Census Bureau concerned about head count problems, from identity theft to non-participation

Census Bureau concerned about head count problems

WASHINGTON – As the U.S. census nears its final stages, the government is preparing for possible debacles that could derail its $15 billion head count, from mass identity theft and lawsuits to homeowners who refuse to answer their doors.
Census Bureau documents, obtained by The Associated Press, underscore the highly …. Original article on Gaea Times at  : Census Bureau concerned about head count problems, from identity theft to non-participation.

East Texans relieved over news of arrest in mailbox bomb case weeks after church threat ended

East Texans feel relief after mailbox bomb arrest

DALLAS – Carolyn Smith was so frightened after explosive devices started turning up in mailboxes in east Texas that she stopped dropping her mail in the nearby collection box where one pipe bomb was found and started taking it to the post office.
Like other residents of east Texas, …. Source article on Gaea Times at  : East Texans relieved over news of arrest in mailbox bomb case weeks after church threat ended.

Prosecutors seek 335 years for Minnesota businessman Tom Petters in $3.65B fraud case

Prosecutors seek 335 years for Minn.’s Petters

MINNEAPOLIS – When Minnesota businessman Tom Petters’ corporate empire collapsed, the losers in what prosecutors say was a $335 million Ponzi scheme included not just hedge funds, but at least 10 pastors, three missionaries, dozens of retirees and a half-dozen nursing home residents, according to federal court filings.
Prosecutors have … Read more >>>.

Afghan police: 5 suicide bombers arrested as they entered Afghan capital

Afghan police: 5 suicide bombers arrested in Kabul

KABUL – Afghan police arrested five would-be suicide bombers Thursday in Kabul – the largest suicide bomb team ever apprehended in the capital, officials said.
“If this team had made it through it would have been a disaster as we’ve seen in past instances,” said Abdul Ghafar, deputy commander …. Read the original article  : Afghan police: 5 suicide bombers arrested as they entered Afghan capital.

Obama in Prague as US, Russia to sign biggest arms deal in 2 decades, launch new relations

Obama in Prague to sign arms deal
PRAGUE – Pushing his vision of a nuclear weapons-free world, President Barack Obama returned to Prague on Thursday to sign a pivotal treaty aimed at sharply paring U.S. and Russian arsenals – and repairing soured relations between the nations.
On a sunny morning, an upbeat …. Original article  : Obama in Prague as US, Russia to sign biggest arms deal in 2 decades, launch new relations.

Vulnerable Democratic lawmakers are tiptoeing back home over voting for health care overhaul

Vulnerable Democrats are tiptoeing on health care
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – First-term Rep. Betsy Markey is convinced that once people learn what’s in President Barack Obama’s new health care overhaul law, they’ll support it.
But it’s not a message she was eager to carry in person to her constituents in Republican-leaning eastern Colorado. During Congress’ …. Original article  : Vulnerable Democratic lawmakers are tiptoeing back home over voting for health care overhaul.

Attorney general trying to win back Europe’s cooperation in tracking terror money

US trying to woo EU back to terror finance program

WASHINGTON – Attorney General Eric Holder is in Spain trying to revive a Bush-era counterterrorism program that the U.S. views as a key tool in tracking terrorist money transfers but European Union lawmakers reject because of civil liberties concerns.
The Obama administration argues that the Terrorist Finance … Read more >>.

US, Russia to sign biggest arms deal in two decades, begin to repair soured relations

Obama heads to Prague to sign arms deal
PRAGUE – President Barack Obama’s vision of a world without nuclear arms moves closer to reality on Thursday when he and President Dmitry Medvedev sign a pivotal treaty aimed at sharply paring U.S. and Russian arsenals while working to repair soured relations.
Obama has not …. Source  : Gaea News Network.

Somali pirates warn SKorean destroyer pursuing hijacked supertanker to keep distance

Somali pirates warn SKorean destroyer to stay away

SEOUL, South Korea – Somali pirates warned a South Korean destroyer chasing a hijacked supertanker with 24 sailors on board not to get any closer or else risk endangering the crew, Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
All crew members of the South Korean-operated, Marshall Island-flagged Samho Dream are safe, …. Original source  : Somali pirates warn SKorean destroyer pursuing hijacked supertanker to keep distance.

Chinese man gets death sentence for stabbing murders of 8 schoolchildren

Chinese man gets death sentence in child murders

BEIJING – A Chinese court sentenced a former medical worker to death Thursday for the stabbing murders of eight children as they waited with their parents to enter their elementary school a little more than two weeks ago.
The Intermediate People’s Court in Nanping city in southern Fujian province …. Read the original article  : here.

