Thirteen&nbsp;inmates&nbsp;were&nbsp;killed&nbsp;and two others injured on Monday in yet another bloody&nbsp;fight&nbsp;in a notorious Ecuadoran&nbsp;prison, law enforcement&nbsp;officials&nbsp;said.

"Unfortunately, central command reports 13 (inmates) dead and two injured," the South American country's&nbsp;prison&nbsp;authority SNAI said on Twitter.

The incident took place at the same Bellavista&nbsp;prison&nbsp;in the town of Santo Domingo de los Colorados, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Quito, where 44&nbsp;inmates&nbsp;were&nbsp;killed&nbsp;in a bloody brawl in May.

Prison&nbsp;officials, aided by the military and the police, were able to regain control of the facility, SNAI said.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/in-pics-ecuador-government-indigenous-leaders-sign-deal-to-end-protests-493552">In pics: Ecuador government, Indigenous leaders sign deal to end protests</a>

Interior Minister Patricio Carrillo later told a press conference that current information indicated "most" of the victims were Venezuelan.

Local media reported that some prisoners were decapitated or dismembered during the&nbsp;fight.

"Relatives of the&nbsp;inmates&nbsp;waited anxiously outside the&nbsp;prison, as images of dismembered bodies reached their cell phones and they remained undaunted by the entry of ambulances," read a story in the national newspaper El Universo.

Carrillo said that the "primitive act of barbarism" indicated the "psychological profile" of the&nbsp;inmates&nbsp;who took part in the brawl.

Watch |&nbsp;Ecuador mired by protests for last two weeks

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"So far, 13 bodies have been recovered and a total inspection is being carried out inside the&nbsp;prison," he said, adding it was "quite probable" more bodies would be found.

Some 220&nbsp;inmates&nbsp;escaped from the&nbsp;prison&nbsp;during the May riot, but most of them have been recaptured.

Vicious&nbsp;prison&nbsp;riots are common in prisons in&nbsp;Ecuador, where drug gangs are vying for control of trafficking routes.

Those rivalries sometimes explode into grisly violence behind bars, with some&nbsp;inmates&nbsp;hacked to death or beheaded with machetes.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ecuador-to-cut-fuel-prices-that-sparked-protests-492193">Ecuador to cut fuel prices that sparked protests</a>

Nestled between the world's biggest cocaine producers, Colombia and Peru,&nbsp;Ecuador&nbsp;has seen a surge of violence blamed on fighting between rival drug groups.

The country of 17.7 million people is popular with traffickers because of its porous borders, dollarized economy and major seaports for export.

Prisons are overcrowded and short on guards, and rampant corruption means&nbsp;inmates&nbsp;can lay their hands on all sorts of contraband, including firearms and explosives.

Since February 2021, there have been nearly a dozen&nbsp;prison&nbsp;massacres in the country, some of which have become among the worst in Latin America, with some 400&nbsp;inmates&nbsp;killed.

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Thirteen inmates were killed and two others injured on Monday in yet another bloody fight in a notorious Ecuadoran prison, law enforcement officials said. "Unfortunately, central command reports 13 (inmates) dead and two injured," the South American country's prison authority SNAI said on Twitter.

Thirteen inmates were killed and two others injured on Monday in yet another bloody fight in a notorious Ecuadoran prison, law enforcement officials said. "Unfortunately, central command reports 13 (inmates) dead and two injured," the South American country's prison authority SNAI said on Twitter. The incident took place at the same Bellavista prison in the town of Santo Domingo de los Colorados, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Quito, where 44 inmates were killed in a bloody brawl in May. Prison officials, aided by the military and the police, were able to regain control of the facility, SNAI said. Also read | In pics: Ecuador government, Indigenous leaders sign deal to end protests Interior Minister Patricio Carrillo later told a press conference that current information indicated "most" of the victims were Venezuelan. Local media reported that some prisoners were decapitated or dismembered during the fight. "Relatives of the inmates waited anxiously outside the prison, as images of dismembered bodies reached their cell phones and they remained undaunted by the entry of ambulances," read a story in the national newspaper El Universo. Carrillo said that the "primitive act of barbarism" indicated the "psychological profile" of the inmates who took part in the brawl. Watch | Ecuador mired by protests for last two weeks "So far, 13 bodies have been recovered and a total inspection is being carried out inside the prison," he said, adding it was "quite probable" more bodies would be found. Some 220 inmates escaped from the prison during the May riot, but most of them have been recaptured. Vicious prison riots are common in prisons in Ecuador, where drug gangs are vying for control of trafficking routes. Those rivalries sometimes explode into grisly violence behind bars, with some inmates hacked to death or beheaded with machetes. Also read | Ecuador to cut fuel prices that sparked protests Nestled between the world's biggest cocaine producers, Colombia and Peru, Ecuador has seen a surge of violence blamed on fighting between rival drug groups. The country of 17.7 million people is popular with traffickers because of its porous borders, dollarized economy and major seaports for export. Prisons are overcrowded and short on guards, and rampant corruption means inmates can lay their hands on all sorts of contraband, including firearms and explosives. Since February 2021, there have been nearly a dozen prison massacres in the country, some of which have become among the worst in Latin America, with some 400 inmates killed. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

13 inmates killed in fresh fight in Ecuador prison

R&amp;B singer R Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison for sexually abusing women, girls and boys, almost 20 years after first facing allegations. The 55-year-old was found guilty on all nine charges he faced, and the punishment was announced by Judge Ann Donnelly in the Brooklyn federal court.

"The verdict is in: R. Kelly has been sentenced to 30 years," the US attorney's office for the Eastern District of New York said in a tweet. The prosecutors asked for at least 25 years in prison for the disgraced singer as they believed that he "poses a serious danger to the public."

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/salah-abdeslam-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-without-parole-for-role-in-2015-paris-attacks-493107">Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam sentenced to life in prison without parole</a>

"His actions were brazen, manipulative, controlling and coercive. He has shown no remorse or respect for the law," prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo according to AFP.

Kelly is also facing another trial in Chicago which will be starting from August 15. In that case, Kelly and two of his associates were accused of rigging his 2008 pornography trial and also perjury.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/syria-first-country-other-than-russia-to-recognise-ukraine-separatist-republics-of-donetsk-and-lugansk-493080">Syria recognises Ukraine separatist republics of Donetsk and Lugansk</a>

During the course of the trial, a total of 45 witnesses – 11 being alleged victims of Kelly – appeared in front of the court and he was even found guilty of racketeering – the worst of the charges.

The biggest aspect of the R Kelly trial was his controversial relationship with late singer Aaliyah whom he illegally married when she was just 15 years old. AFP reported that his former manager admitted to bribing officials in order to get fake identification for Aaliyah in order to complete the marriage.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/rb-superstar-r-kellys-notorious-history-of-sex-allegations-and-convictions-492880" hreflang="en">R&amp;B superstar R. Kelly's notorious history of sex allegations and convictions</a>

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R&B singer R Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison for sexually abusing women, girls and boys, almost 20 years after first facing allegations. The 55-year-old was found guilty on all nine charges he faced, and the punishment was announced by Judge Ann Donnelly in the Brooklyn federal court.

R&B singer R Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison for sexually abusing women, girls and boys, almost 20 years after first facing allegations. The 55-year-old was found guilty on all nine charges he faced, and the punishment was announced by Judge Ann Donnelly in the Brooklyn federal court. "The verdict is in: R. Kelly has been sentenced to 30 years," the US attorney's office for the Eastern District of New York said in a tweet. The prosecutors asked for at least 25 years in prison for the disgraced singer as they believed that he "poses a serious danger to the public." Also read | Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam sentenced to life in prison without parole "His actions were brazen, manipulative, controlling and coercive. He has shown no remorse or respect for the law," prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo according to AFP. Kelly is also facing another trial in Chicago which will be starting from August 15. In that case, Kelly and two of his associates were accused of rigging his 2008 pornography trial and also perjury. Also read | Syria recognises Ukraine separatist republics of Donetsk and Lugansk During the course of the trial, a total of 45 witnesses – 11 being alleged victims of Kelly – appeared in front of the court and he was even found guilty of racketeering – the worst of the charges. The biggest aspect of the R Kelly trial was his controversial relationship with late singer Aaliyah whom he illegally married when she was just 15 years old. AFP reported that his former manager admitted to bribing officials in order to get fake identification for Aaliyah in order to complete the marriage. R&B superstar R. Kelly's notorious history of sex allegations and convictions WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Singer R Kelly sentenced to 30 years in prison on sexual abuse charges

Here we bring you a quick round-up of all latest news, top headlines and international breakings from all across the globe, stay tuned with Gravitas for more!

Gravitas Global Headlines: Texas migrant deaths; Colombia prison riots

Disgraced R&B superstar R Kelly was sentenced to 30 years in prison, months after he was convicted on all nine counts in a high-profile sex trafficking case.

R Kelly sentenced to 30 years in prison in sex trafficking case

The 60-year-old British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for helping sex offender Jeffrey Epstein who sexually abused teenage girls. Maxwell was convicted of five charges in December including trafficking a minor and recruiting and grooming girls for sexual encounters with Epstein.

Ghislaine Maxwell sentenced to 20 years of prison

At an overcrowded prison in Haiti that ran out of food two months ago at least eight inmates have starved to death, adding to dozens of similar deaths this year as the country’s institutions crumble. Hunger and oppressive heat contributed to the inmates’ deaths reported this week by the prison in the southwest city of Les Cayes, Ronald Richemond, the city’s government commissioner, said on Thursday. He said the prison houses 833 inmates, as reported by AP.

Due to insufficient government funds, the country’s overcrowded prison system has long struggled to provide food and water to inmates. Prisoners in Haiti have the right to be provided with water and two meals a day.

The United Nations security council released a report last week saying 54 prison deaths related to malnutrition were documented in Haiti between January and April alone. It urged Haiti’s government “to take the necessary measures to find a long-lasting solution to the prison food, water and medicine crisis”.

