Saturday, November 26, 2011

Arizona police vow probe into bloody arrest of grandfather at Walmart

(CNN) -- An Arizona police department will conduct an investigation into the bloody arrest of a 54-year-old grandfather during a Black Friday sale at a Walmart, an assistant police chief said Saturday.

Jerald Newman, 54, was released Saturday from a Maricopa County jail, his wife, Pamela, told CNN. He has been charged with resisting arrest and shoplifting.

"(He is) as good as expected ... but he is emotionally and mentally a wreck," she said.

Newman was among a throng of shoppers crammed into a Buckeye, Arizona, Walmart soon after it opened late the night of Thanksgiving.

"They were just letting people in; there was nowhere to walk," said his daughter, Berneta Sanchez, who was also in the store. "Teenagers and adults were fighting for these games, taking them away from little kids and away from my father."

The suspect's grandson, Nicholas Nava, told CNN affiliate KNXV that Newman had grabbed one video game and put it under his shirt so that others jostling for the game didn't take it from him. One person alerted a police officer, who then approached Newman.

David Chadd, a CNN iReporter from Las Vegas, was among the crowd shopping for video games set up in the Walmart's grocery section. He said Newman "was not resisting" arrest as he was led away from the crowd by a police officer.

That officer, Chadd said, then suddenly hooked the suspect around the leg, grabbed him and "slammed him face first into the ground."

"It was like a bowling ball hitting the ground, that's how bad it was," he said.

Video, recorded by Chadd and later posted on CNN's iReport, shows an apparently unconscious Newman head-down on the floor in a pool of blood. As he's turned over, Buckeye police officers appear to try to revive him -- at which point his face, covered mostly in blood, is revealed.

Several voices, apparently those of fellow shoppers, are heard saying, "Why would you throw him down so hard? All he did was shoplifting and you threw him down like that?" Another person says, "They threw him down. He wasn't doing anything wrong."

Two citizens then appear to come to Newman's aid by applying paper towels to the man's nose. Chadd estimated Newman was knocked out for about 10 minutes, all the while gushing blood and handcuffed.

Buckeye Assistant Police Chief Larry Hall said Saturday that Newman's case is "basically in the court's hands right now, as far as the resisting arrest and shoplifting goes."

The department will conduct an investigation to assess whether the actions of the police officer involved in the arrest were "within reason," based on "our policy and also the law." He said that probe would happen soon, adding it was "days away."

"We may have an independent agency conduct the inquiry, just to show transparency," Hall said.

As to the criminal charges, Todd Nolan -- the attorney representing Newman -- said his office will conduct discovery procedures Monday with police "to gather evidence proving my client is innocent."

The suspect himself plans to speak to the media later next week, his lawyer said.

Walmart spokeswoman Ashley Hardie said the retail giant was aware of the incident.

"We are concerned whenever there is an incident involving a customer at one of our stores," Hardie said. "We are in contact with the local police and are sharing any information we have with them."

Sanchez described her father as "a really nice man," saying he is a custom furniture maker who preaches through the California prison system. He has raised his grandson from birth and, even while in the hospital, Sanchez said the boy was her father's chief concern.

Whatever happens, Sanchez vowed that next year she won't be shopping in the wee hours of the Friday morning after Thanksgiving.

"I will never leave my house again on Black Friday, because I don't want to put my daughter through that again," she said, noting her daughter was there to see police standing over her bloody grandfather. "I'd rather stay home. And if they have Black Friday, they need more security."


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Connelly gets 'The Drop' on readers

(CNN) -- This has been a banner year for crime novelist Michael Connelly. A film adaptation of "The Lincoln Lawyer" was a critical success and could become a TV series next year. His most recent novel, "The Fifth Witness," hit No. 1 on the bestseller list, and Connelly topped 1 million e-books sold online. His latest novel, "The Drop," arrives in bookstores Tuesday and is poised to be another top seller.

This is Connelly's 24th novel and the 18th featuring his dogged LAPD detective Harry Bosch. "The Drop" finds Bosch fighting off forced retirement, struggling to be a better single father to his teenage daughter and pursuing two mysteries simultaneously.

In one, Bosch is called to the famous Chateau Marmont hotel to investigate the death of an L.A. city councilman's son. Did the victim jump, or was he pushed from a hotel window? It's a case fraught with "high jingo," police speak for internal politics.

The second mystery comes from the LAPD's "open-unsolved unit." In a cold case dating to 1989, Bosch makes a chilling discovery: A serial killer has been operating in L.A. in secret for decades.

Unlike Bosch, there's no talk of retirement with Connelly. With 42 million copies of his books sold worldwide, he's just back from a promotional tour in Europe. He's pressing ahead with plans to bring Bosch to the big screen, looking for the right deal and the right people to work with, and working on a TV pilot for "The Lincoln Lawyer." He's also preparing to celebrate 20 years as a novelist.

CNN recently caught up with Connelly to talk about his new book. The following is an edited transcript.

CNN: What was the spark behind your latest book?

Connelly: Actually, there were a couple different sparks. The book has two parallel stories going through it. One I call the political story. In a turnabout, Harry ends up more or less working for a guy who's been his nemesis in other books. That was an idea suggested to me by a cop a long time ago, and I've been holding on to it, carrying it around with me, waiting for the right time to write that story.

