Former US security men deny Afghan civilian killings

Two ex-employees of a US security company killed two Afghan nationals while fuelled by alcohol and rage, a US court has heard.

Prosecutors in the state of Virginia say that Justin Cannon and Christopher Drotleff opened fire at the scene of a road accident in Kabul.

They worked for a security company run by a firm formerly known as Blackwater.

Their lawyers deny murder charges, saying they opened fire because they believed they were under attack.

If convicted of murder, assault and weapons charges, Mr Cannon, from Texas, and Mr Drotleff from Virginia, could be imprisoned for life.

Their trial began on Wednesday in a US District Court and is expected to last two to three weeks.

They worked for Paravant, part of Xe - formerly Blackwater - which was blamed for killing civilians in Iraq in 2007.

The pair were in Afghanistan to provide weapons training to the Afghan National Army as contractors with Paravant.

Prosecutors said the pair were "a disaster waiting to happen" in May last year, as they had been drinking for several hours after two of their superiors were fired.

"They were drinking. They were driving. They were armed and they were out of control," said Robert McGovern, a Department of Justice lawyer.

Both sides agree that the men left their camp to drive two Afghan interpreters and another man to a taxi stand late at night on a road known for attacks on Americans.

When one of the vehicles in their convoy crashed, they allegedly shot at a car that sped from the crash scene.

Prosecutors say that the men fired about 30 rounds - Mr Cannon with an AK47 and Mr Drotleff with a 9mm pistol - hitting two men in the car and a man who was walking his dog with a friend.

One man in the car and the man on the street died from bullet wounds.

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IMF releases $451million loan for Pakistan floods

The International Monetary Fund says it is making a $451m emergency loan to Pakistan available immediately.

The IMF said the money would help Pakistan cope in the aftermath of the floods that have affected about 18 million people.

It said it hoped its decision would encourage more lending by international donors.

Meanwhile, new flooding has been reported from around the town of Dadu, near the Indus river in Sindh province.

The army is continuing relief efforts, rescuing hundreds of people trapped or isolated by floodwaters, in the area.

"The [IMF] board's approval enables the immediate disbursement of the full amount of this emergency assistance," the IMF said in a statement.

"Pakistan's economic outlook has deteriorated sharply as a result of the floods. The agriculture sector, which accounts for 21% of Gross Domestic Product and 45% of employment, has been hit particularly hard," it added.

The floods which hit the country at the end of July have killed at least 1,500 people and devastated large areas.

The United Nations has said that billions of dollars would be needed in the long term.

But charities say the response to the UN's appeal has been sluggish.

The US has made the biggest contribution so far, followed by the UK.

UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has called the international response "lamentable".

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Pakistan needs civilian rule, says US envoy

The US has dismissed suggestions that the Pakistani military could form a viable alternative to the civilian government, widely criticised for its handling of the country's flood crisis.

Special envoy Richard Holbrooke praised civilian politicians and said the US would support only an elected civilian government in Pakistan.

The army has been widely praised for its response to the floods.

Pakistan has a history of coups and only returned to civilian rule in 2007.

But some observers have suggested that the floods, combined with a widespread Islamist insurgency, are making it impossible for civilian politicians to govern.


    We intend to see this wonderful country and its people through these troubled times”

 Richard Holbrooke US special representative said.

     Indus flood diary

Mr Holbrooke, who is in Pakistan visiting flood-affected areas, told reporters: "We will only support a civilian, democratically elected government.

"I think the Pakistan government has done a fantastic job [handling the floods] so far - and we are here to help in any way we can."

However, he added that the US was happy to work with the Pakistani army, "which is a part of this government".

The US has been the biggest aid donor to Pakistan since the floods hit, devastating large parts of the country and affecting about 18 million people.

US officials say the country has donated more than $260m (£166m) for flood relief, and has provided 18 military helicopters to evacuate people and deliver food and supplies.

