World/Nation Briefs 2.13.2013
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. (AP) — The manhunt for a former Los Angeles police officer suspected of going on a killing spree converged Tuesday on a mountain cabin where authorities believe he barricaded himself inside, engaged in a shootout that killed a deputy and then never emerged as the home went up in flames.
A single gunshot was heard from within. San Bernardino County sheriff’s spokeswoman Jodi Miller said Tuesday night that a charred body was found inside the burned-out cabin.
Investigators will use forensic tests to determine if the body belongs to Christopher Dorner. If the results are positive, the search for the most wanted man in America over the last week will have ended the way he had expected — death, with the police pursuing him. He is believed to have killed at least four people.
Thousands of officers had been on the hunt for the former Navy reservist since police said he launched a campaign to exact revenge against the Los Angeles Police Department for his firing. They say he threatened to bring ‘‘warfare’’ to officers and their families, spreading fear and setting off a search for him across the Southwest and Mexico.
‘‘Enough is enough. It’s time for you to turn yourself in. It’s time to stop the bloodshed,’’ LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith said at a news conference held outside police headquarters in Los Angeles, a starkly different atmosphere than last week when Dorner was on the loose and officials briefed the news media under heavy security in an underground hallway.
———
Skeptical Congress may deliver Obama few victories on State of the Union priorities
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama set up high-stakes clashes over guns, immigration, taxes and climate change in a State of the Union address that showcased a newly re-elected president determined to mark his legacy, facing off against a deeply divided Congress with Republicans eager to rein him in.
At the center of it all was a fight over the very role of government, with Obama pushing a raft of new initiatives to improve preschool programs and voting, boost manufacturing and research and development, raise the minimum wage and lower energy use. ‘‘It is our unfinished task to make sure that this government works on behalf of the many and not just the few,’’ he said.
Republicans who control the House and hold enough votes to stall legislation in the Senate were just as quick to declare that the government helps best by getting out of the way.
‘‘More government isn’t going to help you get ahead. It’s going to hold you back. More government isn’t going to create more opportunities. It’s going to limit them,’’ Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said in the Republican response Tuesday night. ‘‘And more government isn’t going to inspire new ideas, new businesses and new private sector jobs. It’s going to create uncertainty.’’
Uncompromising and aggressive, Obama pressed his agenda on social issues and economic ones, declaring himself determined to intervene to right income inequality and boost the middle class. He called on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants, far-reaching gun control measures and a climate bill to cut greenhouse gas emissions. He threatened to go around Congress with executive actions on climate change if it fails to act.
———
Homeland Security secretary, illegal immigrant to testify as Senate opens immigration hearing
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators are weighing one of President Barack Obama’s second-term priorities at the first Senate hearing on a comprehensive immigration overhaul. Many stubborn fault lines are sure to emerge.
Wednesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, which comes amid a concerted focus on immigration reform from the White House to Capitol Hill, was to feature testimony from Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and — in an unusual move for Congress — an illegal immigrant, Jose Antonio Vargas, a former journalist who founded the group Define American, which campaigns for immigration reform.
The former head of America Online, Steve Case, also was on the witness list, along with Chris Crane, president of the immigration and customs’ workers union, which has opposed Obama’s immigration policies.
The hearing comes a day after Obama, in his State of the Union address, renewed his call for sweeping immigration legislation that includes a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s estimated 11 million illegal immigrants. Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of eight senators has been meeting to develop a bill by next month that accomplishes eventual citizenship for illegal immigrants while also containing enough border security and enforcement measures to gain conservative support.
The bipartisan Senate negotiators, including Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and John McCain, R-Ariz., are operating separately from the Senate Judiciary Committee, but the committee is expected to vote on any legislation they produce. In his opening statement for Wednesday’s hearing, Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., planned to emphasize the importance of a straightforward and attainable path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, including the youths known as ‘‘dreamers’’ brought here by their parents.
———
Pope to make first public appearance since bombshell announcement of resignation
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Thousands of people flooded the Vatican’s main audience hall Wednesday for Pope Benedict XVI’s first public appearance since his bombshell resignation announcement, taking advantage of his second-to-last public audience before retiring at the end of the month.
It’s a busy day for Benedict, who will also preside over Ash Wednesday services later in the day to mark the official start of the Catholic Church’s solemn Lenten season. The service is usually held in a church on Rome’s Aventine hill, but was moved at the last minute to St. Peter’s Basilica. The Vatican said the shift was made to accommodate the crowds, though it will also spare the 85-year-old pope the usual procession to the church.
