of the department of justice
year old deputy marshal whose identity has not been released was shot in
the upper arm and was in good enough condition to speak to investigators few
hours after the incident dickey said
henrietta moss was walking to work at pawn shop in the area when she
heard the commotion
it was pop pop pop pop pop and it went on said moss whose description
supported youtube video posted from few blocks away on which about shots
were heard
dickey said seven federal marshals and other security personnel from the
courthouse chased the suspect after he opened fire at which point he fled
before he was shot down
in washington us attorney general eric holder called the shooting tragic
reminder of the risks taken by law enforcement officers every day to keep us
safe
our thoughts and prayers are with the family of stanley cooper who made the
ultimate sacrifice as well as with the deputy us marshal who was injured in the
line of duty he said in statement
killed including two police in north mexico attacks
ciudad juarez mexico jan afp
total of people were killed in hours in mexico northern state of
chihuahua including two state police officers and six women local authorities
said monday
drug linked violence has spiked in mexico in the past three years with more
than killed despite government crackdown on organized crime involving
some security forces
group of six attackers killed two state police in hail of bullets monday as
they left car body shop according to the deputy prosecutor office of
chihuahua state across from texas in the united states
the killings along with others in separate attacks occurred in the ciudad
juarez the country most violent city
the victims included female activist who had led protests against alleged
rights abuses perpetrated by police and military deployed to fight organized
crime
fourteen others were killed in other parts of the state which lies on key drug
routes for trafficking into the united states
aftershocks rattle solomons after quake and tsunami
honiara jan afp
aftershocks continued to shake the solomon islands tuesday as officials visited
isolated villages day after powerful magnitude quake and tsunami damaged
at least homes
information from the remote area remained sketchy but police patrol boat from
the capital honiara left monday night to assess damage in the region about
kilometres west of the capital of the south pacific nation
there were no reports of deaths or serious injuries following the quakes and
tsunami on monday
another magnitude aftershock rattled the region tuesday morning and
aftershock late monday sent villagers fleeing for higher ground said the
director of the solomon islands disaster management office loti yates
the quake frightened lot of people into running away from their coastal
villages yates said
he added that landslides had occurred on rendova and tetepare islands following
the quake and an earlier tremor
we are still waiting for the latest reports since the survey of the area
yesterday yates said
the office said damage was caused by the earthquakes and tsunami of up to
eight feet almost metres according to officials in the region
officials reported monday that at least homes had been damaged or destroyed
but yates said these were all in the morovo lagoon area and further damage on
rendova and tetepare was still to be assessed
rendova is home to around people according to unicef which is rebuilding
schools on the island following the april tsunami which killed people
in the region destroyed hundreds of homes and displaced thousands
unicef pacific representative isiye ndombi said rapid response teams had been
sent to rendova and tetepare largely uninhabited island except for an eco
tourism venture
it will take several days however until we know the full extent and
consequences of this tsunami because these islands are very remote and difficult
to access ndombi said
philippine massacre suspect to face court
manila jan afp
the prime suspect in the worst political massacre in the philippines appears in
court on tuesday placing the nation corruption plagued political and justice
systems under the microscope
andal ampatuan jnr is charged with multiple murders over the killings of
people in november including pregnant women who were relatives of political
rival and about journalists in the violence wracked south of the country
more than heavily armed police escorts will take ampatuan to special court
inside the philippines national police headquarters for bail hearing the
first step in judicial proceedings that many fear could drag on for years
this is something that everyone must monitor every step of the way said ramon
casiple political analyst with the institute for political and economic
reform
what we are facing here is very strong clan with very strong political
connections and the capability to intimidate or even kill witnesses he told
afp
this puts the justice system to test because past cases with heavy political
overtones have never been satisfactorily concluded
casiple cited as an example the trial of former president joseph estrada
trial who was deposed in military backed popular revolt in for massive
corruption
after marathon six year trial he was convicted and sentenced to life
imprisonment only to be pardoned and set free by successor gloria arroyo
at the end of the day it still politics talking and these warlords will not
go down quietly casiple said
some in ampatuan jnr battery of high profile lawyers also worked in the
estrada trial and they are expected to raise technicalities to delay the case
he said
one judge has already backed out from the explosive case saying he feared for
his life there have also been calls from prosecutors for the justice department
to ensure the safety of witnesses
ampatuan jnr allegedly led of his men in stopping convoy carrying members
of political rival and journalists on november
the dead were systematically murdered and buried in shallow pits or dumped in
