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FBI cuts down Mass. mom's door in wrong-home raid

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FITCHBURG, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts mother says the FBI used a chain saw blade to cut through her door and held her at gunpoint for at least 30 minutes before agents realized they were conducting a raid at the wrong home.

Judy Sanchez, of Fitchburg, says she awoke to heavy footsteps in the stairwell on Jan. 26 and walked into her kitchen in time to see a blade chop through her door.

She says she was held facedown on the floor at gunpoint while her 3-year-old daughter cried in another room.

It turns out agents were after the other tenant on the floor of the multiunit building who is suspected of dealing drugs.

Sanchez says she and her daughter now have trouble sleeping.

The FBI has apologized and is paying for the damage.

Pfizer is recalling 1 million packets of birth control pills in the U.S.: http://t.co/ByZq07bq
L.A. officials say "Soul Train" creator Don Cornelius died this morning of an apparent suicide at age 75: http://t.co/VyQ0bpbb
Feb. 1 is Working Naked Day, anniversary of the space shuttle Columbia disaster, Hula in the Coola Day: http://t.co/YwoWpH3n
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Michele Bachmann refutes Mitt Romney endorsement report

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He runs the PAC RT @StuartRoy: Min invest yields win head 2 head w/ romney MT @chucktodd Santorum SuperPAC up with new ad in MO
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Japan snowstorm kills 52, crushes steel bridge

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Heavy snowfall has crippled much of Japan's western coast, killing more than 50 people and injuring nearly 600. The worst snowstorm in six years has dumped more than 10 feet of snow in the hardest-hit regions, causing at least one bridge to collapse and forcing school closures across the region.

An avalanche today buried three people for more than an hour near a hot springs in Akita Prefecture in northwest Japan. The women were later found unconscious but survived.

Western Japan has been battered by one snowstorm after another since the beginning of the year, overwhelming cash-strapped cities struggling to keep up with cleanup efforts.  In the Niigata Prefecture, officials said nearly half of their 30 cities had run out of funds set aside snow removal. Further north in the Aomori Prefecture, the government had already applied for additional funds from Tokyo, after draining its budget.

Residents, frustrated by the slow response, have taken it upon themselves to clean up the winter mess, resulting in deadly consequences. Nearly all the storm-related deaths have been a direct result of snow removal.

Meanwhile, in Nagano, the weight of all the snow proved to be too much for a 310-foot steel bridge. It collapsed early this week, although no one was injured.

The Japan Meteorological Agency forecasts more snowfall in the next 24 hours.

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Romney: 'I'm not concerned about the very poor'

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Wednesday that he's "not concerned about the very poor" because they have an "ample safety net" and he's focused instead on relieving the suffering of middle-class people hit hard by the bad economy.

In comments likely to become fodder for his critics, Romney emphasized, "You can focus on the very poor, that's not my focus."

He brought up the subject of the poor in a CNN interview marking his big win in Florida's GOP primary Tuesday night, a major step toward becoming the party's challenger to President Barack Obama in the fall. A multi-millionaire former venture capitalist, Romney has been criticized by Democrats and his Republican rivals alike for earlier remarks seen as insensitive, such as saying "I like being able to fire people" and declaring that he knew what it was like to worry about being "pink-slipped" out of a job.

"I'm not concerned about the very poor." he said Wednesday. "We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it. I'm not concerned about the very rich. They're doing just fine. I'm concerned about the very heart of America, the 90-95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling."

Asked whether his comment about the poor might come across as odd to some, Romney reiterated.

"We will hear from the Democrat party the plight of the poor and there's no question, it's not good being poor, and we have a safety net to help those that are very poor," Romney said, adding that he's more worried about the unemployed, people living on Social Security and those struggling to send their kids to college.

"We have a very ample safety net and we can talk about whether it needs to be strengthened or whether there are holes in it. But we have food stamps, we have Medicaid, we have housing vouchers, we have programs to help the poor," Romney said. "But the middle-income Americans, they're the folks that are really struggling right now."

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'Soul Train' Founder Commits Suicide: Report

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'Soul Train' Founder Commits Suicide: Report (Credit: Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo)

Don Cornelius, the man who created Soul Train, was reportedly found dead Wednesday morning at his Los Angeles home.  Police sources tell TMZ.com that Cornelius appears to have taken his own life; sources say he died from what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.  He was 75.

Cornelius created "Soul Train" and hosted the show in national syndication from 1971 to 1993.  It was the first real venue on American TV for soul music, and as the show's writer and producer, as well as host, Cornelius played a vital role in bringing stars like James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Michael Jackson to a wider audience.  Some have described the show as "a black American Bandstand," though Cornelius was not a fan of that comparison.  As the host, he was known for the catchphrase with which he closed each episode: "I'm Don Cornelius, and as always in parting, we wish you love, peace and soul!"

"Soul Train," which ceased airing in 2006, also spun off the Soul Train Music Awards and the Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards.   Its most famous theme song, "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)," by MFSB became a massive pop hit in 1974.

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Romney hits morning shows, armed with talking points about Obama’s billions

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He runs the PAC RT @StuartRoy: Min invest yields win head 2 head w/ romney MT @chucktodd Santorum SuperPAC up with new ad in MO
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Separated at birth, Indonesian twins meet in Sweden

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Twins born in Indonesia and put up separately for adoption, have been reunited after finding each other living just 40 kilometres (25 miles) apart, in southern Sweden, three decades later.

Non-identical twins Emilie Falk and Lin Backman -- strangers until last year -- were separated nearly 29 years ago.

According to a DNA test the pair had done two months after reuniting in January last year, and which they shared with AFP, there is a 99.98 percent chance of them being sisters.

A complex string of events led up to that revelation.

Both were adopted from an orphanage in Semarang in northern Indonesia by Swedish couples, but there was no mention in either of their documents of the fact that they had a twin.

When Backman's parents left the orphanage with her all those years ago, the taxi driver had turned around and asked them: "What about the other one, the sister?" and they jotted the girls' Indonesian names down on a piece of paper.

The name helped Backman's parents track down the Falks back in Sweden, and the two families got together a few times when the girls were babies to compare notes.

"They went through the adoption papers, but they didn't think we were very similar and there was a lot in the papers that didn't add up ... And there were no DNA tests back then," Falk said.

Among the discrepancies were different names for the girls' fathers. And although the records showed they had the same mother, the families eventually decided that this too was an error.

The two couples in the end wrote off the idea and eventually lost touch.

Although their parents had told them the story as children, both Falk and Backman later forgot about it. Growing up, neither was interested in information about their biological background, so they never asked.

"But when I got married two years ago I started thinking about family and my adoption, and when I asked my mother she told me this story again, and I decided to look for Lin," Falk said.

She had a name and began searching through a network for Indonesian children adopted by Swedish families, and found her on Facebook.

"I am born on March 18, 1983 in Semarang and my biological mother's name is Maryati Rajiman," Falk said she wrote, and quickly received the reply: "Wow, that's my mother's name as well! And that's my birthday!"

They found they had a lot in common.

They lived only 40 kilometres apart in the very south of Sweden, they are both teachers, they got married on the same day only one year apart and even danced to the same wedding song: "You and Me" by Lifehouse.

"It was really strange," Falk said.

"When Lin called me (with the DNA test results), I remember I was sitting in the car and when she told me I started laughing, because it just felt so strange," she said, adding: "I suddenly started thinking that we shared a womb. It was really strange, but really cool too."

Since then the two have kept in close touch, and have talked about going to Indonesia to search for their biological parents.

There are a number of details, some contradictory, in the adoption papers, including a reference to their father as a taxi driver.

"We are very curious if he is THE taxi driver," Falk said.

Asked if she wished she had found out about her twin earlier, Falk insisted "there's no use in being sad about something I didn't know about. I am only happy to have found her."

