International
US Supreme Court hears case of Texas man on death row
AFP | Charlotte Plantive
The US Supreme Court heard an appeal Tuesday from a Texas man on death row who maintains his innocence and whose case has drawn the attention of celebrities, lawmakers and millions of Americans.
The court did not address the merits of Rodney Reed’s case, but debated a narrow technical issue, relating to delays in criminal proceedings.
Its decision, expected before June 30, will however have a direct impact on the future of the 54-year-old Texan by authorizing the reopening of his case or, on the contrary, his execution by lethal injection.
Reed, an African-American man, was convicted by an all-white jury in 1998 of the rape and murder of Stacey Stites, a 19-year-old white woman.
Traces of his sperm were found on the victim’s body, but Reed insists he is innocent of the 1996 murder and that he and Stites had a secret consensual relationship.
Reed’s supporters believe that evidence gathered after the trial points to another suspect, Stites’s fiance Jimmy Fennell, a disgraced police officer who later served a 10-year prison sentence for a kidnapping and rape committed while on duty.
A fellow inmate says Fennell confessed to him that he had killed Stites because she was sleeping with a Black man.
Fennell has denied any involvement in Stites’s murder, but police initially considered him a suspect.
Texas prosecutors claimed during Reed’s trial that he had sexually assaulted several other women before Stites’s murder.
His execution was stayed just five days before it was to be carried out in 2019 following a campaign that included reality star Kim Kardashian, the singers Rihanna and Beyonce, and Texas lawmakers including Republican Senator Ted Cruz.
Two petitions seeking to halt Reed’s execution that circulated on the internet drew more than 3.5 million signatures.
DNA testing of murder weapon
To prove his innocence, Reed asked the Texas authorities in 2014 to conduct new DNA analysis on the murder weapon, a belt that was used to strangle Stites.
His appeals for DNA testing were repeatedly denied by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, so Reed turned to the federal courts.
But they refused to intervene on the grounds the request came too late, after the two-year window allowed to challenge a state court ruling in federal court had closed.
The question before the Supreme Court is, when does the window open?
At the hearing, judges appointed by Democrats seemed to be leaning in his favor.
“Isn’t that the simplest thing just to say (that) the person isn’t harmed until the state process has come to an end and we know for a fact what the state judgment is?” asked justice Elena Kagan.
Conservative justices, who regularly denounce the delaying tactics of death row inmates, did not show their preference.
Judge Samuel Alito merely noted the issue is “case specific and really quite narrow.”
Supporters of Reed gathered in front of the Supreme Court with a large banner proclaiming “Rodney Reed is innocent!”
International
At least 10 dead and 20 injured in highway crash near Morelia
The accident occurred on the highway connecting Morelia, the capital of Michoacán, with the town of Pátzcuaro, the Morelia police reported in a statement.
“Preliminary information indicates there are around 10 fatalities and nearly 20 people injured. Emergency teams are carrying out extraction efforts and providing medical assistance at the scene,” the department said. It added that traffic on the roadway remains closed while rescue crews continue their work.
So far, authorities have not specified the cause of the crash.
Road accidents are common in Mexico, often caused by excessive speed or poor vehicle maintenance, particularly involving buses or cargo trucks.
In September, a truck carrying nearly 50,000 liters of gas exploded at an intersection in Mexico City, resulting in 32 deaths.
International
Democrats press prince Andrew for testimony as Epstein probe intensifies
Sixteen Democratic lawmakers have signed a letter urging Prince Andrew to participate in a “transcribed interview” with the U.S. House Oversight Committee, which is investigating the Epstein case. Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while jailed and awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
The letter asked Andrew — the younger brother of King Charles III and now referred to as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor after being stripped of his royal titles due to his association with Epstein — to respond by November 20.
“Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s silence in response to the Oversight Committee Democrats’ request for testimony speaks volumes,” said Representatives Robert Garcia and Suhas Subramanyan, both members of the committee, in a statement released on Friday.
“The documents we have reviewed, along with public records and the testimony of Virginia Roberts Giuffre, raise serious questions he must answer, yet he continues to hide.”
Giuffre, a U.S.-Australian citizen who died by suicide in April, wrote in posthumous memoirs that she had been forced into sexual encounters with Andrew on three occasions — the first two when she was 17.
International
President Sheinbaum Hails Fátima Bosch’s Miss Universe Win as a Victory for Women’s Voices
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum praised Fátima Bosch on Friday for winning the Miss Universe 2025 title, recognizing her as a symbol of courage for Mexican women and highlighting her stance against an act of injustice during the international pageant.
Bosch, a native of Tabasco, claimed the crown at the competition held in Thailand. Her participation drew significant attention following an incident involving the director of Miss Universe Thailand, Nawat Itsaragrisil, who told her to remain silent for not sharing event-related content on her social media platforms. The remark prompted Bosch to walk out of the room in protest, an action supported by several other contestants.
President Sheinbaum denounced expressions like “you look prettier when you’re quiet,” asserting: “Women look more beautiful when we speak up and participate. And she raised her voice, saying, ‘This is unjust, I don’t agree.’”
Fátima Bosch, 25, became the fourth Mexican woman to win the Miss Universe crown, joining Lupita Jones (1991), Ximena Navarrete (2010), and Andrea Meza (2020).
Bosch triumphed over Thailand’s Veena Praveenar, who placed as first runner-up, and Venezuela’s Stephany Abasaly, who took third place. This year’s pageant featured contestants from 120 countries and territories, including nine mothers, one transgender woman, a genocide survivor, and the first-ever Palestinian contestant in the competition’s history.
At least 10 dead and 20 injured in highway crash near Morelia
Democrats press prince Andrew for testimony as Epstein probe intensifies
President Sheinbaum Hails Fátima Bosch’s Miss Universe Win as a Victory for Women’s Voices
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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