The US has also provided water-purification kits and deployed medical teams to help prevent the spread of disease.

In a boost to the aid effort, Mr Holbrooke said the US would begin diverting cash from US-funded infrastructure projects into flood relief.

And he denied that the US was helping Pakistan in a bid to bolster the fight against Islamist militancy in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"This is a humanitarian effort and we intend to see this wonderful country and its people through these troubled times," he said.

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Oil tanker freed in Northwest Passage off Canada

A ship carrying 9m litres (2m gallons) of oil has been freed after running aground two weeks ago off the coast of northern Canada.

A Department of Transportation spokeswoman told AFP news agency the ship's owner had lightened the vessel's load by pumping out some of the oil.

The oil tanker was dislodged without leaking any oil into Arctic waters, the Canadian Coast Guard said.


The MV Nanny became stuck when it hit a sandbar in the Northwest Passage.

The operation to free the ship, which is owned by Newfoundland-based Woodward's Oil, took place over a period of two days near the village of Gjoa Haven in the Nunavut federal territory.

The Department of Transportation is conducting an investigation into how the oil tanker became stuck on the sandbar.

Gjoa Haven, or Uqsuqtuuq in the Inuktitut language, is the only settlement on King William Island.

The Northwest Passage is one of the most fabled sea routes in the world - the most direct shipping route from Europe to Asia through the Canadian Arctic. Historically, it has been ice-bound throughout the year.

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Zimbabwe releases four US Aids workers on bail

Zimbabwe has released on bail four US health workers suspected of running a clinic and dispensing Aids drugs without a licence.

The four, along with two other staff from New Zealand and Zimbabwe, were told by a magistrate to pay $200 (£130) and surrender their passports.

They will next appear in court on 27 September.

The medical team, which worked from two clinics in Mutoko and Harare, denies the charges.

The accused are Gloria Croxwell, 48, Anthony Jones, 39, Gregory Miller, 64, and David Greenberg, 62, all from the US, Andrew Cheyne, 48, from New Zealand and Tembinkosi Ncomanzi, 37, from Zimbabwe.

The penalties for the foreign workers could include a fine and deportation.

The Christian volunteer health team from California includes a doctor, two nurses and a community worker.

They mainly looked after Aids orphans and HIV-positive patients, the US embassy said.

A police spokesman told the state-controlled Herald newspaper that the six were arrested "for questioning in connection with practising without a premises licence and dispensing medicines without the supervision of a pharmacist".

The group's lawyer Jonathan Samkange criticised the conditions they had been kept in.

"This is excessive. They shouldn't have been arrested in the first place.

"You don't arrest people who are helping your own brothers who are suffering from Aids."

The health workers are members of a Baptist church in Oakland. The church said the volunteers from the congregation had worked in Zimbabwe for 10 years and that the arrested workers were part of a team that had brought a four-month supply of drugs to close to a thousand people with Aids, some of whom are orphaned children.

The church said this was the first time questions about a team's licensing had been raised.

Zimbabwe has one of the worst HIV infection rates in the world.

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NBA star John Amaechi in bar access row

Former basketball star John Amaechi is considering legal action against a bar in Manchester's gay village that refused to let him in.

The 39-year-old said a doorman at Crunch on Canal Street described him as "big, black and could be trouble".

Mr Amaechi, who was out with friends on Friday, has complained to the council and demanded an apology from the bar.

Crunch said entry was refused on safety grounds and called the allegations "outrageous and unfounded".

Mr Amaechi's office has written to the club to seek an explanation for why he was refused entry.
'Issues of bigotry'

"I want an explanation of what happened - a real true explanation - and an apology, and they have not in any way been forthcoming with that," he told the BBC.

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Wife on trial for killing husband on Canada hunt trip

The trial of an American who says she killed her husband on a hunting trip after mistaking him for a bear has begun in Canada.