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/obama-pence-planned-parenthood-react-to-overturn-of-us-top-courts-1973-roe-vs-wade-judgement-491452">Roe vs Wade overturned: Biden, Obama, Planned Parenthood react to US top court judgement</a>

Michelle Karshan, co-founder of the non-profit Health Through Walls, which provides healthcare in Haiti’s prisons, told to The Guardian, “These deaths are very painful,” she said. “The internal organs start to fail one by one … It’s a horrible thing to witness.”

“The bottom line is the prison system has to take responsibility. They can’t sit back … They’re the government,” she added.

The cell occupancy rate in Haiti stands at more than 280% of capacity, with 83% of inmates stuck in pre-trial detentions that in some cases can drag on for more than a decade before an initial court appearance, according to the United Nations.&nbsp;

(with inputs from agencies) 
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At an overcrowded prison in Haiti that ran out of food two months ago at least eight inmates have starved to death, adding to dozens of similar deaths this year as the country’s institutions crumble.

At an overcrowded prison in Haiti that ran out of food two months ago at least eight inmates have starved to death, adding to dozens of similar deaths this year as the country’s institutions crumble. Hunger and oppressive heat contributed to the inmates’ deaths reported this week by the prison in the southwest city of Les Cayes, Ronald Richemond, the city’s government commissioner, said on Thursday. He said the prison houses 833 inmates, as reported by AP. Due to insufficient government funds, the country’s overcrowded prison system has long struggled to provide food and water to inmates. Prisoners in Haiti have the right to be provided with water and two meals a day. The United Nations security council released a report last week saying 54 prison deaths related to malnutrition were documented in Haiti between January and April alone. It urged Haiti’s government “to take the necessary measures to find a long-lasting solution to the prison food, water and medicine crisis”. Also Read: Roe vs Wade overturned: Biden, Obama, Planned Parenthood react to US top court judgement Michelle Karshan, co-founder of the non-profit Health Through Walls, which provides healthcare in Haiti’s prisons, told to The Guardian, “These deaths are very painful,” she said. “The internal organs start to fail one by one … It’s a horrible thing to witness.” “The bottom line is the prison system has to take responsibility. They can’t sit back … They’re the government,” she added. The cell occupancy rate in Haiti stands at more than 280% of capacity, with 83% of inmates stuck in pre-trial detentions that in some cases can drag on for more than a decade before an initial court appearance, according to the United Nations. (with inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Numerous inmates starve to death in Haiti prison due to overcrowding

In a court filing late Wednesday, United States prosecutors argued that former socialite Ghislaine Maxwell should go to jail for somewhere between 30 and 55 years for helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse girls, as reported by Reuters. Maxwell, 60, was convicted in December of sex trafficking minors for the late disgraced financier and is scheduled to be sentenced in Manhattan on Tuesday.

Her lawyers have argued for leniency, citing a traumatic childhood and claiming that Maxwell is being unfairly punished because Epstein escaped trial. They called for Judge Alison Nathan to hand down a sentence less than the probation department’s recommended 20 years.

But in a court filing late Wednesday, the government argued that Maxwell should go to jail for somewhere between 30 and 55 years. She has shown an "utter lack of remorse" for her crimes, wrote Damian Williams, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York.

"Instead of showing even a hint of acceptance of responsibility, the defendant makes a desperate attempt to cast blame wherever else she can," he said.

"Maxwell was an adult who made her own choices. She made the choice to sexually exploit numerous underage girls. She made the choice to conspire with Epstein for years, working as partners in crime and causing devastating harm to vulnerable victims," Williams added, as reported by Reuters.

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/mass-graves-being-prepared-for-earthquake-victims-in-afghanistan-491083">Mass graves being prepared for earthquake victims in Afghanistan</a>

Maxwell, the Oxford-educated daughter of the late British press baron Robert Maxwell, has already been held in detention for some two years following her arrest in New Hampshire in the summer of 2020.

During her high-profile trial, prosecutors successfully argued that Maxwell was "the key" to Epstein's scheme of enticing young girls to give him massages, during which he would sexually abuse them.

She was found guilty on five of six sexual abuse counts and her sentence could amount to an effective life term behind bars.

Epstein killed himself in 2019 while awaiting his own sex crimes trial in New York.

(with inputs from agencies)

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In a court filing late Wednesday, United States prosecutors argued that former socialite Ghislaine Maxwell should go to jail for somewhere between 30 and 55 years for helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse girls, as reported by Reuters.

In a court filing late Wednesday, United States prosecutors argued that former socialite Ghislaine Maxwell should go to jail for somewhere between 30 and 55 years for helping Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse girls, as reported by Reuters. Maxwell, 60, was convicted in December of sex trafficking minors for the late disgraced financier and is scheduled to be sentenced in Manhattan on Tuesday. Her lawyers have argued for leniency, citing a traumatic childhood and claiming that Maxwell is being unfairly punished because Epstein escaped trial. They called for Judge Alison Nathan to hand down a sentence less than the probation department’s recommended 20 years. But in a court filing late Wednesday, the government argued that Maxwell should go to jail for somewhere between 30 and 55 years. She has shown an "utter lack of remorse" for her crimes, wrote Damian Williams, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York. "Instead of showing even a hint of acceptance of responsibility, the defendant makes a desperate attempt to cast blame wherever else she can," he said. "Maxwell was an adult who made her own choices. She made the choice to sexually exploit numerous underage girls. She made the choice to conspire with Epstein for years, working as partners in crime and causing devastating harm to vulnerable victims," Williams added, as reported by Reuters. Also Read: Mass graves being prepared for earthquake victims in Afghanistan Maxwell, the Oxford-educated daughter of the late British press baron Robert Maxwell, has already been held in detention for some two years following her arrest in New Hampshire in the summer of 2020. During her high-profile trial, prosecutors successfully argued that Maxwell was "the key" to Epstein's scheme of enticing young girls to give him massages, during which he would sexually abuse them. She was found guilty on five of six sexual abuse counts and her sentence could amount to an effective life term behind bars. Epstein killed himself in 2019 while awaiting his own sex crimes trial in New York. (with inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

US prosecutors say Maxwell deserves minimum 30-year prison sentence for sex-trafficking conviction

Indira Ranamagar, a woman working for 33 long years for the welfare of prisoners and their children, said the system in Nepal as a country is not designed for poor people and that her fight for social security and basic human rights, especially for children, will continue.

Ranamagar is the founder of the Prisoner’s Association (PA) Nepal, under which she rescues children who are forced to live with their incarcerated parents in prison. The majority of the children at her three homes are girls who, after being rescued, are provided the opportunity to get an education.

Oftentimes, when people are sent to prison, they have no choice but to bring their children with them, because otherwise, they’ll end up homeless.

Indira runs 15 residential homes with 500 children and a few schools all over Nepal and aspires to make it pan Nepal. For 33 years, she has been helping children from small and poor communities and has so far rescued over 2,000 children.

When WION visited one of her residential homes in Kathmandu, she said, "Crimes happen due to poverty."

Watch | Gravitas: Nepal PM vows to defend disputed territories

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"A lot of innocent children I rescued from prison. Even during the earthquake, kids were left out. During COVID, I took several children into my care. The government should have some provisions to look after them, but we do not have that in Nepal. This is my biggest fight, "Ranamagar told WION.

"My heart hurts to see innocent children forced to live behind bars without proper nutritious food and care with their convicted parents. When I saw it for the first time, it was a heartbreaking moment and was a turning point in my life," she added.

According to the US Department of State Report on Nepal, some facilities held pretrial detainees alongside convicted prisoners. Due to a lack of adequate juvenile detention facilities, authorities sometimes incarcerated pretrial child detainees with adults or allowed children to remain in jails with their incarcerated parents. Under the law, children should only be kept in juvenile reform homes and not in prison.

Indira grew up in extreme poverty and had to fight to be able to go to school. Having faced challenges as a young girl, she decided to help other people who have had tough lives.

However, she believes she has had a privileged life, "When I look back at my life, I feel I was very privileged after looking at these children behind bars. Even though I did not get an education, I learned from nature. That is what I want to give to my kids. "

As she has been working for prisoners' children and vulnerable people, Indira is now fighting for their citizenship.

"Many mothers of these kids do not have citizenship even after living for years in Nepal.&nbsp;So, how can a child get citizenship? Many of my children have a good education and degrees but no citizenship."

To further help children pursue their careers, Indira has given her identity to some children.

According to the US Department of State report, an estimated 6.7 million individuals lacked citizenship documentation, although the majority of these would be eligible for citizenship under local law.

Jennifer Ranamagar, a 17-year-old girl who was born in a prison, was taken into Indira's care at one day old.

"I have grown up in this organisation since my childhood.&nbsp;First, when I opened my eyes, I saw Indira amma (mother), I was happy but certainly, don't know how I felt as a child. Later, as I grew up, she told me she is not my mother and at that moment I was sad. But no matter if she is my mother or not, she loves me as her own. I am proud of Indira Amma. She still takes care of many other children," Jennifer told WION.

Ranamagar's idea is to also focus on maintaining the relationship between the children and parents. She visits prisons, occasionally.

Indira says she doesn’t receive any help or funds from the government and raises funds through international organisations, individual donors, and friends. 
&nbsp;

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Indira Ranamagar, a woman working for 33 long years for the welfare of prisoners and their children, said the system in Nepal as a country is not designed for poor people and that her fight for social security and basic human rights, especially for children, will continue.

