Connect with us

Published

on

A former California gang leader has pleaded not guilty to orchestrating rapper Tupac Shakur’s drive-by shooting in Las Vegas in 1996.

Duane Keith “Keffe D” Davis, 60, is the only person still alive who was in the vehicle from which shots were fired.

He is also the only person ever charged in connection with the case.

The charges against him were prompted by his own descriptions in recent years about orchestrating the deadly attack, prosecutors said.

Man Arrested In Connection with the 1996 Murder Of Tupac Shakur** Tupac Shakur, 1993, credit Michael Ferguson/MediaPunch/IPx
Image:
Tupac Shakur in 1993 Pic: Michael Ferguson/MediaPunch/IPx

The judge said prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty, but Davis could be jailed for life if convicted.

Attorney Ross Goodman, who represented Davis until he lost a legal bid that barred him from hiring a private lawyer, previously said prosecutors lack witnesses and key evidence, including a gun or vehicle, for the murder.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson declined to respond to Mr Goodman’s criticism of the evidence, saying that a jury will weigh the results of the police investigation.

More on Tupac Shakur

Read more:
Tupac: The story of a rapper ‘always meant for something great’

The suspect will appear in court again on Tuesday for the trial to be scheduled.

This booking photo provided by the Las Vegas Police Department shows Duane ...Keffe D... Davis, Friday, Sept. 29, 2023, in Las Vegas. Davis was charged in the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur. (Las Vegas Police Department via AP)
Image:
Duane Davis Pic: Las Vegas Police Department via AP

Davis, originally from Compton, California, was arrested on 29 September outside a home in a Las Vegas suburb.

He remains in custody without bail.

The indictment alleges Davis obtained and provided a gun to someone in the back seat of a Cadillac before the car-to-car gunfire killed Shakur and wounded rap music mogul Marion “Suge” Knight at an intersection just off the Las Vegas Strip.

Knight, now 58, is in prison in California, serving a 28-year sentence for the death of a Compton businessman in 2015.

Court-released image of Tupac and Knight in the car the pair were shot in
Image:
Court-released image of Tupac and Knight in the car the pair were shot in

Shakur died a week after the shooting, aged 25. The identity of his murderer remains one of hip-hop music’s most enduring mysteries.

Prosecutors allege his killing in Las Vegas came out of competition between East Coast members of a Bloods gang sect and West Coast groups of a Crips sect, including Davis, for dominance in a musical genre dubbed “gangsta rap”.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

What happened to rapper Tupac Shakur?

The grand jury was told the shooting was retaliation for an earlier fight at a Las Vegas casino involving Shakur and Davis’ nephew, Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson.

Prosecutors said Davis implicated himself in the killing in multiple interviews and a 2019 tell-all memoir that described his life leading a Crips sect in Compton.

Davis has said he obtained a .40-calibre handgun and handed it to Anderson, a member of Davis’ gang, in the back seat of a Cadillac, though he didn’t identify Anderson as the shooter.

Anderson, then 22, denied involvement in Shakur’s killing and died two years later in a separate shooting in Compton. The other back seat passenger and the driver of the Cadillac are also dead.

Shakur is largely considered one of the most influential and versatile rappers of all time. He had five number one albums, was nominated for six Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.

Continue Reading

US

Trump’s sanctions are no slap on the wrist – they’re a punch to the gut of Moscow’s war economy

Published

on

By

Trump's sanctions are no slap on the wrist - they're a punch to the gut of Moscow's war economy

The new US sanctions are no slap on the wrist – they’re a punch to the gut of Moscow’s war economy.

Oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil are the twin engines pumping money through Russia’s military veins.

Washington framed the bold move as a bid to “degrade the Kremlin’s ability to raise revenue for its war machine”.

Oil is Russia’s bloodstream, and the Trump Treasury just cut off the blood flow.

But every blow struck in the ring comes with the risk of self-inflicted pain, and there’s potential for collateral damage.

By squeezing Russia’s oil sector, the president is tightening the global market’s chest – and America’s own pump could feel the pressure.

The White House is gambling that the geopolitical payoff will ultimately outweigh the domestic sting.

More on Donald Trump

Pic: AP
Image:
Pic: AP

“These are tremendous sanctions and I hope they don’t last long,” Mr Trump said.

That mix of swagger and caveat summed up his approach – maximum pressure, but with an eye on prices back home.

Europe rushed to mirror Washington’s stance, adding restrictions on imports and tightening loopholes in shipping.

The EU was clearly signalling that it’s in Trump’s corner, that the Western alliance holds.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Trump: Putin summit ‘didn’t feel right’

‘Wasted journey’

On both sides of the Atlantic, they know that Moscow will seize on any disunity and slip through the cracks.

An Oval Office meeting with the NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte provided the diplomatic stagecraft.

Mr Trump repeated that he’d cancelled a planned summit with Vladimir Putin because he “didn’t want to have a wasted journey”.

Mr Rutte played the part of loyal ally, twice labelling the US president “the only one who can get this done”.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

NATO chief: Trump-Zelenskyy meeting not a disaster

Earlier, Mr Rutte played down my suggestion that his visit indicated Trump’s meeting with Zelensky last Friday had been a disaster.

It wouldn’t be the first time Mr Rutte, who famously referred to Mr Trump as “Daddy”, has poured oil on troubled waters.

But it’s Moscow’s apparent refusal to accept Trump’s terms that has put plans for another summit with Putin on hold.

