The America's Intelligence Wire articles from October 2008

The America's Intelligence Wire archives from October 2008

EU monitors start patrols in Georgia, eye Russians.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: MATT SIEGEL European Union monitors began patrolling Georgian territory Wednesday under a French-brokered peace deal, and Russian troops allowed some monitors into a buffer zone around South Ossetia despite...

Spanish police arrest 121 in child porn raids.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: MATT SIEGEL Spanish police arrested 121 people in the country's biggest-ever crackdown on child pornography, seizing discs containing millions of video and photo files shared by a network that distributed them...

Russia's last czar declared victim of repression.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: MIKE ECKEL The Russian Supreme Court on Wednesday declared the last czar and his murdered family to be victims of political repression _ a decision that helps Russia move toward closing a chapter in its...

Hollywood aims to block RealNetworks' DVD software.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: RYAN NAKASHIMA Hollywood's six major movie studios on Tuesday sued RealNetworks Inc. to prevent it from distributing DVD copying software that they said would allow consumers to "rent, rip and return" movies...

Money meltdown creates identity crises for venues.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: SAMANTHA GROSS First the bursting of the dot-com bubble in the 1990s, then the accounting scandals earlier this decade, forced ballparks and arenas around the country to change their names. Enron Field became...

'Alternative Nobels' go to journalist, activists.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: LOUISE NORDSTROM A U.S. journalist, a Swiss-born doctor and activists from India and Somalia were named on Wednesday as this year's winners of the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the "alternative Nobel."...

1st black lawyer in Selma, J.L. Chestnut, dies.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: DESIREE HUNTER J.L. Chestnut Jr., the first black lawyer in Selma and a prominent attorney in civil rights cases across a half century, has died at age 77. Chestnut's law partner, state Sen. Hank Sanders...

EU cease-fire monitors begin patrols in Georgia.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: MATT SIEGEL European Union monitors began patrolling Georgian territory Wednesday and Russian troops allowed some of them into a buffer zone around the breakaway region of South Ossetia despite earlier...

Man beats girl over who was first at McDonald's.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: MATT SIEGEL Los Angeles police are looking for a man who beat up a 16-year-old girl at a McDonald's counter after she complained about him cutting in line. Police announced their investigation Tuesday...

Mo. woman dies in inflatable slide accident.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: MATT SIEGEL A Missouri woman is dead after injuring herself while trying to do somersaults on an inflatable slide during her stepson's birthday party. Ambulance district official Curt Steve says the family...

Italian architect Renzo Piano wins top award.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: MATT SIEGEL Italian architect Renzo Piano, creator of the New York Times building, has received the Sonning Prize for "commendable work that benefits European culture." Piano was presented with the Danish...

Battle of religious symbol roils Hamptons village.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: FRANK ELTMAN They are largely invisible, sometimes as simple as a small, plastic marker affixed to a utility pole. There's one around the White House and one in Manhattan that sprawls from the East River to the...

Appeals court orders Chicago officer freed.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: FRANK ELTMAN The Iowa Court of Appeals has ordered that a Chicago police officer jailed in the assault of Iowa man be freed from prison. The appeals court ruled Wednesday that there wasn't enough evidence...

Hollywood studios agree to digital rollout.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: FRANK ELTMAN Five Hollywood studios have agreed to help pay for an expanded rollout of digital technology in movie theaters, a precursor to more 3-D screens. Digital Cinema Implementation Partners, a...

Guilty plea from fan who manhandled mascot Mr. Met.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: FRANK ELTMAN A Mets fan accused of badgering the team's baseball-headed mascot has pleaded guilty to harassment. Authorities say Christien Hansen harassed the mascot at a game in May, refused to leave Shea...

Laura weakens in Atlantic, Marie forms in Pacific.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: FRANK ELTMAN The National Hurricane Center says Laura has weakened over the cold waters of the north Atlantic and is no longer a tropical storm. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Marie formed in the Pacific about...