Indira Ranamagar, a woman working for 33 long years for the welfare of prisoners and their children, said the system in Nepal as a country is not designed for poor people and that her fight for social security and basic human rights, especially for children, will continue. Ranamagar is the founder of the Prisoner’s Association (PA) Nepal, under which she rescues children who are forced to live with their incarcerated parents in prison. The majority of the children at her three homes are girls who, after being rescued, are provided the opportunity to get an education. Oftentimes, when people are sent to prison, they have no choice but to bring their children with them, because otherwise, they’ll end up homeless. Indira runs 15 residential homes with 500 children and a few schools all over Nepal and aspires to make it pan Nepal. For 33 years, she has been helping children from small and poor communities and has so far rescued over 2,000 children. When WION visited one of her residential homes in Kathmandu, she said, "Crimes happen due to poverty." Watch | Gravitas: Nepal PM vows to defend disputed territories "A lot of innocent children I rescued from prison. Even during the earthquake, kids were left out. During COVID, I took several children into my care. The government should have some provisions to look after them, but we do not have that in Nepal. This is my biggest fight, "Ranamagar told WION. "My heart hurts to see innocent children forced to live behind bars without proper nutritious food and care with their convicted parents. When I saw it for the first time, it was a heartbreaking moment and was a turning point in my life," she added. According to the US Department of State Report on Nepal, some facilities held pretrial detainees alongside convicted prisoners. Due to a lack of adequate juvenile detention facilities, authorities sometimes incarcerated pretrial child detainees with adults or allowed children to remain in jails with their incarcerated parents. Under the law, children should only be kept in juvenile reform homes and not in prison. Indira grew up in extreme poverty and had to fight to be able to go to school. Having faced challenges as a young girl, she decided to help other people who have had tough lives. However, she believes she has had a privileged life, "When I look back at my life, I feel I was very privileged after looking at these children behind bars. Even though I did not get an education, I learned from nature. That is what I want to give to my kids. " As she has been working for prisoners' children and vulnerable people, Indira is now fighting for their citizenship. "Many mothers of these kids do not have citizenship even after living for years in Nepal. So, how can a child get citizenship? Many of my children have a good education and degrees but no citizenship." To further help children pursue their careers, Indira has given her identity to some children. According to the US Department of State report, an estimated 6.7 million individuals lacked citizenship documentation, although the majority of these would be eligible for citizenship under local law. Jennifer Ranamagar, a 17-year-old girl who was born in a prison, was taken into Indira's care at one day old. "I have grown up in this organisation since my childhood. First, when I opened my eyes, I saw Indira amma (mother), I was happy but certainly, don't know how I felt as a child. Later, as I grew up, she told me she is not my mother and at that moment I was sad. But no matter if she is my mother or not, she loves me as her own. I am proud of Indira Amma. She still takes care of many other children," Jennifer told WION. Ranamagar's idea is to also focus on maintaining the relationship between the children and parents. She visits prisons, occasionally. Indira says she doesn’t receive any help or funds from the government and raises funds through international organisations, individual donors, and friends. WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Indira Ranamagar: The woman who helped 2,000 Nepali kids out of prison

The 46-year-old Gonzalo Lopez, a Texas inmate suspected of murdering five people after he escaped from a prison bus was killed by authorities on Thursday.

He escaped the prison bus on May 12 after stabbing the bus driver and later he killed a family of five and stole their truck from a rural weekend cabin.

Lopez was killed about 10:30 pm Thursday in Jourdanton, Texas, about 35 miles (55km) south of San Antonio, said Jason Clark, spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

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Law enforcement responded to a possible sighting of Texas escapee Gonzalo Lopez last night in Madison County, TX. They received two calls about a suspicious male near Hwy 21 and the Navasota River. The Mexican Mafia member was not located. Manhunt continues. <a href="https://t.co/zaEqIXtoD8">pic.twitter.com/zaEqIXtoD8</a>
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“Law enforcement in Atascosa county located the stolen vehicle disabled it with spike strips, and gunfire ensued,” Clark said in a statement. No officers were injured, he said.

Lopez crashed the vehicle and then engaged in a firefight with officers, he said.

"He fired several rounds at officers and was armed with an AR-15 and a pistol," Clark said, adding they believe the firearms were likely stolen from the home in Centerville where the family was killed.

The officers fired at Lopez and disabled the bus by shooting the rear tire, the department said. The bus then travelled a short distance before leaving the roadway, where Lopez got out and ran into the woods.

Lopez had been convicted of capital murder, attempted capital murder and aggravated kidnapping, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. He was serving two life sentences for those convictions.

Authorities had said Lopez was allegedly affiliated with the Mexican Mafia.

[ With inputs from agencies] 
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The 46-year-old Gonzalo Lopez, a Texas inmate suspected of murdering five people after he escaped from a prison bus was killed by authorities on Thursday. He escaped the prison bus on May 12 after stabbing the bus driver and later he killed a family of five and stole their truck from a rural weekend cabin.

The 46-year-old Gonzalo Lopez, a Texas inmate suspected of murdering five people after he escaped from a prison bus was killed by authorities on Thursday. He escaped the prison bus on May 12 after stabbing the bus driver and later he killed a family of five and stole their truck from a rural weekend cabin. Lopez was killed about 10:30 pm Thursday in Jourdanton, Texas, about 35 miles (55km) south of San Antonio, said Jason Clark, spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Law enforcement responded to a possible sighting of Texas escapee Gonzalo Lopez last night in Madison County, TX. They received two calls about a suspicious male near Hwy 21 and the Navasota River. The Mexican Mafia member was not located. Manhunt continues. pic.twitter.com/zaEqIXtoD8 — Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) June 1, 2022 × “Law enforcement in Atascosa county located the stolen vehicle disabled it with spike strips, and gunfire ensued,” Clark said in a statement. No officers were injured, he said. Lopez crashed the vehicle and then engaged in a firefight with officers, he said. "He fired several rounds at officers and was armed with an AR-15 and a pistol," Clark said, adding they believe the firearms were likely stolen from the home in Centerville where the family was killed. The officers fired at Lopez and disabled the bus by shooting the rear tire, the department said. The bus then travelled a short distance before leaving the roadway, where Lopez got out and ran into the woods. Lopez had been convicted of capital murder, attempted capital murder and aggravated kidnapping, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. He was serving two life sentences for those convictions. Authorities had said Lopez was allegedly affiliated with the Mexican Mafia. [ With inputs from agencies] WATCH WION LIVE HERE You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

Texas prison bus escape convict killed

A clash between rival gangs in an Ecuadorian prison has left 44 inmates dead and another 100 prisoners managed to escape This comes just over a month after another deadly prison riot.

Ecuador Prison Riots: At least 44 in jail killed

A prison riot between rival gangs has left at least 43 dead and 13 injured at a maximum security facility in northern Ecuador. At least 108 inmates are on the run and 112 have been recaptured.

At least 43 dead in Ecuador prison riots; 108 on run, 112 recaptured

Elsa, Spiderman, Batman...and more: Heroes and villains visit kids in Argentine prison

Books behind bars: Bolivian prisoners to reduce jail time by reading

A Turkish court has sentenced an activist and philanthropist Osman Kavala to life in prison. He was found guilty of charges related to the nationwide protests in 2013 and the failed coup attempt in 2016.

Osman Kavala: Turkish philanthropist and activist sentenced to life in prison

The Pentagon announced Saturday it has repatriated an Algerian man detained for nearly 20 years at the&nbsp;Guantanamo&nbsp;Bay military prison, more than five years after his release was first arranged.

Sufiyan Barhoumi had initially been suspected of having been an instructor in an Al-Qaeda camp and of training Saudi fighters to make remotely detonated explosive devices.

But in 2008, the Pentagon dropped all charges.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-looks-to-reopen-migrant-detention-camp-at-guantanamo-bay-to-tackle-surge-in-asylum-seekers-415331">US looks to reopen migrant detention camp at Guantánamo Bay to tackle surge in asylum seekers</a>

In 2016, a review board determined that the "law of war detention of Mr. Barhoumi was no longer necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the national security of the United States," the US Department of Defense said in a statement.

A Trump administration policy, however, had effectively halted most such transfers.

Thirty-seven detainees now remain in the detention center on the southern coast of Cuba, the Pentagon said.

Eighteen of them are "eligible for transfer" and seven are eligible to go before a review board, while 10 others -- including the presumed mastermind of the 2001 terror attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed -- have been charged in the military commission system, and two others convicted.

The 2016 review found that while Barhoumi was involved in various extremist groups, he was not a member of al-Qaeda nor the Taliban.

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/guantanamo-911-trial-suspended-amid-covid-19-scare-413888">Guantanamo 9/11 trial suspended amid COVID-19 scare</a>

Barhoumi was the sole Algerian among those eligible for transfer. The Pentagon said his release was subject to assurances from Algeria that he would be treated humanely and not pose a threat in the future.

The statement said the United States "appreciates the willingness of Algeria and other partners to support ongoing US efforts... focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing the&nbsp;Guantanamo&nbsp;Bay facility."

The Joe Biden administration has been working to reduce the number of detainees at&nbsp;Guantanamo&nbsp;-- a sprawling facility opened amid the US "war on terror" -- and eventually close the facility.

Watch |&nbsp;20 years since the opening of Guantanamo Bay, the infamous US prison in Cuba

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/20-years-since-the-opening-of-guantanamo-bay-the-infamous-us-prison-in-cuba-444051/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

The Pentagon announced Saturday it has repatriated an Algerian man detained for nearly 20 years at the Guantanamo Bay military prison, more than five years after his release was first arranged.

The Pentagon announced Saturday it has repatriated an Algerian man detained for nearly 20 years at the Guantanamo Bay military prison, more than five years after his release was first arranged. Sufiyan Barhoumi had initially been suspected of having been an instructor in an Al-Qaeda camp and of training Saudi fighters to make remotely detonated explosive devices. But in 2008, the Pentagon dropped all charges. Also read | US looks to reopen migrant detention camp at Guantánamo Bay to tackle surge in asylum seekers In 2016, a review board determined that the "law of war detention of Mr. Barhoumi was no longer necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the national security of the United States," the US Department of Defense said in a statement. A Trump administration policy, however, had effectively halted most such transfers. Thirty-seven detainees now remain in the detention center on the southern coast of Cuba, the Pentagon said. Eighteen of them are "eligible for transfer" and seven are eligible to go before a review board, while 10 others -- including the presumed mastermind of the 2001 terror attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed -- have been charged in the military commission system, and two others convicted. The 2016 review found that while Barhoumi was involved in various extremist groups, he was not a member of al-Qaeda nor the Taliban. Also read | Guantanamo 9/11 trial suspended amid COVID-19 scare Barhoumi was the sole Algerian among those eligible for transfer. The Pentagon said his release was subject to assurances from Algeria that he would be treated humanely and not pose a threat in the future. The statement said the United States "appreciates the willingness of Algeria and other partners to support ongoing US efforts... focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing the Guantanamo Bay facility." The Joe Biden administration has been working to reduce the number of detainees at Guantanamo -- a sprawling facility opened amid the US "war on terror" -- and eventually close the facility. Watch | 20 years since the opening of Guantanamo Bay, the infamous US prison in Cuba

US says Algerian at Guantanamo has been repatriated

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is held in London as he fights a US attempt to extradite him on espionage charges, is all set to enter into wedlock for the&nbsp;second time.&nbsp;

According to The Guardian, the 50-year-old will tie the knot with Stella Moris, 38, in Belmarsh Prison, south-east London, on March 23, just weeks before the third anniversary of his arrest when he was dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy in the capital in April 2019.

