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Ankaras envoy to Washington has called for Israeli-Turkish cooperation in countering regional threats, in a possible hint at Iran, amid improving bilateral ties.

In an article published in Tel Aviv University's Dayan Center for Strategic Studies journal Turkeyscope on Tuesday, Ambassador Hasan Murat Mercan highlighted the strong historical relationship between the Jewish and Turkish nations and urged further cooperation, especially in fields of security and energy.

Without mentioning Iran, he wrote, Turkish-Israeli interaction offers more than a conventional regional partnership in the face of malign actors and trends, adding that Dealing with malign actors and their activities throughout our region is a particular area for enhanced coordination.

A more robust regional security cooperation between the two, with a specific focus on fighting terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, will also have an added value to both countries national security, he added.

Calling for engagement on regional affairs, he said that Turkish-Israeli partnership would be effective to further curb destabilizing moves in broader Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

The power competition, which is the dominant trend in todays world and runs the risk of confrontation, writes off the so-called value of proxy-led spheres of influence as inter-regional and intra-regional alliances are becoming all the more relevant.

Calling the Israeli President Isaac Herzogs visit to Turkey a visible message of peace and partnership, he said both Herzog and Erdoan defined the visit as a new milestone and expressed their shared goal to revive political dialogue and foster regional cooperation.

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Turkish Diplomat Calls For Cooperation With Israel, Hinting At Iran -

SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) Day five of the trial of the two men accused in the January 2019 death of Shreveport Police Officer Chatri Payne got underway late Friday with detailed testimony from a crime scene investigator about the guns that were and were not used in the fatal shooting.

Trevion Anderson, 29, and 41-year-old Glenn Frierson are charged with second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder in the Jan. 9, 2019, shooting death of the 22-year-old police officer.

On Monday, a third co-defendant, 24-year-old Lawrence Pierre, pleadedguilty to second-degree murder in the case and was immediately sentenced to mandatory life in prison without possibility of parole, probation or suspension of sentence, so the original indictment against the three was altered to reflect only Anderson and Frierson.

On Wednesday, the prosecution told the jury of six men and six women that Anderson was Paynes live-in boyfriend and father of her 2-year-old child and was angry when Payne told him she was moving from the house the two shared at 1633 Midway.

The prosecution claims Anderson recruited his two original co-defendants to help kill Payne, while defense attorneys for both Anderson and Frierson claim their clients are innocent.

Late Friday morning, the prosecution called Shreveport Crime Scene Investigator Cpl. Robert Cerami to the stand and asked to qualify him as an expert witness.

Cerami, who has extensive training in crime scene investigation said he has investigated more than 700 shootings. Through investigating the ejection pattern of shell casings, Cerami has learned to determine where the shooter may have been, as well as whether he or she was standing, kneeling, or on the ground when the firearm was discharged.

Although the defense objected, as Cerami was the primary crime scene investigator in the Payne case, District Judge John Mosely overruled the objection, and Ceramis testimony was entered into the record as an expert.

Caddo Assistant District Attorney Treneisha Hill began by asking the officer to describe the scene from when he first arrived, peppering his testimony with photos taken outside and inside the home Anderson and Payne shared.

While police said Anderson claimed he was inside the house, heard gunshots, grabbed his Glock 22 40 caliber handgun, went outside and shot at an intruder, Cerami said the bullet casings found from that particular gun were actually shot into the ground.

Although two Glocks were found at the crime scene Andersons and Paynes service weapon, also a Glock 22 neither was the weapon used to kill Payne.

Cerami indicated that the investigation pointed to the shots, which came from two different Glocks, one of which was not located for a few days, all came from the northeast or left side of the house (the front door and small porch on the left; the driveway where Payne was shot is on the right side of the house).

Hill skillfully led Cerami through a description of where each piece of evidence found all the shell casings from Andersons gun and the kill shot from the then-unknown Glock as well as a cellphone, found hidden between the mattress and box springs of the bed Anderson and Payne shared.

It was on this cellphone that detectives later found text messages that led them to believe that Anderson had accomplices. A few days later, a tip led detectives to Pierre, who they ran down at Caddo Parish Juvenile Court where he worked in the Clerks office.

Police took Pierre to the Shreveport Police Department for an interview, then took him back to work. He later led them to the murder weapon, which was found hidden behind an air cooler and hot water heater at an apartment in the 8100 block of Pines Road.

