Backpage raided; CEO arrested for sex trafficking

October 7, 2016 at 12:00a.m.

DALLAS

State agents raided the Dallas headquarters of adult classified-ad portal Backpage and arrested Chief Executive Officer Carl Ferrer on Thursday after allegations that adult and child sex-trafficking victims had been forced into prostitution through escort ads posted on the site.

Ferrer, 55, was arrested on a California warrant after arriving at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport on a flight from Amsterdam.

“Making money off the backs of innocent human beings by allowing them to be exploited for modern-day slavery is not acceptable in Texas,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, said in a statement.

JonBenet’s brother files defamation suit against pathologist

DETROIT

The older brother of JonBenet Ramsey filed a defamation lawsuit Thursday against a Michigan forensic pathologist who told a Detroit-area media outlet that Burke Ramsey killed his 6-year-old sister.

The complaint alleges that Dr. Werner Spitz said in a Sept. 19 interview that 9-year-old Burke bludgeoned JonBenet to death in 1996.

“Spitz made this accusation without ever examining JonBenet’s body, without viewing the crime scene, and without consulting with the pathologist who performed the autopsy on JonBenet,” the complaint filed in Wayne County Circuit Court in Detroit says.

Palestinian leader leaves hospital after health scare

RAMALLAH, West Bank

The 81-year-old Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, underwent an emergency heart procedure Thursday after suffering exhaustion and chest pains, but was given a clean bill of health and quickly discharged from the hospital.

Although the incident did not appear to be serious, the health scare drew attention to the uncertain leadership situation in the Palestinian territories – which are divided between two rival governments and where there is no succession plan for the aging leader.

Dr. Mohammed al-Batrawi, a heart specialist who treated Abbas, said he ordered the president to the hospital for testing after Abbas felt tired and experienced chest pains at his office. He said Abbas went through a number of routine tests, including a cardiac catheterization, a procedure that can detect and treat heart problems, and that everything looked normal.

Russia warns US against striking Syrian army

MOSCOW

The Russian military on Thursday strongly warned the United States against striking the Syrian army, noting that its air-defense weapons in Syria stand ready to fend off any attack.

The statement underlined high tensions between Moscow and Washington after the collapse of a U.S.-Russia-brokered Syria truce and the Syrian army’s offensive on Aleppo backed by Russian warplanes.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said any U.S. strikes on areas controlled by Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government could jeopardize the lives of Russian servicemen.

He said Moscow was worried by media reports alleging that Washington was pondering the possibility of striking Syrian army positions.

“I would recommend our colleagues in Washington to carefully weigh possible consequences of the fulfillment of such plans,” Konashenkov said.

Associated Press