Hours before Benedict was due to appear, long lanes snaked out into St. Peter’s Square of people waiting to pass through metal detectors to get into the audience hall.
‘‘We were just coming for vacation, and now we are getting all of this!’’ marveled Terry Rodger, a tourist from New Orleans, Louisiana as he headed to the audience. ‘‘I am very excited. I’m surprised.’’
Benedict announced on Monday that he would retire on Feb. 28, saying he just didn’t have the strength of body or mind to carry on. The Vatican insisted no serious medical ailment was behind the decision, though it admitted for the first time on Tuesday that Benedict has had a pacemaker for years, and recently had it replaced.
———
Neighbors prep diplomacy, militaries while studying evidence from North Korea’s nuclear test
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea’s neighbors bolstered their military preparations and mobilized scientists Wednesday to determine whether Pyongyang’s third nuclear test, conducted in defiance of U.N. warnings, was as successful as the North claimed.
The detonation was also the focus of global diplomatic maneuvers, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reaching out to counterparts in Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo. President Barack Obama used his State of the Union address to assure U.S. allies in the region and leveled a warning of ‘‘firm action.’’
‘‘Provocations of the sort we saw last night will only isolate them further as we stand by our allies, strengthen our own missile defense and lead the world in taking firm action in response to these threats,’’ Obama said.
The nuclear device detonated Tuesday at a remote underground site in the northeast is seen as a crucial step toward North Korea’s goal of building a bomb small enough to be fitted on a missile capable of striking the United States.
North Korea said it tested a ‘‘smaller and light A-bomb, unlike the previous ones, yet with great explosive power.’’ Still, just what happened in the test is unclear to outsiders.
———
Cruise line, some passengers in dispute about conditions aboard disabled ship in Gulf
HOUSTON (AP) — A cruise line says it is making the passengers stranded aboard a disabled ship in the Gulf of Mexico as comfortable as possible with running water and some working bathrooms, contradicting the accounts of some passengers who told relatives of filthy, hot conditions and limited access to food.
The ship, the Carnival Triumph, is still at least a day from being guided to a port in Mobile, Ala.
Carnival President Gerry Cahill said Tuesday the ship has running water and most of its 23 public restrooms and some of the guest cabin bathrooms were working. He downplayed the possibility of an outbreak of disease from unsanitary conditions, saying the ship had not seen an abnormal number of people reporting to the infirmary as being ill.
‘‘No one here from Carnival is happy about the conditions onboard the ship,’’ Cahill said at a news conference in Miami. ‘‘We obviously are very, very sorry about what is taking place.’’
Jimmy Mowlam, 63, whose 37-year-old son, Rob Mowlam, got married Saturday onboard the ship, said his son told him by phone Monday night that there is no running water and few working toilets. He said passengers were given plastic bags to ‘‘use for their business.’’
———
University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists are helping search for alien life forms
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are helping search for evidence of alien life not by looking into outer space, but by studying some rocks right here on Earth.
Some of the rocks are up to 3.5 billion years old. The scientists are looking for crucial information to understand how life might have arisen elsewhere in the universe and guide the search for life on Mars one day.
‘‘There’s a story always hidden in rocks,’’ said geoscientist Clark Johnson, the lead investigator for the Wisconsin Astrobiology Research Consortium. ‘‘... It’s up to (geologists) to be clever enough to find the tools that we need to interrogate those rocks to find what story they preserve.’’
The project is funded through NASA, which provided a $7 million, five-year grant that started in January. It was the group’s second five-year, $7 million grant.
The consortium includes about 50 staff, students and post-doctoral fellows from 24 institutions in five countries. About 25 of the participants are at UW-Madison.
———
Comcast to pay $16.7 billion for rest of NBCUniversal in a big bet on the future of TV
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Comcast’s $16.7 billion deal to buy the remaining half of NBCUniversal ahead of schedule represents a resounding vote of confidence in the future of TV, even as the growth of Internet video reshapes the entertainment landscape.
The decision was driven largely by Comcast Corp.’s belief that it would end up paying substantially more for General Electric Co.’s remaining 49 percent stake if it had waited until 2018, as had been envisioned in 2011 when the cable TV provider acquired majority control of NBCUniversal.
The flagship NBC network, once seen as the deal’s albatross, has been on the turnaround. Broadcast TV revenue rose 7 percent last year, even after excluding the Super Bowl and the Olympics. Theme parks, the Universal Pictures movie studio and pay TV networks such as USA and SyFy have grown, too.