The other story is Harry on a cold case, inspired by an aspect of L.A.'s "Grim Sleeper" case -- not necessarily the investigation of the alleged serial killer but the fact that when they caught the guy they say is the Grim Sleeper, they found thousands of photos and videotapes in his possession of women, many of them potential victims. A squad of detectives has to go to work looking through all these photos every day trying to identify the people, trying to find identifiable characteristics in the pictures.

It just seemed like a very difficult task knowing that all these people could have ended up being victims of a pretty bad predator. Just that idea kind of shot through and gave me images, and I knew that was the other prong of the story, that Harry Bosch encounters something like that.

CNN: Bosch is dealing with some pretty dark subject matter in this novel. Was that planned?

Connelly: You know, I don't really outline my books, so I can't say I knew what was going to happen. I was impressed by this real case, and I wanted to create a case that had that aspect. After I was done writing "The Drop," I looked back at that chapter, and I thought that might be the darkest chapter I've ever written. Who would have seen that coming 10 months ago, when I started writing the book?

CNN: How has Harry Bosch changed over the course of your career?

Connelly: I think he's changed a lot. The books take place in real time, so it's more than 18 years of Harry Bosch. Like anybody who's aged 18 years, you're going to be different. A lot of his hard edges have worn down by his experiences.

I think his cynicism has been alleviated somewhat by having his daughter in his life in the last couple of books. That's become a very big part of his focus in life. He'd been a father for a long time, but he'd never been engaged in raising her until she was a teenager. He's not that good at it.

He's learning as he goes, but what's affecting him is what affects anyone who becomes a parent: You hope for a better world for your children, so that's kind of changed his outlook on the world.

CNN: Like Harry Bosch, you too are a father. How does that impact your novels?

Connelly: Harry doesn't have the benefit that you and I have of being with our kids from the beginning. Harry's daughter is a year older than mine, so they share a lot of stuff. Sometimes his daughter says stuff that my daughter says, and so forth.

But Harry's learning curve is much different from mine. He makes a lot of missteps, and he does a lot of things that might seem odd to other parents, but when you look at his perspective of where he's been in his life, the institutions he's been a part of, they seem quite natural.

He takes his daughter shooting. I don't know too many people that would do that. I'm not going to make a judgment on whether it's right or wrong; it's just not the usual type of father-daughter outing. That in a way is an endearing part of their relationship. He wants to pass on some of his skills to her, and he's working on that, and I think you can see that in this book.

CNN: Your books always incorporate real Los Angeles landmarks; do you have any favorite spots you've written about?

Connelly: The Chateau Marmont is one of my favorites. I don't live in L.A. anymore, but I'm there a lot, and I stay in various hotels, but I stay there often, in room 79, which is a crime scene in this book. I've stayed there many times.

I really like that place. It's got some celebrity cachet, but it's also got this old-world charm. It's a very private place that I really like, so that was kind of fun to write. Some of this book was written in that room. That's always fun when you can do something like that.

They knew I was writing the book. They're very nice to me there, and they just said "treat us with respect." I do have a crime scene set there, but hopefully my love of the place, its attractiveness, comes out in the book.

CNN: You're just back from a book tour in the UK. What was that like?

Connelly: The book's just coming out here in the U.S., but it came out in October in Europe. So I was over there promoting the book, and it's not even out here, so it's a little bit unusual. It was fun, good reception, good weather when I was in the UK and Ireland, a fun thing to do. I did a number of events. They were well-attended, and I just heard a couple of days ago the book is No. 1 in Ireland. I'm of Irish descent, so that's always good to hear.

CNN: You recently became part of a very exclusive club; your eBooks have sold more than 1 million copies online. How does that feel?

Connelly: That was actually shocking when I heard that and the company of authors I'm included with now. I think "The Lincoln Lawyer" movie had something to do with it; it's a pretty good movie, and I think that inspired a lot of people to check out the book. That probably pushed me over the top.

CNN: Do you have a favorite book this year?

Connelly: Two books I read recently, "The Cut" by George Pelecanos and "Feast Day of Fools" by James Lee Burke, were really outstanding. Also a new book I just read. It's called "Shortcut Man" by P.G. Sturges. It's set in L.A., kind of a noir story. His father was a famous screenwriter.

CNN: What's next for you?

Connelly: Well, you've always got to keep writing, so I'm writing. Next year is kind of a significant year for me. It will be 20 years since my first book came out, so next year, I'll publish my 25th book. I've thought a lot about that and just felt like it should be Harry Bosch. So I'm working on a Harry Bosch book. It's called "The Black Box." That's under way, and hopefully it will be out around this time next year.


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NBA leaders compromise for greater good

They shake hands, and everything changes.

The lockout ends and the feelings for the NBA change from anger and frustration to another more nuanced set of impressions. The agreement isn't going to provoke outright joy, because there is too much resentment that can't simply be wished away, and a compacted 66-game season played on short notice is nothing of beauty either.

It instead brings forth feelings of relief, because the self-destructive cancellation of the season was avoided, and encouragement, for having proved that the owners and players weren't the self-absorbed losers they were making themselves out to be.