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First lady pushes Jay Leno to eat healthy foods

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BURBANK, Calif. (AP) — Jay ate the veggies.

First lady Michelle Obama cajoled Jay Leno into nibbling on apples, sweet potato fries and a pizza made with eggplant, green peppers and zucchini on the "Tonight Show," breaking his long-held aversion for all-things-healthy in his diet.

Leno once told a magazine he hadn't eaten a vegetable since 1969, and he insisted he tasted his last apple in 1984. That didn't dissuade the first lady, who's promoting her "Let's Move!" campaign to get kids excited about fitness and healthy eating habits.

Earlier, Obama poked at him in a Twitter post, hinting she'd "get Jay to eat some veggies" on the NBC show.

He did.

"That does smell very good. I assume this is sausage-pepperoni," the comedian quipped as he eyed the pizza made with a whole-wheat crust.

She convinced Leno to dip an apple in honey made from beehives in the White House garden: "It will help it go down easier," she assured him.

"White House honey? That sounds bad," Leno told her. "You know, with a different president that could mean a whole different thing, 'a little White House honey.'"

The first lady is on a two-day swing through California where she'll promote her initiative while attending two events to help Democrats raise money for the upcoming elections.

She told Leno she's not doing anything special to prepare for what's expected to be a tough re-election campaign for her husband, President Barack Obama.

"You know, there's really no way to mentally prepare for it. You take each day as it comes," she said.

Republican Mitt Romney has been ridiculing the White House and might face the president in November, but the first lady graded the former Massachusetts governor's singing voice with something like a sly endorsement. Romney surprised supporters in Florida with an on-pitch version of "America the Beautiful" on Monday, and Leno asked the first lady for her opinion.

"It's beautiful," she said after a pregnant pause, with a laugh and raised eyebrows. "And it is America's song, and it's a song that's meant to be sung by every American," the first lady said in a taped appearance for the NBC show.

Leno told her, "That is right, regardless of political affiliation."

But she swooned over her husband's singing — Obama took a brief turn as a soul singer earlier this month at a New York fundraiser, crooning a bar from an Al Green classic. She says he does a little Marvin Gaye, too.

"He does have a beautiful voice, and he sings to me all the time," she told Leno.

___

NBC is controlled by Comcast Corp.

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Man shot dead near Tube station

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A man has been shot dead near a north London Tube station.

Scotland Yard said it was called to reports of a shooting in Langham Parade, near Turnpike Lane Tube station at about 15:30 GMT.

An air ambulance arrived shortly afterwards and a man thought to be in his mid-30s was pronounced dead at the scene, Scotland Yard said.

Police said one person had been arrested and efforts were being made to trace the dead man's next of kin.

Scotland Yard has appealed for any witnesses to come forward.

Turnpike Lane Tube station, which is on the Piccadilly line, is still open, but one exit has been closed, Transport for London said.

Langham Road was cordoned off by police while a number of officers, including forensics officers, remained at the scene on Wednesday evening.

Police said the victim had not been formally identified.

It is the second fatal shooting in the capital this year, the Metropolitan Police confirmed.

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No change in Lawrence sentencing

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Gary Dobson and David NorrisGary Dobson and David Norris were convicted over the 1993 murder of teenager Stephen Lawrence

The sentences handed to Gary Dobson and David Norris for the racist murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence will not be reviewed, it has emerged.

Attorney General Dominic Grieve said the sentences will not be referred to the Court of Appeal for a decision on whether they are "unduly lenient".

He said the minimum terms are "within the appropriate range of sentences".

Mr Grieve said the pair will not be released until, or unless, the Parole Board thinks they pose no further risk.

The pair were sentenced to life after being found guilty by an Old Bailey jury at the beginning of January.

Dobson was ordered to serve a minimum of 15 years and two months, and Norris 14 years and three months.

Explaining his decision not to refer the sentences to the Court of Appeal, Mr Grieve said: "This was a despicable and appalling crime.

"Justice was long delayed and I can fully understand why some people are unhappy that the minimum terms handed down were not longer.

"However, having considered the sentences carefully I have come to the conclusion that the minimum terms are within the appropriate range of sentences, bearing in mind the offenders' ages at the time of the crime, and therefore I have decided not to refer them to the Court of Appeal."

He stressed that the terms were the minimum periods that will actually be served.

"Dobson and Norris will not be released unless and until the Parole Board considers they do not pose a risk," he said.

Dobson, 36, and Norris, 35, were the first people convicted over the fatal attack on Mr Lawrence by a group of white youths near a bus stop in Eltham, in south-east London, on 22 April 1993.

Earlier this week it emerged that the men are to appeal against their convictions.

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Winehouse coroner 'not qualified'

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Amy WinehouseWinehouse had hits with Rehab and Back to Black

The family of singer Amy Winehouse have said they are "taking advice" following news that the coroner who oversaw her inquest has resigned.

Camden Council has confirmed that Suzanne Greenaway had stood down because she had not been a lawyer in the UK for the required five years.

The council said she had been appointed "in error" by her husband Andrew Reid, the coroner for inner north London.

Ms Greenaway ruled that Winehouse, 27, died from accidental alcohol poisoning.

She returned a verdict of misadventure.

The Office for Judicial Complaints has begun an inquiry into Dr Reid's conduct.

Letter of apology

In a statement, Winehouse's relatives said: "The Winehouse family is taking advice on the implications of this and will decide if any further discussion with the authorities is needed."

Ms Greenaway qualified in Australia in 1999 in September and was a member of the Supreme Court there but she had not worked as a lawyer for the required time in the UK, a Camden Council spokesman said.

The spokesman added that the Winehouse inquest verdict remained legal and would only be judged illegal if it was challenged and subsequently overturned by the High Court.

Mitch Winehouse, Amy Winehouse's father, and her stepmother Jane leave St Pancras Coroners Court Amy Winehouse's father leaves St Pancras Coroners Court

Dr Reid said he was writing to all of the families affected to apologise.

He said: "While I am confident that all of the inquests handled were done so correctly, I apologise if this matter causes distress to the families and friends of the deceased."

He has offered to hold the inquests over again if the families of the deceased request it.

During her time as deputy assistant coroner, Ms Greenaway conducted 12 inquests in Camden, but mainly worked from Poplar Coroner's Court.

Coroners are appointed by the Ministry of Justice who then interview and appoint their own staff, including in the case of Dr Reid, his assistant deputy coroner.

Under the Coroners Act, he must then notify the local authority although it has no power of scrutiny over appointments, a Camden Council spokesman said.

The inquest into Winehouse's death heard she was more than five times the drink-drive limit when she died on 23 July.

Ms Greenway had said the "unintended consequence" of Winehouse drinking so much alcohol was her "sudden and unexpected death".

Three empty vodka bottles, two large and one small, were found at her flat, St Pancras Coroner's Court heard.

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Gun fight erupts in Libya capital

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Libyans gunmen roam along Zawiyah Street in the Libyan capital Tripoli after a gunfight erupted. Armed groups leftover from last year's conflict regularly clash for control of parts of the city

Rival Libyan militia groups have fought a gun battle in the capital, Tripoli, officials say.

Exchanges of fire were heard and plumes of smoke seen coming from a district known as Tariq Al Shat in central Tripoli, eyewitnesses said.

A BBC reporter who drove past the area later said the fighting had ceased.

An interior ministry official told Reuters news agency the fighting was between militiamen from the city of Misrata, and a group from Zintan.

The two militia groups fought together to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi last year.

Several militias from outside the capital have set up bases in Tripoli and regularly clash as they fight for control of parts of the city.

The country's interim National Transitional Council (NTC) is struggling to reassert its authority.

