TUESDAY, July 24
The family of Australian woman Justine Ruszczyk Damond, who was shot dead by Minneapolis police last year after calling them to report a suspected crime near her home, is suing the city and several officers for$67 million saying they violated her civil rights, reports the ABC.
The fatal July 2017 shooting of the 40-year-old life coach sparked international outrage, coming amid a wave of US police shootings that drove a debate over the use of excessive force by law enforcement.
Ex-Minneapolis Police Department officer Mohamed Noor was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for shooting Ms Damond through the door of his patrol car as she approached him after calling police to say she thought she had heard a woman being raped.
Mr Noor was fired the day the charges were filed and is free on $541,000 bail ahead of trial.
His lawyers have said he will plead not guilty at trial and will argue he used reasonable force in the fatal incident.
Prosecutors said there was no evidence Mr Noor encountered a threat that justified the use of deadly force.
Mr Noor has refused to speak with investigators, invoking his constitutional right against self-incrimination.
The civil suit, which was filed in federal district court in Minnesota, names Mr Noor and his partner Matthew Harrity, and accuses them of conspiring to conceal the facts around the shooting of Ms Damond and failing to record the incident on their body cameras.
“Had they done so, there would be video and audio recording of the fatal shooting of Justine, and Harrity and Noor would not be free to concoct a story in a vain attempt to insulate Noor from civil and criminal liability,” the lawsuit says.
The suit also referenced their age — Mr Noor was 32, Mr Harrity was 25 — and called them “inexperienced officers who appear, by their conduct, unfit for duty”.
The suit also names the city of Minneapolis and its current and former police chiefs as defendants
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Britain’s Interior Minister has indicated London would not object to Washington seeking the death penalty against two British Islamic State militants if they are extradited to the United States.
Security minister Ben Wallace said Britain was prepared to waive its longstanding objection to executions in the case of captured fighters Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh, according to an ABC report.
The men are suspected of being two of four militants, dubbed “The Beatles” because of their English accents, who took part in the kidnap, torture and murder of Western hostages.
“In this instance, and after carefully considered advice, the Government took the rare decision not to require assurances in this case,” Mr Wallace told the lower house of Parliament.
His statement followed a leaked letter published in the Daily Telegraph from British Home Secretary Sajid Javid.
The men were captured in Syria in January by a US-backed Syrian force, and Britain and the United States have been in discussions about how and where they should face justice.
According to the Telegraph, Mr Javid wrote to US Attorney-General Jeff Sessions saying Britain was not intending to request the two men be sent to the United Kingdom, saying a successful prosecution in the United States was more likely.
Furthermore, he said Britain would not insist on guarantees the men would not be executed.
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Three Sydney children have become ill after using an eyeliner almost entirely made of lead.
The Hashmi Kohl branded product was 84 per cent lead and also contained high levels of dangerous metals including arsenic, cadmium, chromium and mercury, NSW Better Regulation Minister Matt Kean said on Tuesday.
“Some of the product packaging even specifically states that no lead is present, which is a total disgrace,” Mr Kean said in a statement.
This daily news roundup is curated by ABC News.
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