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Sir Michael Gambon, best known for portraying Professor Albus Dumbledore in the “Harry Potter” films, has passed away, his family announced Thursday. He was 82. “We are devastated to announce the loss of Sir Michael Gambon,” his rep, Clair Dobbs, said in a statement on behalf of his wife, Anne Miller, and son Fergus. “Beloved husband and father, Michael died peacefully in hospital with his wife Anne and son Fergus at his bedside, following a bout of pneumonia.” The statement concluded, “We ask that you respect our privacy at this painful time and thank you for your messages of support...

<p>Protesters gathered in Minneapolis on Friday evening after the sentencing of former Minnesota police Officer Kim Potter to two years in prison in the April 2021 shooting death of Daunte Wright, according to reports.</p><p>In addition, reports were emerging on social media that looting was underway at stores in Brooklyn Center, the Minneapolis suburb where Potter worked and where the death of Wright occurred.</p>

MSNBC regular and The Nation’s justice correspondent Elie Mystal said Friday on “The ReidOut” that former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter being sentenced to two years for the Daunte Wright’s manslaughter conviction showed that America hates black people. Addressing host Joy Reid, Mystal said, “Joy, this country hates us. This country hates black people, and we know it. We talk about it. We joke about it. We know what we’re up against. But sometimes that hatred that this country has for us really comes out and just takes your breath away, just grabs you by the neck and takes your...

A Minnesota judge on Friday sentenced former police officer Kim Potter to two years for fatally shooting a Black motorist 10 months ago. Hennepin County Judge Regina Chu handed down the “significant downward” punishment for the former Brooklyn Center police officer after emotional courtroom statements from the victim's loved ones and the defendant herself. Chu ordered Potter to spend two-thirds of her sentence behind bars and one-third of it on supervised release. She's already served 58 days behind bars, which will go to her credit.

Comparing the Kim Potter and Alec Baldwin cases is a powerful illustration of the missing element in our criminal justice system. Prosecutors are granted broad discretion in who they charge, so that they may consider the totality of circumstances and provide something that the literal interpretation of laws can’t -- justice. But the Potter and Baldwin cases show just how far astray from that goal our systems have wandered. The key events in both cases are remarkably similar. In both cases a human being was accidentally shot and killed with a firearm. The facts in both cases are undisputed. Both...

The American justice system failed former Brooklyn Center police officer Kimberly Potter. From the initial release of body camera footage, it was clear she made a tragic and deadly mistake. End of story. Full stop. Nothing was criminal about what happened, unless you consider the fact that Daunte Wright was a thugging animal who was pulled over for legitimate reasons and later attempted to be detained lawfully because of outstanding warrants for violence against women. As the trial played out, my own beliefs surrounding the charges were only inured. Officers knew of his violent and extensive criminal background at the...

The conviction of former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter in the death of Daunte Wright was a "double injustice with dangerous implications for policing in America," especially considering the judge in the case denied her release on bail, Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz says in an opinion piece Friday. "Officer Potter, a decorated policewoman with more than two decades of service, simply did not commit a crime," Dershowitz writes in his column, published in The Hill. "Under American law, honest mistakes are not crimes — even if they result in tragic deaths." Potter, a former suburban Minneapolis police officer,...

Kim Potter, the former Brooklyn Center, Minn., police officer who fatally shot 20-year-old Daunte Wright earlier this year after shouting “Taser!,” on Thursday was found guilty on first-degree and second-degree charges of manslaughter. Officers pulled Wright over in April after noticing that he had been driving with an expired tag and that his rearview mirror had an air freshener illegally hanging from it. Officers tried to arrest him after learning that there was a warrant out for his arrest regarding a misdemeanor weapons violation.

A just-released mugshot of Kim Potter — the former Minnesota cop who fatally shot Daunte Wright after mistaking her gun for her Taser — shows the 26-year veteran looking bare-faced and solemn. Potter is cooling her heels Wednesday at the Hennepin County Jail, where she’s being held without bail pending second-degree manslaughter charges in the death of Wright.

WASHINGTON COUNTY, MN — Former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter, 48, was charged with second-degree manslaughter Wednesday in the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright. Wright, 20, was killed Sunday during a traffic stop. If convicted, Potter faces up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. The news was broken by the Star Tribune, which is reporting that Potter will be represented by attorney Earl Gray. Potter was charged by the Washington County Attorney's Office after the case was handed over from Hennepin County in order to avoid any conflict of interest.