It is encouraging because this agreement shows that difficult situations can be resolved. The biggest problem between the owners and players wasn't the split of revenues or the luxury tax or free agency and the mid-level exception. All of those details were symptoms of the real problem, which was the failure of these billionaires and millionaires to work out their disagreements as adults. In the end they realized it was more important for them to work together on behalf of the larger needs of the NBA than it was for each side to have its own way at the other's expense.

Isn't this the biggest problem of the larger world? Look, a sports writer isn't going to dare lecture anyone on the recession, unemployment, foreclosures, education, climate change and all of the other issues facing our country. But the experience of the NBA surely raises a larger question: Isn't the most worrisome and frustrating aspect of all of these larger problems the failure of our leaders to address them and begin to solve them? We all know that the overwhelming majority of our leaders in Washington, like our leaders in the corporate boardrooms, are worried mainly about themselves. They have proved with relentless consistency that they will let bad situations grow worse before they will compromise on behalf of the greater good.

Yet that sense of compromise is what took place in New York in the early morning Saturday when the owners and players shook hands on a tentative agreement. Of course the problems of the little NBA don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. But the problems of the NBA were real, and they appeared to be insurmountable until the owners and players recognized the needs of the NBA were bigger than their own needs.

This is leadership. It isn't the kind of leadership you find in war movies or political advertisements, where the self-styled hero glows with a charisma earned at the expense of his victim.

The way it finally worked itself out in the NBA negotiating room is the way it is supposed to work in real life. Leaders on both sides of the table were confronted with concessions they hated to make, but they made them anyway. Some owners and some players are going to be angry about those concessions, and their condemnations may weaken the standing of the leaders who shook hands on the compromise solution.

NBA PLAYERS' REACTIONS ON TWITTER

But that's what leaders do. They sacrifice on behalf of the greater good. If only it were so everywhere.

I can imagine there are many fans who wonder why the NBA had to put itself through more than two years of enervating public trauma, while the NFL was able to resolve its lockout without losing games or popularity. This is because the NBA operates in the real world as we know it today, and the NFL does not. The NBA owners were losing money -- just how much they were losing was disputed by the players -- and the relationship between David Stern's owners and Billy Hunter's players was as polarized as any you will find on Capitol Hill.

The NFL owners were making money, and their lockout was an exercise in making more money. To this day the NFL is run like a modern-day version of "Mad Men," where life is all very simple: It's a man's world where the boss can fire you and the players are employees who are willing to subject themselves to all kinds of physical abuse on behalf of their employer. But it's not going to continue like this forever for the NFL. The most worrisome threat for the NFL is very real: If the nascent research on brain injuries should prove that football is innately dangerous to mental health -- whether or not a player suffers concussions -- then that research may yet have the same damaging impact on the NFL owners as all of that cigarette smoke and alcohol had on the generation of Don Draper (who, in case you don't watch, is the handsome smoking and drinking star of "Mad Men").

This is not to wish ill fortune on anyone, but to show that no one is ultimately immune from having to compromise and do things one doesn't want to do.

I will admit (and not just because it's easy to look up online) that I didn't think the NBA owners and players had it in them to reach agreement. I believed a majority on each side of the table wanted to save the 2011-12 season, but I also believed that process and protocol had got the better of them. They knew what they should do, but they didn't know how to do it -- that's what I thought would be the epitaph on this lost season.

But they turned out to be bigger than the overwhelming circumstances. This is not a perfect deal, and it is surely loaded with all kinds of unintended consequences. For all anyone knows, the efforts to limit the dominance of the richest franchises could wind up giving them more power than ever, should a hardened salary cap inspire the players to chase endorsement income in the absence of a big free-agent payday. There are going to be bad feelings all around, and you may see some players refusing to do any commercial or public service work for their teams as an act of protest for the deal they feel was shoved down their throats.

For objective people, however, it does no good to exclusively blame the players or the team owners. Because each side needs the other. Together they built up the NBA, together they threatened to bring it down, and together they came to an agreement when they finally realized just how much they need each other.

These negotiations could have meant the end for the NBA. What they wound up generating was not the solution to all of their problems. But it is a beginning. In this world, a beginning is something to be celebrated.


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Friday, November 25, 2011

University: Gunman on loose at Chicago hospital

Chicago (CNN) -- Police at the University of Illinois at Chicago have taken a person into custody in the shooting death of a woman in a hospital garage, the school said Friday.

Police say a man killed his girlfriend in the garage, prompting a lockdown for much of the night, CNN affiliate WLS reported.

Following two searches, including a search of every room in the hospital, university officials resumed normal operations there around 5 a.m., the station reported.

WGN: Woman shot in UIC hospital, suspect in custody

The university said on its website that a "person of interest" had been taken into custody and a weapon recovered. Further details were not immediately available. Campus police referred calls to the school's media relations office, which did not immediately return a telephone message.


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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Mom: Detained U.S. student scared, OK

Cairo (CNN) -- Three American college students suspected of throwing Molotov cocktails in Cairo's Tahrir Square will be detained another four days as an investigation continues, said a spokesman for the office of Egypt's general prosecutor.

"A bag filled with empty bottles, a bottle of gasoline, a towel and a camera was found with them," spokesman Adel Saeed said late Wednesday.

"They denied the bag belonged to them and said it belonged to two of their friends," Saeed added.

The mother of at least one of the students detained said Wednesday that she was able to speak to him briefly in a telephone call arranged by U.S. diplomats.