Grenade found in DC park; homes evacuated.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: FRANK ELTMAN Several homes have been evacuated in northwest Washington, D.C., after a grenade was found at a park. U.S. Park Police spokesman Sgt. Robert Lachance (La-Chance) says a maintenance worker...

Prosecutors' expert: SC trooper steered into man.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: FRANK ELTMAN A crash reconstruction expert says a South Carolina state trooper accused of intentionally ramming a fleeing suspect with his cruiser steered into the path of the man. The testimony Wednesday...

Md. police: Frozen remains date back to last year.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: SARAH KARUSH Two children whose remains were found in a basement freezer in southern Maryland likely have been dead since at least last fall, and the bodies may have been moved several times, police said...

Spanish report ties Pakistan spy agency to Taliban.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: PAUL HAVEN A report marked confidential and bearing the official seal of Spain's Defense Ministry charges that Pakistan's spy service was helping arm Taliban insurgents in 2005 for assassination plots against...

AT&T unites fixed-line, wireless consumer units.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: PETER SVENSSON AT&T Inc., the country's largest telecommunications company, is reorganizing to put one executive in charge of both its wireless and consumer fixed-line phone businesses. The shake-up...

Medvedev says Russia to leave areas of Georgia.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: PETER SVENSSON President Dmitry Medvedev says Russia will fulfill its promise to withdraw troops from areas of Georgia outside two separatist regions. Medvedev spoke to reporters after European Union...

Review: Xpaper eases digitizing of paper documents.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: DIRK LAMMERS Promises of the paperless office have been circulating ever since the first IBM clones started showing up on desks in the early 1980s. Yet we're still tied to printed documents and there's no sign...

Iowa appeals court orders Chicago officer freed.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: AMY LORENTZEN An appeals court Wednesday ordered a Chicago police officer freed from prison in an Iowa assault case that has top brass back home defending one of their own. The Iowa Court of Appeals said...

Grenade found in DC park not a live explosive.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: AMY LORENTZEN An embassy office and several homes were evacuated Wednesday after a grenade was found at a northwest Washington park, but authorities determined it was not a live explosive. No injuries were...

Charges dropped against Bourbon St. bouncers.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: AMY LORENTZEN New Orleans prosecutors are dropping manslaughter charges against the last two Bourbon Street bouncers accused in the death of a visiting Georgia college student. Two other bouncers were...

Va. federal prison locked down after inmate dies.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: AMY LORENTZEN A Virginia federal prison is on lockdown after an inmate was killed in an incident involving another prisoner. A prison spokesman says staff immediately separated the inmates Tuesday at U.S....

Man indicted in Ohio house fire that killed 9.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: AMY LORENTZEN Federal prosecutors have indicted a man in a house fire in Cleveland that killed nine people, including eight children. Antun Lewis was charged Wednesday in a May 21, 2005, fire at a house on...

Ex-Liberia president, son face UN, US charges.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: MIKE CORDER In separate courts on different continents, former Liberian President Charles Taylor and his American son are standing trial on charges of committing atrocities in neighboring West African nations....

Notorious ex-fugitive appeals NY murder conviction.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: BEN DOBBIN A former fugitive convicted of killing a state trooper and wounding two others in 2006 continues to make trouble as an inmate as his lawyers move forward with an appeal, officials said. Ralph...

Bourbon St. bouncer manslaughter cases dropped.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: MARY FOSTER Prosecutors dropped manslaughter charges Wednesday against the last two Bourbon Street bouncers accused in the death of a visiting Georgia college student after a dispute about entry to a French...

EU states volunteer for Somalia maritime force.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: MARY FOSTER France's defense minister says at least eight European Union member states want to join an international operation to protect shipping from pirates off Somalia. Herve Morin says EU defense...

Congress targets rogue online pharmacies.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: MARY FOSTER Congress has passed a bill intended to crack down on rogue online pharmacies that sell drugs without a valid prescription. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., would prohibit the...