grasslands just near the national highway in maguindanao province where
amapatuan jnr father and namesake was governor
ampatuan snr as well as several other clan members were later arrested after
martial law was imposed in manguindanao and charged separately with rebellion
in her report to congress defending martial law arroyo said those massacred
bore marks of despicable torture contempt and outrageous torment
she also said that clan followers had threatened to carry out attacks if their
patrons were arrested
the brussels based international crisis group said last month however that
arroyo was partly to blame for the massacre because she had allowed local
despot to indulge his greed and ambition
ampatuan snr had controlled maguindanao province for most of the past decade and
was grooming his son to take his place as governor in this may national
elections
ampatuan snr influence and power grew because arroyo allowed him to maintain
strong heavily armed militia as part of government strategy to contain
muslim separatist insurgents in the south
in exchange for the support ampatuan also helped deliver votes from the
province to arroyo and her candidates in the election allegedly through
cheating
the shocking crime forced her to cut political ties with the clan but critics
say the ampatuans may still hold enough political power to avoid the penalties
many believe they deserve
have serious doubts about the whole exercise harry roque chairman of the
advocacy group centerlaw philippines who is also private prosecutor
representing the slain journalists said of the case
there is genuine fear from the victims families that justice will not be
served he said
defiant parliament good for afghanistan envoy
washington jan afp
afghanistan ambassador to the united states said monday that parliament
rejection of most of president hamid karzai cabinet nominees was healthy for
the country fragile democracy
it may be temporary setback for the president but it step forward for the
democracy in afghanistan said ambassador said tayab jawad close aide to
karzai
am truly happy for the parliament of afghanistan to do their job the way
they re supposed to be doing he told the pbs newshour on us public television
parliament on saturday approved only seven of the names submitted by karzai
for cabinet portfolios effectively leaving afghanistan without fully
functioning government amid western military efforts to fight the taliban
but jawad played down the impact saying that officials were still in place in
key areas such as defense
jawad said that karzai would come up with new list by sunday and predicted
that some of the same names would appear explaining that there was dearth of
qualified candidates in the war torn country
there will be people that will be probably renominated or newly nominated
because of their political influence and it will be up to the parliament to
decide which way they want to take the country jawad said
circus giant wins case over alleged elephant abuse
washington jan afp
us federal judge has rejected animal rights groups claims that ringling bros
and barnum amp bailey circus mishandles endangered asian elephants
us district judge emmet sullivan signed the december ruling in favor of
ringling owner virginia based feld entertainment inc fei at the outset of
nine year old suit brought by the american society for the prevention of
cruelty to animals aspca that culminated in six week trial in march
the aspca born free usa animal protection institute animal welfare
institute fund for animals along with former ringling animal trainer tom rider
had accused the circus of shackling confining and striking elephants with
bullhooks which have sharp steel hook at one end
sullivan dismissed the star witness testimony saying rider lied about
receiving payments from animal activists and about his personal attachment to
the giant animals
the court finds that mr rider is essentially paid plaintiff and fact witness
who is not credible and therefore affords no weight to his testimony sullivan
wrote in his ruling
mr rider self serving testimony at trial about his personal and emotional
attachment to these elephants also is not credible because he did not begin to
make complaints about how fei treated its elephants until after he began
accepting money from animal activists
feld attorney for the case michelle pardo of fulbright amp jaworski llp
greeted the ruling as victory for the elephants and win for the us
constitution because it reinforces that the federal court is no place to
entertain philosophical debate about whether elephants should be in the
circus
but the animal welfare institute vowed to continue its nearly decade long fight
to protect the elephants from abuse blasting the judge for not acknowledging
an overwhelming amount of evidence presented at trial
while we are disappointed that the judge did not address the merits of this
case the public now knows that ringling bros asian elephants are
systematically abused on daily basis said animal welfare institute general
counsel tracy silverman
we will continue to work through other channels in our efforts to ensure that
these endangered animals are protected
some asian elephants still exist down from in
founded by seven brothers in ringling bros has built much of its success
on its trained elephants
in it established the ringling bros and barnum amp bailey center for
elephant conservation in central florida which the circus calls the largest
asian elephant population in the western hemisphere
nfl patriots preparing to make do without welker
foxboro massachusetts jan afp
the new england patriots will have to re tool their offense for the nfl playoffs
after serious knee injury to key receiver wes welker
although the team did not announce the results of an mri exam on welker knee
on monday patriots quarterback tom brady and coach bill belicick appeared
