Mes: septiembre 2019

NEW YORK — DMX and his attorney feel that the artist best expresses himself through his rap songs, even in court. DMX is counting on a little rap to help him beat the rap at his tax evasion sentencing. Attorney Murray Richman said in a court document made public on Monday that he wants to play a few DMX compositions at Thursday’s sentencing in Manhattan for the rapper also known as Earl Simmons. The lawyer said the music will help U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff “understand him genuinely in his voice” since DMX may be too emotional to speak. DMX, 47, has been incarcerated since his bail was revoked in January by Rakoff, who scolded him for failing to obey bail conditions. More in Celebrities DMX, whose hits include “X Gon’ Give it to Ya,” has appreciated his time at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan and is “sober now and invigorated,” Richman wrote. “It was a salvation of sort to shut out the noise,” Richman said. The lawyer sent the judge lyrics to “Slippin'” and “The Convo,” among other compositions. The lyrics to “Slippin'” include lines like, “I’m slippin’, I’m fallin’, I can’t get up,” while “The Convo” includes lines, “Thou shall not steal, but I will to eat. I tried doin’ good, but good’s not too good for me” “It is raw Earl,” the lawyer said. “We are...

(AP) BEIRUT – Armed Shiite clansmen in Lebanon said Wednesday they had captured more than 20 Syrians and will hold them until one of their relatives seized by rebels inside Syria is freed. The tensions were a stark reminder of how easily Syria’s civil war could spill over to neighboring states. In Geneva, a U.N. investigation said Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces and pro-government militiamen were responsible for war crimes during a May bloodbath in the village of Houla that killed more than 100 civilians, nearly half of them children. It also said rebels were blamed for war crimes in at least three other killings. The report by the U.N. Human Rights Council said the scale of the Houla carnage indicated “involvement at the highest levels” of Syria’s military and government. It is first time the U.N. has described events in Syria’s civil war as war crimes and could be used in possible future prosecution against Assad or others. The council also said the conflict is moving in increasingly “brutal” directions on both sides. Hotel used by U.N. observers rocked by explosion in Damascus, Syria’s capital cityPentagon: Iran training militiamen for AssadU.S. lifts sanctions on ex-Syria PM More in After the Arab Spring As the fighting deepens, so do the fears of it triggering unrest in fragile Lebanon, which is deeply divided between supporters and opponents of President Bashar...

(AP) UNITED NATIONS – Former Algerian foreign affairs minister Lakhdar Brahimi is a strong candidate to replace Kofi Annan as peace envoy to Syria, diplomats said Thursday. Diplomats who requested anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly said that Brahimi was a strong possibility, while other contenders are ex-Spanish foreign affairs minister Miguel Angel Moratinos and Spain’s Javier Solana, a former NATO chief and European Union foreign policy head. Annan, a former U.N. secretary-general, announced his resignation last week as joint U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria, ending a frustrating six-month effort that failed to achieve even a temporary cease-fire. He leaves at the end of the month. Clashes rage in rebel bastions of Syria’s AleppoVideo: Amid defections, Syria names new PM Divisions within the Security Council prevented a united approach to stop the fighting in in Syria, Annan said when he announced his resignation. Russia and China have twice used their veto power to block strong Western- and Arab-backed action against President Bashar Assad’s regime. While he singled out the regime for blame for the escalating violence, Annan also said the opposition’s increasingly militant tactics contributed to dooming his six-point peace plan, which included a cease-fire and a Syrian-led political process to end the crisis. Annan did succeed in getting the Syrian government and its allies to at least agree to the plan. Brahimi, 78, served as Algeria’s...