The couple registered to marry in November last year.

They began their relationship during Assange’s seven-year stay in the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avert extradition to Sweden on unrelated sex offences allegations.

Assange and Moris, a South Africa-born lawyer, have two young sons: Gabriel (4) and Max (2). He also has a 33-year-old son from his first wedding.

In January,&nbsp;a judge refused a US request to extradite&nbsp;Assange, but he remains in prison while a higher court considers the US government’s appeal.

After speaking to her fiancé on Sunday, Moris told the PA news agency that they were both “very excited” despite restrictions on the ceremony.

She said they were waiting to hear if they are permitted a photographer, and that guests would have to leave immediately afterwards, despite the marriage taking place during normal visiting hours.

“Obviously we are very excited, even though the circumstances are very restrictive,” she said.

“There continues to be unjustified interference in our plans. Having a photographer for an hour is not an unreasonable request.”

Assange, an Australian citizen, has been on the radar of the US officials after WikiLeaks published of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

(With inputs from agencies)

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is held in London as he fights a US attempt to extradite him on espionage charges, is all set to enter into wedlock for the second time.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is held in London as he fights a US attempt to extradite him on espionage charges, is all set to enter into wedlock for the second time. According to The Guardian, the 50-year-old will tie the knot with Stella Moris, 38, in Belmarsh Prison, south-east London, on March 23, just weeks before the third anniversary of his arrest when he was dragged out of the Ecuadorian embassy in the capital in April 2019. The couple registered to marry in November last year. They began their relationship during Assange’s seven-year stay in the Ecuadorian embassy in London to avert extradition to Sweden on unrelated sex offences allegations. Assange and Moris, a South Africa-born lawyer, have two young sons: Gabriel (4) and Max (2). He also has a 33-year-old son from his first wedding. In January, a judge refused a US request to extradite Assange, but he remains in prison while a higher court considers the US government’s appeal. After speaking to her fiancé on Sunday, Moris told the PA news agency that they were both “very excited” despite restrictions on the ceremony. She said they were waiting to hear if they are permitted a photographer, and that guests would have to leave immediately afterwards, despite the marriage taking place during normal visiting hours. “Obviously we are very excited, even though the circumstances are very restrictive,” she said. “There continues to be unjustified interference in our plans. Having a photographer for an hour is not an unreasonable request.” Assange, an Australian citizen, has been on the radar of the US officials after WikiLeaks published of hundreds of thousands of leaked documents relating to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. (With inputs from agencies)

Julian Assange all set to marry second time, wedding to take place in UK prison

A former close associate of Jeffrey Epstein has been found dead in his Paris prison cell. Jean-Luc Brunel, in his mid-70s, was charged with the rape of minors. He was held in prison since December 2020.

Sources told AFP that he had been found dead overnight Friday to Saturday. However, the Paris prosecutors later confirmed his death.

The police are now investigating the cause of the death. Earlier, Brunel had denied the charges against him. His death means that his case has been closed.

As per a statement by his lawyers, Mathias Chichportich, Marianne Abgrall and Christophe Ingrain, the apparent suicide was "not guided by guilt but a profound sense of injustice".

"His tragedy is that of a 75-year-old man crushed by a media-judicial system. Brunel had always maintained his innocence and had intensified his efforts to prove it."

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/united-states-nuclear-engineers-wife-pleads-guilty-in-nuclear-submarine-secrets-plot-454599">Also read |&nbsp;United States: Nuclear engineer's wife pleads guilty in nuclear submarine secrets plot</a>

Earlier in January, Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers had filed documents requesting a new trial. In a letter to the court, the lawyers wrote that they filed her “motion for a New Trial … and accompanying exhibits under seal.”

“For the reasons set forth in the Motion, we request that all submissions pertaining to Juror No. 50 remain under seal until the Court rules on the Motion," the letter read.&nbsp;

Ghislaine Noelle Marion Maxwell, a British socialite and the daughter of a publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell was convicted on December 29 of five counts for enabling Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of girls.&nbsp;

Maxwell's relationship with Epstein resulted in her being convicted for soliciting a minor for prostitution. She was sentenced to an 18-month jail term, of which she only served 13 months.

(With inputs from agencies)

A former close associate of Jeffrey Epstein has been found dead in his Paris prison cell. Jean-Luc Brunel, in his mid-70s, was charged with the rape of minors. He was held in prison since December 2020.

A former close associate of Jeffrey Epstein has been found dead in his Paris prison cell. Jean-Luc Brunel, in his mid-70s, was charged with the rape of minors. He was held in prison since December 2020. Sources told AFP that he had been found dead overnight Friday to Saturday. However, the Paris prosecutors later confirmed his death. The police are now investigating the cause of the death. Earlier, Brunel had denied the charges against him. His death means that his case has been closed. As per a statement by his lawyers, Mathias Chichportich, Marianne Abgrall and Christophe Ingrain, the apparent suicide was "not guided by guilt but a profound sense of injustice". "His tragedy is that of a 75-year-old man crushed by a media-judicial system. Brunel had always maintained his innocence and had intensified his efforts to prove it." Also read | United States: Nuclear engineer's wife pleads guilty in nuclear submarine secrets plot Earlier in January, Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyers had filed documents requesting a new trial. In a letter to the court, the lawyers wrote that they filed her “motion for a New Trial … and accompanying exhibits under seal.” “For the reasons set forth in the Motion, we request that all submissions pertaining to Juror No. 50 remain under seal until the Court rules on the Motion," the letter read. Ghislaine Noelle Marion Maxwell, a British socialite and the daughter of a publishing tycoon Robert Maxwell was convicted on December 29 of five counts for enabling Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse of girls. Maxwell's relationship with Epstein resulted in her being convicted for soliciting a minor for prostitution. She was sentenced to an 18-month jail term, of which she only served 13 months. (With inputs from agencies)

Jeffrey Epstein associate, Jean-Luc Brunel, found dead in French prison cell

A prison attack in Syria is the latest sign of ISIS resurgence in the region. ISIS has mounted a series of recent attacks in both Syria and Iraq, suggesting it is re-emerging as a serious threat three years after it was driven out. Ghadi Francis tells you about this resurgence in this week's episode of The West Asia Post.

The West Asia Post: Kurdish fighters recapture prison after a week

&nbsp;Forces from a Kurdish-led militia on rooftops traded fire with dozens of Islamic State fighters still holed up in an embattled prison in northeastern Syria on Thursday, despite claims by the U.S.-backed militia a day earlier that it had regained full control of the entire complex.

The prison, in the city of al-Hasaka, housed thousands of Islamic State former fighters. Their fellow militants attacked a week ago in an attempt to free them. An official with one of the Syrian-Kurdish paramilitary groups battling the Islamic State said 60 to 90 militants from the group were still fighting from inside the partly destroyed prison complex, most of them attackers who had stormed the prison but some of them prisoners who had joined forces with them.

The prison attack was the starkest evidence yet of a resurgence of Islamic State across parts of Syria and Iraq, three years after the group lost the last territorial foothold in its so-called caliphate across a vast stretch of both countries. The extremists have also mounted a series of attacks on military forces in neighbouring Iraq in recent months.

The prison fight drew the U.S. military into the fray in support of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, providing airstrikes, intelligence and armoured vehicles to cordon off the prison. This was the broadest confrontation between U.S. forces and the Islamic State since the end of the caliphate.

The fighting was also raging in surrounding areas near the prison complex.

At a traffic circle a few hundred yards from the prison complex in the centre of al-Hasaka, a New York Times team took cover along with a group of local journalists and civilians caught in the middle as Kurdish-led forces traded fire with Islamic State gunmen who had opened fire from a street near the prison.

Explosions from rocket-propelled grenades fired by the Kurdish-led forces at the prison and the sound of truck-mounted anti-aircraft guns rang out.

The SDF said two Islamic State fighters were killed in the engagement near the traffic circle, but there were no reports of civilians harmed in that clash.

A bulldozer emerged from the ruins of a cultural centre next to the prison complex carrying the crumpled body of an Islamic State fighter before dumping it in the back of a pickup truck.

At another building behind the cultural centre, which had been hit by an airstrike, SDF fighters pulled out the remains of two other Islamic State fighters. A charred oil tanker on its side still burned across the street.

SDF forces said the tanker and three others that were burned beside it had been destroyed in a U.S. airstrike.

Siyamend Ali, the head of media for the People’s Protection Units, one of the Kurdish factions in the SDF, said more than 3,000 detainees had surrendered and most had been taken to a new detention facility built by the U.S.-led coalition that has fought the Islamic State in Syria.

He said some of the Islamic State militants still inside the prison were believed to be foreign fighters.

“The prison attack has activated sleeper cells in other places,” Ali said.

Forces from a Kurdish-led militia on rooftops traded fire with dozens of Islamic State fighters still holed up in an embattled prison in northeastern Syria on Thursday, despite claims by the U.

