Showing posts with label NEWS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NEWS. Show all posts

DNA leads to suspect after 19 years, FBI says


(CNN) -- A suspect has been arrested in the 1990 abduction and attempted murder of an 8-year-old Texas girl, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Houston, Texas, office said.

The victim, Jennifer Schuett, is now 27. She recently shared her story with CNN in hopes of someday bringing her attacker to justice.

Schuett fought tears as she spoke at a news conference in Dickinson, Texas.

"This event in my life was a tragic one," she said. "But today, 19 years later, I stand here and want you all to know that I am OK. I am not a victim, but instead, victorious." Video Watch Schuett's teary remarks »

She continued, "I hope that my case will remain as a reminder to all victims of violent crime to never give up hope ... With determination and by using your voice to speak out, you are capable of anything."

Dennis Earl Bradford, a 40-year-old welder, was arrested at 6:50 a.m. Tuesday in Little Rock, Arkansas, authorities said. He was on his way to work, and his wife was in the car with him.

DNA and other forensic testing led to him, authorities said. His DNA profile was in the FBI database due to a 1996 arrest in Arkansas. Video Watch police announce the arrest »

Schuett was abducted from her bedroom, raped and left for dead August 10,1990. She spoke with CNN two weeks ago.

CNN normally does not identify victims of sexual assaults. But Schuett decided to go public with her story -- and her name -- to increase the chances of finding and prosecuting her attacker.

"It's not about me anymore," she told CNN in September. "It's about all the little girls that go to sleep at night. I know there are so many girls out there who have been raped and hurt. You have to fight back."

"I remember everything; I've always wanted to remember everything so I can find the person that did this," Schuett said. "If I had blocked this out of my memory, the investigation wouldn't have come this far. I'm a fighter."

Schuett says she was alone in her bed when a man crept in through a window. She remembers waking up in a stranger's arms as he carried her across a dark parking lot.

She said he told her he was an undercover cop and knew her family.

He drove her through the streets of Dickinson, Texas, pulling into a mechanic's shop next to her elementary school.

"Watch the moon. The moon will change colors, and that is when your mom will come to get you," she recalled him saying. "Oh, it looks like she is not coming."

Schuett said he drove her to an overgrown field next to the school and sexually assaulted her.

She passed out. When she regained consciousness, she was lying naked on top of an ant hill with her throat slashed from ear to ear, and her voice box torn.

She was found at 6 p.m. on a hot August day after lying in the field for nearly 12 hours. She was rushed to a hospital in critical condition.

"Three days after the attack, I started giving a description. The doctors told me I would never be able to talk again, but I proved them all wrong," Schuett said. She believes she got her voice back so she could tell her story.

Houston FBI Special Agent Richard Rennison is one of the lead investigators in the case, along with Dickinson police Detective Tim Cromie. Read the affidavit

Both men were discussing the case when Rennison received a memo from the FBI's Child Abduction Rapid Deployment (CARD) team seeking child abduction cases that had gone cold and could be retested for DNA evidence. Schuett's was one of the cases selected.

Rennison, who has 10 years of experience in child abduction cases, said he has never seen a case like Schuett's.

"This is the only one that I can think of that the victim has suffered some traumatic injuries and survived," he said, "The main reason the CARD team picked this case was because she was alive. In cases of child abduction, it is rare that the child is recovered alive. Frequently, you recover a body. And most times, you never find them."

The investigators found evidence collected 19 years ago, which was retested. It included the underwear and pajamas Schuett was wearing, as well as a man's underwear and T-shirt, which were found in the field where Schuett was left for dead.

The clothes were tested in 1990, but the sample wasn't large enough for conclusive results. But now, modern techniques allow DNA to be isolated from a single human cell.

They were still awaiting the results when CNN featured Schuett's story in late September.
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Michael Jackson's death was a homicide, coroner rules

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The Los Angeles County coroner has ruled that Michael Jackson's death was a homicide involving a combination of drugs.

"The drugs propofol and lorazepam were found to be the primary drugs responsible for Mr. Jackson's death," said a news release issued Friday by the coroner. "Other drugs detected were: midazolam, diazepam, lidocaine and ephedrine."

The release said Jackson died from "acute propofol intoxication," but said "other conditions contributing to death: benzodiazepine effect."

Lorazepam, midazolam and diazepam are benzodiazepines.

Federal and state agencies also have launched independent investigations into "matters uncovered" by Los Angeles police while looking into Jackson's death, authorities said.

been conducting a criminal investigation of Jackson's death, requested at an interagency meeting last week that federal and state agencies pursue their own investigations, according to statements issued Friday by California's attorney general and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The full and final autopsy report and the complete toxicology report "will remain on security hold at the request of the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County district attorney," the release said.

