Pastors indicted on charges involving child-sex trafficking

Pastors indicted on charges involving child-sex trafficking

TOLEDO

A third Ohio pastor has been indicted on sex-trafficking charges, and prosecutors say all three men worked together to entice underage girls with money in exchange for sex.

A federal grand jury in Toledo has indicted the Rev. Cordell Jenkins, the Rev. Anthony Haynes and the Rev. Kenneth Butler on conspiracy to sex traffic children. All three men pleaded not guilty Tuesday.

The US Attorney’s Office says Haynes began grooming a 14-year-old girl for prostitution in 2014. Prosecutors say Haynes introduced her to other men, and all three of the pastors sexually assaulted her.

Jenkins and Haynes were previously indicted on child- sex trafficking charges in July.

Leonardo da Vinci’s Christ painting sells for record $450M

NEW YORK

A painting of Christ by the Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci sold for a record $450 million at auction Wednesday, smashing previous records for artworks sold at auction or privately.

The painting, called “Salvator Mundi,” Italian for “Savior of the World,” is one of fewer than 20 paintings by Leonardo known to exist and the only one in private hands. It was sold by Christie’s auction house, which didn’t immediately identify the buyer.

The highest price ever paid for a work of art at auction had been $179.4 million, for Pablo Picasso’s painting “Women of Algiers (Version O)” in May 2015, also at Christie’s in New York. The highest known sale price for any artwork had been $300 million, for Willem de Kooning’s painting “Interchange,” sold privately in September 2015.

US opposes Nazi speech, but will vote no to banning it

WASHINGTON

The United States government wants you to know: It really, truly doesn’t like Nazis.

At the United Nations this week, the U.S. plans to vote against a yearly resolution that condemns the glorification of Nazism, State Department officials said Wednesday. Although it may seem counterintuitive – who wouldn’t want to condemn Nazis? – officials said free- speech protections and other problems with the resolution make it impossible for America to support.

Introduced by Russia, the resolution calls on all U.N. nations to ban pro-Nazi speech and organizations, and to implement other restrictions on speech and assembly. That’s a nonstarter in the U.S., where First Amendment protections guarantee all the right to utter almost anything they want – even praise for Adolf Hitler’s followers.

Dems introduce impeachment articles against Trump

WASHINGTON

A half-dozen Democrats on Wednesday introduced articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, accusing him of obstruction of justice and other offenses, in a long-shot effort that stands little chance in the Republican-led House.

Indeed, the large majority of Democrats seem intent on having nothing to do with the effort either as lawmakers await the results of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Democratic leaders have argued that the impeachment campaign riles up Trump’s GOP base, a critical bloc in next year’s midterm elections.

The five articles accused the president of obstruction of justice related to the FBI investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, undermining the independence of the federal judiciary and other offenses.

Associated Press