Forces from a Kurdish-led militia on rooftops traded fire with dozens of Islamic State fighters still holed up in an embattled prison in northeastern Syria on Thursday, despite claims by the U.S.-backed militia a day earlier that it had regained full control of the entire complex. The prison, in the city of al-Hasaka, housed thousands of Islamic State former fighters. Their fellow militants attacked a week ago in an attempt to free them. An official with one of the Syrian-Kurdish paramilitary groups battling the Islamic State said 60 to 90 militants from the group were still fighting from inside the partly destroyed prison complex, most of them attackers who had stormed the prison but some of them prisoners who had joined forces with them. The prison attack was the starkest evidence yet of a resurgence of Islamic State across parts of Syria and Iraq, three years after the group lost the last territorial foothold in its so-called caliphate across a vast stretch of both countries. The extremists have also mounted a series of attacks on military forces in neighbouring Iraq in recent months. The prison fight drew the U.S. military into the fray in support of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, providing airstrikes, intelligence and armoured vehicles to cordon off the prison. This was the broadest confrontation between U.S. forces and the Islamic State since the end of the caliphate. The fighting was also raging in surrounding areas near the prison complex. At a traffic circle a few hundred yards from the prison complex in the centre of al-Hasaka, a New York Times team took cover along with a group of local journalists and civilians caught in the middle as Kurdish-led forces traded fire with Islamic State gunmen who had opened fire from a street near the prison. Explosions from rocket-propelled grenades fired by the Kurdish-led forces at the prison and the sound of truck-mounted anti-aircraft guns rang out. The SDF said two Islamic State fighters were killed in the engagement near the traffic circle, but there were no reports of civilians harmed in that clash. A bulldozer emerged from the ruins of a cultural centre next to the prison complex carrying the crumpled body of an Islamic State fighter before dumping it in the back of a pickup truck. At another building behind the cultural centre, which had been hit by an airstrike, SDF fighters pulled out the remains of two other Islamic State fighters. A charred oil tanker on its side still burned across the street. SDF forces said the tanker and three others that were burned beside it had been destroyed in a U.S. airstrike. Siyamend Ali, the head of media for the People’s Protection Units, one of the Kurdish factions in the SDF, said more than 3,000 detainees had surrendered and most had been taken to a new detention facility built by the U.S.-led coalition that has fought the Islamic State in Syria. He said some of the Islamic State militants still inside the prison were believed to be foreign fighters. “The prison attack has activated sleeper cells in other places,” Ali said.

US-backed forces in Syria are still fighting Islamic State at prison

At least 70 people were killed in an air strike on a prison and at least three children died in a separate bombardment as Yemen's long-running conflict suffered a dramatic escalation of violence on Friday.

The Houthi rebels released gruesome video footage showing bodies in the rubble and mangled corpses from the prison attack, which levelled buildings at the jail in their northern heartland of Saada.

Further south in the port city of Hodeida, the children died when air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition hit a telecommunications facility as they played nearby, Save the Children said. Yemen also suffered a country-wide internet blackout.

"The children were reportedly playing on a nearby football field when missiles struck," Save the Children said.

The UN Human Rights Office said the reports of intensifying coalition air strikes on populated areas were "deeply shocking".

Eight aid agencies operating in Yemen said in a joint statement they were "horrified by the news that more than 70 people, including migrants, women and children, have been killed... in a blatant disregard for civilian lives."

They said the prison in Saada was used as a holding centre for migrants, who made up many of the casualties.

But the United Arab Emirates insisted that it and other coalition members remained committed to "proportionate" responses to Huthi attacks.

"The coalition undertakes to abide by international law and proportionate response in all its military operations," UAE ambassador to the United Nations Lana Nusseibeh said.

The coalition attacks come after the Huthis took the seven-year war into a new phase by claiming a drone and missile attack on Abu Dhabi that killed three people on Monday.

The United Arab Emirates, part of the Saudi-led coalition fighting the rebels, had threatened reprisals.

Aid workers said hospitals were overwhelmed in Saada after the prison attack, with one receiving 70 dead and 138 wounded, according to Doctors Without Borders.

Two other hospitals have received "many wounded" and as night fell, the rubble was still being searched, the aid agency said.

"Horrific act"

Ahmed Mahat, Doctors Without Borders' head of mission in Yemen, said: "There are many bodies still at the scene of the air strike, many missing people."

"It is impossible to know how many people have been killed. It seems to have been a horrific act of violence."

The UN Security Council, meeting Friday at the request of non-permanent member the United Arab Emirates, unanimously condemned what it called the Huthis' "heinous terrorist attacks in Abu Dhabi... as well as in other sites in Saudi Arabia".

The coalition has been fighting the rebels since 2015, in an intractable conflict that has displaced millions of Yemenis and left them on the brink of famine.

The coalition claimed the attack in Hodeida, a lifeline port for the shattered country, but did not say it had carried out any strikes on Saada.

Saudi Arabia's state news agency said the coalition carried out "precision air strikes... to destroy the capabilities of the Huthi militia in Hodeida".

"Collapse of internet"

Global internet watchdog NetBlocks reported a "nation-scale collapse of internet connectivity". AFP correspondents in Hodeida and Sanaa confirmed the outage. Save the Children said it would hamper its operating capacity.

Yemen's civil war began in 2014 when the Huthis descended from their base in Saada to overrun the capital Sanaa, prompting Saudi-led forces to intervene to prop up the government the following year.

Tensions have soared in recent weeks after the UAE-backed Giants Brigade drove the rebels out of Shabwa province, undermining their months-long campaign to take the key city of Marib further north.

On January 3, the Huthis hijacked a United Arab Emirates-flagged ship in the Red Sea, prompting a warning from the coalition that it would target rebel-held ports.

And on Monday, they claimed a long-range attack that struck oil facilities and the airport in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, killing two Indians and a Pakistani, and wounding six other people.

The attack -- the first deadly assault acknowledged by the UAE inside its borders and claimed by the Huthis -- opened up a new front in Yemen's war and sent regional tensions soaring.

In retaliation, the coalition carried out airstrikes against rebel-held Sanaa that killed 14 people.

Yemen's civil war has been a catastrophe for millions of its citizens who have fled their homes, with many close to famine in what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

The UN has estimated the war killed 377,000 people by the end of 2021, both directly and indirectly through hunger and disease.

At least 70 people were killed in an air strike on a prison and at least three children died in a separate bombardment as Yemen's long-running conflict suffered a dramatic escalation of violence on Friday.

At least 70 people were killed in an air strike on a prison and at least three children died in a separate bombardment as Yemen's long-running conflict suffered a dramatic escalation of violence on Friday. The Houthi rebels released gruesome video footage showing bodies in the rubble and mangled corpses from the prison attack, which levelled buildings at the jail in their northern heartland of Saada. Further south in the port city of Hodeida, the children died when air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition hit a telecommunications facility as they played nearby, Save the Children said. Yemen also suffered a country-wide internet blackout. "The children were reportedly playing on a nearby football field when missiles struck," Save the Children said. The UN Human Rights Office said the reports of intensifying coalition air strikes on populated areas were "deeply shocking". Eight aid agencies operating in Yemen said in a joint statement they were "horrified by the news that more than 70 people, including migrants, women and children, have been killed... in a blatant disregard for civilian lives." They said the prison in Saada was used as a holding centre for migrants, who made up many of the casualties. But the United Arab Emirates insisted that it and other coalition members remained committed to "proportionate" responses to Huthi attacks. "The coalition undertakes to abide by international law and proportionate response in all its military operations," UAE ambassador to the United Nations Lana Nusseibeh said. The coalition attacks come after the Huthis took the seven-year war into a new phase by claiming a drone and missile attack on Abu Dhabi that killed three people on Monday. The United Arab Emirates, part of the Saudi-led coalition fighting the rebels, had threatened reprisals. Aid workers said hospitals were overwhelmed in Saada after the prison attack, with one receiving 70 dead and 138 wounded, according to Doctors Without Borders. Two other hospitals have received "many wounded" and as night fell, the rubble was still being searched, the aid agency said. "Horrific act" Ahmed Mahat, Doctors Without Borders' head of mission in Yemen, said: "There are many bodies still at the scene of the air strike, many missing people." "It is impossible to know how many people have been killed. It seems to have been a horrific act of violence." The UN Security Council, meeting Friday at the request of non-permanent member the United Arab Emirates, unanimously condemned what it called the Huthis' "heinous terrorist attacks in Abu Dhabi... as well as in other sites in Saudi Arabia". The coalition has been fighting the rebels since 2015, in an intractable conflict that has displaced millions of Yemenis and left them on the brink of famine. The coalition claimed the attack in Hodeida, a lifeline port for the shattered country, but did not say it had carried out any strikes on Saada. Saudi Arabia's state news agency said the coalition carried out "precision air strikes... to destroy the capabilities of the Huthi militia in Hodeida". "Collapse of internet" Global internet watchdog NetBlocks reported a "nation-scale collapse of internet connectivity". AFP correspondents in Hodeida and Sanaa confirmed the outage. Save the Children said it would hamper its operating capacity. Yemen's civil war began in 2014 when the Huthis descended from their base in Saada to overrun the capital Sanaa, prompting Saudi-led forces to intervene to prop up the government the following year. Tensions have soared in recent weeks after the UAE-backed Giants Brigade drove the rebels out of Shabwa province, undermining their months-long campaign to take the key city of Marib further north. On January 3, the Huthis hijacked a United Arab Emirates-flagged ship in the Red Sea, prompting a warning from the coalition that it would target rebel-held ports. And on Monday, they claimed a long-range attack that struck oil facilities and the airport in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, killing two Indians and a Pakistani, and wounding six other people. The attack -- the first deadly assault acknowledged by the UAE inside its borders and claimed by the Huthis -- opened up a new front in Yemen's war and sent regional tensions soaring. In retaliation, the coalition carried out airstrikes against rebel-held Sanaa that killed 14 people. Yemen's civil war has been a catastrophe for millions of its citizens who have fled their homes, with many close to famine in what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis. The UN has estimated the war killed 377,000 people by the end of 2021, both directly and indirectly through hunger and disease.

At least 70, including women, kids, killed in Saudi-led airstrike on Yemen prison

Thousands of Ohio prison guards will begin wearing body cameras for the first time this year, bringing more transparency inside prison walls at a time when the coronavirus pandemic and guard shortages are making many prisons more dangerous.

Annette Chambers-Smith, the head of the state prison agency, said the state was buying 5,100 body cameras that will be used by guards and parole officers in all of the state’s prisons. Not every guard will wear a camera at all times, but the program is still ambitious: Axon, the company that is supplying the cameras, said the state was adopting the largest body camera program of any prison agency in the world.

