Police in Sparks, Nev., say the 56-year-old man's injuries are not life-threatening and no others were hurt.
Society's Child
Police in Sparks, Nev., say the 56-year-old man's injuries are not life-threatening and no others were hurt.
Thomas Caffall
Caffall's family said the 35-year-old told them he had his own issues, an unspecified mental illness they declined to comment on.
On Monday, Caffall opened fire on a law enforcement officer who was trying to serve him with a court summons for being two months behind on rent. The officer was killed.
Police said officers shot and killed Caffall during the 30-minute shootout. A bystander also died and four others were wounded; police did not say whose gunfire struck them.
"It breaks our hearts his illness led to this," Caffall's family said in a statement released through an attorney.
Authorities continued their investigation Tuesday, saying Caffall was in possession of multiple weapons and fired numerous times.
Angela Prattis donates her time to distribute the meals -- supplied by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia -- and adheres to strict paperwork, like filling out weekly reports and being visited bi-weekly from a state worker, MyFoxPhilly.com reports.
"Angela saw it as a way to contribute to the community in a positive way," Anne Ayella, a member of the archdiocese, said. "There was nothing in it for her."
Prattis laughed and said, "I don't make a dime."
Prattis lived in the township for three years. She reportedly distributes the meals to the 60 or so children at a gazebo on her property during the summer months, when children are home from school.
© AP Photo/Andy Wong
A Chinese man walks past a TV advertising screen by Focus Media Holding Ltd. on display near an apartment lift in Beijing Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012. Just a few years after Chinese companies lined up to sell shares on Wall Street, a growing number are reversing course and pulling out of U.S. exchanges.
A Chinese man walks past a TV advertising screen by Focus Media Holding Ltd. on display near an apartment lift in Beijing Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012. Just a few years after Chinese companies lined up to sell shares on Wall Street, a growing number are reversing course and pulling out of U.S. exchanges.
Beijing -- Just a few years after Chinese companies lined up to sell shares on Wall Street, a growing number are reversing course and pulling out of U.S. exchanges.
This week, Focus Media Holding Ltd., announced its chairman and private equity firms want to buy back its U.S.-traded shares and take the Shanghai-based advertising company private. The deal would value Focus Media at $3.5 billion, according to financial information firm Dealogic.
Smaller companies also are withdrawing from U.S. exchanges. In a sign of official encouragement, a Chinese business magazine said a state bank has provided $1 billion in loans to help companies with listings abroad move them to domestic exchanges.
The withdrawals follow accusations of improper accounting by some companies and a deadlock between Beijing and Washington over whether U.S. regulators can oversee their China-based auditors.
© Lance Iversen / San Francisco Chronicle / Associated Press
People view the fire at the Chevron Richmond Refinery. The fire burned out of control for more than five hours, sending a giant black cloud of toxic chemicals, including sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, thousands of feet into the air and out across the bay.
People view the fire at the Chevron Richmond Refinery. The fire burned out of control for more than five hours, sending a giant black cloud of toxic chemicals, including sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, thousands of feet into the air and out across the bay.
Stay inside, close your windows and doors, and turn off air conditioning and heating units. Pets and all children in sporting activities should be brought inside, and have duct tape ready should you need to further seal windows and doors.
These are among the "shelter in place" warnings made to Bay Area residents last week in response to a massive fire at theChevron Corp.refinery in Richmond. The fire burned out of control for more than five hours, sending a giant black cloud of toxic chemicals, including sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, thousands of feet into the air and out across the bay. While automated calls went to more than 18,000 people, some 160,000 residents live in the areas directly affected by the warning. More than 5,700 people have sought medical treatment.
Chevron is the world's eighth-largest corporation and hands-down the largest in California. The Richmond refinery is also the state's single largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, having released 4.5 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2010 alone.
Built in 1902, the refinery shows its age. Rather than use its $27 billion in 2011 profits to run the cleanest, safest and most transparent refinery possible, Chevron operates a refinery that is in constant violation of federal and state law and a daily threat to the health and safety of its workers and neighbors.
© MesdPage Today
Over a 3-year period, 17 of 203 cases could not be resolved after lengthy discussions with parents. Subsequently, most of the cases were resolved, but five remained undecided, each because of the parents' belief in a miracle for their children, according to an article published online in the Journal of Medical Ethics.
"On the rare occasions that it occurs, fervent belief in religion and the interpretation of those religious teachings are significant factors in end-of-life conflict between parents and staff on pediatric intensive care units (PICUs)," Joe Brierley, MBChB, of Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London, and co-authors wrote.
