Saddam Hussein novel hits stores in Japan
By Takanori Isshiki
TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) - Japanese readers looking for a slightly different tale can now curl up with "Get Out of Here, Curse You" -- a novel by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
The book, believed to have been written on the eve of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and titled "Devil's Dance" in its Japanese translation, hit stores around the nation Friday.
Jordan banned the book on the grounds it could damage ties with Iraq, but pirated copies of the tale of an Arab tribesman who defeats foreign invaders became a bestseller in Amman.
The original manuscript was smuggled out of Iraq by one of Saddam Hussein's daughters, Raghad, and a copy given to Japanese journalist and translator Itsuko Hirata.
"The novel is dated to the times of ancient tribal society but the tribal warfare depicted in the novel is strikingly similar to what happened and is happening in the Iraqi war -- totally," Hirata told Reuters before the book's release.
"He (Saddam) knew he was heading into a war he couldn't win, so I think with this book he was trying to make his position clear and send a message to the Iraqi people."
Among the chapters are those titled "The Foreigner Who Sold the Tribes," "Retaliatory Tactics" and "The Burning of the Twin Towers," although Hirata said this did not specifically refer to the World Trade Center buildings attacked on September 11, 2001.
Saddam, now on trial for war crimes, was credited with writing several other novels but Iraqi writers and intellectuals said after his overthrow the books were written by a committee.
Hirata believes the current novel, issued in a cover patterned with violets, was written by Saddam and has a melodic clarity to it that suggests it could be adapted to the stage.
"I really think this book should be made into a musical," she said. "And once this is done, it should play in the heart of his enemy's country, on Broadway."
Koichi Chikaraishi, editor-in-chief at publisher Tokuma Shoten, said they decided to issue the book because it was a historical curiosity.
"People here don't think Saddam is totally bad, as they do in places like America, so there are people who will be interested in hearing his side of the story," he said, adding that he wasn't sure how it would sell.
The book faces formidable competition.
The translation of the latest Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," was also released this week.
TWW'S CRAZY NEWS STORIES
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"Boom" sparks bomb scare in plane
BOSTON, Mass. (Reuters) - The word "boom" found scrawled in the bathroom of a US Airways airplane during a flight from Washington DC to Boston caused a brief bomb scare on Thursday.
Massachusetts state police with bomb-sniffing dogs swept flight 2024 after it landed in Boston's Logan International Airport but found no explosives, said Ann Davis, a spokeswoman at the federal Transportation Security Administration, or TSA.
"The pilot and command called ahead and notified TSA and the Massachusetts state police who met the aircraft and ultimately swept the aircraft using explosive detection canines," she said.
Davis said the writing was found by flight crew while the plane was in the air.
BOSTON, Mass. (Reuters) - The word "boom" found scrawled in the bathroom of a US Airways airplane during a flight from Washington DC to Boston caused a brief bomb scare on Thursday.
Massachusetts state police with bomb-sniffing dogs swept flight 2024 after it landed in Boston's Logan International Airport but found no explosives, said Ann Davis, a spokeswoman at the federal Transportation Security Administration, or TSA.
"The pilot and command called ahead and notified TSA and the Massachusetts state police who met the aircraft and ultimately swept the aircraft using explosive detection canines," she said.
Davis said the writing was found by flight crew while the plane was in the air.
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Smugglers don't have a prayer?
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (Reuters) - The tiny oil-rich sultanate of Brunei has warned smugglers to think again if they believe its enforcement officials relax their vigilance during Friday prayers.
"Chicken wings and ... Indian meat products are the common items that are smuggled," said Abdul Rahman, an official in charge of distributing permits for the import of halal food in the mainly Muslim Southeast Asian nation of about 320,000 people.
"This is because smugglers could make a fast buck by selling the dubious meat at the cost of B$8 per kilo in Brunei as the price in Malaysia is around B$4-B$5," he added.
"This is a big difference considering that the cost of meat products in Brunei is B$12."
Rahman insisted there would be no let-up in surveillance on Fridays, saying religious officials had ruled that those whose job was in the national interest could continue working at times of the day otherwise set aside for prayer.
Halal means lawful, and Islamic law requires halal meat and poultry to be slaughtered according to religious ritual. In Brunei, 15,000 chickens are slaughtered each day.
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (Reuters) - The tiny oil-rich sultanate of Brunei has warned smugglers to think again if they believe its enforcement officials relax their vigilance during Friday prayers.
"Chicken wings and ... Indian meat products are the common items that are smuggled," said Abdul Rahman, an official in charge of distributing permits for the import of halal food in the mainly Muslim Southeast Asian nation of about 320,000 people.
"This is because smugglers could make a fast buck by selling the dubious meat at the cost of B$8 per kilo in Brunei as the price in Malaysia is around B$4-B$5," he added.
"This is a big difference considering that the cost of meat products in Brunei is B$12."
Rahman insisted there would be no let-up in surveillance on Fridays, saying religious officials had ruled that those whose job was in the national interest could continue working at times of the day otherwise set aside for prayer.
Halal means lawful, and Islamic law requires halal meat and poultry to be slaughtered according to religious ritual. In Brunei, 15,000 chickens are slaughtered each day.
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Venezuela stages mock foreign invasion
By Ana Isabel Martinez
PUNTO FIJO, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has for years predicted that a foreign army would attack the South American nation to snatch its vast oil reserves. A simulation conducted this week showed how it might happen.
A naval landing craft made landfall on the shores of Western Falcon state carrying troops and over a dozen camouflaged tanks. The "invading" army then took over the massive Paraguana Refining Complex, a key asset of the world's No. 5 crude exporter.
The "occupation" is part of a military exercise to train troops and communities to repel a foreign invader.
The Chavez government said it is preparing citizens to fight a guerrilla war to repel a possible Iraq-style invasion by U.S. troops. The Bush administration insists the invasion paranoia is nothing more than leftist saber-rattling, but for Chavez supporters the threat is real.
"They've already invaded us, now the invading forces are controlling certain strategic objectives," said Rear Admiral Zahin Quintana, a squadron commander, after disembarking from a warship as part of the exercise. "Now begins the resistance by our troops together with our people."
The tanks began circulating through the streets, and units of mock invading soldiers launched smoke bombs to clear the way. But local residents, organized and trained by military authorities, resisted the assault by blocking roads with rusting cars and burning tires.
"We're willing to go anywhere to defend our homeland," said Rosmery Trujillo, a participant in the operation, told state television. "This country will never again be put under the boot of the North, thanks to our President Chavez."
The simulated attack is part of a military operation called "Operation Patriot 2006" being carried out this week.
PREPARING FOR A FIGHT
Venezuela's government has created community organizations called "Local Defense Councils" that would provide support during a potential invasion by hiding weapons deposits, relaying messages or sabotaging water and power services.
Quintana said the mock attack involved nine warships, three combat planes and four helicopters -- two of which are Russian-made models Chavez started acquiring after the U.S. thwarted his attempts to acquire American technology.
On Friday, the mock invasion force is scheduled to be repelled by Venezuelans trained to defend the nation's strategic assets including oil terminals, fuel filling stations and tanker trucks.
Chavez, a former paratrooper turned populist politician, is locked in a heated war of words with Washington. The State Department describes him as a threat to democracy in the region, and this week said it would no longer sell weapons or military equipment to the South American nation.
Chavez describes the United States as a decadent empire accustomed to having sway in Latin America, and has called Bush everything from "assassin" to "donkey."
Despite U.S. criticism, Chavez is expected to easily win a reelection bid this December as massive social spending and the widely popular anti-American discourse have kept his approval ratings high.
Critics in Venezuela say Chavez is squandering record oil wealth on improvised social programs and creating an artificial conflict with the United States.