There are already thousands of surveillance cameras across Ohio’s 28 state prisons, but the addition of body cameras could make it easier to review the actions of guards and prisoners, capturing incidents that are not visible through existing cameras or are blocked from view by other people.

The move comes as several other states have begun to use body cameras in prisons and jails, albeit on a smaller scale, amid increasing criticism that prison guards, like police officers, are regularly involved in violent encounters that may involve witnesses with competing versions of events.

“This is ultimately about safety, transparency and accountability for everyone who works or lives in our prisons,” Chambers-Smith said in a statement.

The plan to roll out body cameras follows the death in January 2021 of Michael McDaniel, 55, who collapsed and died after guards pushed him to the ground several times after a fight outside his cell. A coroner ruled that his death was a homicide, and the prison system fired seven guards and a nurse; two more employees resigned. No criminal charges were filed.

Surveillance video captured much of the guards’ encounter with McDaniel, who ended up on the ground 16 times over the course of less than an hour. But the video missed several key moments: a stairwell blocked much of the initial fight between McDaniel and the guards, in which investigators determined that he had punched two officers, and the cameras captured only part of a takedown, several minutes later, in which guards appeared to push him into the snow outside.

McDaniel's sister, Jada, said she supported the use of body cameras and believed that the guards may have intentionally engaged her brother behind the stairwell, knowing that it partially obscured what was happening. She said she believed the guards would not have been so aggressive with her brother had they all been wearing cameras.

“My brother would still be alive,” said Jada McDaniel, who teaches math and science to fourth-graders in Columbus. “They would have thought twice. They probably wouldn’t have taken him out and abused him the way they did. There’s no way they would have taken him behind the stairwell.”

She said she believed the guards would also benefit from having more of their interactions on camera.

“The guards need protection as well,” she said. “The body camera will catch everything.”

A new prison agency policy governing body cameras says that cameras may automatically activate when a gun or pepper spray is drawn. The policy says that the cameras must be powered on at all times, meaning that even if guards cannot or do not activate them, video would still be captured and stored for 18 hours.

In jails and state and federal prisons across the country, officials have been struggling to hire enough prison guards to fill in for those who have retired, who fall ill with COVID-19 or who are avoiding dangerous assignments, leaving correctional facilities with high infection rates and not enough staff to handle potentially violent confrontations.

In New York City, stabbings at the massive jail complex on Rikers Island have surged and gangs have increased their influence in the jail during the pandemic as some prison guards have taken advantage of generous sick leave policies to sidestep working at the jail. Some guards wear body cameras at the complex, but not all.

In 2019, the sheriff overseeing the jail in Albany County, New York, said he was putting body cameras on guards after several inmates who had been transferred from Rikers Island said they had been abused at the Albany jail. The sheriff said at the time that he believed the cameras would have proved that the officers were innocent.

Prison officials in several other states, including Wisconsin and Georgia, have begun to put cameras on some prison guards. A lawsuit in California over claims that prison employees had violated disabled prisoners’ rights led a judge to order that officers at five state prisons be outfitted with the cameras. New York state has also tested the technology at some prisons, and New Jersey lawmakers are considering a bill that would put body cameras on every prison guard.

The Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, which represents prison guards in the state, has not opposed the body camera program but said it was a low priority at a time when there were 1,700 vacant positions for correctional officers, in part because the state had not filled positions of officers who had recently retired.

“To be frank, it’s hell right now,” union president Christopher Mabe, a retired prison sergeant, said of working in Ohio prisons. “Body cameras are a distraction, as far as we’re concerned, to the real and dangerous staffing issues in prisons now.”

Chambers-Smith, the prisons director, said the body cameras would cost $6.9 million in the first year and about $3.3 million each year after that. They were being paid for by grants, funding from the federal stimulus act passed by Congress in response to the pandemic in 2020, and the department’s general budget.

Thousands of Ohio prison guards will begin wearing body cameras for the first time this year, bringing more transparency inside prison walls at a time when the coronavirus pandemic and guard shortages are making many prisons more dangerous.

Thousands of Ohio prison guards will begin wearing body cameras for the first time this year, bringing more transparency inside prison walls at a time when the coronavirus pandemic and guard shortages are making many prisons more dangerous. Annette Chambers-Smith, the head of the state prison agency, said the state was buying 5,100 body cameras that will be used by guards and parole officers in all of the state’s prisons. Not every guard will wear a camera at all times, but the program is still ambitious: Axon, the company that is supplying the cameras, said the state was adopting the largest body camera program of any prison agency in the world. There are already thousands of surveillance cameras across Ohio’s 28 state prisons, but the addition of body cameras could make it easier to review the actions of guards and prisoners, capturing incidents that are not visible through existing cameras or are blocked from view by other people. The move comes as several other states have begun to use body cameras in prisons and jails, albeit on a smaller scale, amid increasing criticism that prison guards, like police officers, are regularly involved in violent encounters that may involve witnesses with competing versions of events. “This is ultimately about safety, transparency and accountability for everyone who works or lives in our prisons,” Chambers-Smith said in a statement. The plan to roll out body cameras follows the death in January 2021 of Michael McDaniel, 55, who collapsed and died after guards pushed him to the ground several times after a fight outside his cell. A coroner ruled that his death was a homicide, and the prison system fired seven guards and a nurse; two more employees resigned. No criminal charges were filed. Surveillance video captured much of the guards’ encounter with McDaniel, who ended up on the ground 16 times over the course of less than an hour. But the video missed several key moments: a stairwell blocked much of the initial fight between McDaniel and the guards, in which investigators determined that he had punched two officers, and the cameras captured only part of a takedown, several minutes later, in which guards appeared to push him into the snow outside. McDaniel's sister, Jada, said she supported the use of body cameras and believed that the guards may have intentionally engaged her brother behind the stairwell, knowing that it partially obscured what was happening. She said she believed the guards would not have been so aggressive with her brother had they all been wearing cameras. “My brother would still be alive,” said Jada McDaniel, who teaches math and science to fourth-graders in Columbus. “They would have thought twice. They probably wouldn’t have taken him out and abused him the way they did. There’s no way they would have taken him behind the stairwell.” She said she believed the guards would also benefit from having more of their interactions on camera. “The guards need protection as well,” she said. “The body camera will catch everything.” A new prison agency policy governing body cameras says that cameras may automatically activate when a gun or pepper spray is drawn. The policy says that the cameras must be powered on at all times, meaning that even if guards cannot or do not activate them, video would still be captured and stored for 18 hours. In jails and state and federal prisons across the country, officials have been struggling to hire enough prison guards to fill in for those who have retired, who fall ill with COVID-19 or who are avoiding dangerous assignments, leaving correctional facilities with high infection rates and not enough staff to handle potentially violent confrontations. In New York City, stabbings at the massive jail complex on Rikers Island have surged and gangs have increased their influence in the jail during the pandemic as some prison guards have taken advantage of generous sick leave policies to sidestep working at the jail. Some guards wear body cameras at the complex, but not all. In 2019, the sheriff overseeing the jail in Albany County, New York, said he was putting body cameras on guards after several inmates who had been transferred from Rikers Island said they had been abused at the Albany jail. The sheriff said at the time that he believed the cameras would have proved that the officers were innocent. Prison officials in several other states, including Wisconsin and Georgia, have begun to put cameras on some prison guards. A lawsuit in California over claims that prison employees had violated disabled prisoners’ rights led a judge to order that officers at five state prisons be outfitted with the cameras. New York state has also tested the technology at some prisons, and New Jersey lawmakers are considering a bill that would put body cameras on every prison guard. The Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, which represents prison guards in the state, has not opposed the body camera program but said it was a low priority at a time when there were 1,700 vacant positions for correctional officers, in part because the state had not filled positions of officers who had recently retired. “To be frank, it’s hell right now,” union president Christopher Mabe, a retired prison sergeant, said of working in Ohio prisons. “Body cameras are a distraction, as far as we’re concerned, to the real and dangerous staffing issues in prisons now.” Chambers-Smith, the prisons director, said the body cameras would cost $6.9 million in the first year and about $3.3 million each year after that. They were being paid for by grants, funding from the federal stimulus act passed by Congress in response to the pandemic in 2020, and the department’s general budget.

In a first, Ohio moves to put body cameras on guards in every prison

The 11th of January, 2022 marked 20 years since the opening of Guantanamo Bay, the infamous US prison in Cuba.

20 years since the opening of Guantanamo Bay, the infamous US prison in Cuba

January 11 2022 marks 20 years since the opening of Guantanamo Bay, the infamous US prison in Cuba known as a symbol of injustice and torture across the world. When and why this product of the United States as war on terror was set up and will it ever shut down our next report get you more.

20  years since the opening of Guantanamo Bay, the infamous US prison

Three white men have now been convicted of murdering a black man Ahmaud Arbery in the United States. The three men have been sentenced to life in prison.

US: Three white men sentenced to life in prison for murdering a black man Ahmaud Arbery

At the end of October a presidential candidate starred up old memories when proposing to send corrupt politicians to Colombia's notorious former island prison of Gorgona. No one took the threat seriously but it did pick interest about a little known part of Colombia's history that could be compared to Alcatraz or Robben island.

Gorgona Island, where an infamous prison once stood

Panettone is the Italian national Christmas cake, and it is notoriously tricky to perfect. So when the version from Pasticceria Giotto was named one of the 10 best in Italy, it was a real honor. But the most striking difference between the panettone at Giotto and the nine others on the list is that Giotto’s is made in a prison.

Inside the Due Palazzi prison on the outskirts of Padua, in northeastern Italy, a crew of inmates in white coats is supervised by four professional pastry chefs. Six days a week, they start baking at 4 a.m., beginning with the brioche that will be served by local pastry shops and hotels. Giotto also produces cookies, pies, nougat, chocolate and ice cream, but panettone is the specialty.

Giovanni, an inmate who was identified only by his first name in accordance with prison guidelines, has been working in the bakery for the last five years of his 23-year sentence. (Officials will not disclose the prisoners’ crimes.)

“Before I was in prison, I had never tasted panettone,” he said, “but I really like it, and every Christmas I get five or six and send them to my family in Sicily.”

