August 8th, 2013
09:23 PM ET
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Family wants answers after Florida teen's Taser death

The family of a Florida teen who died after being Tasered by police wants answers from authorities in Miami Beach.
Miami Beach police said officers spotted aspiring artist Israel Hernandez spray-painting the side of a vacant McDonald's off Collins Avenue, the city's main drag. Hernandez led them on a foot chase, ignoring commands to stop, until he was cornered, they said.
"In order to affect his arrest, an officer deployed his conducted electrical weapon (TASER)," police said in a statement. But afterward, Hernandez "displayed signs of medical duress" and was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead around 6 a.m. Tuesday.
"We're in a country that defends human rights - a country that sets an example and dares to ask countries that use excessive force," his father, also named Israel Hernandez, told CNN. "That is my son's case. Excessive force."

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Filed under: Crime • Florida • Justice
August 8th, 2013
05:14 AM ET
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Spain: Rail chiefs quizzed over safety

Spanish rail chiefs are testifying on safety before lawmakers Thursday, two weeks after 79 people died and scores were injured in a horrific derailment in northwestern Spain.

Gonzalo Ferre Molto, president of state-owned rail infrastructure company Adif, and Julio Gomez-Pomar, president of state railroad company Renfe, are expected to detail what steps are being taken to improve future rail safety.

As of Thursday, 38 people remain in the hospital, six of them - all adults - in critical condition. No nationalities were given for those still hospitalized.

The July 24 derailment near the northwestern city of Santiago de Compostela shocked the nation.

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Filed under: Railroads • Spain • Transportation
August 8th, 2013
02:19 AM ET
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Racial slurs on Jackie Robinson statue

Vandals defaced a statue of Jackie Robinson outside the Brooklyn Cyclones baseball stadium, marking racial slurs and symbols on it, park and police officials said Wednesday.

A swastika, "anti-Semitic comments" and the N-word were written in black marker on the statue and its base sometime between the end of the Cyclones game Tuesday night and 7 a.m. Wednesday, according to a spokesman for the New York City Police Department.

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Filed under: Baseball • Crime • Hate crime • History • New York • Race • Sports • U.S. • World Update
August 8th, 2013
02:13 AM ET
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3 winning Powerball tickets for $448 mill's

The odds of getting hit by lightning in any given year are about one in 500,000. You are about 350 times LESS likely to win the Powerball lottery.

Wham!! Wham!! Wham!! The lottery struck at least three lucky victims at the same time Wednesday night with a total jackpot of $448 million, Powerball said on its website.

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Filed under: Dollars & Sense • Lottery • Minnesota • New Jersey • Powerball • U.S. • Weather • World Update