But with oil prices surging and anti-American sentiment high, many Venezuelans see the invasion threat as a reality.
"If oil goes to $100 per barrel?" said one high ranking officer. "Who knows? Anything could happen."
By Ana Isabel Martinez
PUNTO FIJO, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has for years predicted that a foreign army would attack the South American nation to snatch its vast oil reserves. A simulation conducted this week showed how it might happen.
A naval landing craft made landfall on the shores of Western Falcon state carrying troops and over a dozen camouflaged tanks. The "invading" army then took over the massive Paraguana Refining Complex, a key asset of the world's No. 5 crude exporter.
The "occupation" is part of a military exercise to train troops and communities to repel a foreign invader.
The Chavez government said it is preparing citizens to fight a guerrilla war to repel a possible Iraq-style invasion by U.S. troops. The Bush administration insists the invasion paranoia is nothing more than leftist saber-rattling, but for Chavez supporters the threat is real.
"They've already invaded us, now the invading forces are controlling certain strategic objectives," said Rear Admiral Zahin Quintana, a squadron commander, after disembarking from a warship as part of the exercise. "Now begins the resistance by our troops together with our people."
The tanks began circulating through the streets, and units of mock invading soldiers launched smoke bombs to clear the way. But local residents, organized and trained by military authorities, resisted the assault by blocking roads with rusting cars and burning tires.
"We're willing to go anywhere to defend our homeland," said Rosmery Trujillo, a participant in the operation, told state television. "This country will never again be put under the boot of the North, thanks to our President Chavez."
The simulated attack is part of a military operation called "Operation Patriot 2006" being carried out this week.
PREPARING FOR A FIGHT
Venezuela's government has created community organizations called "Local Defense Councils" that would provide support during a potential invasion by hiding weapons deposits, relaying messages or sabotaging water and power services.
Quintana said the mock attack involved nine warships, three combat planes and four helicopters -- two of which are Russian-made models Chavez started acquiring after the U.S. thwarted his attempts to acquire American technology.
On Friday, the mock invasion force is scheduled to be repelled by Venezuelans trained to defend the nation's strategic assets including oil terminals, fuel filling stations and tanker trucks.
Chavez, a former paratrooper turned populist politician, is locked in a heated war of words with Washington. The State Department describes him as a threat to democracy in the region, and this week said it would no longer sell weapons or military equipment to the South American nation.
Chavez describes the United States as a decadent empire accustomed to having sway in Latin America, and has called Bush everything from "assassin" to "donkey."
Despite U.S. criticism, Chavez is expected to easily win a reelection bid this December as massive social spending and the widely popular anti-American discourse have kept his approval ratings high.
Critics in Venezuela say Chavez is squandering record oil wealth on improvised social programs and creating an artificial conflict with the United States.
But with oil prices surging and anti-American sentiment high, many Venezuelans see the invasion threat as a reality.
"If oil goes to $100 per barrel?" said one high ranking officer. "Who knows? Anything could happen."
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Nasty Neighbor Gets Anti-Social Order
LONDON, England (AP) - A retired businesswoman accused of vandalizing her neighbors' property and blocking local roads with dead animals and dog feces was served with an order Thursday banning her from engaging in anti-social behavior.
Jeanne Wilding, 57, is accused of clashing with at least 15 individuals and organizations in the idyllic rural hamlet of Bottomley in northeast England.
Prosecutors said Wilding repeatedly and loudly played a choral work "about rape, pillage and the trashing of villages," caused extensive damage to neighbors' vehicles, beamed floodlights into a neighbor's home and tipped oil over his driveway at night.
She also deposited dead animals, rubbish, dog feces, glass and nails on the road, obstructing other homes and communal spaces, they said.
In all, there were more than 250 alleged incidents involving Wilding in less than 16 months.
At Halifax Magistrates' Court, Deputy District Judge Sandra Keen granted Calderdale Council's application to give Wilding an anti-social behavior order, or ASBO.
"It's clear she has little or no appreciation of the effect her behavior has on other people," the judge said.
"If her views are challenged, she responds in a wholly inappropriate manner. She takes a confrontational stance, causing others harassment or distress."
Under the ASBO, Wilding is banned from damaging property, from entering domestic properties without the owners' consent and from spreading trash anywhere outside her property.
She also is banned from playing loud music and from maintaining or installing lighting or closed-circuit TV equipment that covers anywhere outside the boundary of her property.
Wilding also was ordered to pay 75,000 pounds ($135,000) toward the council's costs.
Introduced in 1999 to counter "loutish and unruly conduct," anti-social behavior orders have been used to ban thousands of people, some as young as 10, from associating with certain people or engaging in activities as varied as shouting, swearing, spray painting, playing loud music and walking down certain streets.
Breaching an order is a crime, punishable by up to five years in prison.
LONDON, England (AP) - A retired businesswoman accused of vandalizing her neighbors' property and blocking local roads with dead animals and dog feces was served with an order Thursday banning her from engaging in anti-social behavior.
Jeanne Wilding, 57, is accused of clashing with at least 15 individuals and organizations in the idyllic rural hamlet of Bottomley in northeast England.
Prosecutors said Wilding repeatedly and loudly played a choral work "about rape, pillage and the trashing of villages," caused extensive damage to neighbors' vehicles, beamed floodlights into a neighbor's home and tipped oil over his driveway at night.
She also deposited dead animals, rubbish, dog feces, glass and nails on the road, obstructing other homes and communal spaces, they said.
In all, there were more than 250 alleged incidents involving Wilding in less than 16 months.
At Halifax Magistrates' Court, Deputy District Judge Sandra Keen granted Calderdale Council's application to give Wilding an anti-social behavior order, or ASBO.
"It's clear she has little or no appreciation of the effect her behavior has on other people," the judge said.
"If her views are challenged, she responds in a wholly inappropriate manner. She takes a confrontational stance, causing others harassment or distress."
Under the ASBO, Wilding is banned from damaging property, from entering domestic properties without the owners' consent and from spreading trash anywhere outside her property.
She also is banned from playing loud music and from maintaining or installing lighting or closed-circuit TV equipment that covers anywhere outside the boundary of her property.
Wilding also was ordered to pay 75,000 pounds ($135,000) toward the council's costs.
Introduced in 1999 to counter "loutish and unruly conduct," anti-social behavior orders have been used to ban thousands of people, some as young as 10, from associating with certain people or engaging in activities as varied as shouting, swearing, spray painting, playing loud music and walking down certain streets.
Breaching an order is a crime, punishable by up to five years in prison.
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Portrait of Mao to go under hammer and sickle
BEIJING, China (Reuters) - Mao Zedong, the founder of Communist China, is to fall victim to a distinctly capitalist tradition when his portrait goes up for auction next month.
The original model for the Mao painting that hung above Tiananmen Square, the symbolic heart of the China's Communist revolution, is expected to fetch 1 million to 1.2 million yuan (66,043-79,252 pounds) when it is sold through a Beijing auction house, the China Daily reported on Friday.
But thousands of Internet users expressed their dismay at the auction, the Beijing Morning News said.
"The portrait is very meaningful and should not be for sale, but should be kept in the national museum," was one comment in a chatroom at sohu.com.
The painting, owned by a Chinese American, was done by Mao portrait artist Zhang Zhenshi, who was among more than 30 from across China invited to paint the Great Helmsman to celebrate the first anniversary of the People's Republic in 1950.
Potential buyers will be able to view the portrait from May 31 to June 2, and the bidding will open on June 3, a day before the anniversary of the 1989 military crackdown on student demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, Beijing Huachen Auctions said.
A Chinese journalist spent more than 16 years in prison for throwing paint on a replica of Mao during the Tiananmen demonstrations. He was freed in February.
Despite leading China through a series of radical political movements that are blamed for the deaths of millions, Mao is still revered by many in China and his portrait still hangs over Tiananmen Square.