The latest clashes took place near the coast, close to the Corinthia Bab al-Africa and Marriott hotels.

"Misrata controls a police academy building up the road and they are fighting with Zintan. We do not know why they are fighting," interior ministry Naji Awad told Reuters.

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Big freeze extends across Europe

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Scenes of snow and cold weather around Europe

Heavy snow has caused disruption across Europe, carpeting much of Italy to the south and Turkey to the east.

The freeze that has swept south through the continent has caused at least 80 deaths, mainly in Ukraine and Poland.

Temperatures were so low that some areas in Romania along the shores of the Black Sea froze.

In central Italy, heavy goods lorries were barred from motorways and several top-flight football matches have fallen victim to the wintry conditions.

Ukrainian officials reported that the number of deaths attributed to the freeze had risen to 43, with 13 people falling victim to hypothermia in the past 24 hours.

Schools and colleges in the capital, Kiev, were shut on Wednesday because of the severe cold.

School closures were also reported in northern Greece, where temperatures of -16C (3F) were recorded.

Bosnians waiting for supplies in Sokolac (1 Feb 2012)Villages were cut off in Bosnia where temperatures fell to -10C

Several towns and cities in Bulgaria saw record lows, with -29C reported in Kneja in the north-east for the second day running. For much of the country an "orange" alert was in place, warning of dangerously low temperatures.

A 57-year-old man froze to death in a village in the north-west and 450 schools were closed across the country.

In Bosnia and Serbia helicopters were used to airlift supplies to villages cut off by drifting snow.

Seven more deaths were reported in Poland, bringing to more than 20 the number who have fallen victim to the cold snap. Five were said to have been homeless people.

German media reported that ice and sub-zero temperatures had led to the deaths of two women: a pedestrian froze after falling into a drainage ditch and a driver was killed when she lost control of her car on an icy road.

Workers clear snow at the Renato DallFor a second night running, matches in Italy's Serie A were called off

In Turkey, three crew-members from a ship that sank during a storm in the Black Sea were pulled out alive by coastguard near the north-western port of Eregli but eight others were missing.

The bulk carrier Vera, with a crew of 10 Ukrainians and a Georgian, had been carrying a cargo of scrap metal from Rostov in Russia to Izmir in western Turkey.

Snowfalls were recorded as far south as southern Italy and Corsica, where at least 20cm of snow covered the centre of the Mediterranean island.

Italian rail services were reduced because of the wintry conditions. In Sicily, a one-year-old boy was fatally injured when his mother's car went into a stream swollen by torrential rain.

Several football matches in Italy's Serie A were postponed on Tuesday night and there were doubts that Wednesday's clash between Inter Milan and Palermo would take place. Workers cleared snow from the pitch at the Renato Dall'Ara stadium in Bologna but the match against Fiorentina was later postponed.

The cold snap, according to forecasters, is due to an area of high pressure that has extended across Europe from Siberia and is expected to reach its peak at the weekend.

BBC weather presenter Peter Gibbs said he expected the bitter weather to continue for several more days across most of Europe, with cold winds and snow also spreading further south to affect the Balearic Islands and parts of northwest Africa by the weekend.

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Europe West forecast for 01/02/2012

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Redknapp: My mind was on Beckham

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Harry Redknapp arrives at Southwark Crown CourtMr Redknapp said he always pays his taxes

Harry Redknapp has told jurors he was more worried about David Beckham than dealing with his Monaco bank account.

Talking about a $100,000 cash transfer made in 2003 from Monaco to ex-Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric's US account, he said: "All I was thinking about was marking David Beckham."

He also denied having been "greedy" over his cut of transfer profits.

Mr Redknapp, 64, and Mr Mandaric, 73, deny cheating the public revenue over payments made to the Monaco account.

During his evidence at Southwark Crown Court, Mr Redknapp paused and shouted at a detective.

'Died in crash'

The football boss held his hands up and looked around at Det Insp Dave Manley midway through questioning.

He said: "Mr Manley, will you please stop staring at me. I know you are trying to cause me a problem, OK."

Speaking about the Monaco account, Mr Redknapp said: "When he [Mr Mandaric] first mentioned [the account] it to me he was on about making a million dollars - he said it was a disaster later on."

The Spurs boss told jurors he was "morally" due a 10% cut of a £3m profit from selling England striker Peter Crouch, despite his share of any transfer profits having been reduced from 10% to 5% when he moved from the director of football post to become manager at Portsmouth.

The prosecution alleges Mr Mandaric made an untaxed payment to Mr Redknapp linked to the Crouch deal, but Mr Mandaric told the court the payment "had absolutely nothing to do with football" and was an investment for Mr Redknapp.

Speaking from the witness box, Mr Redknapp said: "I've never been greedy in my life.

"Morally I was due the bonus, although, legally I wasn't - I always related it to that... It wasn't my Crouch bonus as it wasn't in my contract."

Mr Redknapp said he was told "to get on with my job basically" when he told Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie that Mr Mandaric had told him he was entitled to 10%.

Milan Mandaric arriving at Southwark Crown CourtThe prosecution alleges Mr Mandaric made untaxed payments to Mr Redknapp

Mr Redknapp also described how he and Mr Mandaric spent a lot of time together when he joined the club as director of football.

He said: "I would be like his chauffeur... we spent hours upon hours upon hours together, I didn't get involved at the football club, on the training ground with the manager, it was me and Milan everywhere."

Mr Redknapp told how he had first became aware of Mr Mandaric in the 1970s when he played football in the US league.

"He had billion dollar companies, this man has made a fortune. He said he was going to make some investments."

Mr Redknapp said he was reluctant when Mr Mandaric suggested he opened a Monaco account.

'Best accountants'

Mr Redknapp said he flew out to Monaco with his wife Sandra, and came up with the name of Rosie for the account because it was his dog's name.

He said he had no further dealings with the account, adding: "It would be a waste of time giving me any forms because I would most probably have left it on the deckchair where me and Sandra were sitting."

Mr Redknapp later told the court how his wife thought he had been killed in a plane crash when police raided their home in a separate inquiry into alleged football corruption in 2007.

He was travelling back from a game in Germany leaving his wife at home.

Police and reporters swooped on the property leading Sandra to believe her husband had been killed.

Earlier, Mr Redknapp said he hired the best accountants in London to keep his books.

The Tottenham manager told jurors: "I have always paid my taxes. I've always gone to the best available people."

The pair are accused on two counts, the first being that between 1 April 2002 and 28 November 2007, Mr Mandaric paid $145,000 (£93,100) into a bank account held by Mr Redknapp in Monaco to avoid paying income tax and national insurance.

The second charge for the same offence relates to a sum of $150,000 (£96,300) allegedly paid by Mr Mandaric to the same account between 1 May 2004 and 28 November 2007.

The trial continues.

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Teacher Charged with Taking Bondage Pics of Students

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A former elementary school teacher in Los Angeles has been arrested for allegedly molesting nearly two dozen children after photos of students posed in bondage positions were passed to the Sheriff's Department.

Mark Berndt, 61, a teacher with over 30 years experience at Miramonte Elementary School in south Los Angeles, is charged with molesting 23 children, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Police began the investigation after a photo processing facility passed along suspicious images depicting students blindfolded with their mouths covered in tape. Female students were depicted with a blue plastic spoon containing "an unknown clear/white liquid" in front of their mouths, while other students were pictured with live cockroaches on their faces. In some photos, Berndt had his arm around the children or his hand over their mouths.

Police found the spoon, along with an empty container in the trash in Berndt's classroom and, through DNA testing, determined that both contained Berndt's semen.

The students were between the ages of 7 and 10 years old when the alleged crimes occurred, police said.

