The Full Belmonte, 4/30/2023
Man who killed 5 neighbors in Texas 'could be anywhere,' sheriff says
“Five people, including two children, are dead and a suspect is on the loose Saturday after a late-night dispute between neighbors escalated into an ‘almost execution-style’ killing in Texas, authorities say.
38-year-old Francisco Oropeza was firing a rifle in his yard late at night when his neighbors asked him to stop, San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said. The man then went next door with his with an AR-style gun, opened fire and killed five people, including an 8-year-old and a 15-year-old, authorities said.
Capers said ‘everyone that was shot was shot from the neck up, almost execution-style.’
He also said some of the victims appeared to be protecting children.
Authorities were using scent-tracking dogs and an overhead drone to search for Oropeza on Saturday after police say he fled toward a wooded forest a few miles away.
As the search dragged into the evening, authorities had widened their efforts to as far as “10 to 20 miles" from the murder scene. He said Oropeza may still have a weapon but that he believes authorities have the rifle used in the shooting.
Capers said they found clothes and a phone while combing a rural area that includes dense layers of forest but that tracking dogs had lost the scent.
‘He could be anywhere now,’ Capers said.
The shooting occurred overnight in the town of Cleveland, about 45 miles north of Houston….” Read more at USA Today
Armed U.S. drones escort evacuation of American citizens in war-torn Sudan
A Pentagon spokesperson said that U.S. intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets were used to support air and land evacuation routes.
By Josh Lederman and Henry Austin
“Armed drones escorted hundreds of Americans as they began their escape from war-torn Sudan on Saturday amid fierce fighting between the military and a rival paramilitary group.
The unmanned aerial vehicles flew above a convoy of buses as they made the 500-mile journey from the African nation’s capital, Khartoum, to Port Sudan on the country's east coast, a U.S. official familiar with the matter confirmed to NBC News. Several hundred Americans were on board at least a dozen buses, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly.
The official said that the U.S. government was likely to release more exact figures of the number evacuated in the convoy once the Americans had made it safely to the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah.
Separately, a Pentagon spokesperson said ‘the Department of Defense deployed U.S. intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets to support air and land evacuation routes, which Americans are using.’
Sabrina Singh, the deputy Pentagon press secretary, said the U.S. was ‘moving naval assets within the region to provide any necessary support along the coast’ and that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had ‘approved a request for assistance from the Department of State to support the safe departure.’
Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesperson, said Saturday that ‘intensive negotiations’ by the U.S. with the support of ‘regional and international partners’ created the conditions allowing the evacuation of citizens and noncitizens alike, including Saturday’s operation….” Read more at NBC News
Epstein’s Private Calendar Reveals Prominent Names, Including CIA Chief, Goldman’s Top Lawyer
Schedules and emails detail meetings in the years after he was a convicted sex offender; visitors cite his wealth and connections
“The nation’s spy chief, a longtime college president and top women in finance. The circle of people who associated with Jeffrey Epstein years after he was a convicted sex offender is wider than previously reported, according to a trove of documents that include his schedules.
William Burns, director of the Central Intelligence Agency since 2021, had three meetings scheduled with Epstein in 2014, when he was deputy secretary of state, the documents show. They first met in Washington and then Mr. Burns visited Epstein’s townhouse in Manhattan.
Kathryn Ruemmler, a White House counsel under President Barack Obama, had dozens of meetings with Epstein in the years after her White House service and before she became a top lawyer at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in 2020. He also planned for her to join a 2015 trip to Paris and a 2017 visit to Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean.
Leon Botstein, the president of Bard College, invited Epstein, who brought a group of young female guests, to the campus. Noam Chomsky, a professor, author and political activist, was scheduled to fly with Epstein to have dinner at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse in 2015.
None of their names appear in Epstein’s now-public ‘black book’ of contacts or in the public flight logs of passengers who traveled on his private jet. The documents show that Epstein arranged multiple meetings with each of them after he had served jail time in 2008 for a sex crime involving a teenage girl and was registered as a sex offender. The documents, which include thousands of pages of emails and schedules from 2013 to 2017, haven’t been previously reported.
The documents don’t reveal the purpose of most of the meetings. The Wall Street Journal couldn’t verify whether every scheduled meeting took place.
Most of those people told the Journal they visited Epstein for reasons related to his wealth and connections. Several said they thought he had served his time and had rehabilitated himself. Mr. Botstein said he was trying to get Epstein to donate to his school. Mr. Chomsky said he and Epstein discussed political and academic topics….” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Sculpture of euthanized walrus Freya unveiled in Oslo
By Sophie Tanno, CNN
Sculpture of euthanized walrus Freya unveiled in Norway
“The artist behind a sculpture of a walrus that was controversially euthanized over public safety concerns says she hopes her creation becomes a ‘three-dimensional history lesson’ after it was unveiled in Norway’s capital Oslo.
The life-sized bronze statue shows Freya the walrus curled up on her side close to the water’s edge. The artwork was funded by an online campaign, which raised $25,000 (£19,000).
Freya became a social media sensation last year, with tourists and locals thronging to see her.
The young female had been spending time at the Oslo Fjord, an inlet on the country’s southeastern coast, and was seemingly unafraid of humans, unlike most walruses. Videos showed the walrus clambering onto small boats to sunbathe.
She became a danger to visitors who ignored the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries orders to keep a clear distance from her, instead getting up close to take photos of the mammal and even throwing objects at her. This prompted the directorate to make the decision to put her down, leaving many across the country enraged.
The statue’s artist, Astri Tonoian, told CNN how she was happy to work on the project ‘almost for free’ as it was an issue that was close to her heart. She hopes it will serve as a ‘three-dimensional history lesson.’
The statue of Freya was unveiled on Saturday in Oslo.
Annika Byrde/NTB/AFP/Getty Images
‘In my head, my goal was to make an immortal symbol of people’s ability to mistreat not just wildlife but also humans,’ she said.
She believes that Norway’s Directorate of Fisheries should have dealt with the situation in a more ethical manner. ‘The authorities could have acted more quickly and tried to move her instead of shooting her. They waited too long and it became dangerous for the people. They decided to do the ‘quick fix’.’
She added that the intention with the statue is not to make people hate the authorities as one entity, but instead ‘question the system’ as a whole.
Previously, the directorate told CNN that it was considering multiple solutions, including relocating Freya out of the fjord. But ‘the extensive complexity of such an operation made us conclude that this was not a viable option,’ Director General Frank Bakke-Jensen said. He added: ‘We have great regard for animal welfare, but human life and safety must take precedence.’
Female walruses typically weigh between 600 and 900 kilograms, or around 1,300 to 2,000 pounds. Usually, the marine mammals are wary of humans and stay on the outer edges of Norway’s coast.” [CNN]
“Lives lived: Jane Davis Doggett was a graphic designer who made airports and other public spaces easier to navigate. She died at 93.” [New York Times]