"He sounded scared, but he said he was OK," Joy Sweeney said of her son, Derrik Sweeney, one of the three American college students being held for questioning.

A U.S. State Department official told her husband the three may have a hearing Thursday, she said.

Derrik Sweeney said he and his friends had done nothing wrong, Joy Sweeney told CNN's Erin Burnett on Wednesday night.

"He is a very bright kid with a good heart who believes in all the people in the world," said Joy Sweeney. "And he really wanted to learn more about the Egyptian culture."

The students first met with an American diplomat Wednesday morning, according to a spokeswoman for American University in Cairo.

"He reports that they are in good health and being treated well," Morgan Roth said of the U.S. consul general's visit with the students, who have been in custody since Monday.

Before their visit with the consul, the students were questioned again by Egyptian authorities, this time with a U.S. Embassy lawyer present.

Wednesday marked the fifth day of violent clashes between security forces and protesters demanding that the country's military leaders step aside. Similar protests forced President Hosni Mubarak to relinquish power in February.

Sweeney, Gregory Porter and Luke Gates are university students from different schools attending American University in Cairo on a semester-long, study-abroad program, according to the school.

Sweeney, 19, is a Georgetown University student from Jefferson City, Missouri; Porter, 19, from Glenside, Pennsylvania, attends Drexel University in Philadelphia; and Gates, 21, of Bloomington, Indiana, goes to Indiana University.

Social-media posts appear to show Gates and Sweeney in the thick of recent protests in Cairo, with Gates indicating he had been injured in clashes over the weekend.

"Earlier tonight rubber bullets a charge and then a retreat," said a message posted Sunday from a Twitter account with Gates' name and a photo resembling one of the men in a police video. The poster added that his knee and elbow were hurt.

On Saturday, the writer said that "we were throwing rocks and one guy accidentally threw his phone."

Another Facebook account shows a man resembling Sweeney during protests in Cairo.

CNN could not independently confirm the authenticity of the posts.

Gates' father and Sweeney's mother said in interviews that their children have had a long interest in other cultures.

Joy Sweeney, speaking Wednesday on CNN, said she doesn't believe her son is guilty of violence.

"He's very peaceful, harmonious," she said. "He cares about the world. He cares about people and I can't imagine him ever doing something to hurt someone."


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Mother: FAMU officials had been informed of hazing issues

(CNN) -- The death on Saturday of a Florida A&M University drum major is not the first incident linked to hazing within the school's famed marching band, and school officials were well aware of the abuse, the mother of another student said Wednesday.

"Oh my God, I warned them," said Felicia Fabre, who added that she met with band officials at the Tallahassee school after her son was hazed by other band members. "I went to them and told them, 'God has blessed you with so much prestige and so much honor, and if you don't do anything, it will take just one incident to bring your world down.' "

Fabre's 20-year-old son, Marcus, plays alto saxophone in the band and was among a number of musicians who were being maltreated, she said. "My son told me he was mentally and verbally hazed; he was not physically beat, but that's because he doesn't allow that kind of thing.

"My son always stood up for himself -- he would say, last year when he was a freshman, they were picking on another freshman's sister and he had to stick up for her. These students are very disrespectful towards one another."

For some, the abuse went beyond verbal and psychological to include paddling, she said.

Fabre said she met with and e-mailed band staffers about her concerns over what she saw as pervasive hazing. "I addressed them to the leadership and they act like they don't know -- they say if students don't address it, then there's nothing they can do. If students aren't willing to stand up and say there's something going on, there's no one they can prosecute."

Marcus Fabre declined to speak to CNN, his mother said. "He's just not ready to talk," she said. "He's just not ready to go to that next level yet."

She forwarded to CNN a copy of an e-mail she sent in August to Ralph Turner, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and band director Julian White, in which she described an incident one of her son's classmates said he had seen. "He ... witnessed the same section leader ... choke the same student and held his neck up in this choking manner. This was done in a remote corner where he thought that he could not be seen by others. I could go on with horror stories, but I won't. Students do not report these acts because they are in fear of being ostracized."

"I have spoken to Dr. White on many occasions -- he listened and said it would be addressed," Fabre wrote. Though band members must sign an anti-hazing agreement, the practice continues, Fabre said. "It's not the band staff that does it, it's the section leaders, upperclassmen, the students that they've chosen to be in leadership," she said.

Calls to the school's spokeswoman, Sharon Saunders, and to Turner and White were not immediately returned.

Fabre's comments came three days after the death of Robert Champion, 26 -- a death that Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings has said was linked to hazing.

After Saturday's game, the band returned to its hotel, where "the victim reportedly threw up in the parking lot and started complaining of not being able to breathe," the sheriff's office said in a release. Friends called 911, and Champion was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

"The investigation indicates that hazing was involved in the events that occurred prior to the 911 call for assistance," Demings said Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Gov. Rick Scott sent a letter to Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey asking the department to join the investigation "to assure that the circumstances leading to Mr. Champion's death become fully known, and that if there are individuals directly or indirectly responsible for this death, they are appropriately brought to justice and held accountable."

Authorities have not said what happened to Champion. A spokeswoman for the Orange County Medical Examiner's Office said Wednesday that the autopsy had not been completed and that no cause of death was available.

Under Florida law, any death that occurs as the result of hazing is a third-degree felony.