Mary Beth Harshbarger fatally shot her husband Mark with a rifle during a 2006 Newfoundland hunting expedition.
Canadian prosecutors contend it was too dark for her to fire a gun safely and are trying her for criminal negligence.
Ms Harshbarger pleaded not guilty. The trial began with testimony from the couple's hunting guide.
Guide Lambert Greene testified in a Newfoundland courtroom that he and Mark Harshbarger, 42, were walking back toward his pickup truck when he heard a shot followed by a loud scream.
He said he found Mr Harshbarger lying dead on the ground, covered in blood.
"Mary Beth was hysterical," Mr Lambert testified. He said she screamed: "I shot my husband, I shot my love."
Mrs Harshbarger, 45, faces at least four years in prison if she is convicted. She was extradited to Canada from her native Pennsylvania to stand trial after losing a lengthy US court battle.

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Imam Rauf 'exploring options' over NY Islamic centre

The cleric behind plans to build an Islamic community centre near Ground Zero says he is still "exploring all options" over the project.

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf said the plan would "bring honour to city of New York" and to Muslims around the world.

But speaking in New York he added that "everything is on the table" in a bid to "resolve this crisis".

Critics say building close to the site where almost 2,800 people were killed by al-Qaeda hijackers is offensive.


Thousands of people marched through New York on Saturday, on the ninth anniversary of the 11 September attacks, demonstrating both for and against the project.

The controversy over the cultural centre and mosque project was inflamed by a row over a Florida pastor's plans, later cancelled, to burn copies of the Koran on 9/11.

In remarks at the Council on Foreign Relations, Mr Rauf said he and the projects' other backers did not anticipate the outcry.

"We were surprised because when the news became public [in December 2009] nobody objected," he said.

He said if backers had known the level of protest it would provoke, they might have reconsidered.

On Sunday, Mr Rauf said the Koran-burning would have strengthened radical Islamic extremists and increased the danger of terrorist attacks against the US.

He also rejected claims by Terry Jones, the pastor behind the Koran-burning plans, that the bonfire was cancelled after Mr Rauf agreed to relocate the Islamic centre away from New York's Ground Zero.

"How can you equate the burning of any person's scripture with an attempt to build inter-faith dialogue?" Mr Rauf told ABC.

"This is a house with multi-faith partners, intended to work together towards building peace."

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Pentagon to notify Congress of $60bn Saudi arms deal

The deal to sell advanced military aircraft to the Saudi kingdom is aimed at shoring up an Arab ally against Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The arms deal, set to support 75,000 US jobs, would be among the largest yet.

The notification will set off a review where lawmakers could push for changes, impose conditions or block the trade.

Pentagon spokesman Col Dave Lapan said Congressional notification was expected within "the next week or so" but he declined to comment on details of the proposed package.

    The United States would do nothing that would upset the current balance (of power) in the region” said Philip Crowley US state department

The BBC's Paul Adams in Washington says the administration is unlikely to encounter much opposition to the sale of weaponry to a traditional ally and will probably argue that it is all part of a strategy to bolster friendly Arab governments in the face of growing strategic threats from Iran.

Off the record, defence officials say the administration will authorise the sale of dozens of aircraft, including F-15 fighter jets and Apache, Black Hawk and Little Bird helicopters.

Saudi Arabia would reportedly initially purchase about $30bn worth of aircraft, but could buy more at a later date.
Balance of power

An unnamed defence official told Reuters news agency that the deal would give Saudi Arabia a "whole host of defensive capabilities to defend the kingdom".

He added that Israel, a firm ally of the US, was "fairly comfortable" with the arrangement.

Meanwhile state department spokesman Philip Crowley said that the US "would do nothing that would upset the current balance (of power) in the region".

The administration is required to notify the Congress in advance of arms sales. Lawmakers have 30 days from notification to object to the deal.

Congressional officials warned that lawmakers could try to block the deal, but analysts say the prospect of job growth in the US defence industry could be another encouragement for lawmakers to approve it.