Dr. Conrad Murray, Jackson's personal physician, told investigators that he had given Jackson three anti-anxiety drugs -- lorazepam, midazolam and diazepam -- in an effort to help him sleep in the hours before he stopped breathing, according to a police affidavit made public earlier this week.

Murray also told detectives he administered a dosage of the anesthetic propofol, diluted with lidocaine, to Jackson a short time before he stopped breathing, the affidavit said.

The 32-page sworn statement was written by Los Angeles Police detective Orlando Martinez to outline probable cause for warrants to search Murray's offices, home and storage rooms in Texas and Nevada.

Murray told detectives he had been treating Jackson for insomnia for six weeks, giving him 50 mg of propofol, the generic name for Diprivan, diluted with the anesthetic lidocaine every night via an intravenous drip, the affidavit said.

Worried that Jackson might become addicted to the drug, Murray said he tried to wean Jackson from it, putting together combinations of other drugs that succeeded in helping him sleep during the two nights before his death.

But on the morning of June 25 other drugs failed to do the job. Murray recounted the events to detectives in an hour-by-hour account that was detailed by Martinez:

• About 1:30 a.m., Murray gave Jackson 10 mg of Valium (diazepam).

• About 2 a.m., he injected Jackson with 2 mg of the anti-anxiety drug Ativan (lorazepam).

• About 3 a.m., Murray then administered 2 mg of the sedative Versed (midazolam).

• About 5 a.m., he administered another 2 mg of Ativan.

• About 7:30 a.m., Murray gave Jackson yet another 2 mg of Versed while monitoring him with a device that measures the oxygen saturation of his blood.

• About 10:40 a.m., "after repeated demands/requests from Jackson," Murray administered 25 mg of propofol, the document said.

"Jackson finally went to sleep and Murray stated that he remained monitoring him. After approximately 10 minutes, Murray stated he left Jackson's side to go to the restroom and relieve himself. Murray stated he was out of the room for about two minutes maximum. Upon his return, Murray noticed that Jackson was no longer breathing."

Efforts at CPR proved fruitless. Jackson was pronounced dead at UCLA Medical Center at 2:26 p.m.

Murray's lawyer, Ed Chernoff, declined to comment on the coroner's announcement.

Agents from the California attorney general's office also will investigate physicians whose names have come up in the course of the Jackson death probe, Attorney General Jerry Brown said.

The federal drug administration also responded with its own independent investigations "into matters that the LAPD's investigation uncovered that may not be directly related to the cause of death," the agency said.

Last week Drug Enforcement agents executed a federal administrative search warrant at the Mickey Fine Pharmacy in Beverly Hills, California, looking for prescription records relating to Jackson, an agency spokesman said.

The pharmacy sits directly below the offices of Jackson's dermatologist, Dr. Arnold Klein. Shortly before his death, Jackson visited the building several times to see Klein.

Klein, who treated Jackson for decades, denied in a CNN interview last month that he had given Jackson dangerous drugs.

Attorney General Brown said that agents with his Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement "will review relevant records and documents."

The attorney general's office maintains a computerized prescription drug monitoring system that tracks controlled substances.
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Helicopter and plane in NY crash


A tour helicopter and a light aircraft have collided near New York City and crashed into the Hudson River, the US Coast Guard says.

The collision occurred between Hoboken, in New Jersey, and Manhattan, just across the river.

Divers are searching for survivors. Reports suggest one person has been found; their condition is unknown.

Television footage showed rescue craft heading to the site from both sides of the Hudson River.

"It hit the water like a stone," a woman told local television station NY1.

"I saw a piece of metal, I saw a helicopter, the helicopter went down, and that was it. I heard no noise, and no smoke or fire."

Other witnesses described seeing debris - including the plane's wing - falling into the water.

"We saw the helicopter propellers fly all over," said Hoboken resident Katie Tanski.

The helicopter was operated by Liberty Helicopters, a sightseeing company that flies tourists around sites such as the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Six people were believed to be on board, US media reports said.

The light plane took off from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey, aviation officials said. It is not known how many people were on the plane.

The weather at the time of the collision, noon local time (1600 GMT), was said to be clear and mild.

In January, a passenger plane with 155 people aboard ditched into the Hudson River without loss of life, after apparently hitting a flock of geese.

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Video of church's 'casting out' gay 'demon' in teen sparks anger


The boy writhes uncontrollably on the floor, but the church members remain calm, if increasingly loud. They're trying to drive a "demon" out of him.

