besieged district of eastern Aleppo, says an internationally-brokered truce was desperately needed to stop more people being killed.
Mojahed Abu Joud, an activist, says he knows people who have been wounded because of the fierce bombing. He recorded his message in the street as explosions rumbled in the background.
Ishmael Alabdullah, a White Helmets volunteer with the Syrian Civil Defense, says he is unable to do his job and save people from the rubble because the bombing is too intense.
Salah Ashkar, an activist and film-maker, says people hoping to get evacuated had to scramble for their lives after a missile fell on the roof of his building.
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Aleppo: First convoy carrying injured leaves rebel-held areas in city
The first convoy of people needing medical aid has begun to leave rebel-held areas in Aleppo, according to a monitoring group.
The patients will be taken through government territory into countryside held by rebel groups west of the city as agreed in a deal this week.
Around 200 people were expected to be evacuated from the devastated city on three buses and taken to a handover point in rebel-held territory.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said no rebel fighters were among those who had left.
But a rebel official claimed the first ambulances were shot at by pro-Assad militias as they crossed out of the east of the city, wounding three people.
Al-Farook Abu Bakr, the chief negotiator for the rebels, told AFP news agency that the first convoy would only be for wounded people, their carers and other civilians.
He said rebel fighters would be evacuated after the first or second convoy.
Russia has said the rebels will be transported on 20 buses and 10 ambulances in a corridor towards Idlib.
Soldiers will also escort them from the city under orders from President Vladimir Putin, according to state news agencies.
The Russian defence ministry said Syrian authorities had guaranteed the safety of the rebels and their families and added it would use drones to monitor the convoy.
It comes after a new agreement was reached for the evacuation of rebel fighters on Thursday.
The Ahrar al Sham rebel group said negotiators had overcome apparent obstruction by Iran and its militias to block the evacuation.
Syrian rebels have said that Turkey has played a major role in getting Russia to exert pressure on Bashar al Assad to stand by the deal after it was delayed on Wednesday as the fragile ceasefire collapsed amid more airstrikes and shelling in Aleppo.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Mr Putin agreed in a phone call on Wednesday to revive the deal.
The patients will be taken through government territory into countryside held by rebel groups west of the city as agreed in a deal this week.
Around 200 people were expected to be evacuated from the devastated city on three buses and taken to a handover point in rebel-held territory.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said no rebel fighters were among those who had left.
But a rebel official claimed the first ambulances were shot at by pro-Assad militias as they crossed out of the east of the city, wounding three people.
Al-Farook Abu Bakr, the chief negotiator for the rebels, told AFP news agency that the first convoy would only be for wounded people, their carers and other civilians.
He said rebel fighters would be evacuated after the first or second convoy.
Russia has said the rebels will be transported on 20 buses and 10 ambulances in a corridor towards Idlib.
Soldiers will also escort them from the city under orders from President Vladimir Putin, according to state news agencies.
The Russian defence ministry said Syrian authorities had guaranteed the safety of the rebels and their families and added it would use drones to monitor the convoy.
It comes after a new agreement was reached for the evacuation of rebel fighters on Thursday.
The Ahrar al Sham rebel group said negotiators had overcome apparent obstruction by Iran and its militias to block the evacuation.
Syrian rebels have said that Turkey has played a major role in getting Russia to exert pressure on Bashar al Assad to stand by the deal after it was delayed on Wednesday as the fragile ceasefire collapsed amid more airstrikes and shelling in Aleppo.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Mr Putin agreed in a phone call on Wednesday to revive the deal.
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