resigned to going into the postseason without him
the patriots face baltimore in the first round on sunday
we re going to evolve little bit as an offense now brady said on weekly
radio appearance it was very wes welker oriented offense maybe part of the
advantage is baltimore doesn really know what they re going to see from us
now we re going to have to shift focus and they re really not sure where that
focus is going to go
welker was hurt in loss to houston on sunday he had planted his left
leg while chasing short reception and it buckled under him
brady knelt beside him and receiver randy moss hovered over him before he was
helped to the bench where he dabbed at his teary eyes with towel
felt badly for him said belichick who also went to stand next to welker as
he lay on the field he has had great year it unfortunate to see any
player have an injury wes is great competitor and sure that whatever it
is he ll work hard as he always does to bounce back
cuba calls us screening rules anti terrorist paranoia
havana jan afp
cuba official newspaper gramma said monday the new us rules tightening
security checks for airline passengers traveling from or through countries
including cuba were the result of anti terrorist paranoia
as part of its anti terrorist paranoia the united states strengthened
security measures at its airports and has imposed tighter checks on passengers
from countries including cuba and others it accuses of supporting
terrorism the communist party daily said
these desperate guidelines affect all airlines us or otherwise gramma added
noting they went into effect on monday
the us transport security administration tsa said the new measures would
include random enhanced checks on all international passengers flying into us
airports as well as compulsory stricter checks on those coming from or via
nations
the countries targeted by the new measures include cuba iran sudan and syria
all us designated state sponsors of terrorism it will also apply to passengers
traveling from or via afghanistan libya pakistan somalia and yemen and
nigeria
the new york times and washington post quoted government officials as saying the
other four countries were algeria lebanon saudi arabia and iraq
there are no regular flights between cuba and the united states but four daily
charter flights connect havana with three us cities including miami florida
where more than one million cuban exiles and emigres reside
the charter flights were increased to eight per day in late december after us
president barack obama earlier in the year lifted some travel and remittance
restrictions to cuba
washington broke off diplomatic relations with cuba in and imposed an
economic boycott on the island
both governments recently resumed negotiations on migration and postal exchange
issues but efforts to end the boycott are stymied by us insistence that cuba
should change while havana suggests the united states do the same
tokyo stocks open higher
tokyo jan afp
japanese share prices opened higher tuesday with the benchmark nikkei index
gaining points or percent to in the first minutes of
trading
afp
afp world news service no unauthorized reproduction
alert
alert polanski lawyers request sentencing in absentia
us lawmakers very close to final health deal pelosi
washington jan afp
the us congress is very close to forging compromise that will pave the way
for remaking us health care president barack obama top priority house
speaker nancy pelosi said wednesday
pelosi speaking after talks with obama at the white house said it possible
the senate and house of representatives could meld their rival versions of the
historic legislation by the end of the month
think we very close to reconciliation respectful of the challenges
policy and otherwise in the house and in the senate she said flanked by
the chairs of key house committees
house democrats were due to hold talks on thursday to discuss the issue further
senior lawmakers and staff in both chambers of the us congress spurred on by
white house aides have been working to reconcile the house and senate versions
of the bill hoping to iron out key differences and send compromise measure to
obama before his marquee state of the union annual speech
pelosi declined to detail specific disagreements or to say whether the house was
prepared to accept key provisions of the senate less expansive approach to
what would be the most sweeping overhaul of its kind in four decades
it not question of adopting this or that it about addressing and meeting
the needs of the american people that this be affordable for the middle
class and to do that we have to hold the insurance companies accountable she
said
both measures aim to extend health care coverage to more than million out of
the million americans that lack it end abusive health insurance company
practices and curb soaring costs that take giant bites out of family and
government budgets
but the senate stripped out government backed public option plan to compete
with private insurers in order to win over the backing of handful of centrist
democrats without whom the bill would not have secured the votes needed to
pass in the seat body
another potential obstacle is the house bill tougher restrictions on federal
funds subsidizing abortions while pro choice lawmakers denounce the limits
some centrist democrats say they will withhold support without them
the united states is the world richest nation but the only industrialized
democracy that does not provide health care coverage to all of its citizens
as nation the united states spends more than double what britain france and
germany do per person on health care
but it lags behind other countries in life expectancy and infant mortality
according to the organization for economic cooperation and development oecd
mobile phone use may stave off reverse alzheimer study
washington jan afp
long suspected of causing brain tumors mobile phones are now being eyed as key
