A judge approved a settlement of up to $85 million Tuesday between sexual abuse victims and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington, one of the largest deals the church has reached with U.S. parishioners who were molested by clergy. The settlement covers 361 victims who claim they were abused over a period of 50 years by priests in a diocese that once included 57 counties across a large swath of Kentucky. Special Judge John Potter said a desire by the Covington Diocese to make reparations to the victims contributed to the settlement. "Contrary to what might be the case in other dioceses, the court believes that this professed desire is genuine and played a significant role in the diocese's decision," Potter wrote in his 15-page ruling. ...
http://www.cbsnews.com
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Editor - 15:22:00 01-31-06
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 AT&T sued over NSA spy program |
AT&T has been named a defendant in a class action lawsuit that claims the telecommunications company illegally cooperated with the National Security Agency's secret eavesdropping program. The lawsuit, filed Tue in San Francisco's federal district court, charges that AT&T has opened its telecommunications facilities up to NSA & continues to "to assist the government in its secret surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans." The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which filed the suit, says AT&T's alleged cooperation violates free speech & privacy rights found in the US Constitution and also contravenes federal wiretapping law, which prohibits electronic surveillance "except as authorized by statute." Kevin Bankston, an EFF staff attorney, said he anticipates that the Bush administration will intervene in the case on behalf of AT&T. "We are definitely going to have a fight with the government & AT&T," he said. AT&T said Tue that it needed to review the complaint before it could respond ...
http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6033501.html
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Editor - 15:10:00 01-31-06
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| Probe into beating of suspect caught on camera Police chief says inquiry will ask: ‘Is the force appropriate for the situation?’ |
Police were videotaped punching and kicking a suspect after a car chase Monday, and officials are investigating to determine whether the four officers involved acted illegally.Live television showed much of the chase, as well as officers apparently beating the man for several seconds. What could not be clearly seen on the video was how much the suspect was resisting.The chase began in the St. Louis suburb of Maplewood, after officers said they noticed a man in a van acting suspiciously. It ended in St. Louis. KTVI-TV video showed the suspect, Edmond Burns, 33, bloodied. He was hospitalized, but his condition was unknown. He had not been charged Monday, and he was not available for comment....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11110694/from/RSS/
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Editor - 12:08:00 01-31-06
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| Putin's salty tongue spices up Moscow politics |
Russia's Vladimir Putin is well known for his salty expressions that often seem better suited to the barrack room than to affairs of state.At a news conference on Tuesday, there was no sign that the president was planning to tone down his vocabulary, even though he will be playing host this summer to leaders of the world's richest nations when the annual G8 summit comes to Russia. Here are the 'Putinisms' he came out with at the conference, and some of the more exotic phrases he has produced in the past: *When the news conference had been running for two and a half hours, Putin suggested a toilet break. "I don't suppose anyone put on a nappy (diaper) when they were dressing for this meeting so we should start winding this up," he said. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1561022
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Editor - 12:03:00 01-31-06
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| US troops, fighters clash in Baghdad |
US troops have clashed with fighters west of Baghdad and Iraqi police have launched a new raid in a Sunni Arab-dominated part of the capital, despite calls by Sunni calls to halt such operations.Also, a British soldier was killed after coming under fire on Monday in Iraq's Maysan province, the Britain's Defence Ministry said. An Italian soldier was slightly wounded in an ambush in southern Iraq.Clashes in Ramadi, capital of the violence-ridden Anbar province 115km west of Baghdad, began when armed men fired at least five rocket-propelled grenade rounds and rifles at US army soldiers, a military spokesman said. "The soldiers returned fire and called in a jet nearby to attack the fighters' position with their main gun," Marine Captain Jeffrey S Pool said.The two fighters were killed, but there were no US casualties, he added....
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C98F11C2-8967-4978-9EA6-8BADE0CD8BF7.htm
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Editor - 12:00:00 01-31-06
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| Deputy's gun used in rape, records show Sheriff's Office was aware of troubled felon |
Two days before a King County deputy sheriff's live-in lover allegedly shot and killed a convenience-store clerk, he used the deputy's handcuffs and gun to rape a man in their Kenmore home while the cop slept upstairs, according to police reports. The incident in August is one of many revelations regarding King County Sheriff's Deputy Ferenc Zana's disastrous affair with a mentally ill felon. They were contained in more than 900 pages of documents the Sheriff's Office was forced to produce Monday under a court order obtained by the Seattle P-I. Also, the documents reveal that although the gun allegedly used by Christopher Bistryski to kill store clerk Mohammed-Imad "Dimitri" Harb was Zana's private weapon, the fatal bullets were issued by the Sheriff's Office. That could significantly increase King County taxpayers' liability for damages to the dead man's wife and four children. "That changes everything. That's significant," said Janet Rice, a prominent Seattle litigator ...
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/257658_zana31.html
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Editor - 11:50:00 01-31-06
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