World
US mother sentenced to life for killing her two kids in ‘doomsday’ plot
Idaho woman Lori Vallow claimed to be a goddess tasked with ushering in the second coming of Jesus Christ.
A mother in the United States who used her apocalyptic religious beliefs to justify murdering two of her children and conspiring to kill her husband’s ex-wife has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Idaho woman Lori Vallow was in May found guilty of killing her 16-year-old daughter Tylee Ryan and adopted seven-year-old son Joshua “JJ” Vallow.
Vallow, whose case was the subject of the Netflix true-crime documentary series Sins of Our Mother, claimed to be a goddess tasked with ushering in the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Judge Steven W Boyce on Monday handed down three consecutive life sentences due to the gravity of Vallow’s crimes, describing the murder of a child by a parent as “the most shocking thing really that I can imagine”.
Boyce said Vallow had justified the killings by going down a “bizarre religious rabbit hole” from which she had yet to emerge.
“I don’t think to this day you have any remorse for the effort and heartache you caused,” he said.
Vallow’s fifth husband, Chad Daybell, the leader of a radical Mormon sect and self-published author of several apocalyptic novels, is awaiting trial over similar charges, including the murder of his first wife. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The case first drew widespread attention after the disappearance of Vallow’s children in 2019.
Vallow and Daybell never reported the children missing and their bodies were found in June 2020 on property owned by Daybell in Idaho.
Prosecutors alleged that Vallow used religious beliefs to justify the murders.
Vallow’s lawyer, Jim Archibald, argued during the trial that there was no evidence tying Vallow to the killings and that she had been a protective mother whose life took a sharp turn when she met Daybell and fell for his “weird” apocalyptic religious claims.
He suggested that Daybell and Vallow’s brother, Alex Cox, were responsible for the deaths.
Vallow told the court ahead of her sentencing that she was regularly visited by the spirits of the three victims and the children’s spirits had told her to “stop worrying” and that she “didn’t do anything wrong”.
World
John Stamos Shares Full House Reunion Photo With Olsen Twins in Honor of Bob Saget’s Birthday
ad
World
Climate activists glue themselves to Munich airport runway, pausing traffic
A group of climate protesters have been arrested in Germany after breaking into an airport and gluing themselves to the runway.
Six activists broke through security fencing at Munich airport in the German state of Bavaria on Saturday, according to the news outlet dpa.
Approximately sixty flights were canceled after the half-dozen protesters glued themselves to the tarmac, forcing officials to temporarily close the airport.
CLIMATE ACTIVISTS ARRESTED FOR BLOCKING AIRSTRIP IN MASSACHUSETTS
An additional fourteen flights into Munich were forced to divert to other nearby airports to avoid the disruption.
Climate protest coalition Last Generation took credit for the stunt, claiming it was intended to draw attention to the German government’s inaction on the airline industry’s environmental impact.
CLIMATE GROUP TAKES RESPONSIBILITY FOR US OPEN CHAOS, OFFERS WARNING: ‘NO TENNIS ON A DEAD PLANET’
All six protesters were arrested and charged by law enforcement.
“Trespassing in the aviation security area is no trivial offense. Over hundreds of thousands of passengers were prevented from a relaxed and punctual start to their Pentecost holiday,” German Airports Association General Manager Ralph Beisel told dpa.
“Such criminal actions threaten air traffic and harm climate protection because they only cause lack of understanding and anger,” German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser wrote about the protests on social media platform X.
The Munich incident was just one of many similar protests around the world against air transportation. Last Generation has performed at least two similar airport disruptions in Germany since last year.
World
Russian court seizes two European banks’ assets amid Western sanctions
Freezing hundreds of billions of dollars in lenders’ assets was part of dispute over gas project halted by sanctions.
A Russian court has ordered the seizure of the assets, accounts, property and shares of Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank in the country as part of a lawsuit involving the German banks, court documents showed.
The banks are among the guarantor lenders under a contract for the construction of a gas processing plant in Russia with the German company Linde. The project was terminated due to Western sanctions.
European banks have largely exited Russia after Moscow launched its offensive on Ukraine in 2022.
A court in St Petersburg ruled in favour of seizing 239 million euros ($260m) from Deutsche Bank, documents dated May 16 showed.
Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt said it had already provisioned about 260 million euros ($283m) for the case.
“We will need to see how this claim is implemented by the Russian courts and assess the immediate operational impact in Russia,” the bank added in a statement.
The court also seized the assets of Commerzbank, another German financial institution, worth 93.7 million euros ($101.85m) as well as securities and the bank’s building in central Moscow.
The bank is yet to comment on the case.
In a parallel lawsuit on Friday, the Russian court also ordered UniCredit’s assets, accounts and property, as well as shares in two subsidiaries, to be seized. The ruling covered 462.7 million euros ($503m) in assets.
UniCredit said it “has been made aware” of the decision and was “reviewing” the situation in detail. The bank was one of the most exposed European banks when Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine, with a large local subsidiary operating in Russia.
It began preliminary discussions on a sale last year, but the talks have not advanced. Chief executive Andrea Orcel said UniCredit wants to leave Russia, but added that gifting an operation worth three billion euros ($3.3bn) was not a good way to respect the spirit of Western sanctions on Moscow over the conflict.
Russia has faced heavy Western sanctions, including on its banking sector, since the start of the war in Ukraine. Dozens of US and European companies have also stopped doing business in the country.
-
Education1 week ago
Video: Police Use Pepper Spray on Protesters on G.W.U.’s Campus
-
Politics1 week ago
Ohio AG defends letter warning 'woke' masked anti-Israel protesters they face prison time: 'We have a society'
-
Politics1 week ago
Biden’s decision to pull Israel weapons shipment kept quiet until after Holocaust remembrance address: report
-
Finance1 week ago
Spring Finance Forum 2024: CRE Financiers Eye Signs of Recovery
-
World7 days ago
India Lok Sabha election 2024 Phase 4: Who votes and what’s at stake?
-
News1 week ago
The Major Supreme Court Cases of 2024
-
News1 week ago
Tornadoes tear through the southeastern U.S. as storms leave 3 dead
-
World1 week ago
A look at Chinese investment within Hungary