As the advertising market has rebounded with the economy, so have the fortunes of NBCUniversal and other media companies such as CBS Corp. and ABC owner The Walt Disney Co. That made the latest transaction, announced Tuesday, seem like a savvy one at a relatively modest price.
‘‘I think the television business has turned out to be much more powerful as an advertising medium than people were thinking five years ago,’’ said Jonathan Taplin, a professor specializing in digital media at the University of Southern California. ‘‘Comcast made a really smart move in believing that TV would continue to be a really important part of the advertising picture for years to come.’’
———
NZ coroner says cola habit a factor in woman’s death, suggests warnings; group rejects call
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A New Zealand food industry association on Wednesday rejected a coroner’s call to add health warnings to soft-drink labels following the 2010 death of a woman who drank about 2 gallons of Coca-Cola a day.
Coroner David Crerar issued a final report Tuesday into the death of 31-year-old Natasha Harris, concluding that the mother of eight died from a heart attack. He said the large amount of Coca-Cola she drank likely led to metabolic imbalances that gave rise to her heart problems, adding that Coke was likely a ‘‘substantial factor’’ in her death.
But New Zealand Food & Grocery Council Chief Executive Katherine Rich said ‘‘there isn’t a labeling regime in the world’’ that could have prevented the death of somebody who chose to drink Coke in such large quantities.
The New Zealand branch of the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Company, the world’s largest beverage maker, disputed the coroner’s findings, noting that experts could not agree on the most likely cause of Harris’ death.
Crerar recommended that soft-drink makers consider including caffeine levels on the labels and warnings about the ill health effects if the drinks are consumed in excessive quantities.
———
Banana Joe becomes America’s top dog, wins best in show at Westminster
NEW YORK (AP) — Banana Joe is very appealing, in any language.
The little affenpinscher with a monkey face added to his world of success Tuesday night, winning best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club.
‘‘He speaks German, Dutch, Spanish and English,’’ co-owner and breeder Mieke Cooijmans offered.
She was set to take Banana Joe back to the Netherlands on Wednesday. Now, the trip has been postponed for his victory lap.
With a bouncy step and shiny black coat, Banana Joe made up for near misses the last two years at Madison Square Garden and won America’s premier dog competition. The 5-year-old wagged his tail a mile a minute and stuck out his pink tongue after earning his 86th best in show title overall.[[In-content Ad]]
BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. (AP) — The manhunt for a former Los Angeles police officer suspected of going on a killing spree converged Tuesday on a mountain cabin where authorities believe he barricaded himself inside, engaged in a shootout that killed a deputy and then never emerged as the home went up in flames.
A single gunshot was heard from within. San Bernardino County sheriff’s spokeswoman Jodi Miller said Tuesday night that a charred body was found inside the burned-out cabin.
Investigators will use forensic tests to determine if the body belongs to Christopher Dorner. If the results are positive, the search for the most wanted man in America over the last week will have ended the way he had expected — death, with the police pursuing him. He is believed to have killed at least four people.
Thousands of officers had been on the hunt for the former Navy reservist since police said he launched a campaign to exact revenge against the Los Angeles Police Department for his firing. They say he threatened to bring ‘‘warfare’’ to officers and their families, spreading fear and setting off a search for him across the Southwest and Mexico.
‘‘Enough is enough. It’s time for you to turn yourself in. It’s time to stop the bloodshed,’’ LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith said at a news conference held outside police headquarters in Los Angeles, a starkly different atmosphere than last week when Dorner was on the loose and officials briefed the news media under heavy security in an underground hallway.
———
Skeptical Congress may deliver Obama few victories on State of the Union priorities
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama set up high-stakes clashes over guns, immigration, taxes and climate change in a State of the Union address that showcased a newly re-elected president determined to mark his legacy, facing off against a deeply divided Congress with Republicans eager to rein him in.
At the center of it all was a fight over the very role of government, with Obama pushing a raft of new initiatives to improve preschool programs and voting, boost manufacturing and research and development, raise the minimum wage and lower energy use. ‘‘It is our unfinished task to make sure that this government works on behalf of the many and not just the few,’’ he said.
Republicans who control the House and hold enough votes to stall legislation in the Senate were just as quick to declare that the government helps best by getting out of the way.
‘‘More government isn’t going to help you get ahead. It’s going to hold you back. More government isn’t going to create more opportunities. It’s going to limit them,’’ Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said in the Republican response Tuesday night. ‘‘And more government isn’t going to inspire new ideas, new businesses and new private sector jobs. It’s going to create uncertainty.’’
