World/Nation Briefs July 9, 2013
Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood urges revolt
CAIRO - Egypt was rocked Monday by the deadliest day since its Islamist president was toppled by the military, with more than 50 of his supporters killed by security forces as the country's top Muslim cleric raised the specter of civil war.
The military found itself on the defensive after the bloodshed, but the interim president drove ahead with the army's political plan. He issued a swift timetable for the process of amending the Islamist-backed constitution and set parliamentary and presidential elections for early 2014.
The killings further entrenched the battle lines between supporters and opponents of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, who was removed by the military July 3 after a year in office following mass demonstrations by millions of Egyptians.
Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood called for an uprising, accusing troops of gunning down protesters, while the military blamed armed Islamists for provoking its forces.
The shootings began during a protest by about 1,000 Islamists outside the Republican Guard headquarters where Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected leader, was detained last week. Demonstrators and members of Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood said troops descended on them and opened fire unprovoked as they finished dawn prayers.
Analysis: Egypt's army faces challenges
CAIRO - Led by a savvy commander, Egypt's powerful military returned to politics with a new look and a new approach. It built a coalition behind the removal of the president and rode a stunning wave of popular support.
Now after its troops killed at least 51 supporters of Mohammed Morsi, the military faces the question of how it can thwart a determined Muslim Brotherhood campaign to restore the toppled president without more heavy-handedness that could damage its image and undermine its support.
After the opposition protests of June 30, when millions of Egyptians took to the streets to call for Morsi's ouster, the military ramped up its ongoing charm offensive, tapping into widespread discontent with the Islamist president and pro-military sentiment among the Egyptian public.
To the wild cheers of demonstrators, jet fighters swooped low over Cairo, helicopters flew overhead - trailing giant Egyptian flags and drawing a heart in the sky with red smoke. The chants of "the army and the people are one hand," rang out in Cairo's Tahrir Square.
It was a far cry from the resentment pro-democracy groups felt toward the military soon after the fall of Hosni Mubarak in 2011. The military was then accused of mismanaging the transition and of human rights violations, including torturing detainees and hauling more than 10,000 civilian before military tribunals.
Investigators turn attention to pilot actions
SAN FRANCISCO - Investigators trying to understand why Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crash-landed focused Monday on the actions of an experienced pilot learning his way around a new aircraft, fellow pilots who were supposed to be monitoring him and why no one noticed that the plane was coming in too slow.
Authorities also reviewed the initial rescue efforts after fire officials acknowledged that one of their trucks may have run over one of the two Chinese teenagers killed in the crash at San Francisco International Airport. The students were the accident's only fatalities.
National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman said investigators watched airport surveillance video to determine whether an emergency vehicle hit one of the students. But they have not reached any firm conclusions. A coroner said he would need at least two weeks to rule in the matter.
The students had been in the rear of the aircraft, where many of the most seriously injured passengers were seated, Hersman said.
The NTSB also said part of the jet's tail section was found in San Francisco Bay, and debris from the seawall was carried several hundred feet down the runway, indicating the plane hit the seawall on its approach.
Officials confront possibility of death on runway
SAN FRANCISCO - Amid the marvel of nearly all aboard Asiana Flight 214 surviving a crash landing, authorities here are investigating an unspeakable tragedy that may have unfolded during the frantic rescue - whether a teenage girl made it out of the plane only to be run over by a rescue vehicle.
Federal and local officials on Monday addressed the possibility that the Chinese girl, who along with a classmate comprised the crash's two fatalities, might have been killed accidentally on the runway as the first firefighters raced to the scene of a wrecked, smoking airliner.
"One of our fire apparatus may have come into contact with one of our two victims," Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White said during a news conference called to highlight the heroic efforts of first responders. "I assure you, we are looking closely at this."
Findings of what caused the 16-year-old's death - the plane crash, the fire truck, or both - may not come for several weeks.
A firefighter first reported to a superior on Saturday that a passenger who was on the ground roughly 30 feet from the wreckage and near the escape slide may have been run over as fire crews were shifting from dousing the flames to taking victims to hospitals, officials said.
Martin's father says it was his son's voice
SANFORD, Fla. - Trayvon Martin's father testified Monday that he never denied it was his son's voice screaming for help on a 911 call, contradicting police officers' earlier testimony at George Zimmerman's second-degree murder trial.
Tracy Martin was the latest in a series of witnesses called by lawyers on both sides as they seek to convince jurors of who was the aggressor in the nighttime confrontation that left Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, dead in February 2012. Later in the day, the Florida judge ruled that defense attorneys may present evidence to the jury that Trayvon Martin had marijuana in his system when he died.
The teen's father testified that he merely told officers he couldn't tell if it was his son after his first time listening to the call, which captured the audio of a fight between Martin and Zimmerman.
"I never said that wasn't my son's voice," said Tracy Martin, who added that he concluded it was his son after listening to the call as many as 20 times.
Before Tracy Martin took the witness stand, the lead Sanford, Fla. police investigator who probed Martin's death testified that the father had answered "no" when the detective asked if the screams belonged to Trayvon Martin. Officer Chris Serino played the 911 call for Tracy Martin in the days immediately following Trayvon Martin's death in February 2012.
