 A nearly all-female jury began deliberations Wednesday on a life or death sentence for a woman convicted of kidnapping an acquaintance and hacking up her body with a chain saw. In closing arguments earlier in the day, prosecutor Dave Nelson said Daphne Wright deserves to die by lethal injection because the mutilation was the act of a depraved mind. Wright's public defender, Jeff Larson, argued that she burned and cut the body as an afterthought and that the slaying was an isolated act motivated by jealousy. "Do you really think the body was dismembered for some perverse pleasure," Larson asked the jury, "or because she couldn't figure out how to get a 200-pound body out of the basement?" The jury of 11 woman and one man must first decide whether the state proved depravity of mind beyond a reasonable doubt. If jurors think prosecutors did, they can consider whether to give Wright the death penalty or life in prison without parole. ...
http://abcnews.go.com
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Editor - 11:23:00 04-18-07
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 Al-Jazeera Memo Trial Starts in London 2 Britons Go on Trial Over Leaked Memo in Which Bush Reportedly Referred to Bombing Al-Jazeera |
A British government official and a former political researcher went on trial Wednesday for allegedly leaking a classified memo in which President Bush reportedly referred to bombing the Arab television station Al-Jazeera. David Keogh, 50, a cipher expert, and Leo O'Connor, 44, a lawmaker's aide, are accused of violating secrecy laws by disclosing a document relating to 2004 talks between Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair. Both defendants deny violating the Official Secrets Act. Prosecutors allege Keogh passed the memo to O'Connor in May 2004, who in turn placed it in a file he handed to his boss, Tony Clarke, then a legislator who had voted against Britain's decision to join the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The Daily Mirror newspaper previously reported that the memo noted Blair had argued against Bush's suggestion of bombing Al-Jazeera's headquarters in Doha, Qatar. The Daily Mirror said its sources disagreed on whether Bush's suggestion was serious....
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3053457
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Editor - 11:22:00 04-18-07
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| IRS Chief To Lead Red Cross. I guess the Red Cross didn’t have enough troubles |
The American Red Cross selected Mark Everson, the commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, to be its new president Wednesday, filling the post as the charity restructures itself after intense criticism over its response to Hurricane Katrina The Red Cross had been led by an interim president, Jack McGuire, since December 2005, when Marsha Evans resigned because of friction with the charity's board of governors. Her resignation coincided with congressional hearings assailing the Red Cross's uneven performance in Katrina's aftermath. Everson, 52, who will take the Red Cross post on May 29, has served as IRS commissioner since May 2003. He previously was a vice president of SC International, a $2 billion food services company, and an executive with the French industrial group Pechiney. "It is an honor and a privilege to become part of such a vital and enduring humanitarian service organization," Everson said. ...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/18/national/main2699237.shtml?source=RSSattr=U.S._2699237
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Editor - 11:19:00 04-18-07
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| 2 Ga. Wildfires Force 1,000 From Homes, Threaten Okefenokee Wildlife Refuge |
Two wildfires forced more than 1,000 people from their homes in southeastern Georgia and threatened the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, one of the nation's best-preserved wetland areas, officials said Wednesday. Residents had been evacuated from homes in the Waycross area since Monday and were still out Wednesday afternoon, said Eric Mosley, spokesman for the Georgia Forestry Commission. Classes at Waycross schools were canceled, and the private Okefenokee Swamp Park was evacuated and its animals moved to safety. The larger blaze, which had burned about 40 square miles, or 25,000 acres, ignited Monday near Waycross when a tree fell on a power line, then raced through tinder-dry forest to the refuge, officials said. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3053437
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Editor - 11:05:00 04-18-07
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| End Darfur violence or face sanctions, Bush tells Sudan |
President Bush warned Sudan's president on Wednesday that he has one last chance to stop violence in Darfur or else the United States will impose sanctions and consider other punitive options.Bush said he has decided to give U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon more time to pursue diplomacy with Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir but made clear in a speech at the U.S. Holocaust Museum that his patience is limited."President Bashir should take the last chance by responding to the secretary general's efforts and to meet the just demands of the international community," Bush said.Bush raised the possibility of an international no-fly zone aimed at preventing Sudan's military aircraft from flying over Darfur. He accused the Sudanese of painting military planes white to disguise them as United Nations or African Union aircraft....
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/04/18/bush.sudan.reut/index.html?eref=rss_world
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Editor - 11:04:00 04-18-07
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| Argentina accused of sabotaging Falklands trade |
Argentina was today accused of laying economic siege to the Falkland Islands and having "colonialist aspirations" towards the British overseas territory. A leading member of the Falkland Islands government, Mike Summers, told a business forum in London that relations with Argentina had deteriorated significantly to the extent that deliberate efforts were being made to damage the islands' economy. He said the Falklands government was seeking to amend the constitution to strengthen the principle of self-determination for the islanders and head off any future attempts by Argentina to reclaim the territory. "Argentina has attempted to disrupt trade through denial of over-flight rights for charter flights supporting the tourist industry and by passing new laws to make it illegal for foreign companies fishing in Argentina to also fish in Falklands waters," he said....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/falklands/story/0,,2060234,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12
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Editor - 10:59:00 04-18-07
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