A federal jury today convicted Charles Cannon, 26, Michael McLaughlin, 41, and Brian Kerstetter, 32, of a federal hate crime charge related to a racially motivated assault of a 29-year-old African-American man.

Sean M. Lovelady, 28, of Pomona, Calif., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement.

Chase McClary, 23, of Johnsonville, S.C., pleaded guilty today in federal court in the District of South Carolina to violating the Matthew Shepard-James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in his violent assault of an African-American teenager.

A Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty today to conspiring to willfully reproduce and distribute tens of thousands of infringing copies of copyrighted works without permission, including infringing copies of movies before they were commercially released on DVD, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Neil H. MacBride and Special Agent in Charge John P. Torres of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) in Washington, D.C., announced today.

Jesse Osmun, 32, pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson to one count of traveling from the United States to South Africa and engaging in illicit sexual conduct with children.

A New York man pleaded guilty today to conspiring to willfully reproduce and distribute tens of thousands of infringing copies of copyrighted works without permission, including infringing copies of movies before they were commercially released on DVD.

Kerstetter was sentenced to 77 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Cannon was sentenced to 37 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. And McLaughlin was sentenced to 30 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

Jeramiah B. Perkins, 39, of Portsmouth, Va., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement.

"But if the arc of history bends toward justice -- and I believe it does -- then it bends not by it's own weight but by the hands of those who dare to reach," said Acting Associate Attorney General West.

Chase McClary, 24, of Johnsonville, S.C., was sentenced today in federal court to four years in prison followed by three years supervised release for his racially-motivated attack of an African-American teenager.

William Kirk Montgomery, 23, from Puckett, Miss., and Jonathan K. Gaskamp, 20, from Brandon, Miss., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Jackson, Miss., to conspiracy and federal hate crime charges in connection with their roles in the assault of African-Americans in Jackson, the Justice Department announced today. Defendants Deryl Paul Dedmon, 20; John Aaron Rice, 19; and Dylan Wade Butler, 21, all from Brandon, Miss., have previously entered guilty pleas in connection with their roles in these offenses. The conspiracy culminated in the death of James Craig Anderson, who was assaulted and killed on June 26, 2011.

A former U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer, his girlfriend and two of their associates pleaded guilty today in federal court for their participation in multi-year bribery and alien smuggling activities along the U.S./Mexico border.

Joseph Dominick, 21, from Brandon, Miss., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Jackson, Miss., to one count of conspiracy to commit federal hate crimes in connection with his role in the assault of African-Americans in Jackson.

Billy James Hammett, 28, and Perry Sylvester Jackson, 27, were arrested today in Yuba County, Calif., on federal hate crime charges for their racially motivated attack on an African American woman and white man in Marysville, Calif., on April 18, 2011.

A federal grand jury has indicted two members of the Compton 155 street gang on federal hate crime charges related to a racially motivated attack on four African-American juveniles at a residence in the city of Compton, Calif., on New Year’s Eve.

"Today, as we come together to commemorate Black History Month, it is not only a chance to reflect on how far our nation and the African-American community has traveled on the long road toward equality and freedom. It’s also a time to rededicate ourselves to the principles at the core of all that we stand for in this Department," said Deputy Attorney General Cole.

"The issues you’re discussing here at this summit – the intersection of drugs and crime, gang and youth violence, the future of juvenile justice – are all issues the Department of Justice and my office, the Office of Justice Programs, are working diligently to address," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Leary.

Two Spring Hill, Tenn., men pleaded guilty in federal court today for their involvement in a racially-motivated conspiracy to interfere with the housing rights of African-American residents of the Spring Lake subdivision of Spring Hill.

Charles Kokesh was indicted by a federal grand jury in Pensacola, Florida, for violating the Endangered Species Act and the Lacey Act by selling two African elephant tusks and for making false accounts of wildlife related to that sale.

Two Latino men associated with the Compton 155 street gang pleaded guilty today to federal hate crime charges related to a racially motivated attack on African-American juveniles at a residence in Compton, Calif. on New Year’s Eve.

Jonathan Caine, 20, of Nashville, Tenn., pleaded guilty today to a federal hate crime for making racially motivated threats to an African-American assistant football coach at a local high school in, the Justice Department announced.

Conrad Alvin Barrett, 27, has been charged with a federal hate crime related to a racially-motivated assault of a 79-year-old African American man.

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit today against the owner and those responsible for the management of a 126-space mobile home park in Effingham, Ill., for violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against African-Americans and families with children.

Six decades ago, with the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, our nation took a historic step toward ending the injustice of “separate but equal” – and building the momentum of a modern Civil Rights Movement.

It’s a special privilege to share the stage with Deputy Marshal [Kirk] Bowden, who, as we’ve just heard, stood on the literal front lines of this fight during a critical moment in the Civil Rights Movement – at a time when young students, law enforcement officials, National Guardsmen, and brave citizens risked their lives to integrate historic institutions across the Deep South.

Anthony Merrell Tyler, 33, pleaded guilty in federal court today to violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act for his role in a 2011 racially motivated attack on a white man and an African-American woman in Marysville, Calif.