September marks the 30th anniversary of his death.
BEIJING, China (Reuters) - Mao Zedong, the founder of Communist China, is to fall victim to a distinctly capitalist tradition when his portrait goes up for auction next month.
The original model for the Mao painting that hung above Tiananmen Square, the symbolic heart of the China's Communist revolution, is expected to fetch 1 million to 1.2 million yuan (66,043-79,252 pounds) when it is sold through a Beijing auction house, the China Daily reported on Friday.
But thousands of Internet users expressed their dismay at the auction, the Beijing Morning News said.
"The portrait is very meaningful and should not be for sale, but should be kept in the national museum," was one comment in a chatroom at sohu.com.
The painting, owned by a Chinese American, was done by Mao portrait artist Zhang Zhenshi, who was among more than 30 from across China invited to paint the Great Helmsman to celebrate the first anniversary of the People's Republic in 1950.
Potential buyers will be able to view the portrait from May 31 to June 2, and the bidding will open on June 3, a day before the anniversary of the 1989 military crackdown on student demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, Beijing Huachen Auctions said.
A Chinese journalist spent more than 16 years in prison for throwing paint on a replica of Mao during the Tiananmen demonstrations. He was freed in February.
Despite leading China through a series of radical political movements that are blamed for the deaths of millions, Mao is still revered by many in China and his portrait still hangs over Tiananmen Square.
September marks the 30th anniversary of his death.
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Student linked to tainted muffins
By GARY REAVES / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - News 8 has confirmed that a graduating senior at Bishop Lynch High School in Dallas is considered a suspect in this week's tainted muffin incident at Lake Highland High School.
Surveillance video released by the FBI shows the spiked muffins being delivered to Lake Highland High in northeast Dallas on Tuesday.
Nineteen school staffers got sick after eating them.
Dallas health officials said the tainted treats were spiked with marijuana.
Sources told News 8 that school officials met with the FBI and Dallas police Friday after learning last night that a student from Bishop Lynch may have been involved in the incident.
That student was told Friday he is being suspended and will not graduate with his class.
The FBI admitted going to Bishop Lynch High School and other area schools on Friday, but the agency declined to provide further details.
Food tampering is a crime that could lead to a 10-year prison sentence.
By GARY REAVES / WFAA ABC 8
DALLAS, Texas - News 8 has confirmed that a graduating senior at Bishop Lynch High School in Dallas is considered a suspect in this week's tainted muffin incident at Lake Highland High School.
Surveillance video released by the FBI shows the spiked muffins being delivered to Lake Highland High in northeast Dallas on Tuesday.
Nineteen school staffers got sick after eating them.
Dallas health officials said the tainted treats were spiked with marijuana.
Sources told News 8 that school officials met with the FBI and Dallas police Friday after learning last night that a student from Bishop Lynch may have been involved in the incident.
That student was told Friday he is being suspended and will not graduate with his class.
The FBI admitted going to Bishop Lynch High School and other area schools on Friday, but the agency declined to provide further details.
Food tampering is a crime that could lead to a 10-year prison sentence.
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Man dies after being handcuffed
DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - A man died early Saturday after police put handcuffs on him. The Dallas County Medical Examiner's office was trying to determine what prompted the fatal incident.
Dallas police said it started as a medical call to the Forest Estate Apartments in the 9600 block of Chimney Hill Lane shortly after 2 a.m.
Paramedics summoned police for their own safety when the man started acting violently.
"When Dallas officers get there, the man is still on the floor, screaming and hollering, waving his arms," said police spokesman Lt. Andy Paris. "They handcuff him for their safety, put him on a gurney and bring him down to the ambulance."
After the man was on the gurney, police said his health deteriorated, and paramedics started life-saving measures.
He was rushed to Medical City Dallas Hospital, where he died.
Police said the unidentified man was so violent that it took four people to put the handcuffs on him.
WFAA-TV photojournalist Robert Flagg contributed to this report.
DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - A man died early Saturday after police put handcuffs on him. The Dallas County Medical Examiner's office was trying to determine what prompted the fatal incident.
Dallas police said it started as a medical call to the Forest Estate Apartments in the 9600 block of Chimney Hill Lane shortly after 2 a.m.
Paramedics summoned police for their own safety when the man started acting violently.
"When Dallas officers get there, the man is still on the floor, screaming and hollering, waving his arms," said police spokesman Lt. Andy Paris. "They handcuff him for their safety, put him on a gurney and bring him down to the ambulance."
After the man was on the gurney, police said his health deteriorated, and paramedics started life-saving measures.
He was rushed to Medical City Dallas Hospital, where he died.
Police said the unidentified man was so violent that it took four people to put the handcuffs on him.
WFAA-TV photojournalist Robert Flagg contributed to this report.
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Police jail sex offender living at daycare center
By JIM DOUGLAS / WFAA ABC 8
FOREST HILL, Texas - A registered sex offender living at a residential daycare center has been jailed, while detectives investigate the possible sexual assault of a baby.
State officials say they didn't know the building was a daycare center, even though the house on Cobblestone Drive is registered with the state, as is the parolee.
The daycare owner, Chandra Harris, said she invited WFAA inside to prove she has nothing to hide, including her husband's past.
"We cooperated with everybody. We're still cooperating with everybody," she said.
Court records show Harris' husband, Lucious, served nearly 10-years for the rape of a 17-year-old woman.
He paroled out in January and moved into this Forest Hill home in March.
Harris says his parole officer knew she was running a daycare center and that he was living there.
"She [the parole officer] has been there several times to the house," she added.
A spokeswoman for the Texas prison system says the parole officer did not know the home was also a daycare.
And Harris admits she didn't tell state inspectors a registered sex offender had moved in.
"I really can't say. I really don't know. I take full blame for that," she says.
It might never have come to light if the mother of a one-year-old had not noticed blood in her daughter's diaper several hours after coming home from the daycare.
The resulting investigation landed Lucious Harris back in jail, not as a suspect, but for violating parole by being at a daycare center.
"He was never there. He was never around her."
A daycare worker says Lucious Harris could not have molested the baby.
And she says the child appeared fine during a late afternoon diaper change.
Detectives might never know what exactly happened, but Harris has lost her business, and maybe her husband again.
"We were due to renew our vows tomorrow. My daughter is graduating Wednesday. We go to church faithfully. This has turned our lives upside down," she says.
State officials say there is currently no program to cross reference daycare centers with registered sex offenders.
Police stress Lucious Harris is not a suspect, that they still have a lot of people to question, and almost no evidence to go on.
By JIM DOUGLAS / WFAA ABC 8
FOREST HILL, Texas - A registered sex offender living at a residential daycare center has been jailed, while detectives investigate the possible sexual assault of a baby.
State officials say they didn't know the building was a daycare center, even though the house on Cobblestone Drive is registered with the state, as is the parolee.
The daycare owner, Chandra Harris, said she invited WFAA inside to prove she has nothing to hide, including her husband's past.
"We cooperated with everybody. We're still cooperating with everybody," she said.
Court records show Harris' husband, Lucious, served nearly 10-years for the rape of a 17-year-old woman.
He paroled out in January and moved into this Forest Hill home in March.
Harris says his parole officer knew she was running a daycare center and that he was living there.
"She [the parole officer] has been there several times to the house," she added.
A spokeswoman for the Texas prison system says the parole officer did not know the home was also a daycare.
And Harris admits she didn't tell state inspectors a registered sex offender had moved in.
"I really can't say. I really don't know. I take full blame for that," she says.
It might never have come to light if the mother of a one-year-old had not noticed blood in her daughter's diaper several hours after coming home from the daycare.
The resulting investigation landed Lucious Harris back in jail, not as a suspect, but for violating parole by being at a daycare center.