"You homosexual demon, get up on outta here!" they say. "You demon, loose yourself!" "You sex demon ... you snake!"

The shouts, the convulsions, the references to homosexual spirits -- they are all captured on a video posted on YouTube by the Manifested Glory Ministries. The video has sparked anger among gay youth advocacy groups and put the small church from Bridgeport, Connecticut, in the middle of an ongoing national debate on gay issues.

Patricia McKinney, pastor of the nondenominational church who describes herself as a prophet, said she has even been receiving death threats as a result of the video, but doesn't understand the outrage.

"I believe in deliverance, I believe in anointing, I believe in the power of Jesus," she said in a phone interview with GC USA. "I've been threatened already, I've been attacked, and it doesn't make any sense to us. Really, what they're doing, they're putting me out there on the mat."

McKinney says she doesn't refer to the events of the video as an exorcism, but rather a "casting out of unclean spirits." She said this isn't the first time that an event like this has taken place at her church, but it is the first one centered around homosexuality.

McKinney said the boy approached the church and told her he wanted to be a pastor, but was struggling with his sexuality. "We allow [gay people] to come into our church. We just don't allow them to come in and continue to live that lifestyle," she said.

"God made Adam and Eve," she said. "He made a woman to be with a man, and a man to be with a woman."

Robin McHaelen, who worked with the 16-year-old boy at the center of the video in her position as executive director of True Colors Inc., a gay youth advocacy and mentoring program in Connecticut, said the video was taped in March. She would not identify the teen.

McHaelen said she doesn't think the church acted maliciously -- but that's part of her problem with the video.

"None of the people in this video were intending to hurt this kid," she said. "They performed this ritual in an attempt to rid him of feelings that he didn't want to have."

The boy is the fifth teen True Colors is aware of that has undergone an event like the one documented in the video. But unlike the boy, not all the teens approached a church or religious organization.

The event, McHaelen said, reflects a culture and society that doesn't believe a person can be both Christian and gay.

"That's what makes me so sad and so mad," she said.

McHaelen said she talked to the boy since the incident and said he's feeling very conflicted and confused in trying to reconcile who he is with his religion.

"He's 16 and having the feelings that he's having, the relationships he's having, and then [he's] being tormented by 'What if I'm going to go to hell because of what I feel and who I am?'" she said.

McHaelen notified the Connecticut Department of Children and Families, as she's mandated to do in her position when she suspects abuse or neglect of a minor. However, she told CNN the department will be looking into whether or not abuse or neglect occurred by the parents and family of the boy, not the church. The department declined to comment Thursday.

Isaiah Webster, Director of Communications for the National Youth Advocacy Commission, said he was deeply saddened by the timing of the video and the accompanying uproar.

"It's very, very sad that this still takes place in society," he said. "It's also very sad that it comes about during this week, [as the] 40th anniversary of Stonewall is this weekend."

The so-called "Stonewall Riots" are believed by many to have kicked off the gay liberation movement.

"That is really something to celebrate," Webster continued, "and it's unfortunate that young people still have to endure things like this."

McHaelen said that as an advocacy group, she doesn't think True Colors can take any legal action against the church, and said she would rather engage in an open dialogue with its members.
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Air France: Missing plane probably crashed into Atlantic


PARIS, France (CNN) -- The jet carrying 228 people from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, that disappeared overnight as it entered an area of strong turbulence probably crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, the CEO of Air France said Monday.

The first three hours of what was to have been an 11-hour flight appear to have been uneventful, CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon said.

But about 4:15 a.m. Paris time, Flight 447's automatic system began a four-minute exchange of messages to the company's maintenance computers, indicating that "several pieces of aircraft equipment were at fault or had broken down," he said.

"This succession of messages signals a totally unforeseeable, great difficulty," he said. "Something quite new within the plane."

During that time, there was no contact with the crew, Gourgeon said.

"It was probable that it was a little bit after those messages that the impact of the plane took place in the Atlantic," he added.

He said the Airbus A330 was probably closer to Brazil than to Africa when it crashed.

He noted that turbulence made flying "difficult" in the area but that it is "too early to say" exactly what happened.

The chances of finding any survivors from were "very low," French President Nicolas Sarkozy admitted Monday.

"This is a catastrophe the likes of which Air France has never seen before," he said at Charles de Gaulle International Airport, where he met with relatives of the missing.

"I said the truth to them: The prospects of finding survivors are very low," he said.