Authorities launched a widespread sex crime investigation, interviewing current and former students and school employees and searching Berndt's home. They recovered a total of 390 photographs and an adult "sexual bondage" film which mirrored the photos of the children, according to a statement by the sheriff's department today.

More than 26 children from the 390 photographs have been identified; an additional 10 children have not yet been identified, police said.

Shortly after the investigation began, in March, 2011, Berndt was fired from the school. The school did not immediately return calls for comment today.

Berndt was arrested Monday and charged with 23 felony counts of lewd acts upon a child. He is being held at LA County jail in lieu of $2.3 million bail.

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Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Found in 37 U.S. States

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Half a world away, doctors in India are fighting outbreaks of bacterial infections that are resistant to more than 15 types of antibiotics. But closer to home, a similarly scary bug is making the rounds in intensive care and other long-term units of American hospitals.

In at least 37 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, doctors have identified bacteria, including E. coli, that produce Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase, or KPC--an enzyme that makes bacteria resistant to most known treatments. It's much more prevalent in America than bacteria that produce NDM-1, the enzyme that has Indian doctors "hell scared," and, according to Alexander Kallen, a medical officer at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, the final outcome isn't much different: superbacteria that are hard to kill.

"It's got a slightly different structure than [NDM-1]," he says of KPC. "But the bottom line is they're two different ways to produce bacteria that are resistant to a wide range of antibiotics."

[Hospital Rooms Crawling With Drug-Resistant Germs.]

That's bad news for infected patients--the mortality rate for patients infected with KPC-producing bacteria has been estimated to be as high as 50 percent. Doctors are advised to do their best to keep the bacteria from spreading, which explains why the problem is most prevalent in hospitals and other close-quarter medical units. Infected patients are often isolated.

KPC has been seen in a wide range of bacteria, including E. coli, Salmonella, and K. pneumonia, which often affects hospitalized patients.

These superbugs are resistant to nearly every weapon doctors can throw at them, including carbapenems, a class of antibiotic that the CDC calls the "last line of defense" against infections that are resistant to other types of antibiotics. There are a couple antibiotics that have been shown to kill these superbugs, but often at great risk to patients. In fact, the FDA has associated the use of these effective antibiotics with an "increased risk of death" in patients with pneumonia.

That leaves many doctors scratching their heads. KPC-bacteria often grow on medical equipment such as catheters and ventilators, so doctors can sometimes remove that equipment or perform surgery to try to eliminate the infection from a patient's body.

[Are Kids Brown-Bagging Bacteria?]

CDC researchers, including Kallen, say that hospitals who haven't been vigilant about isolating patients with KPC-producing bacteria may have missed their chance. According to a paper co-authored by Kallen released last year, "failure to recognize CRE infections when they first occur in a facility has resulted in a missed opportunity to intervene before these organisms are transmitted more widely."

The good news is that, at least for now, KPC-producing bacteria generally only infects people who already have compromised immune systems. "It can move into the wider community," says Kallen, "but we haven't seen much of that yet."

--12 Infected With New Swine Flu Strain

--Universal Flu Vaccine Could Be Available by 2013

--U.S. News Health

jkoebler@usnews.com

Twitter: @jason_koebler

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Pot legalization efforts forge ahead in key states

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(Reuters) - Efforts to legalize marijuana for recreational use are gaining momentum in Washington state and Colorado, despite fierce opposition from the federal government and a decades-long cultural battle over America's most commonly used illicit drug.

Officials in Washington state on Friday said an initiative to legalize pot has enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in November. In Colorado, officials are likely this week to make a similar determination about an initiative there.

Supporters are prepared to possibly spend millions of dollars ahead of the November ballot, when they hope a strong voter turnout, particularly among youth, for the U.S. presidential election will aid their cause.

"Whether it's make or break depends on what public opinion does after 2012, but in terms of voter turnout this is the best year to do it," said Alison Holcomb, director of New Approach Washington, the initiative's sponsor.

While 16 states, including Washington and Colorado, along with the nation's capital, now allow marijuana use for medical purposes, cannabis remains an illegal narcotic under U.S. law - and public opinion is sharply divided on the merits of full legalization.

California voters turned back a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana for recreational use in 2010, in part because of concerns about how production and sale of the drug would be regulated.

Since then, the U.S. Department of Justice has cracked down on medical cannabis operations in California, Washington state and elsewhere, raiding dispensaries and growing operations and threatening landlords with prosecution.

"Our highest priority are the folks that violate both state and federal law," said Rusty Payne, spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration. "There are places that have made a lot of money who claim to be nonprofit, and they have faced both local and federal scrutiny."

Undeterred, supporters of the Washington state initiative say it represents the "grown-up" approach to legalization.

Sales would only be allowed to adults 21 and older through marijuana-only stores licensed by the state Liquor Control Board, which would also oversee production and processing of the drug. Laws on drunken driving would be amended to include maximum blood content thresholds for THC, the main psychoactive element in pot plants.

Colorado already has a robust regulatory system for medical marijuana that includes a registry of over 80,000 card-carrying patients and rules governing how physicians and distributors operate. Here, too, legalization advocates are stressing a rational regulatory approach.

"Voters aren't being asked to imagine as much as they are in other states, they have seen that marijuana can be regulated and it doesn't result in significant problems," said Mason Tvert, co-director of the Colorado-based Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol.

Organizers of the Washington effort have collected over $1.1 million in campaign funds, with $250,000 of that coming from Progressive Insurance chairman Peter Lewis, public disclosure records show.

Loren Collingwood, senior researcher for the nonpartisan Washington Poll run by the University of Washington, said the initiative could pass, but that backers must spend between $2 million and $4 million to run a competitive campaign.

A poll done by the university in October found 48 percent of Washington residents support the idea of pot legalization, but that was not tied to any particular initiative.

"If young voters turn out in droves like they did in 2008 or even start to approach those numbers ... then I think this will pass, but they very well may not," Collingwood said.

NATIONAL SHIFT

Pot legalization supporters have argued for decades that prohibition has failed to curb pot use, and that the policy enriches drug cartels, hurts casual users and deprives governments of a potentially lucrative source of tax revenue.

Now, they see momentum on their side, pointing to an October Gallup Poll that found a record 50 percent of Americans support legalizing marijuana use, up from 36 percent five years before.

The poll also found 62 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 29 back legalization, and that the young are driving the shift in attitudes.

"There's a set of factors that suggest both the Washington and Colorado initiates have a better chance of winning than any of the initiatives that have happened before," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance.

"But that said, even with a majority of likely voters in both states saying they favor legal marijuana, we know in the final stretch there's always a small percentage that get nervous or scared off or fearful of change," he said.

Opponents of legalization, meanwhile, say it would simply promote the use of a sometimes-addictive drug that has been linked to short-term memory loss and other behavioral problems such as lack of motivation.

Legalization "is not good for states and citizens who live in those states, and it's certainly not good for the outlook of children who live in those states," said Calivina Fay, head of the Florida-based Drug Free America Foundation.

One study published in 2011 by researchers with the University of Colorado Denver found 39 out of 80 teens in a Denver substance abuse program had at least once obtained pot from someone with a medical marijuana license.

LOCAL OPPOSITION

For supporters of legalization, the medical marijuana trade has been a mixed blessing. Critics say dispensaries, in addition to serving the truly sick, supply recreational users who have no real medical problems despite claims of backaches or pain.

In Washington state, about 30 or 40 cities have passed moratoriums on collective medical marijuana gardens allowed under state law, said Jim Doherty, legal consultant for the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington. Some residents see medical marijuana sales as a nuisance, he said.

Meanwhile, Seattle has over 100 medical marijuana shops, said City Attorney Peter Holmes, who supports full legalization.

"Right now in Seattle, we're feeling that it's a bit unfair that we are being tolerant of medical marijuana users, when other localities are not, because we tend to become suppliers for the whole state rather than our own citizens," Holmes said.