Cerami, who completed his testimony for the prosecution, will not be cross-examined by defense attorneys until Monday, as the prosecution asked to call two witnesses out of order late Friday afternoon.

One of those witnesses was former SPD Homicide Detective Kenneth Thompson who investigated Paynes death and received a tip at a local barbershop identifying Pierre as a suspect. The other was a former co-worker at Caddo Juvenile Court, who told police Pierre had a second telephone.

Testimony will resume at 10:30 a.m. Monday.

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Slain SPD officer trial: Riveting testimony from CSI officer - KTALnews.com

Berkeley Township

Ocean County officials have announced that Craig Dillard, 56, of Berkeley Township, has been charged with Possession of a Firearm while Engaged in Drug Activity, Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Distribute, Possession of Marijuana, Receiving Stolen Property and Tampering with Physical Evidence.

County officials have also announced that George Burke, IV, 40, of Freehold Borough, has been charged with Robbery, Conspiracy to Commit Robbery, Possession of a Firearm for an Unlawful Purpose, Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, Certain Person Not to Possess a Firearm, Burglary and Tampering with Physical Evidence.

All charges arise from the same investigation into the shooting death of Jimmy Mosley, 36, of South Toms River, in Berkeley Township on March 9.

According to officials, on March 9, at approximately 10:15 p.m., Officers from the Toms River Township Police Department responded to Community Medical Center for a report of an unresponsive male with a gunshot wound.

The male, subsequently identified as a Jimmy Mosley, was pronounced deceased by the attending physician at 10:28 p.m.

Officials said that on March 10, the Ocean County Medical Examiner performed a post-mortem examination of Mr. Mosley and determined the cause of his death to be a gunshot wound to the back, piercing the lung and lodging in the nasal cavity, and the manner of death to be homicide.

A subsequent investigation by the Ocean County Prosecutors Office Major Crime Unit, Berkeley Township Police Department, and Ocean County Sheriffs Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit determined that Mosley and George Burke went to the residence of Craig Dillard to commit a robbery; both Mosley and Burke were armed with firearms at the time.

The investigation further revealed that Mosley entered Dillards residence while armed with a firearm.

The investigation found that Dillard and Mosley became engaged in a physical altercation upon Mosley entering the residence.

During the course of the altercation, Dillard, who was also armed with a firearm, fired three rounds at Mosley.

Mosley and Burke fled the scene; Mosley was subsequently dropped off at Community Medical Center, where he ultimately succumbed to his injuries.

The previously referenced post-mortem examination revealed that Mosley was shot in the knee, hand, and back.

A subsequent search of Dillards residence revealed that Dillard was in possession of approximately one half-pound of marijuana for distribution purposes.

Additionally, during the course of the investigation, it was learned that Dillard destroyed evidence left at his residence, and Burke destroyed evidence of his involvement with the robbery.

On April 6, Burke was taken into custody without incident at his home in Freehold Borough by the United States Marshals Service.

On April 11, Dillard was taken into custody in Beverly, New Jersey, by Officers from the Edgewater Park Township Police Department.

Both men were transported to the Ocean County Jail, where they will remain lodged pending a detention hearing.

This was truly a team effort in terms of the depth and comprehensiveness of this investigation. These detectives combed through the evidence and were ultimately able to piece together what transpired in Berkeley Township on the night of March 9, 2022, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

Law enforcement was able to establish very early on in the investigation that there was no immediate danger to the public. From there, these Detectives went to work doing their absolute best to solve these crimes. Every law enforcement officer involved in this investigation has my profound gratitude, Prosecutor Billhimer concluded.

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Two Men Charged with Multiple Offenses in Connection to Berkeley Shooting Death Investigation - RLS Media

Opinion: The Democrats' race to seize control of the Arizona House is over even before it has begun. It's all part of a genius plan to remain irrelevant.

With just over six months to go until the November election, Democrats have already given up any hope of seizing control of the Arizona Legislature.

Granted, it was always going to be a long shot, what with new political districts that favor Republicans, the GOPs historical advantage in voter turnout and the usual midterm fate that befalls the party in charge in Washington.

But the Arizona DemocraticParty hasthrown in the towel even before this years legislative races have begun, not even bothering to field enough candidates to at least try to win a majority in the Arizona House.

Some Democrats are privately fuming.

All hell is breaking loose in the Democratic Party right now … , one party insider told me. Incompetence I can deal with. But stupidity just does not make sense.