Asked the nationalities of those aboard, he said most of them were Brazilians but added, "that changes nothing, of course. They're victims. It doesn't matter about their nationality."

The airline company identified the nationalities of the victims as two Americans, an Argentinean, an Austrian, a Belgian, 58 Brazilians, five British, a Canadian, nine Chinese, a Croatian, a Dane, a Dutch, an Estonian, a Filipino, 61 French, a Gambian, 26 Germans, four Hungarians, three Irish, one Icelandic, nine Italians, five Lebanese, two Moroccans, three Norwegians, two Polish, one Romanian, one Russian, three Slovakian, two Spanish, one Swedish, six Swiss and one Turk.

Sarkozy said French authorities had sent ships and planes to the area about 400 kilometers from Brazil. "Our Spanish friends are helping us; Brazilians are helping us a lot as well."

He added that authorities were seeking the help of satellites that might be able to pick up signs of what happened to the 4-year-old Airbus 330.

No possibility was being excluded: Turbulence in the area was strong, but other planes were able to pass through it without incident, he said.

The plane had reported a problem with the electrical system, "but the specialists refuse for the moment to express themselves about any possibility," Sarkozy said.

The jet had also sent out a warning that it had lost pressure, the Brazilian air force said.

It lost contact with air traffic control between Galeao International Airport in Rio de Janeiro and Charles de Gaulle International Airport in Paris, the airline said Monday.

The Airbus A330 sent out an automatic signal warning of the electrical problems just after 2 a.m. GMT Monday as it flew "far from the coast," said an Air France spokeswoman who declined to be identified. It had just entered a stormy area with strong turbulence, she said.

The jet was flying at an altitude of 35,000 feet and a speed of 521 mph, the air force said.

Among the passengers were 126 men, 82 women, seven children and a baby, in addition to the 12 crew members, Air France officials in Brazil said.

Much of the route is out of radar contact, Brazilian air force Col. Henry Munhoz told TV Globo.

Brazil's air force launched a search near the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha in the Atlantic Ocean, 365 km (226 miles) from Brazil's coast, a spokesman for the air force said.

Two Brazilian squadrons are searching for the plane, although it disappeared after it left the country's radar space, said the officer, who declined to be identified.

The flight, AF 447, took off from Galeao International Airport at 11:30 p.m. Sunday GMT. It was scheduled to land in Paris at 9:10 a.m. GMT.

Its last known contact occurred at 2:33 a.m. GMT, the Brazilian air force spokesman said.

It was expected to check in with air traffic controllers at 3:20 a.m. GMT but did not do so, the Brazilian air force said in a statement.

Brazilian authorities asked the air force to launch a search mission just over three hours later, at 6:30 a.m. GMT, the statement said.

The plane reported no problems before takeoff, Joao Assuncao, Air France's manager in Brazil, told the country's Record TV.

The French ambassador to Senegal told BFMTV that French military aircraft had been dispatched to search around Cape Vert, or Green Cape, off the coast of the west African country.

The airline set up a crisis center at the Paris airport. It listed numbers for families to call: 0 800 800 812 for people in France and 00 33 1 57 02 10 55 for families outside France.

At a crisis center at the airport in Rio, relatives of the missing complained of a dearth of information from Air France, the Brazilian state news agency reported.

One man, who identified himself as Bernardo, said his brother, Romeo Amorim Souza, and his wife were on the missing flight.

"I came to the airport because I wasn't finding information, and my parents are very nervous," he told Agencia Brasil.

The missing A 330 last underwent a maintenance check on April 16, the airline said.

CNN air travel expert Richard Quest said the twin-engine plane, a stalwart of transatlantic routes, had an impeccable safety record, with only one fatal incident involving a training flight in 1994.

"It has very good range and is extremely popular with airlines because of its versatility," he said.

Its crew was composed of three pilots and nine cabin crew members, including a captain who has logged 11,000 hours in flight. About 1,700 of those hours were on the A330 and A340. Of the two co-pilots, one has 3,000 hours of flying experience and the other 6,600 hours. The aircraft has flown 18,870 hours.

The model is "capable of communicating in several different ways over quite long distances even if they are out of radar coverage," said Kieran Daly of the online aviation news service Air Transport Intelligence.

The French Accident Investigation Bureau for civil aviation is investigating, the company said in a statement.
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Earthquake hits Mexico City


MEXICO CITY (CNN) A moderately strong earthquake rocked Mexico City on Friday afternoon, shaking the earth in the sprawling capital.

The U.S. Geological Survey measured the quake at magnitude 5.7, and placed the epicenter near the city of Puebla, about 85 miles southeast of Mexico City. It hit at 2:24 p.m. local time.

