The officers who gunned down a knife-wielding man appeared to be justified in using lethal force, but the death will be perceived as a black mark on the beleaguered police department, the head of a watchdog group said Tuesday. Part of the confrontation leading to Monday's shooting was caught on videotape that shows about a dozen officers surrounding the man as he waved his arms and brandished a small knife. The shooting itself was not taped. "People will continue to have a negative opinion of police in this city," said Rafael Goyeneche, executive director of the Metropolitan Crime Commission of Greater New Orleans. "That goes back to some of the sins the department has been guilty of over the past 10 to 15 years." The victim was identified by the coroner's office as Anthony Hayes, 38, of New Orleans. His death follows a series of allegations of police misconduct in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, including the videotaped beating of a retired teacher and accusations that police ...
http://www.usatoday.com
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Editor - 19:54:00 12-27-05
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 Bolivian threat to reject U.S. aid |
Bolivia's President-elect Evo Morales will reject U.S. economic and military aid if the United States requires continued coca-eradication efforts to get the money, a close aide to the former coca growers' leader said Tuesday.Morales also plans to withdraw Bolivia's military from anti-drug efforts and leave the job to police, said Juan Ramon Quintana, a member of the Morales' transition team.Morales, who won Bolivia's presidency Dec. 18 with a decisive 54 percent of the vote, campaigned on promises to end the eradication of coca plantations. Coca eradication is a condition for aid from the United States, which gave Bolivia $91 million in 2005.The decision was made "mainly for reasons of sovereignty," said Quintana, who described Bolivia's Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking as "an appendix" of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration...
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/12/27/bolivia.aid.ap/index.html?section=cnn_world
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Editor - 19:45:00 12-27-05
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| Homeland Gestapo accused of dereliction Democrats say agency failing to keep its own promises on protecting nation |
The Homeland Security Department, created in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has failed to fulfill 33 of its own pledges to better protect the nation, according to a report released Tuesday by House Democrats. The report concludes that gaps remain in federal efforts to secure an array of areas, including ports, borders and chemical plants. There also are still delays in the department’s sharing terror alerts and other intelligence with state and local officials, the review said. Compiled for 13 Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee, the report analyzes public statements and congressional testimony on Bush administration security goals since 2002. Thinking that any agency today is looking out to protect the Rights of Americans is forgetting that they now are only interested in protecting the government and themselves. ...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10620240/from/RSS/
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Editor - 19:34:00 12-27-05
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| Secret surveillance up sharply since 9/11 |
Federal applications for a special U.S. court to authorize secret surveillance rose sharply after the September 11, 2001, attacks, and the panel required changes to the requests at an even greater rate, government documents show. Bush acknowledged this month he had secretly ordered the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on the international phone conversations and e-mail of Americans suspected of links to terrorists without approval from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. The domestic spying order has set off a furious debate over whether the war on terrorism gives Bush a blank check when it comes to civil liberties and whether the president, in fact, broke the law. If the Constitution was still in enforced there would be no question he broke the law. But what meaning has an Oath today, expressly when they swore to protect and defend that which they openly trash. And it’s not just the currant crop of Republicans and Democrats that are guilty of this. ...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051228/pl_nm/security_eavesdropping_dc
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Editor - 19:20:00 12-27-05
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| Fires race across windy Oklahoma, Texas |
Firefighters in Texas and Oklahoma battled wind-fueled wildfires on Tuesday that burned homes and cars and forced one small town to evacuate residents. The fires, at least several of which officials blamed on children playing with fireworks, raced across a countryside parched by months of abnormally dry weather.Winds near 40 miles per hour (64 kph) whipped through the region, while temperatures rose to an unseasonably high 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 Celsius) on Tuesday."It's dry as a bone, and brittle," said Oklahoma City Fire Department spokesman Brian Stanaland. "The fire is traveling extremely rapidly. It's hopscotching across the country."Television reports showed the fires moving across the prairies and into housing developments where homes were ablaze and cars burning in their driveways. Residents watered their yards to prevent flying sparks from igniting the grass....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051228/ts_nm/environment_fires_dc
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Editor - 19:07:00 12-27-05
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| CIA Inspector General Investigating Fewer Than 10 Renditions of Terror Suspects |
The CIA's independent watchdog is investigating fewer than 10 cases where terror suspects may have been mistakenly swept away to foreign countries by the spy agency, a figure lower than published reports but enough to raise some concerns. After the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, President Bush gave the CIA authority to conduct the now-controversial operations, called "renditions," and permitted the agency to act without case-by-case approval from the White House or other administration offices. The highly classified practice involves grabbing terror suspects off the street of one country and flying them to their home country or another where they are wanted for a crime or questioning. Some 100 to 150 people have been snatched up since 9/11. Government officials say the action is reserved for those considered by the CIA to be the most serious terror suspects. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1446363&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
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Editor - 19:04:00 12-27-05
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