Arizona Democratic Party Chairwoman Raquel Tern could not be reached for comment. Party spokeswoman Morgan Dick, however,praised the 94 Democrats who are running for the Legislature.

Were confident voters will elect candidates who share their values, and those candidates will be Democrats, she said, in a statement. Despite a vitriolic atmosphere, Arizona Democrats have fielded an impressive slate of candidates across Arizona and we are ready to win majorities in the legislature.

Its difficult to see how you willwin a majority when youdont even field enough candidates in the races that could get you there. If there is such a thing as political malpractice, this is it.

Democrats are currently two votes shy of a majority in both the House (31-29) and Senate (16-14). In other words, theyre basically irrelevant.

As long as Republicans stick together on issues like education funding, abortion and tax cuts for the states richest residents, Democrats are mere bystanders in the hallways of power.

So it only makessense that they would go full tilt toward trying to pick up a couple of seats in each chamber in 2022.

It was never going to be easy. Newly drawn political districts give Republicans 13 safe districts (meaning 26 seats in the 60-member House) to the Democrats 12 (24 seats). The remaining five districts are considered competitive. (Districts, 2, 4, 9, 13and 16, for those who are keeping track.)

That is 10 seats in the House, theoretically up for grabs by either party. Yet Democrats are only fielding candidates for six of those 10 seats, meaning the absolute best they can hope for isa 30-30 tie.

And that, only if pigs start flying in circles around the state Capitolbecause four of those five competitive districts lean Republican.

In the Senate, Democrats are at least running a candidate in each of the five competitive districts, giving theman outsidechance of winning a majority, assuming they can ground those joyriding pigs in mid loop-de-loop.

But the race to seize control of the House is over even before it haseven begun, leaving someparty operatives either scratching their heads or grinding their teeth.

The ones who are old-timers like me, were sitting back and saying Oh my god, not again, longtime Democratic consultant Bob Grossfeld told me. Its like the opportunities come along pretty frequently …but its just blown up, merely because of an inability to carry offense or just carrying lousy defense and I cant tell the difference right now.

Some activists tell me that the strategy of the partys legislative campaign committee was focused not on winning a House majority but on winning individual seats fielding only one candidate for a districts two seats and thus increasing that candidate'sodds of victory.

What they cannot explain is Legislative District 13, the most competitive districtin the state.Democrats already have one seat in this Chandler district, with Rep. Jennifer Pawlik.For some reason understood only by thegurus of the Democratic Party, they decided not to run a second candidate to try to snag the other seat.

Did I mention political malpractice?

Democratic consultant Chad Campbell says the single-shot strategy makes sensein the long run. It gives Democrats a chance to get a foothold in those Republican leaning competitive districts in 2022, when Republicans have an inherent advantage, and then build on that in future years.

Its a strategic approach to changing a district over time, as opposed to going in with two candidates and losing both seats, Campbell told me.It can be counter intuitive but done correctly it can work and then you can start to change the political leanings of the district over a couple of cycles.

So give up and hope for the best in 2024or 2026?

The strategy of the party that in 2020 came oh so close to finally winning a seat at the tableis to retreat, rendering Democratic legislatorseven more irrelevant than they already are?

Whatgenius drew up this plan?

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LaurieRoberts.

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Democrats have already given up on winning the Arizona House this year. Genius plan - The Arizona Republic

A number of state lawmakers pull double-duty as local Democratic Party bosses playing a key role in choosing candidates for state Civil and Supreme Court judgeships. Yet these same lawmakers refuse to grant judges the discretion to send accused criminals they deem dangerous to jail.

In other words, they dont trust their own picks.

State Sen. Jamaal Bailey heads the Bronx Democratic Party organization (though he surely heeds the counsel of Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie). Over in the Assembly, Democrats Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn (Bklyn), Michael Cusick (SI) and Pamela Hunter (Onondaga) head their county committees.

The Legislatures Democrats insist that judges cant be trusted to exercise discretion because the results will be racist, which can only mean the judges are racist. (And no matter that every other state, even the others that have eliminated cash bail as inherently unfair, gives judges the power to remand dangerous offenders.)

Ignored in this crusade are the mostly minority victims of crime. Notably, the protesters who recently rallied outside Heasties Bronx office for fixes to the no-bail law were mainly black, Hispanic and Asian women and mothers.

Seems to us that the real racism is to treat those New Yorkers as if theyre invisible.

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Do NY Democrats really believe their handpicked judges are racially biased? - New York Post