The Mexican seismological service measured the quake at 5.9.

People in the city reported the earth and buildings shaking. Thousands of panicked people streamed into the streets as stopped cars snarled traffic. Parts of the city were without electricity Friday afternoon but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

Earthquakes are a frightening experience for the 20 million residents of Mexico City, where thousands of people perished in a massive quake in 1985. The city, built on volcanic ash and clay, is particularly vulnerable to temblors.

Aldo Pontecorvo of the humanitarian agency World Vision said the shaking lasted about 20 seconds. It came out of nowhere and "without any warning," said Pontecorvo, who said he was in his office when the quake struck.

Earlier this month, a moderate earthquake was measured off the coast of Mexico's western Baja California peninsula.

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Netanyahu aide says Obama agrees on Iran, at least

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama may differ on some issues, but they agree that stopping Iran getting a nuclear bomb is a top priority, a senior adviser to Israel's prime minister-designate said on Thursday.

Zalman Shoval, a former ambassador to Washington and foreign relations chief of Netanyahu's Likud party, told Reuters in New York that Obama and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had "started off on the right foot" in relations with the government taking shape in Israel.

He also played down concerns about the likely appointment as foreign minister of Avigdor Lieberman, the ultranationalist head of the far-right Yisrael Beiteinu party.

"He's a very intelligent person and not necessarily ... inflexible," Shoval said at a meeting of the Conference of Presidents of major American Jewish organizations.

The Moldovan-born Lieberman had said he would like to be defense minister -- a prospect that raised eyebrows in Israel and abroad given his hawkish talk on issues such as Iran's nuclear program and on Israel's Arab minority.

Shoval warned against preconceived ideas, recalling that Ariel Sharon was long regarded with similar concern, yet it was Sharon who pulled Israeli troops out of Gaza.

He added that the relationship with Israel's most important ally, the United States, was traditionally "mainly in the hands of the prime minister," and that as foreign minister, Lieberman would not determine policy toward Israel's Arab minority.

"The Arab states, or their officials, are realists and they also understand that the main worry for both Israel and themselves is the Iranian threat," he said. "(That) goes beyond the question of the nuclear bomb. It's the desire for Iranian hegemony in the whole area, which worries the Arabs."

"NO REASON FOR A SMASH UP"

Shoval said both Netanyahu and Obama were pragmatic leaders willing to work together. But he conceded there were likely to be differences, such as on Jerusalem, an Arab peace plan, relations with Syria, settlements and Gaza, where Israel launched an offensive in December to quell Hamas rocket fire.

Shoval said if Hamas continues to fire rockets at Israel, "there may perhaps, or may not be, chapter two" of the Gaza offensive.

Regarding the relationship with the United States, he said, "Our roads may not always run parallel, but there's certainly no reason for a smash up."

On her first visit to Jerusalem as U.S. secretary of state, Clinton said "a two-state solution is inescapable." Netanyahu has strenuously avoided committing to a Palestinian state, and Shoval said there should be no rush to a solution.

"It would be foolhardy to agree today to any sort of fixed or set formula which could create a situation where we would see, within months, Hamas on the walls of Jerusalem," he said.

But he said Clinton's visit was encouraging because both sides agreed that stopping Iran getting a nuclear bomb was an urgent priority.

"She agreed on the necessity for a timeline (on Iran)," he said. "She didn't actually say two or three months, but I think what was implied is it can not be open-ended, because if it is open-ended they will have the bomb and then we'll talk."

"I don't want to paint too rosy a picture (of the U.S. relationship)," he said. "Of course there will be disagreements, perhaps even confrontations."

But he said Obama's administration appeared to accept that Iran, as well as Pakistan and Afghanistan, "come before the Palestinian-Israeli problem, and rightly so."

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Teen gets year in Starbucks manslaughter case

A teenager from Georgia has been sentenced to a year in jail in the death of a customer at a St. Louis-area Starbucks.

Judge Colleen Dolan handed down the sentence Thursday for 19-year-old Aaron Poisson of Cumming, Ga. He pleaded guilty last month to involuntary manslaughter, stealing and leaving the scene of an accident.

At the hearing, Poisson cried as he turned and faced relatives of the victim, telling them he was sorry and that they were in his prayers.

Last March, Poisson stole a tip jar from the counter of a Starbucks, and 54-year-old Roger Kreutz of Creve Coeur went to the parking lot to stop him. Poisson's car accidentally struck Kreutz, killing him.