Uncompromising and aggressive, Obama pressed his agenda on social issues and economic ones, declaring himself determined to intervene to right income inequality and boost the middle class. He called on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship for 11 million illegal immigrants, far-reaching gun control measures and a climate bill to cut greenhouse gas emissions. He threatened to go around Congress with executive actions on climate change if it fails to act.
———
Homeland Security secretary, illegal immigrant to testify as Senate opens immigration hearing
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators are weighing one of President Barack Obama’s second-term priorities at the first Senate hearing on a comprehensive immigration overhaul. Many stubborn fault lines are sure to emerge.
Wednesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, which comes amid a concerted focus on immigration reform from the White House to Capitol Hill, was to feature testimony from Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and — in an unusual move for Congress — an illegal immigrant, Jose Antonio Vargas, a former journalist who founded the group Define American, which campaigns for immigration reform.
The former head of America Online, Steve Case, also was on the witness list, along with Chris Crane, president of the immigration and customs’ workers union, which has opposed Obama’s immigration policies.
The hearing comes a day after Obama, in his State of the Union address, renewed his call for sweeping immigration legislation that includes a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s estimated 11 million illegal immigrants. Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of eight senators has been meeting to develop a bill by next month that accomplishes eventual citizenship for illegal immigrants while also containing enough border security and enforcement measures to gain conservative support.
The bipartisan Senate negotiators, including Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and John McCain, R-Ariz., are operating separately from the Senate Judiciary Committee, but the committee is expected to vote on any legislation they produce. In his opening statement for Wednesday’s hearing, Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., planned to emphasize the importance of a straightforward and attainable path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, including the youths known as ‘‘dreamers’’ brought here by their parents.
———
Pope to make first public appearance since bombshell announcement of resignation
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Thousands of people flooded the Vatican’s main audience hall Wednesday for Pope Benedict XVI’s first public appearance since his bombshell resignation announcement, taking advantage of his second-to-last public audience before retiring at the end of the month.
It’s a busy day for Benedict, who will also preside over Ash Wednesday services later in the day to mark the official start of the Catholic Church’s solemn Lenten season. The service is usually held in a church on Rome’s Aventine hill, but was moved at the last minute to St. Peter’s Basilica. The Vatican said the shift was made to accommodate the crowds, though it will also spare the 85-year-old pope the usual procession to the church.
Hours before Benedict was due to appear, long lanes snaked out into St. Peter’s Square of people waiting to pass through metal detectors to get into the audience hall.
‘‘We were just coming for vacation, and now we are getting all of this!’’ marveled Terry Rodger, a tourist from New Orleans, Louisiana as he headed to the audience. ‘‘I am very excited. I’m surprised.’’
Benedict announced on Monday that he would retire on Feb. 28, saying he just didn’t have the strength of body or mind to carry on. The Vatican insisted no serious medical ailment was behind the decision, though it admitted for the first time on Tuesday that Benedict has had a pacemaker for years, and recently had it replaced.
———
Neighbors prep diplomacy, militaries while studying evidence from North Korea’s nuclear test
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea’s neighbors bolstered their military preparations and mobilized scientists Wednesday to determine whether Pyongyang’s third nuclear test, conducted in defiance of U.N. warnings, was as successful as the North claimed.
The detonation was also the focus of global diplomatic maneuvers, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry reaching out to counterparts in Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo. President Barack Obama used his State of the Union address to assure U.S. allies in the region and leveled a warning of ‘‘firm action.’’
‘‘Provocations of the sort we saw last night will only isolate them further as we stand by our allies, strengthen our own missile defense and lead the world in taking firm action in response to these threats,’’ Obama said.
The nuclear device detonated Tuesday at a remote underground site in the northeast is seen as a crucial step toward North Korea’s goal of building a bomb small enough to be fitted on a missile capable of striking the United States.
North Korea said it tested a ‘‘smaller and light A-bomb, unlike the previous ones, yet with great explosive power.’’ Still, just what happened in the test is unclear to outsiders.
———
Cruise line, some passengers in dispute about conditions aboard disabled ship in Gulf
HOUSTON (AP) — A cruise line says it is making the passengers stranded aboard a disabled ship in the Gulf of Mexico as comfortable as possible with running water and some working bathrooms, contradicting the accounts of some passengers who told relatives of filthy, hot conditions and limited access to food.
The ship, the Carnival Triumph, is still at least a day from being guided to a port in Mobile, Ala.
Carnival President Gerry Cahill said Tuesday the ship has running water and most of its 23 public restrooms and some of the guest cabin bathrooms were working. He downplayed the possibility of an outbreak of disease from unsanitary conditions, saying the ship had not seen an abnormal number of people reporting to the infirmary as being ill.