After the incident, FAMU President James Ammons suspended band performances.

Ammons said he will convoke a task force "to determine if there are any unauthorized and questionable activities associated with the culture of the Marching 100."

"The purpose of this review is not to establish culpability of individual band members in this particular case, but rather to determine whether there are patterns of behavior by the band -- or members of it -- that should be addressed at the institutional level," he said.

Ammons acknowledged that at least 30 band members were let go this semester because of possible involvement in hazing. But that wasn't enough, according to Fabre. "My prayer is there will be no cover-up," she said. "They need to get the mess out of their band and start new."

She likened the hazing incidents to gang initiations and said they were carried out in secret. "Not like street thugs, but here, if you want to be accepted, then you got to go through it."

Fabre said the incidents were "like a generational curse that needs to be broken" and held out hope that Champion's death would result in the end of hazing. "Someone has got to break the cycle," she said.

The Marching 100's motto lays out "qualities to live by," including "highest quality of character" and "dedication to service."

In 2009, the band represented Florida in the parade for President Barack Obama's inauguration.


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Pilot: Don't fret about crowded skies

(CNN) -- More than 5,000 flights may be in the sky at once on the busiest holiday travel days.

The aircraft operating these flights navigate intersecting airborne highways, so it's quite normal to peek out your window and witness another aircraft passing by. Passengers often ask me if pilots are aware of other nearby aircraft while in flight, and whether they ever come "too close for comfort." The answers, in order, are yes and rarely.

Pilots have many tools at their disposal that clearly paint a picture of their surroundings. Today's modern commercial aircraft are equipped with traffic avoidance systems that show the position of other aircraft. Pilots can determine from a display if nearby aircraft are above or below them, as well as if they are climbing or descending.

If the system determines that a nearby aircraft is on a collision course, the pilots will be alerted. The alert will even go as far as to direct the pilots to climb or descend their aircraft to avoid a collision. Considering the many thousands of flights each day, it is very uncommon for such a drastic step to be required.

The primary responsibility for maintaining safe aircraft separation rests on the shoulders of air traffic control, or ATC, which uses an extensive radar network that allows controllers to keep close tabs on the position of each aircraft in the sky.

Controllers keep commercial aircraft horizontally spaced by miles, and vertically spaced by a minimum of 1,000 feet. ATC has its own warning system that tracks potential conflicts of aircraft coming too close to one another. If necessary, it will provide instructions to pilots to help maneuver their aircraft out of harm's way. Such situations are normally detected well in advance, and again, happen rarely.

While air traffic controllers keep airliners safely spaced in the sky, the safety of aircraft separation begins on the ground, when flights are planned. Rather than flying randomly all over the sky, commercial flights follow published airborne highways that are defined by latitude/longitude coordinates.

With permission from ATC, aircraft may deviate from these highways to fly more directly to a destination, or to avoid weather. Altitudes are not assigned at random either. Commercial flights headed east fly at odd-numbered altitudes, such as 35,000 or 37,000 feet, while westbound flights fly at even-numbered altitudes, such as 34,000, or 36,000 feet.

When traffic congestion is high, the need to keep flights at a safe distance from one another can lead to delays. Foul weather only worsens the problem, as storms can block valuable airspace.

Delays such as these will often be communicated by the airline as an "air traffic control delay." The best way to avoid delays is to avoid peak travel hours at major airports. Opt for early morning flights. Most airlines have apps that allow passengers to keep tabs on the status of their flight while on the go.

On behalf of the thousands of professional airline pilots nationwide, rest assured that getting you home safely is our priority year-round.


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Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Father of New York terror suspect disputes charges

(CNN) -- The father of a man accused of plotting terror attacks in New York says the charges against his son don't add up.

"It is an accusation that does not seem very true, because my son was never involved in any terrorist acts," father Juan Jose Pimentel, 51, told CNN en Espa ol Tuesday. "My son is not capable of something like that."

Pimentel, who lives in the Dominican Republic, said his son -- 27-year-old Jose Pimentel -- had been depressed for the past two years, ever since he and his wife separated. Juan Jose Pimentel spoke to CNN en Espa ol by phone and also in his hometown of La Vega.

"He had his son and she took his son and he was depressed because of this. But he has been a happy and normal boy and never had any problem with terrorism," Juan Jose Pimentel said.

Authorities described Jose Pimentel as a "lone wolf" who was inspired by al Qaeda propaganda to plot attacks against police officers, patrol cars and troops returning from military service abroad.

Juan Jose Pimentel said his son converted to Islam five years ago, but never appeared to be an extremist.

"He followed this religion but he was never a fanatic. He led a normal life, including coming to this country," Juan Jose Pimentel said. "He didn't change. He continued to be a normal person."

Authorities arraigned Jose Pimentel Sunday night in a New York court on state charges of possession of a bomb for terrorism, conspiracy as a crime of terrorism, soliciting support for a terrorist act, being a felon in possession of a weapon and conspiracy to commit criminal mischief and arson, according to a criminal complaint.

He allegedly told police he was an hour away from completing his first bomb when he was arrested, according to the complaint.

"Pimentel's behavior morphed from simply talking about such acts to actions -- namely, bomb making," New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told reporters.