China’s diplomatic influence with Russia could give it some leverage when Mr Trump meets Xi Jinping for trade talks next week.

The US president’s sanctions are more than punishment – they’re a strategic gamble to corner Putin – but the margin of error is razor thin.

If energy prices surge or allied unity splinters, Mr Trump could find himself on the ropes.

Continue Reading

US

Entire East Wing of White House will be demolished for ballroom – as Trump urged to pause project

Published

on

By

Entire East Wing of White House will be demolished for ballroom - as Trump urged to pause project

The entire East Wing of the White House will be demolished “within days” – much more bulldozing than initially expected for Donald Trump’s new ballroom construction project.

Two Trump administration officials told Sky News’ US partner NBC that the demolition is a significant expansion of the initial plans announced this summer.

“It won’t interfere with the current building,” Mr Trump had said on 31 July. “It’ll be near it, but not touching it, and pays total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of.”

Rubble is piled higher and higher as demolition continues on the East Wing. Pic: AP
Image:
Rubble is piled higher and higher as demolition continues on the East Wing. Pic: AP

But a White House official told NBC News the “entirety” of the East Wing would eventually be “modernised and rebuilt”.

“The scope and the size of the ballroom project have always been subject to vary as the process develops,” the official added.

The East Wing was built at the beginning of the last century and was last modified in 1942.

Explainer: How Trump has changed the White House while in power

More from US

Trump shows off an artist's impressions of his new ballroom. Pic:AP
Image:
Trump shows off an artist’s impressions of his new ballroom. Pic:AP

Construction on the ballroom – which is expected to hold up to 900 people when finished – began this week.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a non-profit agency created by Congress to help preserve historic buildings, warned administration officials in a letter on Tuesday that the planned ballroom “will overwhelm the White House itself”.

“We respectfully urge the administration and the National Park Service (stewards of the White House) to pause demolition until plans for the proposed ballroom go through the legally required public review processes,” Carol Quillen, the trust’s chief executive, said in a statement.

Windows of the complex could be seen being torn down. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Windows of the complex could be seen being torn down. Pic: Reuters

‘Fake news’

The White House called the uproar “manufactured outrage” by “unhinged leftists and their fake news allies” in a statement.

Last week, Mr Trump said the total price would be about $250m (£187m), which would be paid for by himself and private donors will pay for. However, on Wednesday, he said the ballroom’s price is “about $300m (£225m)”.

The 90,000 sq ft ballroom will dwarf the White House itself – and would be able to accommodate almost five times more guests than the East Room, the largest current space in the mansion.

Mr Trump says the ballroom won’t cost US taxpayers at all. Instead, “donors” would pay for it.

Comcast, the parent company of Sky News, was included on a list of top donors released last week – but it is unclear how much it or others have contributed.

Continue Reading

US

Daniel Naroditsky: Rival faces disciplinary action for ‘bullying’ chess grandmaster before his death

Published

on

By

Daniel Naroditsky: Rival faces disciplinary action for 'bullying' chess grandmaster before his death

A former world chess champion is being investigated over his public attacks on US grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky, who died suddenly this week aged 29.

Russian player Vladimir Kramnik is facing disciplinary proceedings over repeated accusations against Mr Naroditsky.

He was found dead at his home earlier in North Carolina, and the cause has not been made public.

Vladimir Kramnik. Pic: AP
Image:
Vladimir Kramnik. Pic: AP

Mr Naroditsky’s supporters claim he had been “bullied relentlessly online” by Mr Kramnik, with some calling for him to be banned from the game.

Mr Kramnik has accused a number of players of cheating in online games – and first voiced “concerns” about Mr Naroditsky’s play last year, leading to an ongoing feud between the pair.

The 50-year-old routinely posted online about his younger rival, calling for an investigation into his play and at times appearing to threaten legal action.

In an October 2024 interview, Mr Naroditsky characterised Mr Kramnik’s efforts as “a sustained, evil and absolutely unhinged attempt to destroy my life”.

More from World

Now, following the announcement of Mr Naroditsky’s death on Monday, the international chess federation (FIDE) has referred Mr Kramnik’s behaviour to its ethics and disciplinary commission.

Naroditsky was a popular chess streamer on YouTube and Twitch. Pic: AP
Image:
Naroditsky was a popular chess streamer on YouTube and Twitch. Pic: AP

FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich said in a statement: “I, along with the FIDE management board, will formally refer all relevant public statements made by GM (grandmaster) Vladimir Kramnik – both before and after the tragic death of GM Daniel Naroditsky – to the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission for independent consideration.”

Mr Kramnik has denied wrongdoing, and claims he has also been bullied by members of the chess community – as well as receiving death threats.

He told Reuters: “What public statement after the death of Daniel was incorrect? … I have not bullied Daniel Naroditsky, nor ever made personal insults towards him.”

But prominent chess players have condemned Mr Kramnik’s conduct – with former world champion Magnus Carlsen describing his treatment of Mr Naroditsky as “horrible”.

Meanwhile, Indian grandmaster Nihal Sarin said the retired player “needs to pay for what he’s doing”.

Mr Naroditsky was one of America’s most recognisable chess figures and a former world youth champion.

At just 14 years old, he had written and published a book on the game – and in later years, educated followers through livestreams on Twitch and YouTube.

Mr Naroditsky denied cheating and appeared visibly distressed in his final Twitch broadcast last weekend, where he referred to the toll the controversy had taken on him, according to the now-deleted video.

Continue Reading

Trending