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19 arrested, 10 rescued in Minnesota sex-trafficking sting

sex sting
A human trafficking sting led by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension this week netted 19 arrests, officials say.

The two-day operation used undercover agents to lure suspects who believed they were going to meet with a 13- to 15-year-old child for sex, and targeted online solicitation through social media, according to a news release issued by the BCA.

In addition to the arrests, law enforcement officials rescued 10 female human trafficking victims during the operation, including one juvenile, the news release said.

Fifteen men were arrested on suspicion of solicitation of a child, and two men and two women were arrested on suspicion of felony human trafficking. Charges are expected in the next few days, according to the news release.

All of the suspects are from the Twin Cities area and were booked into the Anoka County Jail.

Handcuffs

Cardiff: Machete-wielding man arrested near Justin Bieber concert site

Principality Stadium
© John Sibley / Reuters
Principality Stadium
Police have arrested a man wielding a machete near the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, where Justin Bieber is due to play Friday night.

Authorities in the Welsh capital tackled the man to the ground following reports that two men had been seen with a foot-long blade.

Initial reports in the Daily Mail claimed the arrests had taken place "within metres of the stadium." Subsequent police statements have refuted this, however. The actual scene of the incident was a little under half a mile from the Principality Stadium.

Pistol

17 victims in 'mass shooting' at night club in Little Rock, Arkansas

police line
© Andrew Kelly / Reuters
At least 17 people have been injured, with one left in serious condition, in a shooting at an Arkansas night club, police said, adding that the incident appeared to be the result of "a dispute at the concert."

The incident took place at the Power Lounge night club in the city of Little Rock, Arkansas at around 2:30am local time.

"Police are investigating a shooting at the Power Lounge..., multiple victims, no suspect information is available," Little Rock police tweeted.

Document

NY Times journalists stage 20-minute walkout/coffee break protesting job and budget cuts

New york time reporters protest
© Adam Shaw/Twitter
New York Times reporters
Reporters and editors at the New York Times Thursday attempted to stand up to their bosses by staging an approximately 20-minute walkout/coffee break — during which they appropriated protest songs and refused to talk to Breitbart News.

The walkout, led by the Times' union, was in protest of cuts at the paper, that include slashing their copy editor division from 100 to approximately 50 as the paper seeks to adapt itself to the ever-changing journalistic arena.

The protest, staged at the Times' headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, was well-attended and featured staffers carrying signs while being led in chant as they walked around the building.

"They say cutbacks, we say fight back," was one, while another promised: "No editors, no peace."


The protest was curiously low-energy, with many staffers looking nervous and apparently keen to get the short protest over with. It started late and ended within 20 minutes — about the length of a coffee break — at which point many staffers scurried through the doors. Many refused to talk to reporters, and those that would quickly shut down when a Breitbart News reporter identified himself as such.

"Breitbart? Oh, I can't talk to you," one staffer said.

Mars

NASA to InfoWars guest: There are no 'kidnapped child slave colonies' on Mars

Mars
© NASA/Reuters
NASA has responded to bizarre claims that a colony of kidnapped child slaves exists on the planet Mars by asserting that there are "no humans" on the Red Planet.

The space agency was responding to comments made by an InfoWars guest, who said that children have been sent on a "20-year ride" to be slaves on a Mars outpost.

Robert David Steele, a former US presidential candidate for the Reform Party, was speaking to InfoWars host Alex Jones when he made the bizarre comments.

"We actually believe that there is a colony on Mars that is populated by children who were kidnapped and sent into space on a 20-year ride," he said.

Steele added that "once they get to Mars, they have no alternative but to be slaves on the Mars colony."

According to the Daily Beast, a NASA spokesperson answered the slave claims by reminding people that there are no humans on the planet.

Handcuffs

Woman suspected of plotting terrorist attack arrested at London's Heathrow airport

Heathrow Airport
© Luke MacGregor/Reuters
British police have detained a 21-year-old woman at London's Heathrow Airport, placing her under arrest for allegedly planning to mount "acts of terrorism." The woman was apprehended as she stepped off a plane from Istanbul.
"Officers from the Met's Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) have this evening, Thursday, 29 June, arrested a 21-year-old woman at Heathrow Airport as she disembarked a flight from Istanbul, Turkey," London Metropolitan Police reported in a statement on Thursday night.