The word panettone derives from panetto, a small loaf cake. The suffix, -one, changes the meaning to “large cake.” Similar recipes date back to the Roman Empire, when honey was used to sweeten a type of leavened dough. The cake is mentioned in a recipe book written in the 1500s by Bartolomeo Scappi, a personal chef to popes and kings during the time of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V; it was first referred to as pan de ton (“luxury bread”) by 18th-century scholar Pietro Verri in one of his writings.

A well-baked panettone is a point of pride for Italian pasticcerie, and every year Italians consume about 9 1/2 million of the cakes, mostly around the holidays.

Baking them is a meticulous process that involves multiple kneadings and leavenings over the course of 72 hours. After baking for an hour, the cakes are taken out of the oven and allowed to cool while hanging upside down, to keep their characteristic domed tops from falling. In all, the Giotto team will bake more than 80,000 panettone this holiday season.

The baking program, which began in 2005, is run by Work Crossing Cooperative, a nonprofit group that operates prison work programs in the region. In early December, the cooperative even opened a Pasticceria Giotto storefront in Padua.

The Italian prison system is overcrowded, and the national recidivism average is 70%, according to the Ministry of Justice, with a majority of inmates returning for sentences longer than their first. That rate drops to 5%, however, for inmates who work while incarcerated.

Matteo Marchetto, president of Work Crossing Cooperative, said the Italian constitution explicitly mentions education as part of the purpose of a prison sentence.

“The sentence must be fully expiated, but at the same time there must be a path to recovery,” Marchetto said. “Otherwise, these years are wasted public resources.”

Before being accepted into the baking program, inmates must work with a psychologist for six months. Once accepted, they do a six-month internship before becoming full employees. For the next six months, they make 650 euros (around $735) a month, then graduate to 800 euros, and finally to 1,000 euros. Throughout the process the inmates continue to work with a psychologist.

Matteo Concolato, a pastry chef who helps supervise the inmates as they bake, said he had witnessed the program’s benefits firsthand.

“One thing that gives a lot of satisfaction is to see a guy who may never have worked before and comes from years in prison who gradually becomes passionate, acquires a sense of responsibility for what he is doing, begins to trust himself and others again,” he said.

Panettone is the Italian national Christmas cake, and it is notoriously tricky to perfect. So when the version from Pasticceria Giotto was named one of the 10 best in Italy, it was a real honor.

Panettone is the Italian national Christmas cake, and it is notoriously tricky to perfect. So when the version from Pasticceria Giotto was named one of the 10 best in Italy, it was a real honor. But the most striking difference between the panettone at Giotto and the nine others on the list is that Giotto’s is made in a prison. Inside the Due Palazzi prison on the outskirts of Padua, in northeastern Italy, a crew of inmates in white coats is supervised by four professional pastry chefs. Six days a week, they start baking at 4 a.m., beginning with the brioche that will be served by local pastry shops and hotels. Giotto also produces cookies, pies, nougat, chocolate and ice cream, but panettone is the specialty. Giovanni, an inmate who was identified only by his first name in accordance with prison guidelines, has been working in the bakery for the last five years of his 23-year sentence. (Officials will not disclose the prisoners’ crimes.) “Before I was in prison, I had never tasted panettone,” he said, “but I really like it, and every Christmas I get five or six and send them to my family in Sicily.” The word panettone derives from panetto, a small loaf cake. The suffix, -one, changes the meaning to “large cake.” Similar recipes date back to the Roman Empire, when honey was used to sweeten a type of leavened dough. The cake is mentioned in a recipe book written in the 1500s by Bartolomeo Scappi, a personal chef to popes and kings during the time of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V; it was first referred to as pan de ton (“luxury bread”) by 18th-century scholar Pietro Verri in one of his writings. A well-baked panettone is a point of pride for Italian pasticcerie, and every year Italians consume about 9 1/2 million of the cakes, mostly around the holidays. Baking them is a meticulous process that involves multiple kneadings and leavenings over the course of 72 hours. After baking for an hour, the cakes are taken out of the oven and allowed to cool while hanging upside down, to keep their characteristic domed tops from falling. In all, the Giotto team will bake more than 80,000 panettone this holiday season. The baking program, which began in 2005, is run by Work Crossing Cooperative, a nonprofit group that operates prison work programs in the region. In early December, the cooperative even opened a Pasticceria Giotto storefront in Padua. The Italian prison system is overcrowded, and the national recidivism average is 70%, according to the Ministry of Justice, with a majority of inmates returning for sentences longer than their first. That rate drops to 5%, however, for inmates who work while incarcerated. Matteo Marchetto, president of Work Crossing Cooperative, said the Italian constitution explicitly mentions education as part of the purpose of a prison sentence. “The sentence must be fully expiated, but at the same time there must be a path to recovery,” Marchetto said. “Otherwise, these years are wasted public resources.” Before being accepted into the baking program, inmates must work with a psychologist for six months. Once accepted, they do a six-month internship before becoming full employees. For the next six months, they make 650 euros (around $735) a month, then graduate to 800 euros, and finally to 1,000 euros. Throughout the process the inmates continue to work with a psychologist. Matteo Concolato, a pastry chef who helps supervise the inmates as they bake, said he had witnessed the program’s benefits firsthand. “One thing that gives a lot of satisfaction is to see a guy who may never have worked before and comes from years in prison who gradually becomes passionate, acquires a sense of responsibility for what he is doing, begins to trust himself and others again,” he said.

A Panettone baked in prison, and it’s one of Italy’s best

Hundreds of prisoners set fire to a Thai jail during a two-day riot over the handling of a coronavirus cluster, with some inmates wounded as officers sought to restore order.

Riots over better medical facilities amid COVID-19 pandemic results in Prison fire in Thailand

Riots over COVID-19 medical facilities, Thailand prison set on fire

To decongest overcrowding in jails, Ecuadoran President Guillermo Lasso on Monday granted pardon to prisoners with serious illnesses and those jailed for minor traffic violations.

The pardons have been granted to seriously or terminally ill prisoners and those involved in traffic offences that did not cause any casualty, the communications ministry said in a statement, without specifying how many would be released.

The move by the government follows growing incidents of prison violence in the country. Ecuador's prisons have been the scene of several massacres including a September riot — one of the worst in Latin American history —that left 119 inmates dead.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ecuador-prison-violence-leaves-nearly-68-dead-a-dozen-injured-429101">Ecuador prison violence leaves nearly 68 dead, a dozen injured</a>

On November 14, at least 68 prisoners were killed during a fight between rival gangs at a prison in the Guayaquil city, with inmates attacking each other with guns, machetes and explosives.

On September 28, prisoners from one wing of the prison crawled through a hole to gain access to a different wing, where they attacked rival gang members. Hundreds of officers and army soldiers were deployed to regain control of the complex.

Also read |&nbsp;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/ecuador-prison-riots-death-toll-crosses-100-416995">Ecuador prison riots: Death toll crosses 100</a>

The deadly fight, which saw some inmates decapitated, drew attention to the growing influence in Ecuador of transnational crime gangs such as the Mexico-based Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels.

Nearly 300 inmates have died so far this year in the country's prisons, and September's gang-related violence was the worst in Ecuador's history.

In the Latin American country, there are over 65 prisons housing inmates more than their capacity. These jails have the capacity for 30,000 people, but around 39,000 inmates have been placed, including 15,000 who have not been sentenced.

(With inputs from agencies)

To decongest overcrowding in jails, Ecuadoran President Guillermo Lasso on Monday granted pardon to prisoners with serious illnesses and those jailed for minor traffic violations.

To decongest overcrowding in jails, Ecuadoran President Guillermo Lasso on Monday granted pardon to prisoners with serious illnesses and those jailed for minor traffic violations. The pardons have been granted to seriously or terminally ill prisoners and those involved in traffic offences that did not cause any casualty, the communications ministry said in a statement, without specifying how many would be released. The move by the government follows growing incidents of prison violence in the country. Ecuador's prisons have been the scene of several massacres including a September riot — one of the worst in Latin American history —that left 119 inmates dead. Also read | Ecuador prison violence leaves nearly 68 dead, a dozen injured On November 14, at least 68 prisoners were killed during a fight between rival gangs at a prison in the Guayaquil city, with inmates attacking each other with guns, machetes and explosives. On September 28, prisoners from one wing of the prison crawled through a hole to gain access to a different wing, where they attacked rival gang members. Hundreds of officers and army soldiers were deployed to regain control of the complex. Also read | Ecuador prison riots: Death toll crosses 100 The deadly fight, which saw some inmates decapitated, drew attention to the growing influence in Ecuador of transnational crime gangs such as the Mexico-based Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation cartels. Nearly 300 inmates have died so far this year in the country's prisons, and September's gang-related violence was the worst in Ecuador's history. In the Latin American country, there are over 65 prisons housing inmates more than their capacity. These jails have the capacity for 30,000 people, but around 39,000 inmates have been placed, including 15,000 who have not been sentenced. (With inputs from agencies)

Ecuador President pardons some inmates to decongest jails after violence

Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina on Friday granted a pardon to a man who spent more than 24 years in prison for murder before a judge vacated his conviction in 2019, finding that a key witness had “entirely made up” her testimony.

The pardon for the man, Montoyae Dontae Sharpe, clears the way for him to seek compensation from the state and comes after prominent pastors and others had demonstrated outside the governor’s mansion in support of Sharpe.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Sharpe, 46, of Charlotte, said in an interview Friday. “My name has been cleared, and me and my family can move on. And I can go on with the next stage of my life, which is to still help other guys behind me.”

In 1995, Sharpe was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of George Radcliffe, who was found fatally shot in his pickup truck in Greenville, North Carolina, on Feb. 11, 1994.

During the trial, Charlene Johnson, who was 15, testified that she saw Sharpe, who is Black, shoot Radcliffe, who was white, in a face-to-face altercation over a drug deal, according to one of Sharpe’s lawyers, Theresa A. Newman, who was a co-director of the Wrongful Convictions Clinic at Duke University School of Law.