The UK sold major combat aircraft to the Saudis in 1980s, when the US chose not to.

Saudi Arabia is one of the top buyers of weapons in the developing world, purchasing an estimated $36.7bn in arms between 2001 and 2008, according to the Congressional Research Service.

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Bible Study Fellowship

Bible Study Fellowship is an interdenominational Bible study with four classes in the area that meet weekly starting Sunday to study the book of Isaiah.

There’s an evening men’s group that meets on Monday nights in Elkhart, an evening women’s group that meets Monday nights in Granger, and two day-time women’s classes that meet in South Bend and Goshen.

Children programs are offered in the evenings for school-aged children and birth to pre-school ages during the day-time classes. For more information about Bible Study Fellowship, go to www.bsfinternational.org or call Ann Bartels at 574-231-9517.

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BP spreads blame over oil spill

A "sequence of failures involving a number of different parties" was to blame for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, BP says.

An investigation carried out by BP said it was responsible in part for the disaster, but it also blamed two other companies working on the well.

However both firms criticised the report.

BP faces billions of dollars worth of legal claims for compensation over the spill, the worst in recent US history.

An estimated 4.9m barrels of oil leaked into the Gulf after the blast.

The well was capped on 15 July, and an operation to permanently seal it is due to take place in the next few weeks.

In the 193-page internal report released on its website, BP said that decisions made by "multiple companies and work teams" contributed to the accident, which it said arose from "a complex and interlinked series of mechanical failures, human judgements, engineering design, operational implementation and team interfaces".

BP was leasing the Deepwater Horizon rig from Transocean, and its cement contractor was Halliburton. The BP report was critical of the processes and actions of teams from both firms.

However, in a statement issued after the report, Transocean dismissed BP's criticism, calling the company's own well design "fatally flawed".

"In both its design and construction, BP made a series of cost-saving decisions that increased risk - in some cases, severely," the Associated Press reported Transocean as saying.

Halliburton also criticised the BP report, saying that it had "a number of substantial omissions and inaccuracies".

"Halliburton remains confident that all the work it performed with respect to the Macondo well was completed in accordance with BP's specifications," Cathy Mann, Halliburn's director of corporate affairs, said in a statement.

'Bad cement'

The report, conducted by BP's head of safety, Mark Bly, highlighted eight key failures that, in combination, led to the explosion.

BP said that both BP and Transocean staff incorrectly interpreted a safety test which should have flagged up risks of a blowout.


"Over a 40-minute period, the Transocean rig crew failed to recognise and act on the influx of hydrocarbons into the well" which eventually caused the explosion.

BP criticised the cementing of the well - carried out by Halliburton - and repeated previous criticism of the blowout preventer.

Among the other findings, the report said:

    * There were "no indications" that Transocean had tested intervention systems at the surface, "as was

required by Transocean policy", before they were deployed on the well
    * "Improved engineering rigour, cement testing and communication of risk" by Halliburton could have identified flaws in cement design and testing, quality assurance and risk assessment
    * A Transocean rig crew and a team described as "mudloggers" working for Halliburton Sperry Sun may have been distracted by what are described as "end-of-well activities" and, as a result, important monitoring was not carried out for more than seven hours
    * Crew may have had more time to respond before the explosion if they had diverted escaping fluids overboard.

"To put it simply, there was a bad cement job and a failure of the shoe track barrier at the bottom of the well, which let hydrocarbons from the reservoir into the production casing," said outgoing chief executive Tony Hayward.