Holcomb, the director of the Washington state initiative campaign, acknowledged some voters view a large share of medical pot users as illicit recreational tokers. But she said her campaign will turn the argument around, when it seeks to convince voters full legalization is good for the state.

"You're ending that hypocrisy and restoring respect for the law," she said.

(Reporting By Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Jonathan Weber)

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11th victim found days after deadly crash on I-75

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The body of an eleventh person has been found in a pickup truck days after a deadly pileup on Interstate 75, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

The victim was inside a Dodge pickup truck that crashed into a tractor trailer as it traveled south early Sunday, authorities determined Tuesday. The driver and another passenger in the pickup had not been identified early Wednesday.

The Highway Patrol on Tuesday released the name of an eighth person killed in the crash. Vontavia Kiara Robinson, 22, of Williston, was the driver of a Pontiac Grand Prix that was involved in the southbound crash around 4 a.m. Sunday. The name of a passenger who died in her car has not been released.

Authorities closed the busy six-lane highway just after midnight Sunday because a mix of fog and smoke from a nearby brush fire made visibility difficult. The road was reopened about three hours later after the Highway Patrol determined conditions had improved. The first pileup occurred a short time later.

At least a dozen cars, six tractor trailers and a motorhome collided. Some cars were crushed under the bellies of big rigs. Others burst into flames, making it difficult to identify victims.

The crash sent another 18 people to the hospital.

While Florida officials said they are willing to review their protocols in determining when to shut down — and reopen — a major highway. The Highway Patrol was also quick to point out that motorists must be prepared to quickly make good decisions because road conditions can change quickly.

Officials said the decision to close a road is made by a Highway Patrol supervisor, who relies on feedback from troopers who assess road conditions. They use information and forecasts from the National Weather Service. A key piece of information is an index estimating the humidity and smoke dispersion on a scale of 1 to 10. If the score is 7 or higher, the Highway Patrol's protocol is to close the road.

The index score for early Sunday had been forecast to be a 6 in the four-county region that includes the crash site, according to the National Weather Service.

Investigators continued piecing together details from Sunday's crash. The remaining bodies were so badly burned that dental records and vehicle identification numbers may have to be used to get positive identifications.

The dead included Georgia pastor Jose Carmo, his wife Adriana and their teenage daughter Leticia. Another daughter remained in the hospital with serious injuries.

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Mitt Romney easily clinches Florida primary with more votes than Gingrich and Santorum combined

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Seven states will vote in February. Here's the calendar...http://t.co/kcAv4K9v
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Pastors split on when to go home; 1 lives, 1 dies

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Senior pastor Arao Amazonas said he wanted to wait until the next morning to leave Florida after a religious conference. But pastor Jose Carmo Jr. wanted to be back in time for the suburban Atlanta church's Sunday morning service and led two vans up Interstate 75 toward Georgia.

A few hours later, Amazonas received a call: Both vans had crashed in the highway's fog- and smoke-shrouded darkness near Gainesville. Carmo, his wife and their daughter were among five church members killed in two deadly pileups along the always busy six-lane interstate.

"We couldn't have imagined such tragedy would come to us," said Amazonas, senior pastor at the Igreja Internacional de Restaurcao, or International Church of the Restoration.

In all, a total of 10 people were killed in the string of collisions. The Florida Highway Patrol on Tuesday identified a seventh victim — 27-year-old Christie Diana Nguyen, of Gainesville, Fla. She was a passenger in a vehicle traveling northbound. Investigators were still trying to identify three bodies that were badly burned. Troopers have been contacted by people from around the country wondering if the identified bodies might be a relative.

"There are people who have traveled to Florida and we're getting calls and emails from people who say, 'Hey, I haven't heard from my son-in-law for the last couple of days, he isn't answering his texts,' something to that degree," said Lt. Patrick Riordan, an Florida Highway Patrol spokesman.

The accident happened after the Florida Highway Patrol had reopened the interstate following an earlier serious wreck. A sergeant and lieutenant determined after about three hours that conditions had cleared enough for drivers, but visibility quickly became murky again, officials said Monday. Florida Gov. Rick Scott has ordered an investigation into that decision.

"We went through the area. We made an assessment. We came to the conclusion that the road was safe to travel and that is when we opened the road up," Riordan said Monday in a news conference. "Drivers have to recognize that the environment changes. They have to be prepared to make good judgments."

At least a dozen cars, six tractor-trailers and a motorhome collided about 3:45 a.m. Sunday. Some cars were crushed under the bellies of big rigs. Others burst into flames and sent metal shrapnel flying through the air, horrifying witnesses watching the violence along Interstate 75. Eighteen survivors were hospitalized.

In a 911 recording released Monday, a driver and her passengers told a dispatcher the fog and smoke from the 62-acre brush fire was so thick they couldn't see.

"I think there was another accident behind us because I heard it," a woman said. "Oh my gosh, it's so dark here."

In the same 911 call, another woman took the phone and screamed an expletive as she hears another crash.

"That was a truck. We cannot see. It's like impossible to see," the caller said. "The smoke is very thick you can see obviously only your hand in front. I do hear an ambulance or police officer coming down the road."

Late Monday, the highway patrol named six of those who died in wrecks on the northbound side of the highway that involved 10 vehicles. Another multiple-vehicle pileup happened on the southbound side. A fire consumed at least four vehicles in the southbound lane, according to a Florida Highway Patrol report released Tuesday.

Jason Lee Raikes, 26, of Richmond, Va., died in the crash, authorities said. They also said five out of six people riding in a 2012 Dodge Caravan died in the crash: Driver Edson Carmo, 38; Roselia DeSilva, 41; Jose Carmo Jr., 43; Adrianna Carmo, 39; and Leticia Carmo, 17; all of Kennesaw, Ga. The highway patrol did not immediately provide the identity of a seventh crash fatality.

Jose and Adriana Carmo were married and Leticia was their daughter, said Amazonas, the senior pastor at their church.

The van's sixth occupant, the couple's younger daughter, Lidiane, 15, survived the crash, Amazonas said. A hospital spokeswoman said Tuesday morning she was listed in critical condition.

The Carmos were in one van and other church members were in a second van. The passengers of that van called Amazonas after the accident to tell him what happened, he said.

About 100 people gathered Monday evening at the suburban Atlanta church, which caters to the local Brazilian community, to mourn the deaths of their fellow church members. People at the gathering wailed and wept as Amazonas addressed them in Portuguese.

Riordan declined to release the names of the two troopers who made the decision to reopen the highway or provide details on how long they had been with the patrol. He said no troopers have been disciplined but the investigation into the crash continues. National Transportation Safety Board officials said Monday they are sending investigators to the scene.

The Florida Forest Service said Monday it still had not determined if the brush fire was intentionally set or accidental, although lightning has been ruled out. Spokeswoman Ludie Bond said the fire is contained but was still burning. Firefighters are spraying water around its perimeter attempting to reduce the smoke.

Criminal defense attorneys said that if the fire was caused by arson, authorities likely will file charges of manslaughter and possibly felony murder, which is defined as a death that happens as result of participating in a felony.

"You can bet they will be," said Brian Tannebaum, a former president of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

___

Associated Press writers Mike Stewart in Marietta, Ga.; Kate Brumback in Atlanta and David Fischer in Miami contributed to this report.

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Letter from freed slave to former master draws attention

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ca. 1860's, USA. Freed slaves in Southern town shortly after the Civil War. © Bettmann/CORBIS

A newly discovered letter from a freed former slave to his onetime master is creating a buzz. Letters of Note explains that in August of 1865, a Colonel P.H. Anderson of Big Spring, Tennessee wrote to his former slave Jourdan Anderson, requesting that Jourdan return to work on his farm.