The suspect faces charges of "preparation of acts of terrorism under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006," according to the statement.
The police noted that the woman, whose identity was not revealed, hails from north London and was taken into custody at a police station in south London. No details have been provided as to the essence of the charges, save for the remark that the woman's arrest is "Syria-related."

Bizarro Earth

Gallup poll: The happiest and unhappiest nations in the world

Iguazu Falls, Paraguay
© R.M. Nunes/Shutterstock
Iguazu Falls borders Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay — the happiest country in the world, according to thousands of interviews.
It's a tough world out there, a new report on the emotional well-being of people worldwide shows.

In the survey, pollsters asked nearly 150,000 people in 142 countries to rate their levels of emotional positivity and negativity. They found that people's reports of their positive emotions have stayed relatively constant over the past 10 years, but reports of negative emotions have slowly crept up, reaching an all-time high in 2016, according to the Gallup Global Emotions Report.

The report also revealed that the world's happiest country is Paraguay, which placed first for the second year in a row. The least happy country was Yemen.



Researchers conducted the survey over the phone or by face-to-face interviews with people ages 15 or older. Syria, the least happy country in 2015, was not included this year because its ongoing civil war was a security issue, Gallup reported.

To learn about participants' positive experiences, pollsters asked people questions including whether they felt well-rested, respected and enjoyed themselves the day before. For negative experiences, they asked about feeling physical pain, worry, sadness, stress and anger the day before. Gallup used these results to formulate an index score for each country.

Life Preserver

'I was wrong': Florida judge admits jailing people for pot 'haunts' him after cannabis saved his life

Doug Bench
Prior to this year, the state of Florida was regarded as one of the worst possible states to be caught in possession of cannabis. According to a 2009 analysis by former NORML Director Jon Gettman, no state in this country punished people more severely for minor marijuana offenses than Florida. However, thanks in part to a former Florida judge, all this is gradually changing.

By October 3, for the first time in its history, the state will issue IDs to medical marijuana patients. However, according to the former judge, the law doesn't go nearly far enough.

Throughout the course of his career as a Florida judge, Doug Bench hated marijuana. He admits to locking up hundreds of people for this plant and did so because he thought it was the right thing to do. While it is too late for the now-retired judge to help those whose lives he likely ruined through the persecution of pot, he is taking actions to help countless others now and in the future.

Attention

Parents shocked as North Carolina school cop arrested for kidnapping and raping student

Deputy Christopher Kelly
Bond has been set at 2.5 million dollars for a Durham North Carolina school resource officer accused of kidnapping a child and having sexual relations with her. Deputy Christopher Kelly, 40, was charged with, Statutory Sex Offense with a Child, First Degree Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, Second Degree Sexual Exploitation of a Minor, Indecent Liberties with a Child, Sex Acts with a Student, and Second Degree Kidnapping. He is currently being held for "safe keeping" in prison.

Kelly, who was fired at the end of April as a result of the charges, was the school resource officer at Northern High School in Durham. "I think like anyone else he's nervous, he's scared and he's wanting to have his day in court," said Daniel Meier attorney for the former officer who was allegedly supposed to have been protecting the students from someone like himself.

The teenage victim's father said Kelly approached him, and much like an Uncle/niece type of relationship wanted to mentor his daughter. "It seemed appropriate at the time," the father said discussing the relationship with reporters from Eyewitness News 11.

Eye 2

UK police relax monitoring of sex offenders to focus on 'high-risk' criminals

UK police
© Hannah McKay/Reuters (File Photo)
British police forces are to scale back on their monitoring of sex offenders, including rapists, to focus on higher-risk criminals, the National Police Chiefs' Council has said.

Under the new scheme, the risk sex offenders pose to the public will be reassessed, and thorough measures originally designed to stop them from reoffending, such as annual home visits, will be scrapped.

In order to fall under the 'low-risk category' and be exempted from proactive measures, offenders will have to prove that they have not committed any offence for the past three years, they are not under any civil order, and that there is no intelligence suggesting they may reoffend.

Police have reportedly struggled to cope with workloads since Tory Prime Minister Theresa May ordered cuts of 20,000 officers when she was home secretary.