Kremlin critic, facing new charge, sounds alarm on Interpol
MOSCOW — Russian prosecutors announced new criminal charges against U.S.-born Kremlin foe Bill Browder on Monday, days before a Russian police officer could become president of Interpol in a move that some Moscow critics fear might politicize the law enforcement agency.
Browder and other opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin have complained that Russia has tried to use Interpol against them. If a Russian is elected as its new president, it could encourage Moscow to intensify attempts to hunt down its critics abroad.
The new charges leveled against Browder accuse him of forming a criminal group to embezzle funds in Russia. They also alleged that he could be behind the death of his employee, Sergei Magnitsky, in a Russian prison.
Magnitsky, a 37-year-old lawyer who alleged he had uncovered $230 million in tax fraud by Russian officials, died in 2009 while in pre-trial detention. A Russian presidential commission concluded he had been beaten and denied medical care, and two prison doctors were charged with negligence leading to his death; one was acquitted and the other went free because the statute of limitations had expired.
Browder mounted an international campaign to bring Magnitsky’s killers to justice, and in 2012, the U.S. Congress passed the Magnitsky Act that imposed travel and financial sanctions on top Russian officials, including prosecutors. Several other countries have since adopted similar legislation.
White House to restore Acosta’s pass, with a warning
NEW YORK — The Trump administration on Monday abruptly dropped its effort to bar CNN reporter Jim Acosta from the White House, but warned he could have his credentials pulled again if he doesn’t follow guidelines governing journalists’ behavior.
The White House said reporters would be permitted one question each if called upon at news conferences and allowed follow-ups only at the discretion of the president.
In a letter to Acosta, White House communications director Bill Shine and press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said they will be forced to reconsider the decision “if unprofessional behavior occurs.”
CNN said that, as a result, it has dropped its lawsuit against the White House filed on Acosta’s behalf.
“Thanks to everyone for their support,” Acosta tweeted. “As I said last Friday … let’s get back to work.”
Taiwanese student accused of school threat to be deported
PHILADELPHIA — A Taiwanese exchange student accused of threatening to “shoot up” his high school near Philadelphia was spared additional time in prison at his sentencing Monday, but he will be deported and barred from returning to the U.S.
A federal judge Monday after nearly two hours of testimony sentenced An-Tso Sun also known as “Edward” to time served and deportation. The judge did not impose a fine. Sun had been facing up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for his guilty plea to a firearms-related charge.
Sun has been in local or federal custody since March after local school authorities were alerted that Sun talked about a May 1 shooting at Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast High School in Upper Darby, about 7 miles (11 kilometers) west of Philadelphia. The 18-year-old student called the talk a joke, but authorities found more than 1,600 rounds of ammunition, as well as weapons, in the home of his host family.
Keller previously said Sun “had no intention or plans” to commit a school shooting and many items found were what he wore to school for a Halloween costume contest.
A military-style ballistic vest, ammunition clip pouches, a high-powered crossbow and live ammunition were found in Sun’s bedroom in Lansdowne, Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said. A search of his school-issued iPad indicated searches on how to buy an AK-47 or an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, police said.
The scoop on how your cat’s sandpapery tongue deep cleans
WASHINGTON — Cat lovers know when kitties groom, their tongues are pretty scratchy. Using high-tech scans and some other tricks, scientists are learning how those sandpapery tongues help cats get clean and stay cool.
The secret: Tiny hooks that spring up on the tongue — with scoops built in to carry saliva deep into all that fur.
A team of mechanical engineers reported the findings Monday, and say they’re more than a curiosity. They could lead to inventions for pets and people.
“Their tongue could help us apply fluids, or clean carpets, or apply medicine” to hairy skin, said Georgia Tech lead researcher Alexis Noel, who is seeking a patent for a 3D-printed, tongue-inspired brush.
Cats are fastidious, spending up to a quarter of their waking hours grooming. Noel’s interest was piqued when her cat, Murphy, got his tongue stuck in a fuzzy blanket. Scientists had long thought cat tongues were studded with tiny cone-shaped bumps. Noel, working in a lab known for animal-inspired engineering, wondered why.
Sensual fresco discovered in ancient Pompeii bedroom
ROME — Archaeologists found a fresco in an ancient Pompeii bedroom that depicts a sensual scene of the Roman god Jupiter, disguised as a swan, and a legendary queen of Sparta from Greek mythology.
The figure of Leda being impregnated by the god in swan form was a fairly common home decoration theme in Pompeii and Herculaneum, another town destroyed in A.D. 79 by the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius near present-day Naples.
But Pompeii archaeological park director Massimo Osanna praised this fresco as exceptional since it was painted to make it appear Leda was looking at whoever saw the fresco upon entering the bedroom.
“Leda watches the spectator with a sensuality that’s absolutely pronounced,” Osanna told Italian news agency ANSA.
The fresco’s details include a depiction of Leda protecting the swan with her cloak as the bird sits on her lap.
Police: Ex-judge is suspect in former wife’s fatal stabbing
A former Cleveland-area judge who spent nine months in prison for beating his wife at the time is now a suspect in her stabbing death over the weekend and is likely to be charged, authorities said Monday.
Police said in court documents the ex-judge who also served in the state legislature was fleeing the scene of a homicide in which he was the suspect when he slammed his SUV into a patrol cruiser.
Lance Mason was charged Monday with felonious assault in the crash, but he has not been charged in his former wife’s death.
Police in Shaker Heights, a Cleveland suburb, said Monday that additional charges will be brought against Mason in connection with the death of his former wife.
Mason was taken into custody after officers found Aisha Fraser dead on Saturday, according to police in Shaker Heights, a Cleveland suburb. Messages seeking comment were left with an attorney who has represented Mason in the past.