World / Nation Briefs February 23, 2012
Intense shelling in Syrian city kills 2 journalists
BEIRUT - Syrian gunners pounded an opposition stronghold where the last dispatches from a veteran American-born war correspondent chronicled the suffering of civilians caught in the relentless shelling. An intense morning barrage killed her and a French photojournalist - two of 74 deaths reported Wednesday in Syria.
"I watched a little baby die today," Marie Colvin told the BBC from the embattled city of Homs on Tuesday in one of her final reports.
"Absolutely horrific, a 2-year old child had been hit," added Colvin, who worked for Britain's Sunday Times. "They stripped it and found the shrapnel had gone into the left chest and the doctor said, 'I can't do anything.' His little tummy just kept heaving until he died."
Colvin and photographer Remi Ochlik were among a group of journalists who had crossed into Syria and were sharing accommodations with activists, raising speculation that government forces targeted the makeshift media center, although opposition groups had previously described the shelling as indiscriminate. At least two other Western journalists were wounded.
Newark mayor says NYPD report 'deeply offensive'
NEWARK, N.J. - The mayor and police director of New Jersey's largest city said Wednesday the New York Police Department misled their city and never told them it was conducting a widespread spying operation on Newark's Muslim neighborhoods. Had they known, they said, they never would have allowed it.
"If anyone in my police department had known this was a blanket investigation of individuals based on nothing but their religion, that strikes at the core of our beliefs and my beliefs very personally, and it would have merited a far sterner response," Newark Mayor Cory Booker said.
In mid-2007, the NYPD's secretive Demographics Unit fanned out across Newark, photographing every mosque and eavesdropping in Muslim businesses. The findings were cataloged in a 60-page report, obtained by The Associated Press, that served as a police guidebook to Newark's Muslims. There was no mention of terrorism or any criminal wrongdoing.
U.S., North Korea envoys resume nuclear talks
BEIJING - Amid cautious optimism, U.S. and North Korean envoys met early today for their first talks on dismantling Pyongyang's nuclear programs since the death of the country's longtime leader Kim Jong Il.
The discussions will be closely watched for signs of a more cooperative approach from North Korea, which stands to gain food aid, economic help, and diplomatic concessions in return for taking steps to end its efforts to develop nuclear weapons.
The countries were on the verge of a deal to have Washington provide food if Pyongyang suspends its uranium enrichment program when the agreement was upended by Kim's Dec. 17 death.
The talks in Beijing, the third round since July, are ostensibly aimed at restarting wider six-nation disarmament negotiations that also involve China, Japan, Russia and South Korea. Pyongyang walked away from those talks in 2009 and later exploded its second nuclear device.
U.Va. lacrosse player gets 26 years for murder
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - A jury convicted a former University of Virginia lacrosse player Wednesday of second-degree murder of his ex-girlfriend in a drunken, jealous rage, rejecting a first-degree murder verdict and a possible life sentence.
Instead, jurors recommended a 25-year prison term for George Huguely V in the May 2010 slaying of Yeardley Love. They added one more year for a grand larceny conviction.
Huguely was found not guilty of four other charges, including breaking and entering and burglary. Jurors also could have returned lesser verdicts of involuntary or voluntary manslaughter.
Huguely, 24, of Chevy Chase, Md., bowed his head during sentencing. Circuit Judge Edward Hogshire set an April court date on sentencing matters before a formal sentencing is expected to be held in summer.
- The Associated Press