Obama spokesman: Video of beating death ‘chilling’

The videotaped beating death of an honors student in Chicago, Illinois, is “chilling” and one of the most shocking things “you can ever see,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday. At his daily news briefing in Washington, Gibbs said President Obama was concerned about the killing and the issue of violence in his former hometown

Share

Gang members, cop arrested in filmmaker’s slaying in El Salvador

Five men in El Salvador, including a police officer, were arrested Wednesday in connection with the killing last week of French filmmaker and photographer Christian Poveda, the country’s attorney general’s office said. A sixth man who allegedly ordered the murder was already in prison, according to a statement from the agency.

Share

A Brief History of the Hells Angels

A tide of tattoos, leather and thousands of thundering Harleys will surge into South Dakota this week for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, one of the largest biker gatherings in the world. The small town’s population will grow more than 60-fold as crowds of iron horse-lovers take in a week of open roads, flowing booze and hard living.

Share

France Debates Retrying Anti-Semitic Murderers

It’s rare for public prosecutors to appeal successful convictions in high-profile criminal cases. But that’s exactly what French justice officials are now doing, arguing that sentences handed out to several members of a gang that tortured a young Jewish man to death on the outskirts of Paris were insufficient punishment for their barbarous anti-Semitic crime.

Share

Hostage dies as French attack Somali pirates

A French hostage and two pirates died Friday in a rescue operation off Somalia’s coastline, the French president’s office in Paris said Friday. Four hostages, including a child, were freed from the hijacked yacht after almost a week of captivity, Nicolas Sarkozy’s office said.

Share