The Deepwater Horizon explosion according to BP

                           
                                                                                   
    *   19 April - 'Bad' cement pumped down casing to stop gas and oil leaking into welbore
    * 20 April - Gas and oil leak through shoe track barrier and float collar
    * 20 April - Tests carried out on the rig incorrectly suggest pressure is at a safe level
    * The crew do not recognise there is a major problem or act to control it until the hydrocarbons are flowing
   rapidly up the riser
    * The crew close the blowout preventer and diverter, routing oil and gas to the mud gas separator (MGS) system rather than diverting it overboard
    * The MGS is overwhelmed by the force of oil and gas which leaks into the rig's ventilation system
    * The heating, ventilation and air conditioning system is thought to have sent a gas-rich mixture into the engine rooms
    * 2149 local time There are two explosions, killing 11 men
    * April 21 - 22 - The BOP designed to work automatically failed to seal the well as control pods and cutter (blind sheer ram) were not working

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Iran Agree to release US hiker on bail

Tehran chief prosecutor Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi said Sarah Shourd, 32, would be freed when $500,000 (£325,000) bail was paid, and could leave the country.

A senior White House official described the Iranian statement as "hopeful".

Ms Shourd and two men, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, were detained near Iran's border with Iraq on 31 July 2009.

Their families say they crossed the poorly-demarcated border by mistake while hiking in the mountainous northern Iraqi region of Khormal.
Continue reading the main story


Officials in Tehran said they had "suspicious aims" and that they intended to put them on trial for espionage. But they are still being held without charge more than a year later at Evin prison in Tehran.

US officials have said the three - all graduates of the University of California, Berkeley - are completely innocent.

After seeing her in May, Ms Shourd's mother said she was being denied treatment for serious health problems, including a lump in her breast and precancerous cervical cells.

The three friends were all said to be undernourished and depressed after more than a year in virtual solitary confinement.
Indictment 'ready'

At a news conference in the Iranian capital on Sunday, Mr Jafari-Dolatabadi announced that he was prepared to release Ms Shourd. He had earlier blocked a plan backed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to release her as a goodwill gesture.

"Based on reports and the approval of the relevant judge about the sickness of Ms Shourd, her detention was converted to $500,000, and if the bail is deposited she can be released," he told reporters.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

    The equipment and supplies they were carrying are only used for spying”

End Quote Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi Tehran chief prosecutor

"She is not barred from leaving Iran," he added. "The other two detained American hikers will remain in jail."

The chief prosecutor said Ms Shourd's lawyer had been informed.

President Barack Obama's senior adviser, David Axelrod, voiced cautious optimism after the Iranian statement.

"Obviously we are hopeful and encouraged by this news but there have been starts and stops in this before and until that actually happens, we are on a wait-and-see basis," he told NBC.

The BBC's Middle East correspondent, Jon Leyne, says a number of people facing trial in Iran have taken the option of leaving the country and forfeiting their bail, rather than risk facing a long prison term.

Mr Jafari-Dolatabadi said an indictment against the three Americans had been issued and that their cases were ready to be submitted to a court.

There were "enough reasons to accuse the three of espionage", he said. Under Iranian law, it is an offence that can be punishable by death.

"It has been proven that they illegally entered through the border of Kordestan [province]. Also the equipment and supplies they were carrying are only used for spying," Mr Jafari-Dolatabadi was quoted by the Mehr news agency as saying.

The announcement came a day after Mr Jafari-Dolatabadi said he had objected to a plan announced by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to release Ms Shourd at the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan because legal procedures had "not been completed".

Reporters had been invited to a hotel in Tehran to witness her release on Saturday before it was announced that it had been postponed.

Our correspondent says that with all the recent twists and turns in this case, and the unpredictable mood of the Iranian authorities, Ms Shourd's family will be wary of getting excited about this latest offer.

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US win World Basketball Championship

The United States captured their first world championship basketball title since 1994 with a 81-64 victory over Turkey in Istanbul.

It was the Americans' fourth world crown and comes two years after they won the Olympic title in Beijing.

Oklahoma City star Kevin Durant shone once again with 28 points while Lamar Odom added 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Phoenix Suns forward Hedo Turkoglu led Turkey with 16 points, despite being hampered by a knee injury.