"He was never there. He was never around her."
A daycare worker says Lucious Harris could not have molested the baby.
And she says the child appeared fine during a late afternoon diaper change.
Detectives might never know what exactly happened, but Harris has lost her business, and maybe her husband again.
"We were due to renew our vows tomorrow. My daughter is graduating Wednesday. We go to church faithfully. This has turned our lives upside down," she says.
State officials say there is currently no program to cross reference daycare centers with registered sex offenders.
Police stress Lucious Harris is not a suspect, that they still have a lot of people to question, and almost no evidence to go on.
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Car kills jogger on White Rock trail
DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - A woman suspected of driving while intoxicated struck and killed a man who was out for an evening walk Friday night on the northeast side of White Rock Lake.
The man was walking along the shoulder in the 400 block of East Lawther Drive at about 6:20 p.m. when the woman, driving north, struck him.
Bicyclist Larry Duplar tried to help the 62-year-old victim. "It didn't seem like there was anything I could do," he said. "I tried to get his airway cleared, but it seemed like he was in pretty bad shape."
The unidentified man was dead when police arrived.
The woman driver, age 60, continued traveling north, left the roadway and hit several wooden posts along the road before careening into the southbound lanes and hitting more posts on the opposite side of the road.
The woman, whose name was not available, eventually lost control of the car, causing it to flip and land upside down. Her car nearly ended up in White Rock Lake.
She suffered cuts to the head, face and arms and was taken to Baylor University Medical Center, where she was in stable condition.
"We are going to be charging her with intoxication manslaughter," said Dallas police spokesman Rick Watson. "We know that that is a contributing factor."
Police said the woman's blood alcohol level was tested at the hospital and was substantially over the legal limit of 0.08. She also faces possible charges of failing to stop and render aid.
Witnesses said the victim was a regular on the trail, always trying to take extra time to exercise.
"From what I understand, he's been out here quite a bit; minding his own business, listening to his iPod," Duplar said. "He had his book and his knapsack, just enjoying the day."
WFAA-TV reporter Dan Ronan and Dallas Morning News writer Jon Nielsen contributed to this report.
DALLAS, Texas (WFAA ABC 8) - A woman suspected of driving while intoxicated struck and killed a man who was out for an evening walk Friday night on the northeast side of White Rock Lake.
The man was walking along the shoulder in the 400 block of East Lawther Drive at about 6:20 p.m. when the woman, driving north, struck him.
Bicyclist Larry Duplar tried to help the 62-year-old victim. "It didn't seem like there was anything I could do," he said. "I tried to get his airway cleared, but it seemed like he was in pretty bad shape."
The unidentified man was dead when police arrived.
The woman driver, age 60, continued traveling north, left the roadway and hit several wooden posts along the road before careening into the southbound lanes and hitting more posts on the opposite side of the road.
The woman, whose name was not available, eventually lost control of the car, causing it to flip and land upside down. Her car nearly ended up in White Rock Lake.
She suffered cuts to the head, face and arms and was taken to Baylor University Medical Center, where she was in stable condition.
"We are going to be charging her with intoxication manslaughter," said Dallas police spokesman Rick Watson. "We know that that is a contributing factor."
Police said the woman's blood alcohol level was tested at the hospital and was substantially over the legal limit of 0.08. She also faces possible charges of failing to stop and render aid.
Witnesses said the victim was a regular on the trail, always trying to take extra time to exercise.
"From what I understand, he's been out here quite a bit; minding his own business, listening to his iPod," Duplar said. "He had his book and his knapsack, just enjoying the day."
WFAA-TV reporter Dan Ronan and Dallas Morning News writer Jon Nielsen contributed to this report.
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Here's your grenade -- you want fries with that?
YORK, England (Reuters) - Workers at a British factory making French fries were evacuated two days running last week after bomb parts turned up in potatoes imported from France and Belgium, the site of battles in World War One and Two.
The Scarborough plant, owned by Canada's McCain Foods, the world's largest producer of frozen fries, was emptied Friday after a worker spotted a shell tip among the potatoes as they were being cleaned for slicing.
"The police were called and the bomb squad advised a 100 meter exclusion zone should be set up," said a McCain spokesman.
Saturday, an entire hand grenade was discovered in the potatoes and the plant in northern England was evacuated again.
"The army took the device away and blew it up in a controlled explosion in a field nearby," a spokeswoman for the North Yorkshire police said.
The Scarborough plant was opened in 1969 and uses 1,400 tons of potatoes every week. Production is back to normal.
McCain's Whittlesey plant near Peterborough in eastern England has also been evacuated several times this year after World War Two ordnance was found in batches of potatoes.
"Occasionally during the use of imported potatoes from Belgium and northern France, ordnance debris from the First and Second World War is found," McCain said in a statement.
YORK, England (Reuters) - Workers at a British factory making French fries were evacuated two days running last week after bomb parts turned up in potatoes imported from France and Belgium, the site of battles in World War One and Two.
The Scarborough plant, owned by Canada's McCain Foods, the world's largest producer of frozen fries, was emptied Friday after a worker spotted a shell tip among the potatoes as they were being cleaned for slicing.
"The police were called and the bomb squad advised a 100 meter exclusion zone should be set up," said a McCain spokesman.
Saturday, an entire hand grenade was discovered in the potatoes and the plant in northern England was evacuated again.
"The army took the device away and blew it up in a controlled explosion in a field nearby," a spokeswoman for the North Yorkshire police said.
The Scarborough plant was opened in 1969 and uses 1,400 tons of potatoes every week. Production is back to normal.
McCain's Whittlesey plant near Peterborough in eastern England has also been evacuated several times this year after World War Two ordnance was found in batches of potatoes.
"Occasionally during the use of imported potatoes from Belgium and northern France, ordnance debris from the First and Second World War is found," McCain said in a statement.
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TexasStooge
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India on alert for suicides after stocks slide
MUMBAI, India (Reuters) - Indian police are watching out for possible suicides by brokers and investors after a steep market slide wiped out billions of dollars in share values, officials said Monday.
Policemen were keeping a watch near lakes and canals, possible places where people in distress could head to kill themselves. They said rescue teams were on alert.
"A financial crisis can trigger suicides. We are just trying to prevent them. Till now, no such cases have been reported," said R.K. Patel, a police official in the western city of Ahmedabad.
India's Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd., which had a market value of $657 billion last week after falling 10 percent in the previous two sessions, slid as much as another 10 percent in early trade Monday following sales of stocks held by brokers as security on behalf of their clients.
"Gold has turned into brass. We are finished," said S.S. Gupta, a middle-aged Mumbai broker who said he had lost millions of rupees in two hours of trading Monday morning.
Ahmedabad is considered particularly vulnerable to stock market volatility.
With over five million retail investors, the city is one of India's main trading hubs where people have put in millions of dollars of their disposable income into the stock market.
"I borrowed money to trade in the market. I lost it all in the past two days," said 37-year-old Sanjay Joshi, a small investor. "I don't know how will I repay my loans."
In the 1990s, a stock market meltdown led to several bankrupt brokers and small investors committing suicide across India, some of them drowning in rivers or throwing themselves off highrises.
Analysts described the market slide -- which has been as much as 22.4 percent from an all-time high of 12,671.11 points on May 11 -- as a correction and said order should return soon.
"It seems overdone and the market should stabilize during the second half of this week," said Rajat Jain, Chief Investment Officer, Principal Asset Management Company Pvt Ltd.
MUMBAI, India (Reuters) - Indian police are watching out for possible suicides by brokers and investors after a steep market slide wiped out billions of dollars in share values, officials said Monday.
Policemen were keeping a watch near lakes and canals, possible places where people in distress could head to kill themselves. They said rescue teams were on alert.