Kelly said Jose Pimentel was a follower of Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical U.S.-born cleric who rose to become a top figure in al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula before a U.S. drone strike killed him this year in Yemen.

In August, the suspect allegedly decided to carry out the bomb plot, Kelly said. He "jacked up his speed" after al-Awlaki died on September 30, according to the police commissioner.

Jose Pimentel, also known as Muhammad Yusuf, according to the criminal complaint, had a "very active and very public online profile," prosecutors said. They cited the website TrueIslam1.

Jose Pimentel's attorney, Joseph Zablocki, said Monday that the case against his client is nowhere near as strong as authorities say.

"As they admit, he has a very public online profile, and that flies in the face of everything that they've said," Zablocki said at the hearing. "This is not the way you go about committing terrorist attacks."


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Merck to pay $950 million for illegal marketing of Vioxx

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Pharmaceutical giant Merck (MRK, Fortune 500) will plead guilty for illegal promotional activity of the painkiller Vioxx, and pay fines and settlement costs totaling nearly $1 billion, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.

Justice officials said Merck, Sharp and Dohme has agreed to the massive settlement in order to resolve criminal charges and civil claims stemming from its promotion and marketing of Vioxx. The drug was withdrawn from the marketplace in September 2004.

Under the agreement, Merck will plead to a misdemeanor for the illegal promotion and pay a $321 million criminal fine.

The firm also agreed to a civil settlement under which it will pay $628 million to resolve allegations of off-label marketing and false statements about the cardiovascular safety of Vioxx.

Regarding the civil settlement, the federal government will receive $426 million and the remaining $202 million will be distributed to the participating Medicaid states, the Justice Department said.

"When a pharmaceutical company ignores FDA rules aimed at keeping our medicines safe and effective, that company undermines the ability of health care providers to make the best medical decisions on behalf of their patients," said Assistant Attorney General Tony West.

The FDA approved Vioxx for three medical purposes in 1999 but did not approve its use against rheumatoid arthritis until April 2002. The government says that in the interim for nearly three years, Merck promoted Vioxx for rheumatoid arthritis. An FDA warning letter was sent to Merck in 2001 for making the claims.

Officials say that while not a record settlement, the $950 million agreement places it among the top five settlements on record. To top of page


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Monday, November 21, 2011

World's most-hated airports

(CNNGo) -- There's a special form of loathing reserved for a building that forces you to remove your shoes, wait in line, get groped, shell out for bad food and dash in a panic to an arbitrarily changed gate before canceling your flight.

But let's be clear. The most hated airports in the world are not the worst airports in the world.

For that you'll have to consult Lonely Planet or fly to destinations the majority of us have little need to pin on a map or pronounce properly.

Read more on CNNGo: 10 of the world's most loved airports

To come up with our admittedly unscientific list, we canvassed travel websites, blogs and message boards. And called on memories of our own travel nightmares.

What follow are majorly despised international hubs (or hopefuls) that, while they may have a few staunch fans, and some have even won awards, have all inspired enough fury, flak and "never again" air-rage to merit a place on this list.

Got your own airport-rage story? Leave a comment below or tell us about it in an iReport -- the best submissions will feature on CNNGo. You can also vote for your most awful airport on our Facebook poll.

10. S o Paulo-Guarulhos International, S o Paulo, Brazil

Why is this place on our list after scoring third best airport in South America at the 2011 World Airport Awards?

Because, shockingly enough, it turns out that corporate medal ceremonies aren't always in sync with what people are thinking when they're standing in two-hour immigration lines, suffering routinely unannounced gate changes and paying through the teeth for a stale Brazilian cheese roll and beer inside an understaffed and over-aged aviation facility.

In a country where flight delays (departing or arriving) are just part of the deal, some recent numbers would give pause to the most unflappable traveler at Brazil's largest airport.

Just 41 percent of all flights leave on time. Only 59 percent of flights arrive on schedule, according to Forbes.

S o Paulo-Guarulhos has announced plans to add runways and terminals -- what airport hasn't? -- but with nearly 30 million passengers traipsing through every year (the figure has reportedly doubled in under a decade) the urgency is palpable and, sadly enough, unsolved by upping prices at musty duty-free shops.

But does this really constitute bronze medal status? When the best unofficial advice for surviving Brazil's pin-up airport is to try and learn a little Portuguese and not lose your temper, something's gotta give.

Read more on CNNGo: World's biggest airport planned

9. Perth Airport, Perth, Australia

If there's one thing Australians love, it's hating their airports.

But while the big guns in Sydney, Melbourne and also-rans in Darwin, Cairns and Hobart get routinely lambasted for various inefficiencies and rip-off tactics, passengers in Western Australia have a special place in their spleens for Perth.

"The only advantage over some other airports is the lack of nearby combat," notes one of several miffed passengers on airportquality.com.

With a reviled pair of domestic terminals (home of two-hour taxi-line queues, atrocious check-in lines, overpopulated gates and meager lounges) and a slightly more palatable international terminal five kilometers away, Perth's brittle facilities can be overwhelmed just by a trio of aircraft arriving within 20 minutes of each other.

Now that an ambitious "billion-dollar" redevelopment project has been significantly scaled back, who would ever want to leave Changi for this place?