"Protracted dialogue was often unable to resolve these differences, while the child was subject to pain and discomfort from invasive ventilation, suctioning, and multiple injections," they added. "We suggest it is time to reconsider current ethical and legal structures and facilitate rapid default access to courts in such situations when the best interests of the child are compromised in expectation of the miraculous."
© Reuters/Yorgos Karahalis
Music saleswoman Elena Koniaraki, 39, rides her bicycle in front of the parliament on the way to work in Athens July 6, 2012.
Music saleswoman Elena Koniaraki, 39, rides her bicycle in front of the parliament on the way to work in Athens July 6, 2012.
The crisis has put cash-strapped Greeks on their bikes - once snubbed as a sign of poverty or just plain risky - and Greek manufacturers are shifting into fast gear.
The high cost of road tax, fuel and repairs is forcing Greeks to ditch their cars in huge numbers. According to the government's statistics office, the number of cars on Greek roads declined by more than 40 percent in each of the last two years. Meanwhile, more than 200,000 bikes were sold in 2011, up about a quarter from the previous year.
© Agence France-Presse/Gabriel Bouys
A display window outside a shop in Rome advertises reduced prices.
A display window outside a shop in Rome advertises reduced prices.
The few people around seem to ziz zag from shop to shop, seeking relief from the heat in air-conditioned outlets and leaving behind frustrated shop assistants who struggle to sell anything despite discounts of up to 80 percent.
"The crisis has hit everyone," sighed one empty-handed customer, while shopkeepers up and down the street whiled away their time folding and re-folding piles of brightly coloured T-shirts and stylish outfits.
"The sales have not gone well," said clothes shop manager Fabio Anticoli. While the eternal city usually draws tourists from all over the world who spend their cash on Italian designs, "this year, it's an impoverished tourism."
The sales have gone "very badly" compared with 2011 according to the shopkeepers' association Confesercenti, which reports a 20 percent drop in turnover in central Rome, a figure that rises to 40 percent in outer suburbs.
© Mel Melcon/ Los Angeles Times / August 13, 2012
Imane Boudlal, a former Disneyland Resort employee, discusses her civil rights lawsuit during a news conference Monday.
Imane Boudlal, a former Disneyland Resort employee, discusses her civil rights lawsuit during a news conference Monday.
Imane Boudlal got a job two weeks after moving to California, a hostess position at a Disneyland Resort cafe.
She didn't log many hours at first - it was April, the slow season - but as the summer of 2008 progressed, the 24-year-old worked more frequently as the Grand Californian Hotel & Spa's Storyteller's Cafe drew more tourists.
It was also, Boudlal alleges in a lawsuit filed Monday, when her co-workers began taunting her, calling the Moroccan-born Muslim a "terrorist," a "camel" and someone who learned how to make bombs at her mosque. She complained to her managers verbally and in writing, she said, with no results.
Now, Boudlal is suing Walt Disney Corp. in federal court, saying that she was discriminated against and harassed for her religious beliefs. She also alleges that she unfairly lost her job in 2010 after refusing to remove her head scarf at work.
"It's been hard," Boudlal said in an interview. "I thought it was just a matter of complaining and a few days, and it wouldn't affect my life, but it turns out ... nothing has been done."
The lawsuit charges that Boudlal, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen, decided to wear her hijab full time in 2010, about eight months after she began wearing it publicly. She contacted her supervisors at Disneyland to request an exemption to the company's "look" policy - general appearance guidelines that, according to a Disney website, touch on items ranging from contact lens color and visible tattoos to personal hygiene.
While the identity of the rioters and the immediate cause is unclear, the economic picture of the area in question is not. Unemployment skews higher in northern France and among the country's youth. Less than two weeks ago, the French government declared Amiens among 15 impoverished zones to receive more money and security.
The eruption of violence shows how little relations have changed between police and youths in France's housing projects since nationwide riots in 2005 raged unchecked for nearly a month, leaving entire neighborhoods in flames in the far-flung suburbs.
At the height of the latest confrontation, 150 officers - both local and federal riot police - faced off against the young men who fired buckshot and fireworks at them, skirmishing through the neighborhood in the city about 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of Paris. There were no arrests.
"The confrontations were very, very violent," Amiens Mayor Gilles Dumailly told the French television network BFM. Dumailly said tensions had been building for months between police and the impoverished residents, whom he described as "people who are in some difficulty."