"A financial crisis can trigger suicides. We are just trying to prevent them. Till now, no such cases have been reported," said R.K. Patel, a police official in the western city of Ahmedabad.
India's Bombay Stock Exchange Ltd., which had a market value of $657 billion last week after falling 10 percent in the previous two sessions, slid as much as another 10 percent in early trade Monday following sales of stocks held by brokers as security on behalf of their clients.
"Gold has turned into brass. We are finished," said S.S. Gupta, a middle-aged Mumbai broker who said he had lost millions of rupees in two hours of trading Monday morning.
Ahmedabad is considered particularly vulnerable to stock market volatility.
With over five million retail investors, the city is one of India's main trading hubs where people have put in millions of dollars of their disposable income into the stock market.
"I borrowed money to trade in the market. I lost it all in the past two days," said 37-year-old Sanjay Joshi, a small investor. "I don't know how will I repay my loans."
In the 1990s, a stock market meltdown led to several bankrupt brokers and small investors committing suicide across India, some of them drowning in rivers or throwing themselves off highrises.
Analysts described the market slide -- which has been as much as 22.4 percent from an all-time high of 12,671.11 points on May 11 -- as a correction and said order should return soon.
"It seems overdone and the market should stabilize during the second half of this week," said Rajat Jain, Chief Investment Officer, Principal Asset Management Company Pvt Ltd.
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TexasStooge
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Mix-up brands innocent citizens as criminals
LONDON, England (Reuters) - The British government, already under pressure over a series of blunders in its immigration and prison services, has confirmed it wrongly branded around 1,500 innocent people as criminals due to a computer mix-up.
It said the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB), which carries out checks on people who have applied for jobs working with children or vulnerable adults, had confused the innocent people with convicted criminals because they had similar or identical names.
The names were stored on a police database.
The case is the latest in a series of embarrassments for British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his beleaguered Home Office (interior ministry), which oversees the CRB.
"We make no apology for erring on the side of caution. We are talking about the protection of children and vulnerable adults," a Home Office spokesman said.
Last month, the Home Office admitted it had allowed more than 1,000 foreign prisoners to walk free from British jails when they should have been considered for deportation.
Home Secretary Charles Clarke was sacked in a reshuffle shortly after the fiasco and has been replaced by John Reid.
The ministry is also looking into allegations a handful of illegal immigrants worked for several years as cleaners at the offices of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, also overseen by the Home Office.
And Saturday the ministry said it had suspended an immigration officer from his job after a newspaper alleged he offered to help an 18-year-old Zimbabwean woman with her asylum application in exchange for sex.
Blair, coming under increasing pressure to name a date for his departure after nine years in office, has vowed to sort the problems out.
The Home Office described the CRB incidents as "mismatches" rather than mistakes, and defended the bureau's actions.
"These cases are clearly regrettable, but represent a tiny proportion of cases -- 0.03 percent of the nine million disclosures issued by the CRB since it began operating in March 2002," the spokesman said.
_____________________________________________________________
Could it be that someone was eating too much Hamwinkies?
Image courtesy of E!'s "The Soup"
LONDON, England (Reuters) - The British government, already under pressure over a series of blunders in its immigration and prison services, has confirmed it wrongly branded around 1,500 innocent people as criminals due to a computer mix-up.
It said the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB), which carries out checks on people who have applied for jobs working with children or vulnerable adults, had confused the innocent people with convicted criminals because they had similar or identical names.
The names were stored on a police database.
The case is the latest in a series of embarrassments for British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his beleaguered Home Office (interior ministry), which oversees the CRB.
"We make no apology for erring on the side of caution. We are talking about the protection of children and vulnerable adults," a Home Office spokesman said.
Last month, the Home Office admitted it had allowed more than 1,000 foreign prisoners to walk free from British jails when they should have been considered for deportation.
Home Secretary Charles Clarke was sacked in a reshuffle shortly after the fiasco and has been replaced by John Reid.
The ministry is also looking into allegations a handful of illegal immigrants worked for several years as cleaners at the offices of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, also overseen by the Home Office.
And Saturday the ministry said it had suspended an immigration officer from his job after a newspaper alleged he offered to help an 18-year-old Zimbabwean woman with her asylum application in exchange for sex.
Blair, coming under increasing pressure to name a date for his departure after nine years in office, has vowed to sort the problems out.
The Home Office described the CRB incidents as "mismatches" rather than mistakes, and defended the bureau's actions.
"These cases are clearly regrettable, but represent a tiny proportion of cases -- 0.03 percent of the nine million disclosures issued by the CRB since it began operating in March 2002," the spokesman said.
_____________________________________________________________
Could it be that someone was eating too much Hamwinkies?
Image courtesy of E!'s "The Soup"
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Madonna crucifies herself in tour opener
By Dean Goodman
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Reuters) - Madonna launched her first world tour in two years Sunday, delighting an enthusiastic Los Angeles crowd by hanging herself from a cross, insulting President George W. Bush, and dusting off some of the sexy moves that have sustained her career for more than 20 years.
The "Confessions" tour will keep her on the road for two months in North America, and then resume on July 30 in Wales for a five-week stadium swing through eight European cities. Shows in Japan are also on tap for mid-September.
The 47-year-old dance diva spent two hours churning out most of the tunes from her new album, "Confessions on a Dancefloor," as well as a few old hits such as "Like a Virgin," "Ray of Light" and "Lucky Star."
The audience at the Los Angeles Forum included Madonna's Kabbalah guru Rabbi Yehuda Berg, socialite Nicole Richie, and gay icon Rosie O'Donnell, who upgraded herself to a premium seat on the floor and left her spouse alone in the stands.
The meticulously choreographed Vegas-style routine began 50 minutes late when a giant mirror ball was lowered from the ceiling to the end of a catwalk stretching deep into the floor. Out popped Madonna, in S&M-styled riding gear and whip, singing the new tune "Future Lovers" as four bare-breasted male dancers writhed around with ball gags in their mouths.
MADONNA, HITLER & BUSH
Later on, she donned a crown of thorns and suspended herself from a giant mirrored cross to deliver the ballad "Live to Tell." Video screens showed images of third-world poverty and reeled off grim statistics.
During one of her half-dozen costume changes, another video montage juxtaposed images of Bush, members of his administration and British Prime Minister Tony Blair with footage of Adolf Hitler, Osama bin Laden, and Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe. Midway through the new song "I Love New York," she deviated from the script and made a crude reference to Bush and oral sex.
Beyond that, she barely spoke to the audience, largely focusing on keeping control of a busy nightclub-style stage that boasted 15 dancers, four musicians and three backing vocalists. For the most part, she joined in the tricky choreography, her voice evidently not affected by the aerobic workout. She did pause for a few songs during which she appeared to play a shiny Gibson Les Paul guitar.
A disco segment near the end, where she dressed in a "Saturday Night Fever"-style white suit to perform "Music" thrilled the crowd, as did the "Like a Virgin" routine, when she climbed aboard a carousel-style black leather saddle.
There was no encore, and the lights came up as soon as she had completed a medley of "Lucky Star" and latest hit single "Hung Up" while sporting an illuminated white cape with "Dancing Queen" embroidered on the back.
Billboard magazine has forecast ticket sales could reach the $200 million range, making it the most successful tour by a female artist. Cher holds the record with $192.5 million from 273 shows on a "farewell" world tour that began in June 2002 and lasted almost three years, according to Billboard.
Madonna, on the other hand, is scheduled to play fewer than 60 dates on this tour. Similarly, her $125 million-grossing Re-Invention tour in 2004 and the $75 million Drowned trek in 2001 were also relatively brief.
What catapults her to the top of the leagues is her ticket price, topping out at $380 (including Ticketmaster fees) in most U.S. venues. However, it did not stop her from adding dates to accommodate demand.