In the time since escaping from slavery, Anderson had become emancipated, moved to Ohio where he found paid work and was now supporting his family. The letter turned up in the August 22 edition of the New York Daily Tribune. Some excerpts:

Sir: I got your letter, and was glad to find that you had not forgotten Jourdon, and that you wanted me to come back and live with you again, promising to do better for me than anybody else can. I have often felt uneasy about you. I thought the Yankees would have hung you long before this, for harboring Rebs they found at your house. I suppose they never heard about your going to Colonel Martin's to kill the Union soldier that was left by his company in their stable. Although you shot at me twice before I left you, I did not want to hear of your being hurt, and am glad you are still living. It would do me good to go back to the dear old home again, and see Miss Mary and Miss Martha and Allen, Esther, Green, and Lee. Give my love to them all, and tell them I hope we will meet in the better world, if not in this. I would have gone back to see you all when I was working in the Nashville Hospital, but one of the neighbors told me that Henry intended to shoot me if he ever got a chance.

On the "good chance" offered by the former slave owner:

I want to know particularly what the good chance is you propose to give me. I am doing tolerably well here. I get twenty-five dollars a month, with victuals and clothing; have a comfortable home for Mandy,—the folks call her Mrs. Anderson,—and the children—Milly, Jane, and Grundy—go to school and are learning well. The teacher says Grundy has a head for a preacher. They go to Sunday school, and Mandy and me attend church regularly. We are kindly treated. Sometimes we overhear others saying, "Them colored people were slaves" down in Tennessee. The children feel hurt when they hear such remarks; but I tell them it was no disgrace in Tennessee to belong to Colonel Anderson. Many darkeys would have been proud, as I used to be, to call you master. Now if you will write and say what wages you will give me, I will be better able to decide whether it would be to my advantage to move back again.

And then Jourdan explains that anything his former master could offer, he's already earned on his own. Other than some back wages:

As to my freedom, which you say I can have, there is nothing to be gained on that score, as I got my free papers in 1864 from the Provost-Marshal-General of the Department of Nashville. Mandy says she would be afraid to go back without some proof that you were disposed to treat us justly and kindly; and we have concluded to test your sincerity by asking you to send us our wages for the time we served you. This will make us forget and forgive old scores, and rely on your justice and friendship in the future. I served you faithfully for thirty-two years, and Mandy twenty years. At twenty-five dollars a month for me, and two dollars a week for Mandy, our earnings would amount to eleven thousand six hundred and eighty dollars. Add to this the interest for the time our wages have been kept back, and deduct what you paid for our clothing, and three doctor's visits to me, and pulling a tooth for Mandy, and the balance will show what we are in justice entitled to. Please send the money by Adams's Express, in care of V. Winters, Esq., Dayton, Ohio. If you fail to pay us for faithful labors in the past, we can have little faith in your promises in the future. We trust the good Maker has opened your eyes to the wrongs which you and your fathers have done to me and my fathers, in making us toil for you for generations without recompense. Here I draw my wages every Saturday night; but in Tennessee there was never any pay-day for the negroes any more than for the horses and cows. Surely there will be a day of reckoning for those who defraud the laborer of his hire.

And after a few more jabs about how his children are now happy and receiving an education, Jourdan concludes his letter with:

Say howdy to George Carter, and thank him for taking the pistol from you when you were shooting at me.

You can read the full exchange here.

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Video: America’s longest married couple

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In this video, we meet Wilbur and Teresa Faiss, America's longest-married couple. The Las Vegas residents were first wed in April, 1933. Wilbur, now 100-years-old, tells KVVU TV, "I just had no idea of us ever winning the longest-married couple."

A group called the Worldwide Marriage Encounter certified the marriage as the nation's longest ongoing union. On a recent trip to Nevada, President Obama was even scheduled to deliver brief remarks acknowledging the couple.

"How often does an ordinary guy get recognition by the president of the United States? It's one of these things that's once-in-a-lifetime," Faiss said. Unfortunately, the couple were late to the event and Obama had to remove the remarks from his speech. However, the White House has told Wilbur and Teresa that the president will be returning to Nevada in the next few months and will make the remarks to the couple then.

As for the secret to their wedded bliss as they approach their 80th anniversary, Wilbur says, "It's very simple. It's give and take and compromise."

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IT 'wiped Murdoch hacking email'

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James MurdochJames Murdoch has said he only read the final part of the email, requesting a meeting

A 2008 email informing James Murdoch of the potential scope of phone hacking at the News of the World was deleted in an IT upgrade last year, lawyers say.

The Commons media committee has released a letter from law firm Linklaters detailing how the email was lost and thus not provided in evidence.

The email chain, released in December, mentions claims that phone hacking was "rife" at News International.

Mr Murdoch says he only read the final email, requesting a meeting with him.

He said he was unaware of wrongdoing at News International papers.

In its letter to MPs on the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, Linklaters said the email was deleted from Mr Murdoch's work computer as part of an "email stabilisation and modernisation programme" on 15 January 2011.

On 26 January 2011, The Met Police said they were launching a fresh investigation into hacking after receiving "significant new information" about activities at the News of the World (NoW).

A hard copy of the email was found in a storage crate at News International's old Wapping offices in November 2011 during a search by Linklaters and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), it said.

It was part of documents that appeared to have originally been held in ex-NoW editor Colin Myler's office.

PWC subsequently conducted a forensic search of News International computers to try to find an electronic copy of the email chain, but focused on email servers "because it was understood that the email systems were designed to store data on the email servers rather than individual physical devices".

Linklaters said "forensic analysis" later found two other electronic copies on a laptop that Mr Murdoch had stopped using in October 2010 and on his personal assistant's computer. Those copies were made by the devices' "automatic synchronisation" with email servers, it said.

'Nightmare scenario'

The email chain, attached to a letter from Linklaters acting on behalf of News International's management and standards committee to the MPs, discussed a "nightmare scenario" arising out of a case brought by PFA union boss Gordon Taylor.

The emails said Mr Taylor wanted to "demonstrate what happened to him was rife throughout the organisation".

In a separate letter to MPs in December, Mr Murdoch said he was "confident" he had not read the full email chain.

Mr Murdoch told the committee in July that it had only been made apparent to him near the end of 2010 that more people had potentially been involved in phone hacking.

In November, he told MPs he had not been made aware of details suggesting phone hacking went beyond former NoW royal editor Clive Goodman when he authorised a large out-of-court settlement to Mr Taylor in June 2008.

Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were jailed in 2007 for illegally accessing voicemail messages on the phones of royal aides.

Mr Myler and ex-News International legal chief Tom Crone have said they "did inform" Mr Murdoch about the existence of evidence that phone hacking might be widespread, but Mr Murdoch said he believed "their testimony was misleading".

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Press body 'needs urgent reform'

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Lord BlackLord Black rethought his views of the PCC after the phone hacking scandal was laid bare

Urgent reform of the Press Complaints Commission is needed, the chairman of the body which funds it has said.

Lord Black told the Leveson Inquiry that after the phone hacking scandal, he became aware of the regulatory system's lack of investigative powers.

"It took a scandal like that to show us we needed a new body to enforce the Editors' Code of Practice," he said.

Lord Black, an ex-PCC director, chairs the Board of Finance which collects levies from newspapers to fund the PCC.

He said he had believed the PCC had "real bite" within the industry but the hacking scandal had forced him to rethink those views.

He said he had always opposed imposing fines on newspapers, as "a matter of principle".

"I certainly now believe that some form of fining system would be appropriate," he told the inquiry.

He added that the PCC had changed in every year of its existence and the code of practice more than 30 times, but it was now time to look at it again and start from scratch.

