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From SeeingBlack.com The 411 NYPD Charges 7 Officers in Sean Bell Killing
NY Post Reporter Fired After Suing NYPD And the New York Post has fired a Jamaican-born reporter after he filed a lawsuit against the New York Police Department for racial profiling. Leonardo Blair sued the police department after two officers stopped and frisked him near his Bronx home moments after he parked his car on the street. Blair filed the lawsuit on the same day the New York Post ran an editorial defending the police department’s stop-and-frisk policy. During the first three months of the year, the New York police stopped and frisked a record 145,000 people. The majority of the stops targeted African Americans and Latinos. Obama: Democratic Nomination “Within Reach” Senator Barack Obama is claiming a majority of pledged delegates in the race for the Democratic nomination. On Tuesday, Obama won the Oregon primary, while suffering an overwhelming loss to Senator Hillary Clinton in Kentucky. Addressing supporters in Iowa, Obama said he is now “within reach” of becoming the Democratic nominee. Sen. Barack Obama: “You stood for change, and because you did, a few more stood up, and then a few thousand stood up, and then a few million stood up. And tonight, Iowa, in the fullness of spring, with the help of those who stood up from Portland to Louisville, we have returned to Iowa with the majority of delegates elected by the American people, and you have put us within reach of the Democratic nomination for president of the United States of America.” Obama is said to be within sixty delegates of the number needed to clinch. But Clinton has won five of the last seven contests and is vowing to stay in the race. She spoke to supporters Tuesday in Louisville, Kentucky. Sen. Hillary Clinton: “It’s not just Kentucky bluegrass that’s music to my ears. It’s the sound of your overwhelming vote of confidence, even in the face of some pretty tough odds. Some have said your votes didn’t matter, that this campaign was over, that allowing everyone to vote and every vote to count would somehow be a mistake. But that didn’t stop you. You’ve never given up on me, because you know I’ll never give up on you.” Obama continues to lead Clinton in the fundraising race as well. On Tuesday, the Obama campaign said it received nearly $32 million in donations last month. Clinton raised close to $22 million. Clinton Fundraiser Accused of Trying to Buy Support of Superdelegates Meanwhile, the Huffington Post reports one of Hillary Clinton’s top financial supporters recently offered $1 million to the Young Democrats of America while he pressed for the organization’s two uncommitted superdelegates to endorse Clinton. The billionaire entertainment magnate Haim Saban reportedly made the offer in a call to the group’s president, David Hardt. The group turned down Saban’s offer. Saban has not denied talking to the Young Democrats of America, but he says the report in the Huffington Post is not true. Sen. Kennedy Diagnosed with Malignant Brain Tumor In other news from Washington, Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Kennedy has been hospitalized in Boston since suffering a seizure over the weekend. He will likely undergo chemotherapy. Experts say the type of tumor, glioma, is highly lethal and usually claims the patient’s life within three years. On Tuesday, Kennedy drew praise from congressional colleagues on both sides of the aisle. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Kennedy is a champion of the underprivileged. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: “Senator Kennedy has been a fighter all his life. He is a fighter, a fighter for our children, for our workers, for our seniors. He is a champion fighting for healthcare for all Americans. I know that that fighting spirit will hold him in good stead in the challenge that he faces now. I know I speak for all of my colleagues when I say that our prayers and thoughts and good wishes are with Senator Kennedy.” Kennedy has served in the Senate since 1962. UNICEF: 6 Million Children in Ethiopia at Risk of Malnutrition The UN’s children’s agency UNICEF is warning six million children in Ethiopia are at risk of acute malnutrition. Paulette Jones, of the World Food Program said a combination of events has led to the dire situation. Jones said, “We have drought, a really poor rainy season, and, of course, we have high food prices worldwide.” UNICEF said more than 60,000 children in two Ethiopian regions require immediate specialist feeding just to survive. Pentagon Announces Deployment of 42,000 Troops In military news, the Pentagon has announced the upcoming deployments of more than 42,000 troops, including 25,000 active-duty Army soldiers who will be headed to Iraq. The new deployments will allow the US to maintain a presence of 140,000 troops in Iraq through the end of the year. More International News Death Toll from Chinese Earthquake Tops 40,000 In China, a thirty-one-year-old man was rescued Monday after being trapped for nearly 179 hours following last week’s devastating earthquake. Ma Yuanjiang was pulled from the rubble of a power plant after a thirty-hour rescue operation. The official death toll of the earthquake has now topped 40,000. Chinese officials say another 245,000 people have been injured, and 32,000 people are missing. Burma to Let Southeast Asia Nations Coordinate Relief Assistance The military junta in Burma has agreed to let other Southeast Asian nations help coordinate foreign relief assistance for cyclone victims, but Burmese officials said aid groups will not be given uncontrolled access to the country. Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is scheduled to visit Burma Wednesday to urge the military junta to allow more foreign assistance to help survivors of the cyclone. A three-day period of mourning began earlier today. US Accused of Violating Venezuelan Airspace In news from Latin America, the Venezuelan government is accusing the US military of violating its airspace by flying a Navy plane over a Venezuelan island on Saturday. A US military official said a Navy S3-Viking may have accidentally crossed into Venezuela’s airspace. Venezuelan officials said the Navy plane practically flew over the island of La Orchilla, where Venezuela operates a military base. Cuba Accuses US Diplomat of Passing Funds to Opposition Groups Meanwhile, Cuba is a accusing the top US diplomat in Havana of ferrying funds from an anti-Castro exile group in Miami to opposition figures on the island. The cash is said to come from Santiago Alvarez, who was once convicted in the US of conspiring to collect military-style weapons to overthrow Cuba’s government. Alvarez is currently serving a ten-month prison term for refusing to testify against airline bomber Luis Posada Carriles. Cuban Foreign Ministry official Josefina Vidal Ferreira said the cash payments reveals a direct connection between dissidents in Cuba and terrorists in Miami. Josefina Vidal Ferreira: “The Cuban government has always condemned as illegal the use of federal funds to promote internal subversion in Cuba, as is the case with the direct implication of the department of US interests. But what is doubly scandalous and infuriating is that US diplomats in Havana serve as emissaries and go-betweens for terrorists and Cuban mercenaries.” Bush Apologizes to Iraq over Koran Desecration The White House has apologized to the Iraqi government after a US soldier was found to have used a copy of the Koran for target practice. Last week, Iraqi police found a desecrated copy of the Muslim holy book at a small shooting range near Baghdad. The book was riddled with fourteen bullet holes and had graffiti inside the cover. On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said President Bush personally apologized to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. White House Press Secretary Dana Perino: “The President yesterday had a regularly scheduled secure video teleconference with Prime Minister Maliki. He opened the meeting—I believe it was either the first or the second issue that the President brought up—to tell Prime Minister Maliki he had heard about the incident where a Koran was desecrated, and he apologized for that, in the sense that he said that we take it very seriously, we were concerned about their reaction, we wanted them to know that the President knew that this was wrong and that the commanders in the field had publicly reprimanded the soldier and removed him from Iraq.” Reuters Joins Call for Probe of ’03 US Attack on Palestine Hotel The international news agency Reuters is joining calls for a new probe into the 2003 US shelling of the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad. Reuters cameraman Taras Protsyuk was killed in the attack along with Spanish cameraman Jose Couso of Telecinco. On Tuesday, Reuters followed the media rights group International Federation of Journalists in calling for a new investigation based on an appearance by former Army Sergeant Adrienne Kinne on Democracy Now! Last week, Sergeant Kinne said she saw the Palestine Hotel on a US military target list. She was working in military intelligence at the time. Kinne said she knew journalists were in the hotel because she was frequently intercepting their phone calls. Reuters says it will ask the Senate Armed Services Committee for a new probe. Meanwhile, in Spain, a Spanish judge investigating Couso’s death has called for Kinne to testify and agreed to enter a transcript of her Democracy Now! interview into evidence. The judge, Santiago Pedraz, has resisted Spanish government pressure to drop the case and says he plans to visit Baghdad to continue his investigation. Read and search hundreds of news stories on SeeingBlack.com's 411 Channel. 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