By Dean Goodman
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Reuters) - Madonna launched her first world tour in two years Sunday, delighting an enthusiastic Los Angeles crowd by hanging herself from a cross, insulting President George W. Bush, and dusting off some of the sexy moves that have sustained her career for more than 20 years.
The "Confessions" tour will keep her on the road for two months in North America, and then resume on July 30 in Wales for a five-week stadium swing through eight European cities. Shows in Japan are also on tap for mid-September.
The 47-year-old dance diva spent two hours churning out most of the tunes from her new album, "Confessions on a Dancefloor," as well as a few old hits such as "Like a Virgin," "Ray of Light" and "Lucky Star."
The audience at the Los Angeles Forum included Madonna's Kabbalah guru Rabbi Yehuda Berg, socialite Nicole Richie, and gay icon Rosie O'Donnell, who upgraded herself to a premium seat on the floor and left her spouse alone in the stands.
The meticulously choreographed Vegas-style routine began 50 minutes late when a giant mirror ball was lowered from the ceiling to the end of a catwalk stretching deep into the floor. Out popped Madonna, in S&M-styled riding gear and whip, singing the new tune "Future Lovers" as four bare-breasted male dancers writhed around with ball gags in their mouths.
MADONNA, HITLER & BUSH
Later on, she donned a crown of thorns and suspended herself from a giant mirrored cross to deliver the ballad "Live to Tell." Video screens showed images of third-world poverty and reeled off grim statistics.
During one of her half-dozen costume changes, another video montage juxtaposed images of Bush, members of his administration and British Prime Minister Tony Blair with footage of Adolf Hitler, Osama bin Laden, and Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe. Midway through the new song "I Love New York," she deviated from the script and made a crude reference to Bush and oral sex.
Beyond that, she barely spoke to the audience, largely focusing on keeping control of a busy nightclub-style stage that boasted 15 dancers, four musicians and three backing vocalists. For the most part, she joined in the tricky choreography, her voice evidently not affected by the aerobic workout. She did pause for a few songs during which she appeared to play a shiny Gibson Les Paul guitar.
A disco segment near the end, where she dressed in a "Saturday Night Fever"-style white suit to perform "Music" thrilled the crowd, as did the "Like a Virgin" routine, when she climbed aboard a carousel-style black leather saddle.
There was no encore, and the lights came up as soon as she had completed a medley of "Lucky Star" and latest hit single "Hung Up" while sporting an illuminated white cape with "Dancing Queen" embroidered on the back.
Billboard magazine has forecast ticket sales could reach the $200 million range, making it the most successful tour by a female artist. Cher holds the record with $192.5 million from 273 shows on a "farewell" world tour that began in June 2002 and lasted almost three years, according to Billboard.
Madonna, on the other hand, is scheduled to play fewer than 60 dates on this tour. Similarly, her $125 million-grossing Re-Invention tour in 2004 and the $75 million Drowned trek in 2001 were also relatively brief.
What catapults her to the top of the leagues is her ticket price, topping out at $380 (including Ticketmaster fees) in most U.S. venues. However, it did not stop her from adding dates to accommodate demand.
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TexasStooge
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It's not over until the disgraced president sings
By Michael Conlon
CHICAGO, Ill. (Reuters) - A dozen years after his death and more than three decades after he left the White House in disgrace, Richard Nixon is alive as never before in the grand opera world, which can't seem to get enough of the him.
"Nixon in China," the John Adams' opera first staged in 1987, is in the midst of a new wave of popularity and performances, the latest being a triumphal turn on the stage of the Chicago Opera Theater where it opened May 19.
Adams' seductive yet complex and minimalist melodies, as well as librettist Alice Goodman's poetry turn Nixon's 1972 breakthrough visit to China into a timeless tour of human nature.
Here again are Nixon, his wife Pat, Henry Kissinger, Chairman Mao Tse-tung, his powerful wife, Chiang Ch'ing, and foreign minister Chou En-lai, facing life's sunset and their own banalities even at the height of power.
In what opera does best, the aggregate soars far beyond the parts and personalities, and even the China visit itself.
That is why it continues to endure and will likely be coming to life on stages 50 or 100 years from now, believes Brian Dickie, general manager of the Chicago Opera Theater.
"These are universal, timeless characters," he said in an interview. "They happen to be Nixon and Mao but throughout human history there have been similar types of people."
Its anchor in history should not cause it to be dated or make it incomprehensible for future generations, he said, and if anything it might be updated in years to come to morph the characters into more contemporaneous political figures of the future.
One thing is certain. The opera has enjoyed a remarkable exposure in recent times. The current production's sets, costumes and other assets were done in association with several other U.S. companies, principally the Opera Theater of St. Louis which has already staged it.
'TEA PARTY IN SUBURBIA'
Other venues where it has or will be seen are the Portland Opera in Oregon, the Houston Grand Opera, Opera Colorado and the Minnesota Opera as well as companies in San Francisco and Cincinnati, Dickie said.
The English National Opera will mount Nixon in June and July.
The current Chicago offering, which Chicago Tribune critic John von Rhein called "one production all opera fans should see," features banks of television monitors which replay actual videos from the 1972 meeting.
It was an occasion that opened doors between anti-communist Nixon and a powerful Chinese leadership which had been estranged from the United States for nearly a quarter century.
Brought to the human level, the opera depicts something that is "like a tea party in suburbia," Dickie says in the program notes.
Enshrining contemporary figures into opera is trendy just now.
Chicago's Lyric Opera plans to stage another work by Adams, "Dr. Atomic," about Robert Oppenheimer, who helped develop the atomic bomb.
And the English National Opera later this year will offer a new production based on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, with Asian beats and rap, and the title role in the hands of an Irish-Indian nightclub master of ceremonies.
Dickie joked that he doubts future generations will be seeing an opera called "Bush in Iraq," though in the rarified world of opera, anything is possible.
By Michael Conlon
CHICAGO, Ill. (Reuters) - A dozen years after his death and more than three decades after he left the White House in disgrace, Richard Nixon is alive as never before in the grand opera world, which can't seem to get enough of the him.
"Nixon in China," the John Adams' opera first staged in 1987, is in the midst of a new wave of popularity and performances, the latest being a triumphal turn on the stage of the Chicago Opera Theater where it opened May 19.
Adams' seductive yet complex and minimalist melodies, as well as librettist Alice Goodman's poetry turn Nixon's 1972 breakthrough visit to China into a timeless tour of human nature.
Here again are Nixon, his wife Pat, Henry Kissinger, Chairman Mao Tse-tung, his powerful wife, Chiang Ch'ing, and foreign minister Chou En-lai, facing life's sunset and their own banalities even at the height of power.
In what opera does best, the aggregate soars far beyond the parts and personalities, and even the China visit itself.
That is why it continues to endure and will likely be coming to life on stages 50 or 100 years from now, believes Brian Dickie, general manager of the Chicago Opera Theater.
"These are universal, timeless characters," he said in an interview. "They happen to be Nixon and Mao but throughout human history there have been similar types of people."
Its anchor in history should not cause it to be dated or make it incomprehensible for future generations, he said, and if anything it might be updated in years to come to morph the characters into more contemporaneous political figures of the future.
One thing is certain. The opera has enjoyed a remarkable exposure in recent times. The current production's sets, costumes and other assets were done in association with several other U.S. companies, principally the Opera Theater of St. Louis which has already staged it.
'TEA PARTY IN SUBURBIA'
Other venues where it has or will be seen are the Portland Opera in Oregon, the Houston Grand Opera, Opera Colorado and the Minnesota Opera as well as companies in San Francisco and Cincinnati, Dickie said.
The English National Opera will mount Nixon in June and July.