O.J. friend testifying for defense in Vegas trial.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: KEN RITTER A close friend of O.J. Simpson took the stand in his armed robbery and kidnapping trial Wednesday, and a prosecutor said he'll ask the witness about allegations he wanted to put out a murder contract...

RI storeowner apologizes for asking for ID card.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: KEN RITTER The owner of a plumbing supply store has apologized for asking customers who weren't speaking English for their Social Security numbers to prove they were legal residents. Jose Genao complained...

Swedish police arrest teen for YouTube threats.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: KEN RITTER Swedish police say they have arrested a 15-year-old boy after Florida police tipped them off about threats he allegedly posted on YouTube. Police spokesman Anders Ahlqvist says the teen had...

Possible Fossett items found in California.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: KEN RITTER Authorities in rugged eastern California say a hiker has found items possibly belonging to missing adventurer Steve Fossett. Inyo National Forest spokeswoman Nancy Upham said Wednesday that a...

Handcuffed man hit by 2 NY trains.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: KEN RITTER A handcuffed man on was hit by two trains on a commuter rail line Wednesday morning and his mangled body lay for hours beneath the second, officials said. Metro-North railroad spokeswoman...

4 dead in burned-out Mich. house slain before fire.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: FRANK ELTMAN Authorities say autopsies performed on four bodies found inside a burned-out home near Grand Rapids, Mich., show that all were slain before fire destroyed the structure. Ottawa County...

Medvedev: No grounds for Cold War with US.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: IRINA TITOVA Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday that he sees no ideological grounds for a war with the United States _ cold or hot _ despite strained relations with Washington and the NATO...

Report: Dresden bombing killed fewer than thought.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: DAVID RISING The Allied firebombing of the eastern German city of Dresden in 1945 killed no more than 25,000 people _ far fewer than scholars' previous estimates running as high as 135,000 _ a special...

Bourbon St. bouncer manslaughter cases dropped.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: MARY FOSTER Prosecutors dropped manslaughter charges Wednesday against the last two Bourbon Street bouncers accused of suffocating a visiting Georgia college student to death after a dispute about getting into...

Possible Fossett ID, other items found in Calif.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: MARY FOSTER A hiker in rugged eastern California found an ID and other items possibly belonging to Steve Fossett, the adventurer missing more than a year since going on a pleasure flight in a borrowed plane,...

Idaho fair accused of evicting paralyzed woman.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: JESSIE L. BONNER Rose Harn peers out at the world with one working eye, her arms curled tightly against her shriveled body. A rag under her chin catches her drool. In the two decades since Harn was left...

Handcuffed man hit by 2 NY trains.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: JESSIE L. BONNER A handcuffed man was hit by two trains on a commuter rail line Wednesday morning and his mangled body lay for hours beneath the second, officials said. Metro-North railroad spokeswoman...

Simpson's lawyers rest, don't call him to stand.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: KEN RITTER O.J. Simpson's defense has rested after calling one witness on the former football star's behalf in his armed robbery and kidnapping trial in Las Vegas. Simpson himself didn't testify. His only...

EU states raise hands for Somalia maritime force.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: JAMEY KEATEN Eight European Union countries offered Wednesday to create a maritime security force aimed to fight piracy off Somalia, the French defense minister said _ a move that could give the U.S. Navy...

Allstate testing whether games can improve driving.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Online) Byline: BARBARA ORTUTAY Could playing computer games enhance mental agility enough to turn people over 50 into better drivers? Allstate Corp. wants to find out, and if the answer is yes, it might offer insurance...

Europe plans emergency meeting on financial crisis.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: JANE WARDELL European officials promised Wednesday to move fast on approving bank bailouts as preparations began for Britain, France, Germany and Italy _ Europe's big four economies _ to hold an emergency...

Norway to double renewable energy fund.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: JANE WARDELL Norway will double its national research fund for renewable energy to 20 billion kroner (US$3.4 billion) in next year's national budget, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday. ...