Man robs Portland, Ore., bank, steals Jaguar containing 2 Chihuahuas

Man robs Ore. bank, steals car containing 2 dogs

PORTLAND, Ore. – Police say a man robbed a north Portland Bank of America branch on Wednesday, then stole a Jaguar with two Chihuahuas inside.
He crashed the car a short time later in a fast-food restaurant lot and fled on foot.
The car and dogs belonged to Melanie …. Source article on Gaea Times at  : Man robs Portland, Ore., bank, steals Jaguar containing 2 Chihuahuas.

Fight with Detroit bus driver results in assault and battery charges against 2 women

Women charged after fight with Detroit bus driver

DETROIT – Two women have been charged after a fight with a Detroit city bus driver that another passenger caught on video.
City transportation director Lovevett Williams says the women became enraged Tuesday after the driver picked one of them up at a stop on the Eight Mile Road …. Source article  : Fight with Detroit bus driver results in assault and battery charges against 2 women.

Residents criticize security at crime-ridden NJ building where 7-year-old girl was attacked

Security criticized at NJ tower where girl raped

TRENTON, N.J. – Residents of a crime-ridden New Jersey apartment building where several men and boys are accused of gang-raping a 7-year-old girl say they remain unsatisfied about security after a meeting with representatives from the company that owns it.
Some Rowan Towers residents who attended Wednesday’s meeting say [..] Read the original article: here.

New Zealand Catholic church investigating 5 more historic sex abuse complaints

NZ Catholic church investigates 5 abuse complaints

WELLINGTON, New Zealand – New Zealand’s Roman Catholic Church said Thursday it is investigating five new complaints of sexual abuse of children from at least 20 years ago.
The revelation of fresh inquiries comes as the church worldwide is rocked by allegations of child sex crimes committed by clergy – [..] Read the original article: here.

Roman Polanski attorneys say prolonged case is assault on US justice system

Roman Polanski attorneys plead to end case

LOS ANGELES – Roman Polanski’s lawyers have filed a last legal volley in a California appeals court, saying that the 33-year-old sex case and its lengthy delays have been an assault on the state’s judicial system.
The attorneys said in papers filed Tuesday that the court should order an investigation … Original article on : Roman Polanski attorneys say prolonged case is assault on US justice system.

Official: Guantanamo lawyers don’t expect to be ready for Sudanese detainee’s trial until 2011

Attorneys ready for Gitmo detainee’s trial in 2011

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A military judge at Guantanamo Bay on Wednesday said lawyers in the case of a Sudanese detainee don’t expect to be ready for trial until early 2011, according to a military commissions spokesman.
Joseph DellaVedova, spokesman for the Pentagon’s Office of Military Commissions, said …. Original source  : Official: Guantanamo lawyers don’t expect to be ready for Sudanese detainee’s trial until 2011.

Judge in case of Ohio man accused of killing 11 sues newspaper for $50M, says privacy violated

Judge in Ohio murder case sues newspaper for $50M

CLEVELAND – A judge presiding over the Ohio trial of a man charged with killing 11 women and hiding their bodies around his home is suing a newspaper covering the case for $50 million in damages.
An attorney for Cuyahoga (ky-uh-HOH’-guh) County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold … Read : Judge in case of Ohio man accused of killing 11 sues newspaper for $50M, says privacy violated.

Veteran paramilitary boss, fugitive for more than decade, captured in central Colombia

Paramilitary leader, 71, captured in Colombia

BOGOTA – A veteran paramilitary leader and reputed founder of a bloody right-wing militia faction was arrested in central Colombia after more than a decade on the lam, police said Wednesday.
Hector Jose Buitrago, 71, was captured Tuesday in a rural area 60 kilometers (40 miles) north of Bogota, where he … Read this article on Gaea Times at : Veteran paramilitary boss, fugitive for more than decade, captured in central Colombia.

3rd New Orleans police officer pleads guilty, gives eyewitness account of Katrina shootings

3rd ex-officer pleads guilty in Katrina probe

NEW ORLEANS – A former New Orleans police officer told federal authorities he saw a fellow officer shoot and kick unarmed, wounded civilians in a deadly incident on a bridge in Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath, marking the first time an officer has provided federal authorities with an eyewitness account of …. Source article  : 3rd New Orleans police officer pleads guilty, gives eyewitness account of Katrina shootings.

Los Angeles authorities seek injunction to bar gang members from selling drugs on Skid Row

Injunction would bar gang members from LA Skid Row

LOS ANGELES – Authorities unveiled a tough new legal tactic Wednesday aimed at reclaiming the streets of Skid Row from drug-dealing gang members who commute from afar to sell crack cocaine to some of the region’s most vulnerable residents.
Under a lawsuit proposed by the city attorney’s office, … Read more »».