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NASA aims for March 12 space shuttle launch

NASA is aiming to launch the space shuttle Discovery next month after repeated delays caused by critical valves.

Shuttle managers said Wednesday they hope to launch on March 12, a full month after the original launch date of Feb. 12.

If the shuttle isn't flying by March 13 or 14, it will have to wait until April to make way for a Russian Soyuz rocket that's supposed to blast off with a fresh crew for the international space station.

NASA kept postponing the launch after having problems with hydrogen gas valves. One of these valves broke during November's launch of Endeavour.

Discovery's three valves are being replaced with valves that engineers hope will be less likely to crack. NASA will review all the work next week before committing to a March launch.

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Turkish plane crashes at Amsterdam airport


(CNN) -- A passenger jet carrying more than 130 people crashed into a field as it was coming into land in Amsterdam Wednesday. The Turkish Airlines Boeing 737-800 broke into three pieces on impact, but fatalities were initially thought to be minimal.

There were conflicting reports about whether anyone was killed on the plane, which had 127 passengers and seven crew members.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said one person was killed, according to the semi-official Anatolia news agency.

The airline spokesman and Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim said no one had died, but an airline official told CNN sister station CNN-Turk that at least one person was confirmed dead.

A news photographer at the scene said he saw an unknown number of bodies lying under a white blanket, said Maaike Voersma, a journalist with Dutch newspaper De Bers told CNN.

Twenty people were injured, said Candan Karlicetin, the airline's executive board chairman.

A passenger on the plane who spoke to Turkish network DHA said he saw injured people trapped and squeezed between the seats when he walked off the planeournalist Ivan Watson in Istanbul said Turkish media quoted one crash survivor as saying that the back of the plane hit the ground first. "He said it was not an extremely horrible situation, it was like being in turbulence. He said it was more like a sudden impact, then we stopped."

The Boeing 737-800, which originated from Istanbul, Turkey, was trying to land at Schiphol International Airport when it went down at about 10:40 a.m. local time, Dutch airport officials said.

Pictures from the scene showed the plane broken in three pieces. One tear was in front of the wing, splitting the "Turkish" logo in two, and a larger tear was farther back along he fuselage. Most of the injured were seated toward the back of the plane, which sustained the most damage, a passenger on the plane told Turkish station NTV. Many of the passengers simply walked off the plane through the cracks in the fuselage, witnesses told NTV. Images from the scene showed medics treating passengers on the ground next to the buckled hulk of the plane, while firefighters and police examined the aircraft.

Emergency exits were wide open and there was no signs of fire damage to the fuselage. Also visible was one of the aircraft's engines, apparently separated from the shattered remains of one of the wings.

The plane landed in a flat farmer's field near the airport, RTL journalist Greg Crouch told CNN. He said the weather at the time was partly sunny with no wind or rain.

Witnesses said they saw the nose of the plane pitch up suddenly before the crash, Crouch said.

A bank manager who was a passenger on the plane told NTV that there were no emergency announcements. The crew's last word to the cabin was an announcement to fasten seatbelts and prepare for landing, the bank manager said.

He said he felt the pilot giving more power to the engines before a sudden drop and then the crash. He described the crash as similar to a sudden impact that was over in a matter of seconds.

Kieran Daly, of Air Transport Intelligence said the impact had been severe but it could have been survivable because of the lack of fire. He added that there had been vast improvements in the materials used to build airplanes, meaning they did not burn as easily Daly also said that the Boeing 737-800 is a reliable aircraft that has been successful and safe in service.

"They really are pretty much state-of-the-art airliners with every imaginable technical benefit the industry has come up with over the years," Daly told CNN.

"You would be optimistic that they would be quite survivable in an accident." Daly said the Turkish aviation industry has a "pretty good record" of safety, and that Turkish Airlines, the national carrier, has a "very good record."

The airline's last accident was of a small commuter jet in 2003, he said. It was a fatal crash that happened at a remote airfield in eastern Turkey, he said. "Their mainline operation is safe," Daly said. "Their pilots are well thought of."

The last accident at Schiphol Airport happened in December 2003 when an EasyJet flight carrying 103 passengers to London collided while with a lamppost while taxiing during icy conditions, according to Aviation Safety Network's Web site. The crash caused significant damage to the aircraft, but no one was killed.

The other two most recent accidents at Schiphol -- in 1998 and 1997 -- also resulted in no fatalities, according to the network.