Lord Black went on to deny that the Board of Finance exerted any control over the PCC.

"While there is a perception in some quarters that some form of control exists, that does not exist," he said.

He also denied that Tory peers exerted a superior influence on the bodies.

Lord Black, a life peer who was press secretary to former Conservative leader Michael Howard, added that the new appointment of Lord Hunt, a Tory peer, to the post of PCC chairman was not a political one.

Later, senior figures from Ofcom outlined the communications watchdog's working practices, and explained the code they used to regulate broadcasters.

Ed Richards, its chief executive, said Ofcom did not intervene before the broadcasting of programmes because it could lead you into the "area of censorship and suppression".

The inquiry expects to also hear evidence from the Advertising Standards Agency.

'Pandora's box'

On Tuesday, chairman of the Press Complaints Commission Lord Hunt acknowledged the need for a fresh start, saying he wanted to see the "participation of the whole industry in its own regulation".

He warned against any parliamentary move to regulate newspapers as it would "open a Pandora's box" and stifle freedom of speech.

The Leveson Inquiry was set up by Prime Minister David Cameron in July 2011 amid new revelations of phone hacking at the now-closed News of the World newspaper.

The first phase is examining the practices and ethics of the press.

The second will focus on unlawful conduct by the press and the police's initial hacking investigation, only after a police investigation into phone hacking at the NoW is complete.

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Pakistan dismisses Taliban links

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Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar: Allegations are "old wine in an even older bottle"

Pakistan's foreign minister says her country has no hidden agenda in Afghanistan, in response to a leaked secret Nato report on Islamabad's links to the Afghan Taliban.

Speaking to reporters in Kabul with her Afghan counterpart, Hina Rabbani Khar said allegations in the report were "old wine in an even older bottle".

The report says the Taliban are helped by Pakistani security services.

It claims the insurgents remain defiant and have wide support among Afghans.

The BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Kabul says the report is painful reading for international forces and the Afghan government.

It follows a denial by the Taliban that they planned to hold preliminary talks with the Afghan government in Saudi Arabia.

"There is no truth in these published reports saying that the delegation of the Islamic Emirate [Taliban] would meet representatives of the Karzai government in Saudi Arabia in the near future," said spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in a statement.

'Blame game'

Ms Khar said the leaked Nato report could be dismissed.

"We can disregard this as a potentially strategic leak," she said, adding that Pakistan and Afghanistan should stop blaming each other for cross-border problems.

"These claims have been made many, many times. Pakistan stands behind any initiative that the Afghan government takes for peace," she said. "We have no hidden agenda in Afghanistan.

"We consider any threat to Afghanistan's independence and sovereignty as a threat to Pakistan's existence."

Afghan Foreign Minister Zalmai Rasoul said there could be no peace without regional co-operation.

"Pakistan plays a key role in Afghan peace process. I hope Ms Rabbani's visit is the beginning of a good relationship between our two countries," he said.

However, our correspondent says the report - on the state of the Taliban - fully exposes for the first time the relationship between Pakistan's ISI intelligence service and the Taliban.

The report is based on material from 27,000 interrogations with more than 4,000 captured Taliban, al-Qaeda and other foreign fighters and civilians.

It notes: "Pakistan's manipulation of the Taliban senior leadership continues unabatedly."

It says Pakistan is aware of the locations of senior Taliban leaders.

"Senior Taliban representatives, such as Nasiruddin Haqqani, maintain residences in the immediate vicinity of ISI headquarters in Islamabad," it said.

And the Taliban's second in command, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, was captured in a raid on a madrassa near Karachi nearly two years ago.

"We have long been concerned about ties between elements of the ISI and some extremist networks," said Pentagon spokesman Capt John Kirby, adding that the US defence department had not yet seen the report.

Adm Mike Mullen, former chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has explained Pakistan's closeness to the Afghan Taliban by pointing to infiltration of its army by the religious right. But he also says it is part of a grand strategy to increase leverage in the region via "proxies".

Despite Nato's strategy to secure the country with Afghan forces, the document details widespread collaboration between the insurgents and Afghan police and military.

Lt Col Jimmie Cummings, a spokesman for Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan, said the document was "a classified internal document that is not meant to be released to the public".

"It is a matter of policy that documents that are classified are not discussed under any circumstances," he said.

The report also depicts the depth of continuing support among the Afghan population for the Taliban, our correspondent says.

It paints a picture of al-Qaeda's influence diminishing but the Taliban's influence increasing, he adds.

In a damning conclusion, the document says that in the last year there has been unprecedented interest, even from members of the Afghan government, in joining the Taliban cause.

It adds: "Afghan civilians frequently prefer Taliban governance over the Afghan government, usually as a result of government corruption."

The report has evidence that the Taliban are deliberately hastening Nato's withdrawal by reducing their attacks in some areas and then initiating a comprehensive hearts-and-minds campaign.

When foreign soldiers leave, Afghan security forces are expected to take control.

Follow BBC Kabul correspondent Quentin Sommerville on Twitter @mrsommerville

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Mulcaire loses evidence appeal

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Glenn MulcaireGlenn Mulcaire was jailed in 2007 for six months for phone hacking

Private investigator Glenn Mulcaire has lost his appeal against two court orders that could force him to name people who ordered him to hack phones.

A High Court panel heard the appeal at the Royal Courts of Justice in November but had reserved its judgement.

Mulcaire had appealed to try to avoid having to answer questions in civil proceedings that could incriminate him.

After the judgement was handed down, he issued a statement saying he intended to take his case to the Supreme Court.

In the statement, Mulcaire - who was not in court on Monday - said he was pleased the court had recognised the "long-standing common law privilege against self-incrimination" in its ruling.

"Though it considered that the Act [Senior Courts Act 1981] removed my privilege in these two cases, the Court of Appeal considered the arguments put forward on my behalf in great detail in its judgement," his statement said.

"I intend to appeal this ruling to the Supreme Court because this may affect my right to claim the privilege in other civil cases still being brought against me."

In their ruling, the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, Master of the Rolls Lord Neuberger, and Lord Justice Maurice Kay refused Mulcaire automatic permission to appeal.

But the judges granted a stay until 17:00 GMT on Monday 6 February allowing Mulcaire the opportunity to directly petition the Supreme Court to ask if it will look at his case.

The Supreme Court only deals with the most important cases where the top judges have to decide on a point of law which is of general public importance.

Phone hacking

Mulcaire was jailed in January 2007 for six months along with the News of the World's royal correspondent Clive Goodman for illegally accessing voicemails of members of the royal household.

At the time he surrendered notebooks to the police containing information about phone hacking.

Mulcaire was contracted to the former newspaper to undertake "research assignments" from at least September 2001.

Comedian Steve Coogan and PR consultant Nicola Phillips, a former employee of the publicist Max Clifford, have since launched civil privacy cases against News International, the publisher of the now defunct Sunday tabloid, and Mulcaire.

Currently if questioned in the cases, Mulcaire would have to explain how he obtained voicemail numbers and passwords and who provided the details.

After Monday's ruling, Mr Coogan's solicitor, John Kelly said: "This is a very significant decision and is a landmark ruling in the area of privilege against self-incrimination.

"The Coogan decision is likely to be relied upon by other phone-hacking victims to assist them in their cases against NGN [News Group Newspapers] and Mulcaire."

Miss Phillips' lawyer said she was delighted that the appeal had been dismissed "and that an application to the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal to the Supreme Court has been refused".

Solicitor Mark Lewis said his client hoped she would soon find out who at News of the World had instructed Mulcaire.

"She is naturally disappointed to see that Mr Mulcaire has indicated that he will ask the Supreme Court for permission to appeal further," he said.