allies in the fight against alzheimer disease us researchers said wednesday
in study
researchers at the university of south florida usf found to their surprise
that mice they zapped twice daily for an hour each time with electromagnetic
waves similar to those generated by us mobile cellular phones benefited from
the exposure
long term exposure to the electromagnetic waves in mobile phones wiped out
deposits of beta amyloid protein fragment that accumulates in the brain of
alzheimer sufferers to form the disease signature plaques in older mice
and improved their memories the study published in the journal of alzheimer
disease showed
young adult mice with no apparent signs of memory impairment were protected
against alzheimer disease after several months exposure to the mobile phone
waves and the memories of normal mice with no genetic predisposition for
alzheimer disease were boosted after exposure to the electromagnetic waves
no one was more surprised than the researchers themselves who had embarked on
the tests several years ago convinced they would show that the electromagnetic
fields from cell phone would be deleterious to alzheimer mice lead author
gary arendash usf professor told afp
when we got our initial results showing beneficial effect thought give
it few more months and it will get bad for them
it never got bad we just kept getting these beneficial effects in both the
alzheimer and normal mice arendash said
it took several months of exposure before the benefits were seen in mice and
that would be the equivalent of many years in humans arendash said
the mice in the study didn wear tiny headsets or have scientists holding
mobile phones up to their ears instead their cages were arranged around an
antenna that generated mobile phone signal
each animal was housed the same distance from the antenna and exposed to
electromagnetic waves equivalent to what is typically emitted by mobile phone
pressed up against human head
since we selected electromagnetic parameters that were identical to human cell
phone use and tested mice in task closely analogous to human memory test we
believe our findings could have considerable relevance to humans arendash
said
but william thies chief medical and scientific officer of the alzheimer
association said the study was very preliminary and warned against self
medicating by over using cell phone
no one should feel they are being protected from alzheimer dementia
cognitive decline by using their cell phones based on this study thies said in
statement
the study needs to be replicated in animals before we begin to even consider
trying it in people as animal models of alzheimer and people with the disease
are very different he said
the researchers concurred that more research is needed to find out among other
things what the optimal dosage of electromagnetic waves would be the
megaherz in us mobile phones megaherz in european phones or another
frequency and how long treatment would have to be given before benefits are
seen
if we can determine the best set of electromagnetic parameters to effectively
prevent beta amyloid aggregation and remove pre existing beta amyloid deposits
from the brain this technology could be quickly translated to human benefit
against alzheimer disease said usf professor chuanhai cao
but warned the alzheimer association just because something works in mice
with alzheimer doesn mean it will work in humans
therapies that have been successful in mouse models of alzheimer have not
worked in people thies said
the potential new non invasive and drug free therapy could also be used to
treat one of the invisible injuries suffered by soldiers in war cao said
since production and aggregation of beta amyloid occurs in traumatic brain
injury particularly in soldiers during war the therapeutic impact of our
findings may extend beyond alzheimer disease he said
alzheimer disease international which groups alzheimer associations around
the world has predicted that around million people will be living with
dementia this year
pentagon officials have said that up to us veterans of iraq and
afghanistan may have suffered brain injuries
nba wizards arenas suspended over guns in locker room
new york jan afp
national basketball association commissioner david stern suspended gilbert
arenas indefinitely wednesday saying the washington wizards playmaker is not
currently fit to take the court
arenas ran afoul of nba rules when he brought guns to the wizards arena and he
has provoked further ire by his apparently lighthearted response to the
controversy
he said he was storing unloaded weapons in container in his locker to keep
them away from his children at home but arenas and the league were engulfed in
controversy when the new york post reported arenas and teammate had drawn guns
on each other in december incident
arenas has insisted that account was overblown but the incident remains under
investigation by law enforcement authorities
stern said in statement that arenas actions will ultimately result in
substantial suspension and perhaps worse
the possession of firearms by an nba player in an nba arena is matter of the
utmost concern to us stern said
the commissioner said he first planned to refrain from taking action because of
the pending criminal investigation which includes grand jury sitting in the
district of columbia
but stern indicated that arenas behavior had prompted him to take immediate
action
wizards played tuesday night in philadelphia and before that game he was
photographed surrounded by teammates smiling and pointing his index fingers at
them as if they were guns
although it is clear that the actions of mr arenas will ultimately result in
substantial suspension and perhaps worse his ongoing conduct has led me to
conclude that he is not currently fit to take the court in an nba game stern
said accordingly am suspending mr arenas indefinitely without pay