Inspectors search site of Canada oil train
LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec - Traumatized survivors of an oil train derailment that wiped out the heart of a small town braced for more bad news as inspectors were finally cleared to enter the charred site's epicenter and look for remains late Monday, more than two days after the disaster that killed at least 13 people. A total of 50 were missing and the death toll was sure to rise.
Quebec provincial police Sgt. Benoit Richard said eight more bodies had been found in the wreckage after firefighters doused the flames and cooled down some of the oil tankers that were in danger of exploding. Five bodies were found over the weekend, and police would not say where the newly discovered ones were, for fear of upsetting families.
All but one of the train's 73 tanker cars were carrying oil when they came loose early Saturday, sped downhill nearly seven miles (11 kilometers) into the town of Lac-Megantic, near the Maine border, and derailed. At least five of the cars exploded.
Maude Verrault, a waitress at downtown's Musi-Cafe, was outside smoking when she spotted the blazing train barreling toward her.
"I've never seen a train moving so fast in my life, and I saw flames ... Then someone screamed 'the train is going to derail!' and that's when I ran," Verrault said. She said she felt the heat scorch her back as she ran from the explosion, but was too terrified to look back.
Report castigates Pakistani officials for Osama failure
ISLAMABAD - Al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden was able to live in Pakistan undetected for nine years because of a breathtaking scale of negligence and incompetence at practically all levels of the Pakistani government, according to an official government report published by a TV channel on Monday.
The 336-page report was written by a commission tasked with investigating the circumstances surrounding the covert U.S. raid that killed bin Laden in Pakistan in May 2011. The pan-Arab Al-Jazeera satellite channel published the report on its website after it was leaked to the station by unknown sources.
Pakistani officials did not respond to requests for comment on the report's authenticity.
The U.S. Navy SEALs raid that killed bin Laden in the northwest town of Abbottabad outraged Pakistani officials because they were not told about it beforehand. U.S. officials have said they kept Pakistan in the dark because they were worried the al-Qaida founder would be tipped off.
The fact that the compound where bin Laden was hiding was located only about one kilometer (half a mile) from Pakistan's equivalent of West Point led many in the U.S. to suspect Pakistani officials of aiding the al-Qaida chief, although Washington never found evidence to back that up.
Country star Randy Travis in critical condition
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Country music star Randy Travis was in critical condition Monday in a Texas hospital, a day after he was hospitalized with viral cardiomyopathy.
A news release from the singer's publicist says Travis was admitted to the hospital Sunday in Dallas and is in critical condition. Kirt Webster, Travis' publicist, said no other details about Travis' condition were available Monday.
Viral cardiomyopathy is a heart condition caused by a virus.
The illness is a continuation of a tough run for the 54-year-old "Three Wooden Crosses" singer after a handful of recent high-profile appearances, including a performance during the Country Music Association Festival's nightly concert series.
Travis pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated in January following his arrest last year when he was found naked after crashing his Pontiac Trans Am.
New Yorkers can beat the summer heat at ice bar
NEW YORK - In the sweltering summer heat, New Yorkers are ready for the big chill - in midtown Manhattan.
The city's first ice bar is now open at the New York Hilton Midtown on Sixth Avenue. The $20 admission includes Eskimo-style gloves and a parka for the privilege of drinking cocktails in the freezing Minus5 Ice Bar.
The entire bar is made of ice.
"The walls, everything," manager Chris Eldridge said. "The chairs you're sitting on, the glass you're drinking out of, even the light above your head is made of ice."
Promoters say it's all carved out of "100 percent Canadian ice."
Brazil opens investigation into U.S. spying
SAO PAULO - The Brazilian government began an investigation Monday into whether telecommunications firms operating in the country cooperated with the U.S. as part of a spying program that has collected data on billions of telephone and email conversations.
Anatel, the government agency that regulates the telecom sector in Brazil, said it's working with federal police and other government agencies on the investigation.
The O Globo newspaper reported this weekend that information released by the National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden showed Brazil is the top target in Latin America for the NSA's massive intelligence-gathering effort aimed at monitoring communications around the world.
Brazil isn't alone in its concern; London-based advocacy group Privacy International filed lawsuit on Monday over alleged spying of internet and phone users in Britain. Earlier, official in Germany, France, Hong Kong and other nations lodged complaints.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff the nation would raise the issue at the 193-country U.N. International Telecommunications Union and also at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights since the "fundamentals" of human rights include "freedom of expression and the right to privacy."
"If there was any involvement of other countries, of other businesses that aren't Brazilian, then it's certainly a violation of our sovereignty, without a doubt, just like it's a violation of human rights," Rousseff said. "Now, we have to look at things without pre-judgment, we have to investigate."
Brazilian regulator Anatel said in its statement that "it's worth clarifying that the confidentiality of data and telephone communications is a right guaranteed by the constitution, by our laws and by Anatel's regulations. Its violation is punishable in civil, criminal and administrative realms."