Some of the students at a western Nebraska high school and junior high may have fallen ill after consuming chili with kangaroo meat mixed with beef last week. News Channel Nebraska first reported the mystery meat in chili served at Potter-Dix High School and Junior High was that of the marsupial. The school’s head cook Kevin Frei said he added the kangaroo meat for its nutritional value and because it’s a lean cut. While it’s unknown the extent of the illnesses and whether or not they were brought on by the meal, Potter-Dix Superintendent Mike Williams fielded several complaints from...

For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter...

Lines to get on the new Harry Potter ride at Universal Orlando Resort were more than seven hours long on opening day Tuesday. Fans began lining up before dawn for the public opening of the The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley’ attraction, modeled after the London shopping district for wizards that is featured in Rowling's book series. The area quickly filled to capacity, leading to staggered admissions into the self-contained attraction, employees handing out tickets with return times, and – according to one visitor – the creation of a nap zone in the waiting area for sleepy...

“Not even Harry Potter” can bring down rising gas prices and nobody knows when they will stop rising, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Tuesday. “No-one has the ability – not even Harry Potter – to simply wave a magic wand and say that we’re going to have gas prices at $2 or $2.50 or $3. It just doesn’t work that way,” said Salazar, whose department controls oil and gas drilling on federal lands. The comments came after a speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. on energy issues. Salazar said prices were set by “global economics.”

THE ONLY PART YOU NEED TO SEE: "United States Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke noted that economic indicators did not adequately capture the economy in relation to the Earth’s natural systems. “This is like flying a very large airplane with no map,” he said. Societies had already exceeded planetary boundaries in terms of climate, biodiversity laws and overproduction of nitrogen. A “de-growth” agenda was essential. “We have to get discourse about de-growing the economy going, especially in North America,” he insisted. The sustainable development discourse should be grounded in the Earth Charter, a document developed over a decade of...

8 April, 2011 Dear friends, Last month I was a guest at the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) in Alabama, taping programs for a series on the paganization of culture. Thank you very much for your prayers for me. The shows will be broadcast on the Women of Grace program, hosted by Johnnette Bencovic, each day this coming week. The general theme of the series is "Occult Fiction: Inroad to the Culture." Both Johnnette and myself, as well as researcher Sue Brinkmann and Fr. Edmund de Silva, comment on various aspects of the spiritual war that is taking place in...

The only thing notable about this story is that it’s being reported. And the only reason it’s being reported is because Ms. Azad is an actress in one of the most popular franchises in movie history. The facts are simple as they are horrific. Afshan Azad has been secretly dating a non-Muslim. Her father and brother found out, branded her a “slag,” beat her, and threatened to murder her. She made her escape by climbing out of her bedroom window. The unfortunate youg woman is now in hiding. She refuses to press charges because she knows that the British police...

A Harry Potter star was beaten, called a ''slag'' and threatened with death after she met a young man who was not a Muslim, a court heard today. Victim Afshan Azad, 22, played Padma Patil, a classmate of the teenage wizard, in the blockbuster Hollywood films based on the children's books by JK Rowling. She was assaulted and branded a ''prostitute'' after meeting a young Hindu man, a relationship which brought anger from her father, Abul Azad, 53, and brother, Ashraf, 28, Manchester Crown Court heard. The frightened actress later fled through her bedroom window after threats were made to...

Having just read Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuers's new book, Exorcism and the Church Militant, one of the first things I asked him was whether he was afraid of demons. I shivered more than once reading through its short chapters, arranged as basic questions about the devil, demons, possession, and the rite of exorcism. "Not at all," Father answered with a smile. "God has given me the grace to remain unafraid." When I expressed my surprise, he explained, "Demons are basically handcuffed, and they know it." Father Euteneuer does not speak as a theorist. Since 2003 he's had extensive experience ministering...

Adapted from a Sermon of Fr. Casimir Puskorius, CMRI, 3rd Sunday of Advent, December 16, 2001 On the First Sunday of Lent every year, we read in the Gospel of the devil tempting Our Lord. First he tries to tempt Him to gluttony, and Our Lord resists. Of course, Our Lord, because He is God, cannot be inclined to sin. But the devil, not knowing that, first tries to tempt Him to gluttony, and then to pride and power and materialism. He says to Our Lord, “Why don’t you throw yourself off this high elevation? God will save you.” Our...