Read more on CNNGo: Transit hotels: How to get to sleep during your stopover

8. Tribhuvan International, Kathmandu, Nepal

For a small airport in a pretty country, Tribhuvan has it all: the interminable weather delays of Boston Logan, the shoddy restroom maintenance of a Glasgow sports bar, the departure board sparsity of McMurdo Airfield and the chronic chaos of a kids' soccer match.

Some airport improvements have been underway for the Visit Nepal 2011 tourism campaign, including things most passengers don't much care about (e.g., the new helicopter base).

The most serious beefs with Nepal's only international airport revolve around its primitive yet officious check-in procedure, starring a roulette wheel of underpaid security agents.

"Departure is an endless game of body searches and silly questions," notes one passenger.

"Those who didn't have their e-tickets printed out had to argue their way in," says another, who was checked seven times and scolded for not having a baggage tag on a carry-on before eventually boarding.

Never mind. The city's markets and surrounding mountains are lovely.

7. John F. Kennedy International, New York, United States

You'd think it would be one of the greatest humiliations any major airport would never allow itself to live down -- getting routinely abandoned by fed-up folks opting to fly out of Newark (Newark!) instead, where at least the ground staff cop less attitude and fewer people outside are pretending to be cab drivers.

But, nah, JFK really couldn't care less.

Every year, more than 21 million passengers stumble through worn, mid-century terminals that peaked when The Beatles arrived in the United States and rooftop parking was all the rage; JFK proudly remains the world's busiest international air gateway.

So if you're not into a dim, surly, unbearably congested airport reeking with attitude and unapologetically long immigration lines -- good riddance.

"JFK had a piece of my luggage sitting in a little detention room for bags -- for over a year," notes one passenger. "No one noticed it was there, until finally an observant Air France employee wondered what the dusty little green bag in the corner was."

Read more on CNNGo: Secret Report: Singapore's Chiangi Airport world's favorite

6. Jomo Kenyatta International, Nairobi, Kenya

"As African airports go, it's not that bad -- but as an international hub, it may be one of the worst out there."

This is the common refrain among travelers through JKIA, who either don't have the heart or the expectations to give this dated aviation facility the kind of pounding reserved for the JFKs and Charles de Gaulles of the world.

Saddled with a 1958 blueprint designed for 2.5 million passengers, JKIA receives close to twice that many. Hence the airport's 2005, Three Phase, US$100 million expansion project which has seen long delays (something about the rain) and has been spinning its tires somewhere in Phase Two for the last few years.

For now, that means business as usual: cramped spaces; long lines; inadequate seating; frequent power outages; tiny washrooms hiding up several flights of stairs; shabby duty free shops; overpriced food outlets; and business class lounges worthy of a shelter in mid-city Los Angeles.

Sure, it's a breeze compared to Lagos. But it could be so much better. The confusing result: grateful disappointment?

See CNNGo's top five most-hated airports


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Chaos, deja vu in Tahrir Square

Cairo (CNN) -- Chaos reigned Monday in Cairo's Tahrir Square as demonstrators battled security forces, marking three days of bloody violence in Egypt's capital.

In the same spot where demonstrators launched protests 10 months ago that ousted longtime President Hosni Mubarak, there is now a sense of deja vu as protesters stand up against the military in charge.

Twenty-two protesters have died and 1,700 have been wounded, a spokesman for the ministry of health said.

Among police, 102 officers and conscripts have been injured, with wounds ranging from gunshots to burns from Molotov cocktails, an interior ministry spokesman said. One officer has a critical bullet wound to his head.

"People here feel that they have been cheated and that they have moved from an autocracy to a military dictatorship," protester Mosa'ab Elshamy said. "So they are back to the square -- back to square one -- to ask for their rights once again."

The military said it is "extremely sorry" for the events under way, and stressed that it will be handing over power when a new government is in place. Egypt's parliamentary elections are set to take place November 28.

But demonstrators are upset about a proposed constitutional principle that would shield the military's budget from scrutiny by civilian powers. They worry that the military would be shaped as a state within a state.

Some protesters shout that they believe Mubarak is running the military council and the entire country from prison.

Doctors at Cairo's Tahrir Square said injuries in the latest fighting include gunshot wounds, excessive tear gas inhalations and beatings to the head.

"I have received many people suffering of convulsions," said Tarek Salama, a medic in a makeshift hospital in Tahrir Square. "Lots of gunshot wounds from rubber and bird shots. And I have seen two cases who have been hit with actual live bullets."

On Monday, CNN saw police use tear gas and rubber bullets in attempts to disperse the protesters, who responded with Molotov cocktails. Both sides threw rocks as well.

CNN saw captured protesters beaten and shocked with Taser-like devices.

CNN also saw bullet holes and a pool of blood. Witnesses said one young man was shot from a nearby building. Witnesses showed CNN mobile phone footage of the wounded young man before an ambulance picked him up.

But the police efforts did not show any success in dispersing the crowds, who shouted "freedom."

In fact, more and more protesters appeared to be joining the efforts.

Protesters started fires in the streets, burning tires and a car.

Officials have said they will allow the protests, but that they must be peaceful.

On its official Facebook page, the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) issued a statement about the "extremely urgent" developments that could affect the country's "stability and security."

The armed forces are "extremely sorry for what the events have led to," the statement said, and called on all political parties and coalitions "to come and work together."

The armed forces also assigned the government to investigate "the reasons behind the incidents," according to a CNN translation.