Turkoglu gave the fanatical home support something to cheer about with eight early points but after he departed, the home side found the going difficult and were 22-17 down at the end of the opening quarter.
  
The forward returned to the court in the second quarter with a knee brace on his right leg and with his movement affected and Durant lighting up the game, they were soon 42-32 down by the break.

Durant was on fire at the beginning of the second half with two three-pointers to see the US team's lead go out to 16 but Turkey, playing in their first final, attempted to work their way back into the game.

However, the US remained calm and continued picking their shots with a 61-48 margin going into the final quarter and they maintained their advantage to win back the gold.

"It was a great challenge for us," said US captain Chauncey Billups.

"We are a very young team and inexperienced, but we have been really close since the start of the tournament. Kevin Durant was huge. He was the best player of the tournament."

In the bronze medal match, Lithuania defeated Serbia 99-88.

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US breakfast killing spree in Kentucky

Stanley Neace, 47, went on the killing spree in a trailer park in Jackson, rural Breathitt County, Kentucky.

He chased his wife into a neighbouring trailer where he shot her, her daughter and three witnesses, reports say.

Police say they are looking into why Neace flew into such a wild rage; there are reports he was facing eviction.

State troopers found him dead at the porch of his trailer, slumped over his own gun.

The shooting happened during an argument with his wife Sandra, 54, after she brought him some eggs for breakfast, a relative of the neighbours he killed said.

Mrs Neace's daughter Sandra Strong, 28, was also killed.


The other victims were named as neighbours Dennis Turner, 31, Teresa Fugate, 30, and Tammy Kilborn, 40.



   " Over eggs? I thought that was crazy. I mean just because his eggs weren't hot?”

 Sherri Anne Robinson Victim's relative

Ms Fugate was shot in front of her seven-year-old daughter, whom Neace spared.

"Her daughter said, 'Please, please don't shoot me,' and he said, 'All right, you can leave,' and she ran out," Ms Fugate's sister Sherri Anne Robinson told the Associated Press.

Mrs Kiborn was another neighbour who stepped out onto her porch during the commotion, reports said.

Neace apparently waited an hour for the police to arrive before turning the gun on himself, police heard the shot as they drove up to the trailer.

Other neighbours had fled in terror during the rampage.

Breathitt County is Kentucky's rural eastern region, where gun ownership is widespread.

"Over eggs? I thought that was crazy. I mean just because his eggs weren't hot?" Ms Robinson said.

But Jackson police say there may be other factors that led to the shooting and they are still investigating.

The landlord of the Mount Carmel trailer park where Neace lived told reporters he had begun the process of evicting him because he had become hostile to neighbours in recent months.

"He was unpredictable, little things would set him off," Ray Rastegar told the Associated Press.

But County Sheriff Ray Clemons said he had known Neace for some years, and he did not have a bad record.

"He was a little hot sometimes, but we never had any major problems. Nothing like this."

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Drew Peterson

There has been a possible break in the 2007 disappearance of Stacy Peterson, who is presumed dead, but whose body has never been found. The Drew Peterson murder trial for his third wife is scheduled to start next week.

TMZ is reporting that Stacy Peterson may be buried in a private hunting ground and they plan to dig for the body starting tomorrow. They are also reproting that Drew Peterson, now in jail for the murder of his third wife, told an inmate how he had killed Stacy Peterson and where she was buried. Supposedly an accomplice is involved, and was the one to actually bury her body.

When law enforcement officials brought cadaver dogs to the property in question, they immediately caught a scent and went directly to the spot the accomplice had mapped. State police are presently guarding the site until digging can begin.

I pray that this is the beginning of a conclusion and closure in the case of missing mom Stacy Peterson. Her family has struggled with this for years, and while they have assumed Drew Peterson had killed her, they will now at least be able to lay her to rest.

Drew Peterson is clearly a deranged individual who needs to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

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