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1. Investigators try to confirm debris is from missing Malaysia Airlines plane
(Image credit: Twitter.com/SkyNews)
French authorities are studying a piece of plane debris that washed up on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean to determine whether it came from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. The airliner vanished without a trace last year after taking off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing with 239 passengers and crew members on board. Investigators could not immediately confirm that the debris came from the missing flight, although they were nearly certain it was from the same kind of plane — a Boeing 777.
2. University of Cincinnati cop indicted for killing of unarmed black man
A white University of Cincinnati police officer was indicted Wednesday on a murder charge for the fatal July 19 shooting of an unarmed black man, Samuel Dubose, during a minor traffic stop. Hamilton County prosecutor Joseph Deters released a video taken by the body camera of the officer, Ray Tensing, showing that he had not been dragged behind Dubose's car as he claimed. "It was a senseless, asinine shooting," Deters said.
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3. India hangs Yakub Memon for 1993 Mumbai bombings
India hanged Yakub Memon on Thursday for his role in a series of 1993 bombings in Mumbai that killed 257 people. The country's high court rejected a last-minute plea from Memon's lawyers for a 14-day stay of his execution to give him time to prepare and say goodbye to his relatives. The carefully coordinated bombings devastated several neighborhoods and left more than 700 people wounded. Prosecutors said Memon helped finance and arrange logistics for the bombings.
4. Democratic Rep. Chaka Fattah indicted on corruption charges
Federal prosecutors on Wednesday accused Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Penn.) and four associates on a barrage of criminal charges stemming from an investigation of his failed 2007 Philadelphia mayoral bid. The 11-term congressman was charged with channeling hundreds of thousands of dollars from his campaign and charities he controlled to pay off an illegal campaign loan and his son's college debts. Fattah denied any wrongdoing, saying he was a victim of overzealous prosecutors.
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5. UVa grads sue Rolling Stone over debunked rape article
Three Phi Kappa Psi fraternity brothers from the University of Virginia filed a lawsuit against Rolling Stone magazine on Wednesday for a now-retracted December 2014 article they said implicated them in an alleged gang rape. The three graduates — George Elias IV, Stephen Hadford, and Ross Fowler — asked a New York federal court for more than $75,000 for "mental anguish and severe emotional distress." Will Dana, Rolling Stone's managing editor, announced Wednesday he would leave the magazine in August.
6. Hunter charged in Zimbabwe for helping U.S. dentist kill lion
A court in Zimbabwe on Wednesday charged a professional hunter, Theo Bronkhorst, with failing to prevent an American bow hunter — Minnesota dentist Walter James Palmer — from killing a prized, protected lion known as Cecil. Palmer, who has left Zimbabwe, admitted to killing the animal but said he believed the hunt was legal and covered by all necessary permits. Palmer's dental practice has temporarily shut down as he has faced intense criticism.
7. Royal Dutch Shell lays off 6,500 as low oil prices erode profits
Royal Dutch Shell announced Thursday that it was laying off 6,500 of its 94,000 employees worldwide as lower oil and gas prices reduced its profits. The company said its adjusted second-quarter earnings were $3.8 billion, compared to $6.1 billion for the same period last year. Shell said it was bracing for low oil prices to continue for an extended period, further squeezing its ability to invest in exploration and production.
8. Fed suggests economy will be ready for interest rate hike in September
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday indicated that it was cautiously optimistic that the U.S. economy was getting back on track, suggesting that it would be ready to raise interest rates from near zero in September. "The labor market continued to improve, with solid job gains and declining unemployment," the Fed statement said. The government on Thursday releases the first of three estimates on second-quarter economic growth, which experts expect to be around a solid 2.7 percent.
Planned Parenthood said "an attack by extremists" brought down its website on Wednesday. The news came as the organization faces fallout over the release of several undercover videos by an anti-abortion group in which Planned Parenthood officials discuss the sale of fetal tissue for medical research, which is legal unless done for profit. Also on Wednesday, a California court barred the anti-abortion group, the Center for Medical Progress, from releasing video of leaders of a California company that provides fetal tissue to researchers.
10. Pollution threatens swimming and boating events in 2016 Rio Olympics
Waters where athletes will compete in swimming and boating events in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics have dangerously high levels of viruses and bacteria from sewage, according to an Associated Press investigation. At Rodrigo de Freitas Lake, which was thought to have been cleaned up, tests showed 14 million to 1.7 billion adenoviruses per liter. Counts of 1,000 per liter cause alarm in Southern California. "What you have there is basically raw sewage," marine biologist John Griffith said.
Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
