World/Nation Briefs March 28, 2012
Syria accepts UN peace plan but clashes reported
QAA, Lebanon - Syria accepted a cease-fire drawn up by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan on Tuesday, but the diplomatic breakthrough was swiftly overshadowed by intense clashes between government soldiers and rebels that sent bullets flying into Lebanon.
Opposition members accuse President Bashar Assad of agreeing to the plan to stall for time as his troops make a renewed push to kill off bastions of dissent. And the conflict just keeps getting deadlier: The U.N. said the death toll has grown to more than 9,000, a sobering assessment of a devastating year-old crackdown on the uprising that shows no sign of ending.
Annan's announcement that Syria had accepted his peace plan was met with deep skepticism.
"We are not sure if it's political maneuvering or a sincere act," said Louay Safi, a member of the opposition Syrian National Council. "We have no trust in the current regime. ... We have to see that they have stopped killing civilians."
Annan's plan calls for an immediate, two-hour halt in fighting every day to allow humanitarian access and medical evacuations. The plan also outlines a complete cease-fire, but that will take more time because Syria must first move troops and equipment out of cities and towns, government forces and the divided opposition must stop fighting, and a U.N.-supervised monitoring mission must be established.
Shooting victim's parents appear at Capitol Hill forum
WASHINGTON - In a packed forum on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, the parents of Trayvon Martin found support among members of Congress who turned the death of their 17-year-old's son into a rallying cry against racial profiling.
Martin's parents spoke briefly before a Democrats-only congressional panel as cameras clicked noisily in front of them. Many in the crowd, which filled the seats and lined the walls, strained to catch a glimpse of the parents whose son was shot and killed Feb. 26 in a Sanford, Fla. gated community.
"Trayvon was our son, but Trayvon is your son," Sybrina Fulton, Martin's mother, told the panel. "A lot of people can relate to our situation and it breaks their heart like it breaks our heart."
Martin's father, Tracy Martin, thanked "everyone who is holding the legacy of Trayvon."
"Trayvon is sadly missed and we will continue to fight for justice for him," said Tracy Martin, who wore a weary look.
Pope Benedict XVI prays for
freedom in Cuba
HAVANA - Pope Benedict XVI prayed for freedom and renewal "for the greater good of all Cubans" before the nation's patron saint Tuesday, but the island's communist leaders quickly rejected the Roman Catholic leader's appeal for political change after five decades of one-party rule.
The exchange came hours ahead of a 55-minute closed-door sit-down with President Raul Castro in which the pontiff proposed that Good Friday, when Catholics commemorate the death of Christ, be made a holiday.
There was no immediate response. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said it was natural for the government to take time to consider such a request, which echoed a successful appeal by John Paul II in 1998 for Cuba to make Christmas a holiday.
"It's not that it changes reality in a revolutionary way, but it can be a sign of a positive step - as was the case of Christmas after John Paul's visit," Lombardi said.
Man survives 30 hours in water after boat sinks
HOUSTON - For hours after their boat sank, Ken Henderson and Ed Coen treaded water in the Gulf of Mexico, talking about life and death while struggling to survive. For more than 30 hours, it worked.
Then Henderson was forced to make a decision that would save his life, but not his best friend's.
"This is the last-ditch effort, but I'm going to go for help or you're not going to make it," Henderson told Coen, just before cutting the strap that connected them in the deep, cold waters off the Texas coast.
"I understand," Coen responded, giving Henderson a last set of instructions. "Kiss them babies for me."
It was Friday around 4 p.m. when they parted.
Woman commits suicide while chatting online
TAIPEI, Taiwan - A woman in Taiwan killed herself by inhaling poisonous fumes while chatting with friends on Facebook and none of them alerted authorities, police said Tuesday.
Claire Lin killed herself on her 31st birthday, March 18, and family members who reported her suicide were unaware of the Facebook conversations that accompanied it, Taipei police officer Hsieh Ku-ming said.
Lin's last Facebook entries show her chatting with nine friends, alerting them to her gradual asphyxiation. One picture uploaded from her mobile phone depicts a charcoal barbecue burning next to two stuffed animals. Another shows the room filled with fumes.
One friend identified as Chung Hsin, told Lin, "Be calm, open the window, put out the charcoal fire, please, I beg you."
Lin replied: "The fumes are suffocating. They fill my eyes with tears. Don't write me anymore."
- The Associated Press