World/Nation Briefs August 4, 2013
Dying 2-year-old boy is couple's best man
JEANNETTE, Pa. - Looking dapper in a tiny tan pinstripe suit and orange shirt, a 2-year-old boy with only weeks to live served as the best man Saturday afternoon for his parents' Pennsylvania wedding.
Christine Swidorsky carried Logan Stevenson on her shoulder at the Saturday afternoon wedding in Jeannette, a suburb of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.
Logan stood with his grandmother, Debbie Stevenson, during a 12-minute ceremony uniting Logan's mother and his father, Sean Stevenson. The boy has leukemia and other complications.
"We're married," Swidorsky exclaimed joyously after kissing her groom to applause from family and friends.
After a whirlwind week, the Jeannette couple tied the knot in a hastily arranged backyard ceremony that formalized their union and celebrated Logan's life, which doctors say will be cut short soon by cancer.
Fort Hood suspect faces death penalty
DALLAS - Hundreds of unarmed soldiers, some about to deploy to Afghanistan, were waiting inside a building for vaccines and routine checkups when a fellow soldier walked in with two handguns and enough ammunition to commit one of the worst mass shootings in American history.
Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan doesn't deny that he carried out the November 2009 attack at Fort Hood, Texas, which left 13 people dead and more than 30 others wounded. There are dozens of witnesses who saw it happen. Military law prohibits him from entering a guilty plea because authorities are seeking the death penalty. But if he is convicted and sentenced to death in a trial that starts Tuesday, there are likely years, if not decades, of appeals ahead.
He may never make it to the death chamber at all.
While the Hasan case is unusually complex, experts also say the military justice system is unaccustomed to dealing with death penalty cases and has struggled to avoid overturned sentences.
Eleven of the 16 death sentences handed down by military juries in the last 30 years have been overturned, according to an academic study and court records. No active-duty soldier has been executed since 1961.
Longtime news correspondent John Palmer dies
WASHINGTON - John Palmer, a veteran reporter for NBC News who covered wars and Washington over a career that spanned 40 years, died Saturday at a Washington hospital.
Palmer's wife Nancy confirmed he died at George Washington University Hospital of pulmonary fibrosis. He was 77.
The gentlemanly Palmer worked for NBC from 1962 to 1990, and then returned to the network from 1994 until 2002.
"John was a brilliant, brave, and tireless journalist who guided viewers through many of the most significant events of the past half-century - from the early days of the civil rights movement through the tragedy of 9/11," NBC News said in a statement. "He covered five presidents and traveled to every corner of the world, always showing the empathy and compassion that helped set him apart. His kindness is remembered by all of us, and it built lasting bonds throughout our news division. "
He served as a correspondent in Chicago, Paris and Beirut, as well as at the White House. In 1980 he landed one of his biggest scoops, breaking the news of the Carter administration's failed attempt to rescue the American hostages being held in Iran.
Threat of terror attack leads to embassy closings
WASHINGTON - The threat of a terrorist attack led to the weekend closure of 21 U.S. embassies and consulates in the Muslim world and a global travel warning to Americans, the first such alert since an announcement before the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 strikes.
"There is a significant threat stream and we're reacting to it," Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told ABC News, according to interview excerpts released Friday. He said the threat was "more specific" than previous ones and the "intent is to attack Western, not just U.S. interests."
The warning comes less than a year since last year's deadly Sept. 11 attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, and with the Obama administration and Congress determined to prevent any similar breach of an American embassy or consulate.
The State Department's warning urged U.S. travelers to take extra precautions overseas. It cited potential dangers involved with public transportation systems and other prime sites for tourists, and noted that previous attacks have centered on subway and rail networks as well as airplanes and boats.
Travelers were advised to sign up for State Department alerts and register with U.S. consulates in the countries they visit.
Mugabe wins presidential poll by a landslide
HARARE, Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe's electoral panel on Saturday declared that longtime President Robert Mugabe had won re-election by a landslide, a result that could exacerbate tensions in the country, where the 89-year-old's chief rival and former coalition partner has accused him of poll-rigging.
Mugabe seemed set to strengthen his hold over Zimbabwe after the state Election Commission said his party won 158 of the 210 parliament seats. That gives it a two-thirds majority in the legislature - enabling it to amend a recently approved constitution that provides for democratic reforms.
Challenger Morgan Tsvangirai's party, which had gambled that a high turnout in its favor would overcome any alleged fraud in the vote, captured 50 seats and two went to independent candidates.
Envoy in Egypt holds talks with rival sides
CAIRO - Egypt's Interior Ministry warned supporters of ousted President Mohammed Morsi on Saturday for a second time to abandon their protest camps as a senior U.S. diplomat met with officials on both sides of the country's political divide.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns extended his visit to Cairo by one day so he could meet military leader Gen. Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi and the country's prime minister today, an Egyptian Foreign Ministry official said. A member of the pro-Morsi delegation that met Saturday with Burns said the four delegates also would meet again with the U.S. diplomat today for more talks.
- The Associated Press