Billy James Hammett, 30, of Marysville, Calif., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez to serve 87 months in prison for violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in a 2011 racially motivated attack against a white man and an African-American woman in Marysville.

I believe that the only real, sustainable choice – the only safe and humane option – is the one that broadens opportunity and widens the path to success. Each of you is helping to lead us in that direction, and we are marching forward with you. And I am optimistic that we will continue to see an America that is safer, healthier, and more just.

Perry Sylvester Jackson, 28, of Marysville, Calif., was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge John A. Mendez to serve 70 months in prison for violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in a 2011 racially motivated attack against a white man and an African-American woman in Marysville.

Jeremy Heath Higgins was indicted for threatening an African-American man at a Quinton, Alabama, restaurant, and for threatening another person who ordered Higgins to leave the restaurant due to his behavior.

The former chief executive officer of Hanover Corporation was sentenced today to serve 14 years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $14,784,983.75 in restitution for orchestrating an $18 million Ponzi scheme

Costco Wholesale Corporation, one of the nation’s largest retailers, has agreed to cut its emissions of ozone-depleting and greenhouse gases from leaking refrigeration equipment at more than half of its stores nationwide.

Jeremy Heath Higgins, 28, a resident of Quinton, Alabama, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Madeline Haikala to two counts of federal civil rights violations, announced the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama.

Congress is starting to consider ways to address the budget cap problem that hangs over the entire FY 21 appropriations process for non-defense discretionary (NDD) programs. Last year, Congress broke a long-running stalemate by agreeing to budget caps for FY 20 and FY 21. They decided to front-load the increases, making spending decisions (relatively) easier […]

Posted by Roger Bate Cairo, Egypt – While its economy is still suffering from weak tourism, its new government is trying to do its best to bolster its modest regulatory structures to oversee medicines. With a population of approaching 90 million, Africa’s third most populous nation, is an important final destination for medicines, and a key transit point too. But it’s not just good medicines that Egypt needs to assess and ensure are procured, it has to prevent the bad &ndash [...]

California DMV will reopen 25 field offices after shutdown

The America that condones mass murder of children is allowing the coronavirus to spread.

Roy Horn, the dark-haired half of Siegfried & Roy, raised the white tigers and other animals in the duo's extravagant shows that were one of the biggest draws on the Las Vegas Strip.

Dec 14, 2019

Chinese diplomats in Africa are robustly defending Beijing’s policies on Twitter as part of a new and sometimes aggressive public relations campaign which is playing out across the globe as the country’s envoys answer President Xi Jinping’s call to “tell China stories well”.south chi

Between 2012 and 2018, the Black Rhino (Diceros bicornis) population across Africa has grown at a modest annual rate of 2.5% from an estimated 4,845 to 5,630 animals in the wild, respectively. Population models predict a further slow increase over the next five years, according to IUCN’s March 2020 update.

Dec 14, 2019

Chinese diplomats in Africa are robustly defending Beijing’s policies on Twitter as part of a new and sometimes aggressive public relations campaign which is playing out across the globe as the country’s envoys answer President Xi Jinping’s call to “tell China stories well”.south chi

Dec 21, 2018

For the past eight years, a group of high-level American and Russian retired military and intelligence officials has met annually to discuss sensitive issues of U.S. - Russian relations. The purpose of the Elbe Group, launched by the Belfer Center in 2008, is to keep open an important channel of communications between the two countries that have the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons. in the world. 

Dec 14, 2019

Chinese diplomats in Africa are robustly defending Beijing’s policies on Twitter as part of a new and sometimes aggressive public relations campaign which is playing out across the globe as the country’s envoys answer President Xi Jinping’s call to “tell China stories well”.south chi

Dec 14, 2019

Chinese diplomats in Africa are robustly defending Beijing’s policies on Twitter as part of a new and sometimes aggressive public relations campaign which is playing out across the globe as the country’s envoys answer President Xi Jinping’s call to “tell China stories well”.south chi

The European Union unveils its new Africa strategy On Monday, March 9, the European Union unveiled its new Africa engagement strategy, which the EU hopes will shift the relationship to one of more equal partnership. The new “Strategy with Africa” will focus on six areas of partnership: energy (especially green energy) access; digital transformation; sustainable…

Uganda and the European Union strengthen trade and business relationship Earlier this month, Uganda hosted a delegation from the European Union (EU) for the first-ever Uganda-Europe Business Forum. The forum is a part of a larger effort to “facilitate collaboration between private and public actors and partnership between Ugandan and European companies, in the framework…

Debt relief in Somalia and other African countries On Wednesday, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) jointly announced that Somalia is now eligible for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. Successfully completing the HIPC program will reduce Somalia’s external debt from $5.2 billion currently to $557 million in about…

African governments begin borrowing from IMF, World Bank to soften hit from COVID-19 This week, several countries and multilateral organizations announced additional measures to combat the economic fallout from COVID-19 in Africa. Among the actions taken by countries, Uganda’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by 1 percentage point to 8 percent and directed…