MINNEAPOLIS – There were no obvious signs of trauma on Prince’s body when he was found unresponsive at his home in suburban Minneapolis, and suicide isn’t suspected in the musician’s death, the local sheriff said Friday.
Carver County Sheriff Jim Olson said during news conference that the investigation was ongoing, but that there were no obvious signs of trauma on the body and “we have no reason to believe this was a suicide.” He said the 57-year-old musician was last seen around 8 p.m. Wednesday, about 12 hours before he was found dead.
An autopsy was completed Friday to determine what caused the death of the “Purple Rain” superstar, though officials said it could take days or weeks before results are released.
NEW YORK – Middle-aged white people now account for a third of all suicides in the U.S., a government report shows.
Suicide is the nation’s 10th leading cause of death, and the overall rate rose 24 percent in 15 years, according to the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Suicides have long been most common among white people – particularly older white males. But most striking in the report is the growth in whites ages 45 to 64.
They were a third of suicide deaths in 2014, up from about a quarter in 1999.
WASHINGTON – U.S. airstrikes aimed at Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq killed 20 civilians between September and February, including eight in a single attack on a mortar position used by militants, the U.S. military said Friday.
The 20 deaths nearly doubled the total number of acknowledged civilian deaths since the U.S.-led air campaign began in 2014. The U.S. has conducted nearly 12,000 airstrikes since bombing began in Iraq in August 2014 and in Syria a month later. The air campaign has been a central element of the U.S. strategy for disrupting and eventually defeating IS.
Associated Press