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BAA loses Stansted sale appeal

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Stansted departure boardSpanish-owned BAA argued that it was not anti-competitive for it to own Stansted and Heathrow

Airport operator BAA has lost its appeal against a ruling that it must sell Stansted airport.

The Competition Commission first ruled three years ago that BAA's dominance in London and Scotland meant it must sell Gatwick, Stansted and either Glasgow or Edinburgh airports.

BAA sold Gatwick and recently agreed to sell Edinburgh, but it has continued to fight the Stansted decision.

The firm said it was "disappointed" and was considering its position.

Its appeal was dismissed by the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal, a judicial body whose panel is made up of judges and industry experts.

The Spanish-owned company will be unhappy about having to sell Stansted in such an unfavourable economic climate, BBC transport correspondent Richard Westcott said.

BAA argued that it was not reasonable to consider Stansted as serving the same market as its other London airport, Heathrow, as they serve different markets and are used by different airlines.

As a result, BAA said it was not anti-competitive for it to operate both airports, but the competition authority did not agree.

Responding to the tribunal's ruling, Laura Carstensen, a member of the original Competition Commission inquiry which reported in 2009, said: "We are very pleased that our decision has been upheld.

"Whilst BAA is of course entitled to explore the available avenues for challenge, it is now surely time for BAA to accept our findings and proceed with the necessary divestments."

Speaking in July last year, BAA chief executive Colin Matthews said: "The Competition Commission has not recognised that the world and BAA have changed.

"A new government has changed aviation policy to rule out any new runway capacity in the South East and BAA has sold Gatwick Airport.

"Both are significant changes to the airport market. Further, the airports in question face increased competition from non-BAA airports, particularly those in Europe, for the business of low cost carriers who now take a pan-European view of the market."

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SA lesbian killers get 18 years

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People hold up a poster of Zoliswa Nkonyana at a court hearing in September 2011 Copyright: Malungelo Booi/EWNThe four men were convicted of Zoliswa Nkonyana's killing in October last year

Four South African men have been sentenced to 18 years in jail for stabbing and stoning to death 19-year-old lesbian Zoliswa Nkonyana in 2006.

The court found that the men killed Ms Nkonyana because she was living openly as a lesbian.

A crowd outside the court in Khayelitsha, a Cape Town township, cheered and danced at the sentencing.

The constitution protects people on the grounds of sexual orientation - but homophobia is widespread.

Lubabalo Ntlabathi, Sicelo Mase, Luyanda Londzi and Mbulelo Damba - who were convicted in October - were each given 18 years.

Their jail terms were each suspended for five years.

Five other people were acquitted.

Ms Nkonyana was stoned and stabbed nine times in February 2006, just metres from her home in Khayelitsha.

The magistrate said it was clear the motive for the killing was hatred and homophobia - and Wednesday's sentence was meant to send out a signal that violence based on sexual orientation will not be tolerated, the South African Press Association reports.

In December, the global rights group Human Rights Watch said in a report that South Africa is "desperately failing lesbian and transgender people" - despite the country's liberal laws.

The BBC's Pumza Fihlani in Johannesburg says violence against gay and lesbian people is common.

Lesbians are often subjected to "corrective rape" by men who think this will "cure" them of their homosexuality.

Three years ago, a man was sentenced to life in prison and another to 32 years for the gang rape, robbery and murder of Eudy Simelane, a lesbian activist who had been a midfielder on the national football team.

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Italy ship purser tells of rescue

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A scuba diver inspects the Costa Concordia cruise ship (file image from 1 Feb 2012)Rescuers have called off underwater the search because the ship's hull is judged too dangerous

The last person to be rescued from Italy's shipwrecked Costa Concordia has said he pounded on a wall with a frying pan to alert rescuers.

Manrico Giampedroni, the ship's purser, waited 36 hours before being rescued from the belly of the ship.

He has been released from hospital in Grosseto, Italy, where he was treated for injuries.

He described falling through a door into the ship's restaurant as he tried to save passengers.

"I remember ending up in the Milan restaurant... A door opened suddenly and I fell in," he said, describing being trapped in the room as tables and chairs moved in the water.

"To get the rescuers' attention, I used a pan to make some noise. From the windows, I could see the rescue teams and I tried to scream. When I saw the first fireman I embraced him. Those guys were incredible. In three hours I was out of there."

The Costa Concordia ran aground off the Tuscan island of Giglio on 13 January, when the captain deviated from his planned route and struck a reef, creating a huge gash.

Some 4,200 passengers and crew were on board when the vessel capsized. A total of 17 bodies have been recovered and 16 others are missing but presumed dead.

On Tuesday civil protection officials called off the search for the missing in the submerged part of the ship because of safety concerns.

But they added that the search would continue where possible in the sections of the ship above water, in the waters nearby and along the coastline.

The ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, is under house arrest while his actions are being investigated.

He is accused of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, and abandoning ship before all passengers were evacuated. He denies the allegations.

But Mr Giampedroni said his experience had not put him off returning to work on cruise liners.

"As soon as I can, what I want more than anything, is to go back to work for Costa Cruises," he said.

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Welfare changes are fair, says PM

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House of Commons live

Prime Minister David Cameron has said welfare changes are "right and fair" and challenged Labour to support the government's benefit cap plan.

The £26,000-a-year cap is one of seven areas on which the Welfare Reform Bill has suffered defeats in the Lords.

The bill has now returned to the Commons as ministers say they are determined to get their plans through.

Labour say they support the benefit cap in principle - but want changes to the way it is implemented.

The party's position on the cap - equivalent to the average salary of a working household - came under attack at Prime Minister's Questions.

Mr Cameron repeatedly pressed Labour Leader Ed Miliband to say whether he would support the government, on what ministers say is a plan that has a lot of public support, accusing him of "complete silence" on the issue.

At the weekend, Labour's shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne said Labour would not be supporting the cap as it stood - because of concerns that it would force many families out of their homes.

He said the party would instead push for a local cap on benefits - to vary across the country and reflect different housing benefit rates - rather than one £500-a-week/£26,000-a-year cap across England, Scotland and Wales.

The cap is just one of seven areas where peers voted against the government.

MPs are now debating whether to back amendments made by peers, or throw them out - re-introducing aspects of the proposed legislation rejected by peers.

The government says it intends to overturn the following measures agreed by the Lords:

  • Excluding child benefit from the £26,000 cap on total benefits to households
  • Not charging single parents to access child maintenance if they take reasonable steps to reach a settlement
  • Exempting cancer patients from means-testing of employment support allowance
  • Extending eligibility for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) prior to means-testing from one to two years
  • Allowing young disabled people to continue claiming National Insurance contribution-based ESA
  • Exempting social tenants with one spare room from "under-occupancy" penalties

David Cameron taunted the Labour front bench and called for a reaction on welfare reforms

The government suffered its latest defeat on Tuesday when a coalition of crossbench and Labour peers - supported by two Conservatives and seven Lib Dems - voted to limit a proposed reduction to the lower rate of the "disabled child element" of Child Tax Credits.

A crossbench amendment tabled by Baroness Meacher calling for the lower rate to be at least two-thirds of the value of the higher rate - which ministers want to raise to £77 a week - was passed by 16 votes.

The government says it wants to target support at the children with the highest care needs - and say there will be transitional protection so those already in receipt of the benefit will not lose money.

But SDLP MP Margaret Ritchie said at prime minister's questions it would hit working people facing severe financial difficulties - and could cost them over £1,300 a year.

Mr Byrne says Labour was determined to force the government to change the bill.

"Welfare to work needs jobs - and this bill doesn't create a single one," he said.

"Instead it cuts support for people trying to do the right thing, like mums trying to go back to work and families trying to save, and quite frankly it crosses a line of basic British decency."

Ministers say the public backs the principle of not paying any household more in benefits than the average weekly wage of working families.

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