Top 5 Live-WURD Wednesday April 1
1. PA Supreme Court rejects AG Kane’s bid to end criminal probe
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected state Attorney General Kathleen Kane’s challenge to a grand jury’s recommendation that she face criminal charges.
The court said judges have full legal authority to appoint special prosecutors to investigate grand jury leaks.
Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman must now decide whether to charge Kane, a Democrat, with perjury, obstruction of justice and other crimes for the alleged leak of information to a newspaper in a bid to embarrass a critic.
“We have faith in the judicial system and that the district attorney of Montgomery County will look at the evidence and the law and find that Attorney General Kane is innocent of any violations of the law,” Kane’s spokesman said in a statement.
2. In Nigeria’s Election, Muhammadu Buhari Defeats Goodluck Jonathan
With anger swelling over corruption, inequality and a devastating Islamist insurgency in the nation’s north, Nigerians chose a former general who once ruled with an iron hand to be their next president, according to election results on Tuesday.
The election was the most competitive presidential race ever in Nigeria, one of the largest democracies in the world. Now, if power is handed over peacefully, it will be a major shift for the nation — the first transfer of power between civilians of different parties in a country that has spent much of its post-colonial history roiled by military coups.
With all but one of Nigeria’s 36 states counted, the former military ruler, Muhammadu Buhari, held a lead of more than two million votes over President Goodluck Jonathan.
3. Iran nuclear talks extended
Negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program have been extended until today, according to the State Department.
A few hours before the self-imposed midnight Tuesday deadline ran out, a State Department spokesperson said, ”We’ve made enough progress in the last days to merit staying until Wednesday. There are several difficult issues still remaining.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is returning to Lausanne from Russia, indicating an end to the talks is near.
Outstanding issues include a how much research and development Iran would be able to conduct in the last five years of the agreement, when the country would be allowed to enrich its uranium to higher levels, and how to expose of Iran’s existing nuclear stockpile.
4. Family: Mumia Abu-Jamal in intensive care for diabetes
Convicted cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal is in intensive care for treatment of diabetes and is “not doing well,” his family said Tuesday.
Abu-Jamal, 60, was taken from the state Correctional Institution-Mahanoy to Schuylkill Medical Center in Pottsville Monday after passing out, his wife, Wadiya Jamal, said outside the hospital.
His blood sugar level was very high, 779, when he arrived at the hospital and remains at more than 300, she said. Anything above 186 is considered dangerously high.
A hospital spokesman said he could not confirm that Abu-Jamal is a patient at the hospital or release information about his condition.
The prison also declined to release information, citing patient privacy laws.
5. New ‘Daily Show’ host: Offensive jokes ‘not a true reflection’
Trevor Noah, the new host of “The Daily Show,” addressed a controversy over his twitter history last night. “To reduce my views to a handful of jokes that didn’t land is not a true reflection of my character, nor my evolution as a comedian,” he wrote.
Comedy Central also came to the defense of 31-year-old black comedian from South Africa on Tuesday.
“Like many comedians, Trevor Noah pushes boundaries; he is provocative and spares no one,” Comedy Central said in a statement. “To judge him or his comedy based on a handful of jokes is unfair. Trevor is a talented comedian with a bright future at Comedy Central.”
Still, it’s hard to ignore the fact that the honeymoon phase for Jon Stewart’s replacement has quickly come to a halt.
Click here to read these stories on 900amWURD.
Solomon Jones is an Essence bestselling author and award-winning columnist. He is the creator and editor of Solomonjones.com and morning host on 900 am WURD radio. Click here to learn more about Solomon