The SCAF stressed its commitment to "handing over power to an elected, civil administration" and said it does not "seek to prolong the transitional period in any way" in which it is in control.

Mohamed Higazi, a spokesman for the prime minister's office, said the government will continue dialogue on reaching a constitution that ensures the election of a civilian government.

Some on the streets expressed little confidence in the current government, saying there had been little progress since Mubarak's ouster.

"Nothing has changed," said Zahra, one protester. "We've gone backwards. The military council is garbage. Mubarak is still alive and well, and the people are dying."

Fighting erupted Saturday when police worked to clear Tahrir of people who remained after massive protests on Friday. Thousands have denounced a plan for a constitution that would protect the military from public oversight.

Clashes between protesters and police also reportedly broke out in the cities of Suez and Alexandria.

Hisham Qasim, a publisher and human rights activist, said that Egypt can't afford anything -- including another revolt -- that could further hamper its already struggling economy. The nation's once thriving tourism industry continues to struggle, while unemployment remains high.

"The poverty belt is now the ticking time bomb in Egypt," Qasim said. "It threatens that what we went through (earlier this year) could be repeated. ... I don't think we'll survive a second uprising in the span of 10 years."


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Sunday, November 20, 2011

Police on leave after pepper-spraying

(CNN) -- The University of California at Davis has placed two police officers on administrative leave after video of them pepper-spraying non-violent protesters at point-blank range sparked outrage at school officials.

Friday's incident has led to calls for the resignation of UC Davis Chancellor Linda Katehi, who announced the action in a written statement Sunday. Katehi said she shares the "outrage" of students and was "deeply saddened" by the use of the chemical irritant by campus police.

"I am deeply saddened that this happened on our campus, and as chancellor, I take full responsibility for the incident," she said. "However, I pledge to take the actions needed to ensure that this does not happen again."

And Annette Spicuzza, the campus police chief, told CNN that putting the officers on leave "is the right thing to do at this time." They will be sidelined until an investigation is complete, and "hopefully that won't take too long," she said.

Katehi said that investigation, initially announced Saturday, would be sped up. Katehi said the task force established to conduct the probe will now report in 30 days, instead of 90. And she said she will hold talks with students, faculty and staff "to listen to their concerns and hear their ideas for restoring civil discourse to the campus."

A group of about a dozen protesters sat on a path with their arms interlocked as police moved in to clear out a protest encampment affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement Friday. Most of the protesters had their heads down as a campus police officer walked down the line, spraying them in their faces in a sweeping motion.

"I was shocked," Sophia Kamran, one of the protesters subjected to the spray, said Saturday. "When students are sitting on the ground and no way of moving to be violent, being totally peaceful, I don't understand the use of pepper spray against them."

The school said 10 protesters arrested were given misdemeanor citations for unlawful assembly and failure to disperse. Eleven were treated for the effects of pepper spray, which burns the eyes and nose, causing coughing, gagging and shortness of breath.

Occupy roundup: A fallout, a silent protest and a new encampment

Earlier, UC Davis spokeswoman Claudia Morain said police used pepper spray after protesters encircled them and blocked them from leaving. Cut off from backup, the officers determined the situation was not safe and asked people several times to make room, Morain said.

But Spicuzza said the officers were put on leave after "discussion and reviews and time to contact these officers."

"We're going to continue to do our jobs here on campus, which is to keep this campus and community safe," she said. "And the officers will be given their due process."

The the incident set off a flood of comments on the school's Facebook page, most of them critical of police and the administration. The Davis Faculty Association, citing incidents at other campuses, demanded "that the chancellors of the University of California cease using police violence to repress nonviolent political protests."

It called for greater attention to cuts in state funding to education and rising tuition. Its board demanded Katehi resign, saying she exhibited "gross failure of leadership."

Saturday, Katehi called the officers' actions "chilling" and said the video "raises many questions about how best to handle situations like this." But she refused calls from faculty members and others for her to step down, saying she did not violate campus policies.

Saturday evening, as Katehi left campus, dozens of students sat cross-legged and with their arms linked in a silent protest.

A reporter asked Katehi, "Do you still feel threatened by the students?"

"No," she replied. "No."

Time: Watch video of police pepper-spraying and arresting students

Morain told CNN that 25 tents were in place Friday afternoon despite fliers explaining the campus prohibits overnight camping. It does so for security and health reasons, Katehi said.

After written and verbal warnings, officers reminded the protesters they would be subject to arrest if they did not move their tents from the quad, Morain said. Many protesters did decide to remove their tents and equipment, officials said.

Critics took issue with the college's account, saying the seated protesters did not pose a threat to the officers.

"Without any provocation whatsoever, other than the bodies of these students sitting where they were on the ground, with their arms linked, police pepper-sprayed students," wrote Nathan Brown, an assistant professor in the college's English Department, in an open letter to the chancellor. He said that police then used batons to separate the students, kneeled on their bodies and pushed their heads to the ground.

"When students covered their eyes with their clothing, police forced open their mouths and pepper-sprayed down their throats," Brown wrote.

He called on Katehi to resign.

"I call for your resignation because you are unfit to do your job. You are unfit to ensure the safety of students at UC Davis. In fact: you are the primary threat to the safety of students at UC Davis."


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