Federal judge bars law on Cuba travel bond.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: JANE WARDELL A judge says a new Florida law requiring travel agents who book trips to Cuba to post a higher bond is likely unconstitutional and, for now, cannot be enforced. U.S. District Judge Alan...

ATP Open de Moselle Results.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: JANE WARDELL Results Tuesday from the Open de Moselle, a A370,000 (US$530,000) ATP event in indoor hardcourts at Les Arenes de Metz (seedings in parentheses): Singles First Round Eduardo...

Debate offers Palin, Biden high risks, big rewards.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: BETH FOUHY For an audition to be second fiddle, Thursday's debate between often ill-informed newcomer Sarah Palin and often gaffe-prone veteran Joe Biden offers unusually large pitfalls _ and promise. ...

Nobel literature head: US too insular to compete.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: MALIN RISING and HILLEL ITALIE Bad news for American writers hoping for a Nobel Prize next week: the top member of the award jury believes the United States is too insular and ignorant to compete with...

Beg your pardon? Atlanta sets out to curb begging.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: DIONNE WALKER A day after a 5-foot-tall (1.52-meter-tall) yellow contraption appeared on the immaculately kept sidewalk outside the Hilton hotel, doorman Howard Golden walked circles around it, eyeing it...

Confidence at Japanese companies falls sharply.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: DIONNE WALKER Confidence at major Japanese manufacturers worsened for the fourth straight quarter in September, the Bank of Japan said Wednesday, underscoring the growing impact of a global economic...

AT&T chairman says credit woes crimping operations.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: EMERY P. DALESIO The tightening of the global credit markets is crimping the world's largest telecommunications company. AT&T Inc. Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson said Tuesday that his company was...

Objections on US-India nuclear deal overcome.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: FOSTER KLUG U.S. Senators have agreed to vote Wednesday on a U.S.-India nuclear cooperation accord, clearing a major hurdle that had been blocking consideration of the landmark pact that would overturn 30...

Pirates say they celebrated Muslim holiday on ship.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN Brazen Somali pirates said they celebrated a Muslim holiday aboard a hijacked freighter and denied reports that three comrades were killed in a shootout on the vessel, which is carrying...

Ladybug, ladybug, where have you gone?
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: MARY ESCH The nine-spotted ladybug was considered so common, charismatic and crop-friendly that it was adopted as New York's official state insect in 1989. As it turns out, the species may have...

US proposes listing 48 Hawaiian species at once.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: DAVID BRISCOE The U.S. government took a new, ecosystem-based approach to the endangered species list on Tuesday, proposing an all-at-once addition of 48 species, including plants, two birds and a fly,...

AC Milan rally contrasts with Tottenham struggle.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: ROBERT MILLWARD AC Milan has shrugged off its poor start to the season and is in a strong position to make it to the next round of the UEFA Cup. Tottenham wishes it could say the same. A...

With banks in miser mode, credit markets stay taut.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: MADLEN READ Stocks are rebounding and a new bailout package could be coming soon, but the credit markets _ where day-to-day borrowing occurs to keep the gears of the economy turning _ are still stuck. ...

Britain's Conservatives see huge lead in polls.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: DAVID STRINGER Ahead in opinion polls, boosted by a run of special election victories over the governing Labour Party and newly in charge of London's City Hall, Britain's main opposition Conservatives...

Google stock fell on error; Nasdaq raises close.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: DAVID STRINGER The last-minute pounding Wall Street gave Google's shares was caused by "erroneous orders" that Nasdaq says it is canceling. Minutes before the closing bell Tuesday, a flurry of trades...

ECB likely to keep rate steady; BoE may go lower.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: GEORGE FREY The European Central Bank is expected to keep its key interest rate unchanged this week to fight lingering inflation despite the world financial crisis and the spreading U.S. economic...

US nuclear envoy to bring new proposal to NKorea.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: JEAN H. LEE The chief U.S. nuclear negotiator with North Korea planned to propose a face-saving compromise during a trip Wednesday to the isolated communist nation to try to salvage the derailed...