The current Chicago offering, which Chicago Tribune critic John von Rhein called "one production all opera fans should see," features banks of television monitors which replay actual videos from the 1972 meeting.
It was an occasion that opened doors between anti-communist Nixon and a powerful Chinese leadership which had been estranged from the United States for nearly a quarter century.
Brought to the human level, the opera depicts something that is "like a tea party in suburbia," Dickie says in the program notes.
Enshrining contemporary figures into opera is trendy just now.
Chicago's Lyric Opera plans to stage another work by Adams, "Dr. Atomic," about Robert Oppenheimer, who helped develop the atomic bomb.
And the English National Opera later this year will offer a new production based on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, with Asian beats and rap, and the title role in the hands of an Irish-Indian nightclub master of ceremonies.
Dickie joked that he doubts future generations will be seeing an opera called "Bush in Iraq," though in the rarified world of opera, anything is possible.
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TexasStooge
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Escaped prisoner found after nearly 38 years
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (Reuters) - A man on the run for nearly 38 years since escaping from a California prison has been arrested in Oklahoma, authorities said on Friday.
Michael Smith, who escaped from Correctional Training Facility in Soledad on June 7, 1968, was arrested on Thursday, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said.
Smith escaped while serving the third year of a five-year-to-life sentence for first-degree robbery. His case was reopened in December 2003 and a special agent tracked him down in Sapulpa, Oklahoma.
Smith is in jail in Oklahoma awaiting an extradition hearing, California prison officials said in a statement.
_____________________________________________________________
This prisoner is on the run for almost 40 years. How can anyone miss him?
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (Reuters) - A man on the run for nearly 38 years since escaping from a California prison has been arrested in Oklahoma, authorities said on Friday.
Michael Smith, who escaped from Correctional Training Facility in Soledad on June 7, 1968, was arrested on Thursday, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said.
Smith escaped while serving the third year of a five-year-to-life sentence for first-degree robbery. His case was reopened in December 2003 and a special agent tracked him down in Sapulpa, Oklahoma.
Smith is in jail in Oklahoma awaiting an extradition hearing, California prison officials said in a statement.
_____________________________________________________________
This prisoner is on the run for almost 40 years. How can anyone miss him?
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This must be why they call it a cell block
By Marcos de Moura e Souza
SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) - Family visits in Sao Paulo prisons only take place once a week but jailed Brazilian gangsters chat on their contraband cell phones every day.
Smuggled cell phones are used to keep in contact with families but also to direct criminal operations outside the penitentiary walls -- such as the gangster offensive unleashed in Sao Paulo in the past week.
Godofredo Bittencourt, chief of the anti-organized crime police unit, said the mobile phone has become "deadlier than the gun" in Brazilian prisons.
The wives of two members of the First Command of the Capital (PCC) criminal gang said they had easy telephone contact with their imprisoned husbands until a few days ago.
"Normally they call, a number appears and we know it's from the inside," said one of the women, a 32-year-old, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity.
Her husband has spent 12 years behind bars for robbery and murder. She and the other woman, 18, who has the photo of her jailed husband on her mobile phone screen, visit their spouses weekly.
"How often do I speak to him? Every day," she said.
The prison is a maximum-security penitentiary and cell phones are banned.
But PCC leaders in prison used mobile phones to give the orders for a wave of attacks in Sao Paulo city and state in which about 150 people have been killed since last Friday.
Police said the gang ordered the attacks in retaliation for the transfer of jailed gang leaders and members to a remote high-security prison. Related uprisings broke out in dozens of prisons across the state to demand better conditions.
PRISONERS DON'T CHARGE
Among the rules imposed by the PCC in Sao Paulo state prisons is one that regulates communications. A prisoner who has a cell phone can never charge another for the phone use.
Sao Paulo state Penitentiary Administration Secretary Nagashi Furukawa acknowledged this week that the state has problems controlling the flow of cellular phones into prisons.
Phones are delivered to prisoners by visiting relatives, corrupt prison officials or inside service trucks.
Wednesday, the authorities ordered mobile phone operating companies to cut the signal in six state prisons.
According to the Pastoral Carceraria human rights group, the PCC controls practically all the 140 penitentiaries in Brazil's biggest state.
The PCC watches over low-income families of its members, the two women said.
"They give medicines to those who need medicines. Many things that people need and the government doesn't do, they do. They even pay for funerals," said the younger woman, whose husband is serving a 13-year sentence for robbery and murder.
It also helped out with food baskets and provided buses to take relatives to prison visits, she said.
They said the PCC wanted to improve general prison conditions when it ordered the attacks.
"It doesn't want things to get worse, doesn't want turmoil or the end of the world," the younger woman said.
By Marcos de Moura e Souza
SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) - Family visits in Sao Paulo prisons only take place once a week but jailed Brazilian gangsters chat on their contraband cell phones every day.
Smuggled cell phones are used to keep in contact with families but also to direct criminal operations outside the penitentiary walls -- such as the gangster offensive unleashed in Sao Paulo in the past week.
Godofredo Bittencourt, chief of the anti-organized crime police unit, said the mobile phone has become "deadlier than the gun" in Brazilian prisons.
The wives of two members of the First Command of the Capital (PCC) criminal gang said they had easy telephone contact with their imprisoned husbands until a few days ago.
"Normally they call, a number appears and we know it's from the inside," said one of the women, a 32-year-old, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity.
Her husband has spent 12 years behind bars for robbery and murder. She and the other woman, 18, who has the photo of her jailed husband on her mobile phone screen, visit their spouses weekly.
"How often do I speak to him? Every day," she said.
The prison is a maximum-security penitentiary and cell phones are banned.
But PCC leaders in prison used mobile phones to give the orders for a wave of attacks in Sao Paulo city and state in which about 150 people have been killed since last Friday.
Police said the gang ordered the attacks in retaliation for the transfer of jailed gang leaders and members to a remote high-security prison. Related uprisings broke out in dozens of prisons across the state to demand better conditions.
PRISONERS DON'T CHARGE
Among the rules imposed by the PCC in Sao Paulo state prisons is one that regulates communications. A prisoner who has a cell phone can never charge another for the phone use.
Sao Paulo state Penitentiary Administration Secretary Nagashi Furukawa acknowledged this week that the state has problems controlling the flow of cellular phones into prisons.
Phones are delivered to prisoners by visiting relatives, corrupt prison officials or inside service trucks.
Wednesday, the authorities ordered mobile phone operating companies to cut the signal in six state prisons.
According to the Pastoral Carceraria human rights group, the PCC controls practically all the 140 penitentiaries in Brazil's biggest state.
The PCC watches over low-income families of its members, the two women said.
"They give medicines to those who need medicines. Many things that people need and the government doesn't do, they do. They even pay for funerals," said the younger woman, whose husband is serving a 13-year sentence for robbery and murder.
It also helped out with food baskets and provided buses to take relatives to prison visits, she said.
They said the PCC wanted to improve general prison conditions when it ordered the attacks.
"It doesn't want things to get worse, doesn't want turmoil or the end of the world," the younger woman said.
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TexasStooge
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Malfunction Cuts Gas Price to 29 Cents
HAMMOND, Ind. (AP) - When a pump at a gas station malfunctioned, opportunistic motorists were able to buy gas for 29 cents per gallon.
A Marathon station sold a gallon of fuel for less than the price of a first-class stamp for about 90 minutes Friday before the mistake was detected and and the price corrected to $2.79.
While still answering questions from customers about why the price had suddenly gone up, clerk Nida Tayyab said more than 50 people had crowded the store, likely thinking the mishap was a price promotion, and received the bargain. Normally, the station serves about 10 people per hour.
"I was really confused," she said. "It was so messed up. I can't explain here how it was."
When Tayyab figured out what was going on, she called her father, who works at another store, for help fixing the situation.