effective immediately pending the completion of the investigation by the nba
arenas who turned on wednesday is slated to make million dollars this
season
the wizards voiced support for stern decision
strictly legal issues aside gilbert recent behavior and statements
including his actions and statements last night in philadelphia are
unacceptable said statement attributed to president ernie grunfeld and the
pollin family who own the team
some of our other players appeared to find gilbert behavior in philadelphia
amusing this is also unacceptable under abe pollin leadership our
organization never tolerated such behavior and we have no intention of ever
doing so
late owner abe pollin changed the team name from the bullets because of the
violent connotation
arenas responded with statement apologizing for putting the league in
negative light
feel very badly that my actions have caused the nba to suspend me but
understand why the league took this action arenas said put the nba in
negative light and let down my teammates and our fans am very sorry for doing
that
while never intended any harm or disrespect to the nba or anyone else my gun
possession at the verizon center and my attempts at humor showed terrible
judgment take full responsibility for my conduct
arenas said he had called stern to apologize
look forward to the day can return to basketball arenas said in the
meantime will focus on dealing responsibly with this serious situation and
will continue to cooperate fully with the investigations by law enforcement and
nba authorities
development aid key to terrorism fight clinton
washington jan afp
us secretary of state hillary clinton made an impassioned appeal wednesday for
greater us international development aid saying it was vital to us and global
security at time of growing extremist threats
development is strategic economic and moral imperative the top us diplomat
said in speech at the peterson institute for international economics in
washington
we cannot stop terrorism or defeat the ideologies of violent extremism when
hundreds of millions of young people see future with no jobs no hope and no
way ever to catch up to the developed world she said
clinton speech was prompted by belief that social and economic conditions
need to improve in countries beset by islamist insurgencies aides said citing
situations in afghanistan pakistan and yemen as prime examples
we cannot be assured of promoting safer more democratic world when one
third of humankind live in conditions that offer them little chance of building
better lives for themselves or their children clinton said
aides said clinton speech was an elaboration on her goal of giving
international development equal weight to diplomacy and defense in us foreign
policy
the federal budget for international aid grew nine percent for over last
year to some billion dollars for
it is distributed mainly through the us agency for international aid and the
millennium challenge corporation mcc government assistance program
emphasizing conditions for us approved governance
funds also are targeted for programs such as for aids prevention billion
dollars over the next six years and efforts to promote food security pegged
at an initial billion dollars
clinton said the new development pushed by president barack obama was based more
on partnership not patronage
in the past we have sometimes dictated solutions from afar often missing our
mark on the ground she said adding that the model emphasized consultation
over decree
we want partners who have demonstrated commitment to development by
practicing good governance rooting out corruption making their own financial
contributions to their own development she said
key to us efforts clinton added was focus on female investment around the
world
women and girls are one of the world greatest untapped resources she said
with just one year of schooling woman children are less likely to die in
infancy or suffer from illness or hunger and more likely to go to school
themselves
clinton noted the proverb give man fish and he ll eat for day but
teach man to fish and he ll eat for lifetime well if you teach woman to
fish she ll feed the whole village
carol lancaster former top usaid official said clinton approach may not
immediately transform us diplomacy
but the former first lady is undoubtedly the most knowledgeable and interested
secretary of state ever for development issues and especially for women and
girls lancaster said adding it could prove to be one of her lasting legacies
sanchez wins spain oldest literature prize
madrid jan afp
author and newspaper columnist clara sanchez has been awarded the nadal
prize spain oldest literature award media reported wednesday
sanchez won the prize for her novel lo que esconde tu nombre or what your
name hides about two men in their one former nazi who lives on the
east coast of spain and the other survivor of the mauthausen concentration
camp who lives in argentina
in the book young pregnant woman slowly discovers the real identity of her
neighbour the former nazi and the role he played at the infamous camp in
austria
sanchez writes column for top selling spanish newspaper el pais and has
published eight other books which have been translated into french german
greek portuguese and russian according to her blog
the nadal prize is worth euros dollars it has been awarded
every year since by the barcelona based destino publishing house
last year the prize went to journalist and author maruja torres for her novel
esperadme en el cielo or wait for me in heaven in which the protagonist
meets old friends manolo and terenci in heaven
fighter jets escort us airliner back to portland military
washington jan afp
two fighter jets intercepted an airliner bound for hawaii on wednesday and
escorted it back to portland oregon after passenger caused disturbance
the north american aerospace defense command said
the hawaiian air plane was intercepted at about pm local time gmt