‘‘No one here from Carnival is happy about the conditions onboard the ship,’’ Cahill said at a news conference in Miami. ‘‘We obviously are very, very sorry about what is taking place.’’
Jimmy Mowlam, 63, whose 37-year-old son, Rob Mowlam, got married Saturday onboard the ship, said his son told him by phone Monday night that there is no running water and few working toilets. He said passengers were given plastic bags to ‘‘use for their business.’’
———
University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists are helping search for alien life forms
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are helping search for evidence of alien life not by looking into outer space, but by studying some rocks right here on Earth.
Some of the rocks are up to 3.5 billion years old. The scientists are looking for crucial information to understand how life might have arisen elsewhere in the universe and guide the search for life on Mars one day.
‘‘There’s a story always hidden in rocks,’’ said geoscientist Clark Johnson, the lead investigator for the Wisconsin Astrobiology Research Consortium. ‘‘... It’s up to (geologists) to be clever enough to find the tools that we need to interrogate those rocks to find what story they preserve.’’
The project is funded through NASA, which provided a $7 million, five-year grant that started in January. It was the group’s second five-year, $7 million grant.
The consortium includes about 50 staff, students and post-doctoral fellows from 24 institutions in five countries. About 25 of the participants are at UW-Madison.
———
Comcast to pay $16.7 billion for rest of NBCUniversal in a big bet on the future of TV
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Comcast’s $16.7 billion deal to buy the remaining half of NBCUniversal ahead of schedule represents a resounding vote of confidence in the future of TV, even as the growth of Internet video reshapes the entertainment landscape.
The decision was driven largely by Comcast Corp.’s belief that it would end up paying substantially more for General Electric Co.’s remaining 49 percent stake if it had waited until 2018, as had been envisioned in 2011 when the cable TV provider acquired majority control of NBCUniversal.
The flagship NBC network, once seen as the deal’s albatross, has been on the turnaround. Broadcast TV revenue rose 7 percent last year, even after excluding the Super Bowl and the Olympics. Theme parks, the Universal Pictures movie studio and pay TV networks such as USA and SyFy have grown, too.
As the advertising market has rebounded with the economy, so have the fortunes of NBCUniversal and other media companies such as CBS Corp. and ABC owner The Walt Disney Co. That made the latest transaction, announced Tuesday, seem like a savvy one at a relatively modest price.
‘‘I think the television business has turned out to be much more powerful as an advertising medium than people were thinking five years ago,’’ said Jonathan Taplin, a professor specializing in digital media at the University of Southern California. ‘‘Comcast made a really smart move in believing that TV would continue to be a really important part of the advertising picture for years to come.’’
———
NZ coroner says cola habit a factor in woman’s death, suggests warnings; group rejects call
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A New Zealand food industry association on Wednesday rejected a coroner’s call to add health warnings to soft-drink labels following the 2010 death of a woman who drank about 2 gallons of Coca-Cola a day.
Coroner David Crerar issued a final report Tuesday into the death of 31-year-old Natasha Harris, concluding that the mother of eight died from a heart attack. He said the large amount of Coca-Cola she drank likely led to metabolic imbalances that gave rise to her heart problems, adding that Coke was likely a ‘‘substantial factor’’ in her death.
But New Zealand Food & Grocery Council Chief Executive Katherine Rich said ‘‘there isn’t a labeling regime in the world’’ that could have prevented the death of somebody who chose to drink Coke in such large quantities.
The New Zealand branch of the Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Company, the world’s largest beverage maker, disputed the coroner’s findings, noting that experts could not agree on the most likely cause of Harris’ death.
Crerar recommended that soft-drink makers consider including caffeine levels on the labels and warnings about the ill health effects if the drinks are consumed in excessive quantities.
———
Banana Joe becomes America’s top dog, wins best in show at Westminster
NEW YORK (AP) — Banana Joe is very appealing, in any language.
The little affenpinscher with a monkey face added to his world of success Tuesday night, winning best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club.
‘‘He speaks German, Dutch, Spanish and English,’’ co-owner and breeder Mieke Cooijmans offered.
She was set to take Banana Joe back to the Netherlands on Wednesday. Now, the trip has been postponed for his victory lap.
With a bouncy step and shiny black coat, Banana Joe made up for near misses the last two years at Madison Square Garden and won America’s premier dog competition. The 5-year-old wagged his tail a mile a minute and stuck out his pink tongue after earning his 86th best in show title overall.[[In-content Ad]]
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