"It's fine now. It's all working," Tayyab added.
___
Information from: The Times
HAMMOND, Ind. (AP) - When a pump at a gas station malfunctioned, opportunistic motorists were able to buy gas for 29 cents per gallon.
A Marathon station sold a gallon of fuel for less than the price of a first-class stamp for about 90 minutes Friday before the mistake was detected and and the price corrected to $2.79.
While still answering questions from customers about why the price had suddenly gone up, clerk Nida Tayyab said more than 50 people had crowded the store, likely thinking the mishap was a price promotion, and received the bargain. Normally, the station serves about 10 people per hour.
"I was really confused," she said. "It was so messed up. I can't explain here how it was."
When Tayyab figured out what was going on, she called her father, who works at another store, for help fixing the situation.
"It's fine now. It's all working," Tayyab added.
___
Information from: The Times
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TexasStooge
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Locals Sweep at Frog Jump of Twain Fame
By RON HARRIS, Associated Press Writer
ANGELS CAMP, Calif. (AP) - Veteran and rookie frog jockeys faced off Sunday in the Calaveras County Fair and Frog Jump Jubilee, an annual gathering in California's gold country that honors a short story by Mark Twain and some spry amphibians.
A leggy California bull frog named Claussen's Cruiser sprang out 19-feet, 7 3/4-inches, earning top honors for itself and $750 for veteran frog jockey Mike Nash. The crowd erupted with whoops when Claussen's Cruiser took three long leaps from the 8-inch starting pad in the winning jump.
When he took the stage after the final results were tallied, Nash got a bucket of frog water over his head from his chuckling teammates on the Calaveras Frog Jockeys, a clutch of local frog fanatics who swept all three top spots in the open competition.
"We crave it. We look forward to it every year," Nash said, wiping a little frog water from his brow.
These days, there are few "uncommon lucky" fellows like Jim Smiley, the protagonist of Twain's famed fable, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." The quaint quotient of the frog jump event, a decades-old staple in Angels Camp, wears off a little each year — with every team of frog jockeys who increase their odds of winning by entering numerous times in the qualifying rounds.
Frog jumping has become a bit of a racket — but a fun racket, most agree.
So-called "frogmeister" Stephen Date, who spent the weekend monitoring the volunteer frogs — rounded up by contest officials to jump for contestants too lazy or slow to catch their own — said other things have changed at the event over the years.
The California red-legged frog, thought to be the one Twain was referencing in his celebrated tale, is now a no-go for entry into the contest. Its population is closely guarded by state wildlife officials.
"Last year we were monitored by the California Department of Fish and Game," Date said.
Chandler Nettles, of Springfield, S.C., won his state's annual frog jump earlier this year, and with it a sponsored trip west to compete in Sunday's competition. His frog jumped 16-feet-1 inch — no threat to the eventual champ.
"He had done got cold," Nettles mused after the jump. It rained steadily on fairgoers throughout the day — weather most frog jump experts said hampered the amphibian's desire to spring forth with much gusto.
Jon Kitchell, of Angels Camp, won second place and $350 after his frog jumped 18-feet, 6 3/4 inches. Breanna Ziehike and Alma Fasano split $300 in a tie for third. Their frogs jumped 17-feet, 8 inches.
The 1986 world record jump of 21-feet, 5 3/4 inches by Rosie the Ribiter remains safe for another year.
By RON HARRIS, Associated Press Writer
ANGELS CAMP, Calif. (AP) - Veteran and rookie frog jockeys faced off Sunday in the Calaveras County Fair and Frog Jump Jubilee, an annual gathering in California's gold country that honors a short story by Mark Twain and some spry amphibians.
A leggy California bull frog named Claussen's Cruiser sprang out 19-feet, 7 3/4-inches, earning top honors for itself and $750 for veteran frog jockey Mike Nash. The crowd erupted with whoops when Claussen's Cruiser took three long leaps from the 8-inch starting pad in the winning jump.
When he took the stage after the final results were tallied, Nash got a bucket of frog water over his head from his chuckling teammates on the Calaveras Frog Jockeys, a clutch of local frog fanatics who swept all three top spots in the open competition.
"We crave it. We look forward to it every year," Nash said, wiping a little frog water from his brow.
These days, there are few "uncommon lucky" fellows like Jim Smiley, the protagonist of Twain's famed fable, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County." The quaint quotient of the frog jump event, a decades-old staple in Angels Camp, wears off a little each year — with every team of frog jockeys who increase their odds of winning by entering numerous times in the qualifying rounds.
Frog jumping has become a bit of a racket — but a fun racket, most agree.
So-called "frogmeister" Stephen Date, who spent the weekend monitoring the volunteer frogs — rounded up by contest officials to jump for contestants too lazy or slow to catch their own — said other things have changed at the event over the years.
The California red-legged frog, thought to be the one Twain was referencing in his celebrated tale, is now a no-go for entry into the contest. Its population is closely guarded by state wildlife officials.
"Last year we were monitored by the California Department of Fish and Game," Date said.
Chandler Nettles, of Springfield, S.C., won his state's annual frog jump earlier this year, and with it a sponsored trip west to compete in Sunday's competition. His frog jumped 16-feet-1 inch — no threat to the eventual champ.
"He had done got cold," Nettles mused after the jump. It rained steadily on fairgoers throughout the day — weather most frog jump experts said hampered the amphibian's desire to spring forth with much gusto.
Jon Kitchell, of Angels Camp, won second place and $350 after his frog jumped 18-feet, 6 3/4 inches. Breanna Ziehike and Alma Fasano split $300 in a tie for third. Their frogs jumped 17-feet, 8 inches.
The 1986 world record jump of 21-feet, 5 3/4 inches by Rosie the Ribiter remains safe for another year.
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TexasStooge
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Civil War-Era Fort Up for Sale on EBay
ROUSES POINT, N.Y. (AP) - A Civil War-era fort is for sale on eBay. Fort Montgomery, built in 1844, was manned during the war but never saw any action.
"This is the first time it's been formally for sale," said Victor Podd of Boca Raton, Fla., whose family has owned the fort for 23 years.
The limestone fort sits on a Lake Champlain island in northern New York and is connected to the mainland by a 700-foot causeway. The full package offered on the auction Web site includes 6,900 feet of lake frontage and 279 acres on the adjacent mainland.
As of Saturday, the top bid for the property was $1 million.
In 1935, about 80 percent of the structure was demolished and it has since been prey to vandalism.
Podd's late father, Victor, purchased the fort and surrounding property in 1983 to build the headquarters of his company, Powertex. A few years ago, the state declined the Podds' offer to donate the fort and 68 acres of land for use as a state park.
Podd, who now owns the fort with his brother, Stephen, said its reserve price was below $9.9 million, but declined to specify an exact figure. The online auction ends June 5.
ROUSES POINT, N.Y. (AP) - A Civil War-era fort is for sale on eBay. Fort Montgomery, built in 1844, was manned during the war but never saw any action.
"This is the first time it's been formally for sale," said Victor Podd of Boca Raton, Fla., whose family has owned the fort for 23 years.
The limestone fort sits on a Lake Champlain island in northern New York and is connected to the mainland by a 700-foot causeway. The full package offered on the auction Web site includes 6,900 feet of lake frontage and 279 acres on the adjacent mainland.
As of Saturday, the top bid for the property was $1 million.
In 1935, about 80 percent of the structure was demolished and it has since been prey to vandalism.
Podd's late father, Victor, purchased the fort and surrounding property in 1983 to build the headquarters of his company, Powertex. A few years ago, the state declined the Podds' offer to donate the fort and 68 acres of land for use as a state park.
Podd, who now owns the fort with his brother, Stephen, said its reserve price was below $9.9 million, but declined to specify an exact figure. The online auction ends June 5.
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