Man killed after tracking down his stolen iPhone
A 23-year-old man in Alabama has become the latest person to follow a phone-tracking app all the way to his grave.
Police say the man was shot dead outside a Baptist church in the Birmingham suburb of Fairfield Sunday night after he used an app to trace an iPhone that had been stolen from his car, AL.com reports.
The victim “arrived on the scene and hit a button on the app that made the phone ring inside a vehicle,” Fairfield Police Chief Leon Davis tells Reuters. “When he went to retrieve the phone inside the vehicle, the suspect shot and killed him.” Davis says investigators believe the victim and the shooter knew each other.
Davis offers the same advice that police in Canada gave after a similar murder last year: Don’t risk your life for your phone by confronting thieves.
“If you have an app on the phone, contact your local police department. Let the police do their job and recover your stolen property,” the chief says, per NBC News. “Don’t take these matters into your own hands—these things normally don’t turn out too good.” (USA Today)
Obama asks lawmakers to lift obstacles to closing prison at Guantanamo Bay
President Obama urged lawmakers on Tuesday to help him close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, making his case for a White House plan to shutter a detention facility he said symbolizes excesses that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
“This is about closing a chapter in our history,” said Obama, flanked by Vice President Biden and Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter, in remarks at the White House. “It reflects the lessons that we’ve learned since 9/11, lessons that need to guide our nation going forward.”
Obama’s blueprint, which provided some detail to earlier White House plans to move as many as 60 prisoners to the United States for trial or continued detention, was met with immediate condemnation from Capitol Hill.
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), one of the few senior Republicans who has expressed openness to closing the detention center, said the nine-page plan failed to address basic questions. In a statement, McCain said Obama had “missed a major chance” to build support for closing the prison before he steps down in January.
“What we received today is a vague menu of options, not a credible plan for closing Guantanamo, let alone a coherent policy to deal with future terrorist detainees,” he said.
The instant rejection makes it unlikely the plan will advance in the Republican-controlled Congress, meaning Obama must use executive action and further incense his opponents if he intends to clinch one of his core national security goals.
At the heart of the debate is whether the U.S. government can securely house or try on American soil any of the 91 prisoners remaining at the prison.(The Washington Post)
88 percent of LA residents want the Olympics, poll finds
Eighty-eight percent of Los Angeles County residents want Los Angeles to host the 2024 Olympics, according to the results of a new poll conducted by Loyola Marymount University and sponsored in part by KPCC.
It’s the first major independent survey gauging local Olympic support, and the percentage is even higher than the results from an internal poll conducted by Olympic organizers last year, which revealed 81 percent of L.A. residents support hosting the Games.
“Across the board, everybody is just very supportive,” said Brianne Gilbert, associate director at the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles at LMU, which gauged support for the Olympics as part of its annual public opinion survey of L.A. County.
“This is really something Angelenos want to see in L.A,” said Gilbert. “The support is really phenomenal.”
Most of those who want the games to return to Southern California cited economic reasons, with 31 percent saying an economic boost was the top reason why L.A. should host the Olympics, and 18 percent citing a boost in job creation. (Although as KPCC has reported before, many economists say the actual economic impact Olympics have on cities is small.)
Those who don’t want the Olympics cited traffic congestion (21 percent) followed closely by the cost (2o percent.)
Of those who support a 2024 Olympics in Los Angeles, 56 percent are “strongly supportive” while 32 percent are “somewhat supportive.”
Telephone interviews were conducted during the first six weeks of the year. The survey had a margin of error of ±3.0% and used sampling so that the 2,425 respondents represent the demographics of Los Angeles county. However, researchers found almost no differences between groups, which Gilbert says is very unusual.
“I’ve never seen that in any survey I’ve done,” said Gilbert. “There was no demographic or geographic group that had less than 80 percent support for the Olympics.”
Los Angeles is competing against Rome, Paris and Budapest to host the 2024 Olympics. The International Olympic Committee will make its selection in 2017. (KPCC)