The last fatal incident at the Amsterdam airport happened in April 1994 when a KLM aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff as it tried to return to Schiphol. Three of the 24 passengers and crew members on board were killed.
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Bishop who denied Holocaust ordered to leave Argentina


BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (CNN) -- Bishop Richard Williamson, who last month denied the existence of the Holocaust in an interview with Swedish television, was ordered Thursday to leave Argentina within 10 days, the Ministry of Interior said.

"The bishop has repeatedly forged the true motive for his stay in the country, having declared that he is an employee of 'La Tradicion' Civil Society when, in reality, his true activity was as priest and seminary director of the Society of Saint Pius X in the neighborhood of Moreno," Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo said in a written statement.

Williamson and three other bishops who belong to the Society of Saint Pius X were excommunicated in 1988. The society was founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebrve, who rebelled against the Vatican's modernizing reforms in the 1960s, and who consecrated the men in unsanctioned ceremonies.

"Williamson has had public notoriety following his anti-Semitic statements to Swedish media in which he questioned whether Jewish people were victims of the Holocaust," Randazzo continued.

"For these reasons, along with the strong condemnation from the Argentine government of how statements like these harm Argentine society, the Jewish community, and all of humanity by trying to deny a historic truth, the national government has decided to demand that the Bishop leave the country or be expelled."

In the interview with Swedish television, Williamson said, "I believe that the historical evidence is strongly against -- is hugely against -- 6 million Jews having been deliberately gassed in gas chambers as a deliberate policy of Adolf Hitler.

I believe there were no gas chambers," he stated.

Williamson, who had already been removed from his seminary post in Argentina, made headlines in January when he and three other ultra-conservative bishops were welcomed back into the Roman Catholic Church, more than 20 years after Pope John Paul II excommunicated them on a theological question unrelated to the Holocaust.

The rehabilitation of Williamson sparked condemnation from Israel, American Jewish leaders and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, among others.

The Vatican pointed to several statements by Pope Benedict XVI condemning the destruction of European Jewry. The pope said he did not know of Williamson's views on the Holocaust when he lifted the excommunication.

The Vatican said Williamson will not be allowed to perform priestly functions until he recants his Holocaust denial.

Williamson apologized for "distress" his remarks caused the pope, but has not retracted them.

Last week, a German court refused to intervene on behalf of Williamson, who is facing prosecution for denying the Holocaust -- a crime in Germany.
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Global alert issued for 85 terror suspects


PARIS, France- Interpol has issued a rare global security alert for 85 suspected al Qaeda-linked terrorists wanted by Saudi Arabia.

The "orange alert," issued on Tuesday, comes after Saudi Arabia asked for Interpol's help last week in apprehending the 83 Saudis and two Yemenis.

Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble said the alert is unprecedented.

"Never before has Interpol been asked to alert the world about so many dangerous fugitives at one time," Noble said in a news release.

He also pointed out that the alert comes ahead of the 16th anniversary of the first World Trade Center bombing in New York.

"Therefore must be especially vigilant of fugitive al Qaeda terrorists," Noble said.

Six people were killed and more than 1,000 injured on February 26, 1993, when a 1,200-pound (540 kilogram) bomb exploded in a rented van in the parking garage below Two World Trade Center.

The 85 wanted "terrorists" are suspected of plotting attacks against Saudi Arabia, Interpol said.

It is rare for the kingdom to announce that some of its most wanted terrorists are on the loose. It is also unusual for Saudi Arabia to ask for help in finding them.

By asking for Interpol's help, Saudi Arabia is sending a clear message that it thinks the men are dangerous.

The country has taken great strides to crack down on al Qaeda within its borders, touting the fact that the suspects have fled beyond its borders as proof that operations against them are successful.

In some cases, terror suspects wanted by Saudi Arabia have fled to the neighboring country of Yemen because they can hide out there more safely than Saudi Arabia, a source explained.

Interpol is an international police organization aimed at facilitating cross-border police cooperation. It is headquartered in Lyon, France
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Former CIA station chief accused of rape


WASHINGTON - The U.S. government is investigating a former CIA officer in Algeria who has been accused of drugging and raping two women while he held the post, according to an affidavit released by the Justice Department.

Andrew Warren has been accused by the women, who are both Algerian nationals, of drugging and raping them on separate occasions while he was still working for the CIA in the Algerian capital, according to the court document, which was filed in the fall of 2008.

Warren has not been charged with a crime. He has told investigators that he engaged in "consensual sexual intercourse" with both accusers, the affidavit states.

CNN has been unable to reach Warren for comment.

According to the affidavit, a search of Warren's residence in Algiers turned up Xanax, Valium, and "a handbook on the investigation of sexual assaults," according to the affidavit.

