World Nation Briefs May 5, 2013
Experts: Feds are pressuring widow, friends to cooperate
BOSTON - Every time the widow of suspected Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev leaves her parents' house, federal agents watching the residence follow her in unmarked vehicles.
Federal authorities are placing intense pressure on what they know to be the inner circle of the two bombing suspects, arresting three college buddies of surviving brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and keeping Tamerlan's 24-year-old widow, Katherine Russell, in the public eye with their open surveillance and leaks to media about investigators' focus on her.
Legal experts say it's part of their quest not just to determine whether Russell and the friends are culpable but also to push for as much information as possible regarding whether the bombing suspects had ties to a terrorism network or accomplices working domestically or abroad. A primary goal is to push the widow and friends to give their full cooperation, according to the experts.
David Zlotnick, a professor of law at Roger Williams University and former federal prosecutor in the District of Columbia, said authorities may be tracking Russell closely because they feel she's not being completely honest about all she knows.
"It seems to me they don't believe her yet," he said.
Murder trial altering the tone of national abortion debate
For weeks, jurors in Philadelphia heard grim testimony about deaths and squalor at Dr. Kermit Gosnell's inner-city abortion clinic. While they listened, the murder case reverberated far beyond the courtroom, changing - at least for the moment - the tone of the national debate on abortion.
Groups supporting legal access to abortion, after major successes in the 2012 national elections, find themselves on the defensive as they distance themselves from Gosnell.
"All of us are appalled by the substandard illegal practices," said Vicki Saporta, who as CEO of the National Abortion Federation represents hundreds of U.S. abortion clinics. "But to make the leap to say that's indicative of the state of abortion care throughout the U.S. is absolutely false."
Anti-abortion activists, in contrast, are energized by the case, citing it in fundraising appeals and renewed efforts to expand state restrictions on abortion.
"It's very seldom we get such an opportunity to look at the realities of what's happening in abortion," said Dr. Donna Harrison, president of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Calmer winds, cool weather aid fight against California wildfire
CAMARILLO, Calif. - Calmer winds and a big cool-down in weather are helping firefighters gain control of a huge wildfire burning in Southern California coastal mountains.
Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said containment of the blaze 50 miles west of Los Angeles increased to 56 percent Saturday afternoon.
The fire has burned more than 43 square miles since breaking out near Camarillo Thursday morning. High winds and hot, dry air quickly stoked the flames, but the normal flow of damp air off the Pacific returned late Friday and significantly reduced fire activity.
Flames have threatened thousands of homes since then but only 15 have been damaged.
Nearly 2,000 firefighters are battling the fire, assisted by water-dropping helicopters and planes.
7 American service members killed in attacks in Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan - Seven U.S. soldiers and a member of the NATO-led coalition were killed on Saturday in one of the deadliest days for Americans and other foreign troops in Afghanistan in recent months, as the Taliban continued attacks as part of their spring offensive.
The renewed violence came as Afghan President Hamid Karzai acknowledged at a news conference that regular payments his government has received from the CIA for more than a decade would continue. Karzai also said that talks on a U.S.-Afghan bilateral security agreement to govern future American military presence in the country had been delayed because of conditions the Afghans were placing on the deal.
The U.S.-led coalition reported that five international troops were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan, and coalition spokesman Capt. Luca Carniel confirmed that all five were American.
The coalition did not disclose the location of the roadside bombing. However, Javeed Faisal, a spokesman for the governor of Kandahar province, said the coalition patrol hit the bomb in the Maiwand district of the province, the spiritual birthplace of the Taliban.
Israel enforces 'red line' on weapons bound for Hezbollah
BEIRUT - With a second airstrike against Syria in four months, Israel enforced its own red line of not allowing game-changing weapons to reach Lebanon's Hezbollah, a heavily armed foe of the Jewish state and an ally of President Bashar Assad's regime, Israeli officials said Saturday.
But the strike, which one official said targeted a shipment of advanced surface-to-surface missiles, also raised new concerns that the region's most powerful military could be dragged into Syria's civil war and spark a wider conflagration.
The missiles were believed to be m600s, a Syrian version of Iran's Fatah 110 missile, an extremely accurate guided missile capable of traveling roughly 190 miles with a half-ton warhead, an Israeli official said.
- The Associated Press