Johnson testified that Sharpe and another man then put Radcliffe into the truck, crashed it into a vacant lot and threw away the key, Newman said.

Johnson recanted her testimony weeks later, and Sharpe’s efforts to overturn his conviction worked their way through the courts until 2019, when a Superior Court judge in Pitt County, North Carolina, held two evidentiary hearings that destroyed the case.

After the second hearing, on Aug. 22, 2019, the judge, G. Bryan Collins Jr., found that if the case were tried again, Johnson would testify that “she was not present at the time of the shooting and that her trial testimony was entirely made up based on what she saw on television and what investigators told her.”

Collins also found that the medical examiner who had testified at the trial, Dr. Mary Gilliland, learned of Johnson’s testimony only “well after the trial was over.” If Gilliland were called to testify at a retrial, the judge found, she would testify that Johnson’s initial description of the shooting was “medically and scientifically impossible.”

Radcliffe had been shot in the arm, and Johnson’s description of a face-to-face confrontation “didn’t line up with the trajectory of the bullet through the body,” Newman said.

Collins vacated Sharpe’s conviction, released him from prison and granted his motion for a new trial.

That same day, the Pitt County District Attorney’s Office dismissed the murder charge against Sharpe and refused to retry the case on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.

Sharpe then spent the next two years fighting for a pardon, Newman said, before Cooper granted it Friday.

“I have carefully reviewed Montoyae Dontae Sharpe’s case and am granting him a Pardon of Innocence,” Cooper, a Democrat, said in a statement. “Mr. Sharpe and others who have been wrongly convicted deserve to have that injustice fully and publicly acknowledged.”

Newman said the pardon would allow Sharpe to petition the state for compensation of $50,000 for each year of wrongful imprisonment up to $750,000 — the most Sharpe could receive for the 24 years he spent in prison.

Sharpe said he had been sustained throughout the decades by his faith in God, his lawyers, the pastors who supported him and his mother, who gave him the strength to resist pressure from prosecutors to accept plea deals that could have resulted in his release from prison.

“If it weren’t for them, it would have been bad,” Sharpe said. “I would have still been in there, most likely.”

At a rally outside the governor’s mansion on Friday, the Rev. William J. Barber II, a North Carolina pastor, celebrated the “tremendous, tremendous news” of Sharpe’s pardon and asked those in attendance to think of all those who fought for Sharpe throughout the years.

“This was a family victory,” Barber said, adding that Sharpe deserved special praise.

“He has more courage than any man that has ever sat in that governor’s office — or woman — and more courage than anybody that’s ever sat in the state Legislature,” Barber said.

Sharpe said he hoped to use his pardon to fight for others who have been wrongfully convicted and are seeking to clear their names.

“I know there are more cases out there like mine because the system isn’t perfect,” he said. “We can change the system and my case is just a steppingstone for me to step out and help change the system.”

Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina on Friday granted a pardon to a man who spent more than 24 years in prison for murder before a judge vacated his conviction in 2019, finding that a key witness had “entirely made up” her testimony.

Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina on Friday granted a pardon to a man who spent more than 24 years in prison for murder before a judge vacated his conviction in 2019, finding that a key witness had “entirely made up” her testimony. The pardon for the man, Montoyae Dontae Sharpe, clears the way for him to seek compensation from the state and comes after prominent pastors and others had demonstrated outside the governor’s mansion in support of Sharpe. “It’s been a long time coming,” Sharpe, 46, of Charlotte, said in an interview Friday. “My name has been cleared, and me and my family can move on. And I can go on with the next stage of my life, which is to still help other guys behind me.” In 1995, Sharpe was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of George Radcliffe, who was found fatally shot in his pickup truck in Greenville, North Carolina, on Feb. 11, 1994. During the trial, Charlene Johnson, who was 15, testified that she saw Sharpe, who is Black, shoot Radcliffe, who was white, in a face-to-face altercation over a drug deal, according to one of Sharpe’s lawyers, Theresa A. Newman, who was a co-director of the Wrongful Convictions Clinic at Duke University School of Law. Johnson testified that Sharpe and another man then put Radcliffe into the truck, crashed it into a vacant lot and threw away the key, Newman said. Johnson recanted her testimony weeks later, and Sharpe’s efforts to overturn his conviction worked their way through the courts until 2019, when a Superior Court judge in Pitt County, North Carolina, held two evidentiary hearings that destroyed the case. After the second hearing, on Aug. 22, 2019, the judge, G. Bryan Collins Jr., found that if the case were tried again, Johnson would testify that “she was not present at the time of the shooting and that her trial testimony was entirely made up based on what she saw on television and what investigators told her.” Collins also found that the medical examiner who had testified at the trial, Dr. Mary Gilliland, learned of Johnson’s testimony only “well after the trial was over.” If Gilliland were called to testify at a retrial, the judge found, she would testify that Johnson’s initial description of the shooting was “medically and scientifically impossible.” Radcliffe had been shot in the arm, and Johnson’s description of a face-to-face confrontation “didn’t line up with the trajectory of the bullet through the body,” Newman said. Collins vacated Sharpe’s conviction, released him from prison and granted his motion for a new trial. That same day, the Pitt County District Attorney’s Office dismissed the murder charge against Sharpe and refused to retry the case on the grounds that there was insufficient evidence to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. Sharpe then spent the next two years fighting for a pardon, Newman said, before Cooper granted it Friday. “I have carefully reviewed Montoyae Dontae Sharpe’s case and am granting him a Pardon of Innocence,” Cooper, a Democrat, said in a statement. “Mr. Sharpe and others who have been wrongly convicted deserve to have that injustice fully and publicly acknowledged.” Newman said the pardon would allow Sharpe to petition the state for compensation of $50,000 for each year of wrongful imprisonment up to $750,000 — the most Sharpe could receive for the 24 years he spent in prison. Sharpe said he had been sustained throughout the decades by his faith in God, his lawyers, the pastors who supported him and his mother, who gave him the strength to resist pressure from prosecutors to accept plea deals that could have resulted in his release from prison. “If it weren’t for them, it would have been bad,” Sharpe said. “I would have still been in there, most likely.” At a rally outside the governor’s mansion on Friday, the Rev. William J. Barber II, a North Carolina pastor, celebrated the “tremendous, tremendous news” of Sharpe’s pardon and asked those in attendance to think of all those who fought for Sharpe throughout the years. “This was a family victory,” Barber said, adding that Sharpe deserved special praise. “He has more courage than any man that has ever sat in that governor’s office — or woman — and more courage than anybody that’s ever sat in the state Legislature,” Barber said. Sharpe said he hoped to use his pardon to fight for others who have been wrongfully convicted and are seeking to clear their names. “I know there are more cases out there like mine because the system isn’t perfect,” he said. “We can change the system and my case is just a steppingstone for me to step out and help change the system.”

Man pardoned after spending 24 years in prison for murder

As the British government examines new legislation to tackle online abuse, internet "trolls" might face two years in prison for words or material that cause "psychological injury."

Following a series of high-profile internet abuse cases involving sports journalists and Premier League sportsmen, the Department for Culture, Media and Sports has adopted suggestions from the Law Commission to base offences on "probable psychological injury."&nbsp; 
 
Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/58-girls-young-women-face-online-harassment-abuse-says-global-survey-333020">58% girls, young women face online harassment, abuse, says global survey</a>&nbsp;

Under the watchful eye of Ofcom, the Online Safety Bill aims to hold digital companies more responsible for user-generated dangerous information housed on their platforms, ranging from child sex exploitation to terrorism.

However, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport is contemplating accepting the Law Commission's proposal that offences be based on "probable psychological injury." 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/technology/facebook-google-tiktok-twitter-vow-to-stop-online-gender-abuse-395209">Also read | Facebook, Google, TikTok &amp; Twitter vow to stop online gender abuse</a> 
 
It will move the attention away from texts with "indecent" or "grossly offensive" content and toward the message's "harmful effect."

Nadine Dorries, the Culture Secretary, might include the changes in the bill that will be debated in Parliament next month.&nbsp;

The bill's present version focuses on frightening social media corporations with fines of up to $24.6 million if they fail to combat abuse, but modifications may result in individual users being punished on a far greater scale.

'Threatening communications' is one of the new offences, which encompasses messages and postings in which the author intends for their victim to fear that a threat will be carried out.&nbsp;

Messages made with the intention of causing 'emotional, psychological, or physical harm to the likely audience' will be considered as 'knowingly false communications.'

Currently, similar laws exist, but convictions are based on whether the clip contains 'indecent' or 'grossly offensive' material.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

As the British government examines new legislation to tackle online abuse, internet "trolls" might face two years in prison for words or material that cause "psychological injury.

As the British government examines new legislation to tackle online abuse, internet "trolls" might face two years in prison for words or material that cause "psychological injury." Following a series of high-profile internet abuse cases involving sports journalists and Premier League sportsmen, the Department for Culture, Media and Sports has adopted suggestions from the Law Commission to base offences on "probable psychological injury." Also read | 58% girls, young women face online harassment, abuse, says global survey Under the watchful eye of Ofcom, the Online Safety Bill aims to hold digital companies more responsible for user-generated dangerous information housed on their platforms, ranging from child sex exploitation to terrorism. However, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport is contemplating accepting the Law Commission's proposal that offences be based on "probable psychological injury." Also read | Facebook, Google, TikTok & Twitter vow to stop online gender abuse It will move the attention away from texts with "indecent" or "grossly offensive" content and toward the message's "harmful effect." Nadine Dorries, the Culture Secretary, might include the changes in the bill that will be debated in Parliament next month. The bill's present version focuses on frightening social media corporations with fines of up to $24.6 million if they fail to combat abuse, but modifications may result in individual users being punished on a far greater scale. 'Threatening communications' is one of the new offences, which encompasses messages and postings in which the author intends for their victim to fear that a threat will be carried out. Messages made with the intention of causing 'emotional, psychological, or physical harm to the likely audience' will be considered as 'knowingly false communications.' Currently, similar laws exist, but convictions are based on whether the clip contains 'indecent' or 'grossly offensive' material. (With inputs from agencies)

UK's online safety bill: Internet trolls could face two years in prison for psychological harm

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