CHARLESTON, S.C. — Against a backdrop of violence by and toward police across the nation, opening statements will get underway Thursday in the murder trial of a white former police officer charged in the shooting death of an unarmed black motorist.

A panel of 11 white jurors and one black juror will decide the case against Michael Slager, who faces 30 years to life if convicted of murder in the April 2015 shooting death of 50-year-old Walter Scott. Scott fled a traffic stop in North Charleston and his shooting was captured by a bystander on dramatic cellphone video that stunned the nation.

As testimony begins in the Slager trial, a similar trial is underway in Ohio in which a white campus police officer is charged in the death of a black man. And on Wednesday, authorities apprehended a suspect in the deaths of two Iowa officers shot while sitting in their patrol cars.(nydailynews.com)…[+]

For the third time this election season, Donald Trump has targeted NBC reporter Katy Tur during a campaign rally, once again triggering safety concerns for journalists covering the GOP nominee’s often violent political events.

The verbal attack against Tur came during a rally before some 4,000 people in Miami Wednesday. The Republican nominee had just gone on an oft-repeated tirade against “the media,” which he accuses of underplaying the number of attendees at his rallies, while overplaying the number of those attending Hillary Clinton’s events. “There has never been dishonesty like we’ve seen in this election,” he exclaimed. “Don’t worry, they won’t spin the cameras and show the kind of massive crowds. They won’t do it.”(nydailynews.com)…[+]

A city school teacher got surly at a Harlem Applebee’s, throwing a bottle and hitting a customer after an employee there confronted his buddy about an earlier unpaid bill, cops said. Maurice Smith, 26, was dining with pal Christopher Vanlierop, 32, at the Applebee’s on W. 125th St. and Fifth Ave. at 11:20 p.m. Monday, when a woman working at the restaurant approached them, according to police.

Vanlierop got upset when she told him he had to pay his past bill and punched her in the face, police said. That’s when Smith picked up a glass bottle and tossed it, hitting a 38-year-old woman and cutting her leg, police said.(nydailynews.com)…[+]

A would-be rapist with a chipped tooth followed a teenage girl into the bathroom at a Brooklyn playground and tried to rape her, police sources said. The 17-year-old victim pushed the attacker away and fled Monday afternoon, then ran to a nearby deli where she found a worker she knew to call police, sources said.

“She was crying, ‘Please call my mom! Please call my mom! Someone tried to rape me in the bathroom of the park,'” said Miguel Obayah, 22, a clerk at the Howard Deli Mart on Howard Ave. in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The girl had just gotten out of school at 2 p.m., and was cutting through Carver Playground by Marion St. near Ralph Ave. in Bedford-Stuyvesant when the attacker tried to strike up a conversation, sources said.(nydailynews.com)…[+]

A North Carolina county deputy shot her 11-year-old daughter during a Halloween party and has since been fired for her actions.

Misty Michelle Flowers was reportedly showing off her weapon to friends at her home in Lincolnton, N.C., on Saturday night, when she fired a gunshot through a wall, striking her daughter in the next room, according to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department. “I find gross negligence and the disregard for the safety of others was displayed in the incident Saturday night and therefore Officer Flowers was terminated today,” Sheriff David Carpenter told CBS affiliate WNCN. A deputy arrived at the scene around 11:23 p.m. on Saturday and began treating the child’s injury, then a second deputy came to transport the child to a local hospital in Charlotte, police said.(nydailynews.com)…[+]

A airline passenger at JFK Airport swiped $5,600 in cash and yen from a fellow flier on a screening line, then tried to stash some of the money in a Cheerios box, police said Monday. Cops pulled Nadira Malilk, 61, a Bangladeshi national, off her Aim Emirates flight before it took off Sunday morning, accusing her of stealing the money from a security bin. The victim, a 60-year-old man from China, put the money — $4,300 in U.S. cash and $1,300 in yen, in a bin and walked through the screening checkpoint at 10:20 a.m., only to find the money missing, said Port Authority police spokesman Joseph Pentangelo.(nydailynews.com)…[+]

The Texas opera aficionado who dumped his beloved friend’s ashes during a weekend Metropolitan Opera performance is “beyond embarrassed” about the “mess” he created, his friend said. Roger Kaiser, 52, was not arrested for his scattering human remains over the Lincoln Center orchestra pit during Saturday’s “Guillaume Tell,” a stunt that sparked terror fears and forced the company to stop mid-way through the show. The 52-year-old Dallas man was just trying to honor his late pal and had no malicious intent, his friend Paul J. Williams told the Dallas Morning News. “He is beyond embarrassed,” Williams said. “He was doing it solely for his beloved friend.”(nydailynews.com)…[+]

HAVANA- Cuban Foreign Trade and Investment Minister Rodrigo Malmierca officially inaugurated the 34^th Havana International Trade Fair where the presence of 73 countries and over 3500 exhibitors set new records.

Minister Malmierca said these figures show the growing interest of entrepreneurs from all over the world on the potential the Cuban market has, and the Fair has become a reference point for those willing to do business in Cuba.

He added the growth comes as well from the new opportunities Cuba offers as well as the international rejection to the over 50 years long US blockade on Cuba. Malmierca pointed out that this event is part of Cuba´s strategy to diversify trade relations throughout the world, in order to avoid dependence on one single market.

Despite financial limitations, caused by growing prices in the international markets and difficulties some of the Cuban largest trade partners are facing, the Caribbean nation intend to honor its commitments, he said. The Cuban Minister said Spain remains the country with the biggest representation, followed by Venezuela, China and Russia, with a significant increase on the amount of exhibitors from France, Italy and Japan. The Fair will run through November 5^th and will include bilateral meetings, forums, signing of agreements and several activities, all aiming at boosting Cuban development.  (ACN )…[+]

On Halloween night 11 years ago, New Yorkers were taken by storm after learning about the elaborate story of Peter Braunstein.

The high-intelligence former journalist and playwright, now 52, became known as the “Halloween rapist” after concocting a bogus scene wherein he donned smoke eater gear and entered an apartment complex — with the aim of overpowering his female victim. The ensuing case led to a city-wide then national manhunt that ended in multiple stab wounds to Braunstein’s neck. This is the story of that fateful October night and the ensuing “chase.”(nydailynews.com)…[+]

A pack of Pennsylvania tourists were taken for a ride by an unlicensed pedicab driver who charged them nearly $500 for a 15-block trip in Midtown.

The group, mostly teens in town for a 15th birthday celebration with two adult chaperones, were hit with a $492 bill by the “bully” pedicab operator, according to the tourists and industry reps. The 13-person trip on Oct. 22 included three separate pedis on one bill — and should have cost around $72 total even with the extra legwork, according to industry experts. “These pedicab scams happen every day,” fumed Ibrahim Donmez, head of the New York Pedicab Network, an industry group.(nydailynews.com)…[+]