At least 168 killed in Indian temple stampede.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: JEAN H. LEE Thousands of pilgrims panicked by false rumors of a bomb stampeded at a Hindu temple in western India, killing at least 168 people and injuring 100 in the crush to escape, officials said. ...

Europe urges swift US action on financial crisis.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: JANE WARDELL European leaders urged the United States to quickly revive its defeated bank bailout proposal and stabilize the global financial system, as governments across the continent Tuesday shored up...

2nd man convicted in charter boat slayings.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: KELLI KENNEDY A federal jury convicted a 20-year-old man on firearms charges Tuesday in the hijacking and shooting deaths of four people last year aboard the "Joe Cool" charter boat. A mistrial was...

McCain, Obama call for greater bank security.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: STEVEN R. HURST The U.S. presidential candidates worked Tuesday to take some of the partisan heat out of the American financial crisis after days of vicious attacks, as both called for Congress to act...

Canada opposition party accuses PM of plagiarism.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: ROB GILLIES A senior campaign staffer for the governing Conservative Party resigned Tuesday after admitting he wrote a speech for Prime Minister Stephen Harper that plagiarized another leader's address...

Somalia: World can use force against the pirates.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN Foreign powers can use force if necessary to free a hijacked cargo ship loaded with battle tanks and heavy ammunition, Somalia's foreign ministry declared Wednesday _ increasing...

President rankles Paraguayan soy producers.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN A group of soy producers accused Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo on Tuesday of provoking the powerful agricultural sector with a proposed export tax and by associating the use of...

Simon, Almagro upset in Metz; Karlovic advances.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: MOHAMED OLAD HASSAN Second-seeded Gilles Simon lost the last five games and the first-round match to French compatriot Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 at the Open do Moselle on Tuesday. Simon won his...

US Senate votes on financial rescue plan Wednesday.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: CHARLES BABINGTON In a surprise move to resurrect President George W. Bush's $700 billion Wall Street rescue plan, Senate leaders scheduled a vote on the measure for Wednesday but added a tax cut plan...

Rays turn kooky stadium into home-field advantage.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: FRED GOODALL James Shields listens to horror stories about Tropicana Field, shrugs his shoulders and smiles. "We don't complain," the 26-year-old pitcher said, "because we have to play here." It...

Police: 15 killed in pre-dawn fire in Japan.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: FRED GOODALL At least 15 people were killed in a pre-dawn fire in a video shop in Osaka, western Japan, on Wednesday, police said. The blaze broke out in the video shop located on the first floor of a...

$28M settlement in Boston tunnel death lawsuit.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: FRED GOODALL The family of a Costa Rican woman killed when a Boston tunnel ceiling collapsed has reached a settlement of $28 million in a wrongful death lawsuit. The settlement was announced Tuesday...

Gas lines shorter in largest city hit by shortage.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: DORIE TURNER Lines eased somewhat Tuesday in Atlanta, the largest city hit by a hurricane-induced gas shortage in the southeastern United States, as Georgia's governor waited for a White House answer to...

US 'casino' mentality blamed for planet's meltdown.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: ALAN CLENDENNING Astounded by the U.S. government's failure to resolve the financial crisis threatening the foundations of the global free market, fingers of blame are pointing at America from around the...

Hong Kong says Cadbury melamine levels acceptable.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: DIKKY SINN Hong Kong authorities said the amount of melamine found in samples of chocolate made at British candy maker Cadbury's Beijing factory was legally acceptable for human consumption. Tuesday's...

New Pakistan spy chief seen as tough on militants.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: CHRIS BRUMMITT Pakistan's new intelligence chief is seen as likely to strengthen the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban, but takes the job amid U.S. concerns that rogue operatives in the country's spy...

Raiders fire Kiffin 4 games into second NFL season.
October 1, 2008... (From AP Worldstream) Byline: JOSH DUBOW The Oakland Raiders fired coach Lane Kiffin on Tuesday just four games into his second NFL season, ending a public feud with owner Al Davis that had been simmering since the start of the year....