August 7, 2006
NY Times In the last year, 15 states have enacted laws that expand the right of self-defense, allowing crime victims to use deadly force in situations that might formerly have subjected them to prosecution for murder.
Supporters call them "stand your ground" laws. Opponents call them "shoot first" laws. Thanks to this sort of law, a prostitute in Port Richey, Fla., who killed her 72-year-old client with his own gun rather than flee was not charged last month. Similarly, the police in Clearwater, Fla., did not arrest a man who shot a neighbor in early June after a shouting match over putting out garbage, though the authorities say they are still reviewing the evidence. The first of the new laws took effect in Florida in October, and cases under it are now reaching prosecutors and juries there. The other laws, mostly in Southern and Midwestern states, were enacted this year, according to the National Rifle Association, which has enthusiastically promoted them. |
By GILLIAN FLACCUS
Associated Press Mon Aug 7, 2006 LOS ANGELES - A computerized system that guides arriving planes onto a runway at Los Angeles International Airport failed on Monday, delaying numerous flights around the country.
Two incoming flights were diverted, others were forced to circle the airport, and some planes were ordered to remain on the ground at other airports, officials said. Arriving flights were held up about 90 minutes. Departing flights were delayed about an hour, and several flights were canceled. Airport authorities worked around the problem about an hour and a half hour later, and operations were expected to be back to normal by mid-afternoon. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said the cause of the problem was unknown. |
By ESTES THOMPSON
Associated Press Mon Aug 7, 2006 RALEIGH, N.C. - Federal prosecutors won their battle Monday to keep former CIA Director George Tenet and several other agency employees from having to testify at the trial of a one-time CIA contractor accused of beating an Afghan detainee.
But U.S. District Judge Terrence Boyle said he would allow defense attorneys for David Passaro to subpoena six witnesses whose identities are classified, and promised to rule on later on four others. The judge heard the dispute behind closed doors before a jury was selected and opening statements began. |
Yahoo.com
Associated press 08/07/06 A sport utility vehicle crammed with suspected illegal immigrants rolled over in an attempt to outrun Border Patrol agents, killing nine people and injuring at least 12 others, officials said.
Five of the injured, including a pregnant woman, were in critical condition, most with head trauma, hospital officials said. The large SUV was carrying up to 22 people when the driver had tried to circumvent a checkpoint on the highway, Border Patrol spokesman Lloyd Frers said. |
By KATE BRUMBACK
Associated Press Mon Aug 7, 2006 ATLANTA - After waking up one night in sheets teeming with tiny bugs, Josh Benton couldn't sleep for months and kept a flashlight and can of Raid with him in bed.
"We were afraid to even tell people about it at first," Benton said of the bedbugs in his home. "It feels like maybe some way your living is encouraging this, that you're living in a bad neighborhood or have a dirty apartment." Absent from the U.S. for so long that some thought they were a myth, bedbugs are back. Entomologists and pest control professionals are reporting a dramatic increase in infestations throughout the country, and no one knows exactly why. |
By AUDREY McAVOY
Associated Press Sun Aug 6, 2006 HONOLULU - An American Indian attorney is asked where she keeps her tomahawk. White male partners look past a black lawyer, assuming she is clerical staff. An Asian attorney is called a "dragon lady" when she asserts herself.
A study by the American Bar Association that says those real-life experiences, along with more subtle forms of discrimination, are prompting growing numbers of minority women to abandon the nation's biggest law firms. |
By JOHN GEROME
Associated Press August 8, 2006 NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Several concerts on the Dixie Chicks' "Accidents & Accusations" tour have been canceled after slow ticket sales, but the group says it has replaced them with other dates.
Kansas City, Houston, St. Louis, Memphis and Knoxville are among 14 cities no longer on the original schedule released in May, according to a revised itinerary posted Thursday on the Dixie Chick's Web site. Other shows, including Nashville, Los Angeles, Denver and Phoenix, have been pushed back to later dates. The North American leg of the tour kicked off July 21 in Detroit. Billboard magazine and other trade publications have reported lackluster sales in some markets, particularly in the South and Midwest. |
Reuters
By Philipp Gollner 08/07/06 SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said on Monday that a desktop computer with personal data on as many as 38,000 U.S. military veterans had disappeared from Unisys Corp., a subcontractor.
Disclosure of the breach comes three days after authorities arrested two teenagers in the theft of a laptop and hard drive containing sensitive data on as many as 26.5 million veterans and military personnel. The equipment in that case, turned in to authorities on June 28, was stolen May 3 during a burglary of a VA employee's home, authorities said. |
CNN.com
By Associated press 08/08/06 LONDON, England (AP) -- British authorities arrested seven anti-war protesters Monday after demonstrators said they boarded a plane at a Scottish airport to search for evidence of U.S. weapons being transported to Israel.
Local police said two men and a woman were arrested after getting on the plane at Prestwick Airport, near Glasgow. Four other people were arrested at the airport at around 3:30 a.m. (0230 GMT). |
Tue Aug 8, 2006
Yahoo News INDIANAPOLIS - A fatal stabbing early Tuesday boosted the city's homicides to 13 in just one week in the midst of an upsurge of violence that has police working longer shifts and saturating high-crime areas.
On Monday, Mayor Bart Peterson called for an 11 percent increase in public safety and criminal justice spending in 2007, comparing the crime wave to a crisis such as a tornado. |
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