It’s an open question whether it changes things in terms of the, whether the shooting was all justified. Right now the sense is that this doesn’t change that because you don’t see any direct evidence of whatever struggle the two men had. So right now all you see is the demeanor of the officer at Walter Scott during the initial traffic stop and you see that Walter Scott suddenly ran which started the entire encounter that led ultimately to his shooting death. 

NPR’s Martin Caste reporting. The NAACP chapter in North Charleston is calling on all citizens to record police interactions whenever they see one.

 

The last person to be hospitalized with Ebola in the U.S. has been sent home. NPR’s Richard Harris reports he had been treated at the National Institute of Health outside Washington D.C. 

The medical worker contracted Ebola while working in Sierra Leone last month. He was flown by charter jet to the NIH and his health initially deteriorated to critical condition. But the unidentified man’s health steadily improved to the point that the NIH was able to discharge him from the hospital. Doctors say he is no longer contagious. The NIH had access to experimental Ebola drugs, but citing patient privacy, doctors are not releasing any information about the man’s care. Nine of the eleven patients treated in the U.S. for Ebola have survived. The epidemic is slowing in West Africa with just 30 cases reported last week. But it has claimed more than 10,000 lives. Richard Harris, NPR News. 

 

Amidst the warm welcome from Caribbean leaders, President Obama sought to reassert U.S. influence in the area and the America’s pledging energy assistance and diplomatic fence building. His historic diplomatic opening with Cuba got much of the attention with several leaders praising his efforts. Speaking in a town hall at the University of the West Indies, Obama says he thinks more can be done through talking than through exclusion.

“We are as committed as ever to supporting human rights and political freedom in Cuba and around the world, but I believe that engagement is a more force than isolation and the changes we are making can help improve the lives of the Cuban people.”

Obama says the State Department has completed its review on whether to drop Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, but no decision has been reached yet. 

 

Wall Street was higher by the closing bell today—the Dow gaining 56 points to end at 17,958, the Nasdaq gaining 23 points to close at 4974. And the S&P500 gained 9 points to close at 2091. 

 

This is NPR.

 

Real estate heir Robert Durst has pleaded not guilty to two weapons charges in New Orleans. That issue has kept him in the city, even though he waved extradition to Los Angeles, where he has been charged in the death of a long time friend. His estranged family runs one World Trade Centre in New York. 

 

The governor of Oklahoma is expected to sign off on a new law that would make Oklahoma the first state in the nation to use gas to carry out executions. Kate Carlton Greer from member station KGOU reports the state senate voted unanimously today to add nitrogen hypoxia to the state’s list of approved methods of execution. 

The process replaces the inmates-available oxygen with nitrogen. The gas is administered through a mask or bag placed over the face. No other state in the country currently uses nitrogen hypoxia for executions, but supporters of the method claim it’s quick and humane. It also does not require that a doctor be involved. Oklahoma is one of several states searching for new execution methods since it’s become more difficult to obtain lethal injection drugs. The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments later this month on whether Oklahoma’s current method amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. It uses a drug that critics say is unreliable. For NPR News, I’m Kate Carlton Greer in Norman, Oklahoma.   

 

California regulators fined Pacific Gas & Electric PG&E $1.6bn for a gas pipeline explosion in 2010 that killed eight people. That fine is the largest against the utility in Californian history. Federal investigators faulted PG&E and lax oversight by the state’s utility commission.