Soon after the allegations were made, Warren came back to the United States in October for a previously scheduled trip and was ordered not to return to his post, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.

A State Department investigator who interviewed Warren said he was cooperative and voluntarily surrendered his cell phone and digital camera, which had photos of the two women along with several others, the affidavit stated.

But Warren would not agree to hand over his personal computer, on which he has admitted there may be photos of the two women. The affidavit was filed in October to get access to that computer.

"I have probable cause to believe that evidence of Warren's sexual assaults may be stored on Warren's laptop computer," the sworn officer in the affidavit states.

Both the State and Justice Departments are involved in the investigation, according to a source with knowledge of the probe. The investigation includes Warren's time in Algeria and his previous post in Cairo, Egypt, as well as other locations to which he traveled, the source said.

The first alleged rape happened in September 2007, around the same time Warren took the post in ALGERIA, according to the court document. The woman came forward in June 2008. The second woman came forward three months later, saying she had been sexually assaulted in February 2008.

The Justice Department and CIA would not comment on the allegations or any investigation.

"I can assure you that the agency would take seriously and follow up any allegations of impropriety," CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield said.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told CNN that he is aware of the reports, but had very little information.

"They're very serious allegations and ... they will be looked into and investigated properly," Gibbs said Thursday.

When the allegations first surfaced, they were viewed as "tremendously explosive, no doubt about that," the source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN, especially because Algeria is a Muslim country.

The Algerian ambassador to the United States, Abdallah Baali, told CNN that the Algerian government is being kept informed of the investigation by U.S. authorities. He said Algeria has been given "full assurances that the investigation will get to the bottom of these allegations, and if this individual is found guilty he will be prosecuted" to the fullest extent of the law.

"We trust the American authorities," Baali said. "We have no reason to doubt the rule of law will be followed."

Baali said the incident was "regrettable" but will not affect ties between the United States and Algeria. He said the Algerian government is interested in continuing its cooperative relationship with the United States.

One federal law enforcement source said no developments or activities relating to the case are "imminent."

A station chief heads the CIA's office in a foreign country, establishing a relationship with its host intelligence service and overseeing agency activities in the country.
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Bolivians vote on new constitution


Bolivians were on their way Sunday night to overwhelmingly approving a new constitution that would allow leftist President Evo Morales to run for another term later this year, unofficial preliminary results indicate.

The nearly 4 million Bolivians who cast ballots approved the constitutional referendum 60 percent to 40 percent, the unofficial results show. An official tally was not expected until late Sunday, at the earliest.

There were no reports of major problems or irregularities, international observers said.

"Everything was tranquil today," said Hugo Quintana, who was working with a nine-person delegation of observers from the Carter Center in Atlanta.

One of the observers, Argentinean lawyer Alejandro Nato, said the vote went smoothly, calling it "transparent." He said he just heard ordinary complaints such as that the ink used to mark voters could be washed off and someone could vote twice. He did not find any instances of that, Nato said.

Morales, who campaigned hard for the new constitution, would not have been able to run for a second consecutive term under the current charter, adopted in 1967.

The new constitution will give greater voice to the indigenous people who make up most of the country and more power to the central government. Elections for the presidency and other federal posts will be held in December.

Morales, speaking at rallies in La Paz and Cochabamba last week, said the new document will propel the nation.

"Once approved, this will be the refoundation of Bolivia and the refoundation of a new state where there will be equality and we will all have the same rights and the same obligations," he said.

Others say the referendum was a way for Morales to keep himself in power, a move that could plunge the country into further violence, division and uncertainty. That strife, critics say, is already in ample evidence as some regions fight to break away and the deaths of up to 30 peasant government supporters a few months ago led to accusations of a right-wing massacre.

"What will be opened is a new chapter of violence," said Carlos Toranzo, an investigator in La Paz with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, a policy institute associated with and partially funded by the Social Democratic Party of Germany.

The referendum was failing in the resource-rich eastern departments, or states, that want greater independence.
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CNN: Pilot praised for 'masterful' landing


Passengers on the US Airways flight that crash-landed into the Hudson River Thursday afternoon praised the actions and courage of the pilot, a safety consultant with 40 years of experience in the aviation industry.

Sources tell CNN that Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger was piloting US Airways flight 1549 from New York's LaGuardia airport to Charlotte, North Carolina, when at least one of the plane's engines failed.

Passenger Jeff Kolodjay offered "kudos" to Sullenberger for a landing that minimized damage to the aircraft and its 155 passengers and crew.

"All of a sudden the captain came on and he told us to brace ourselves and probably brace ourselves pretty hard. But he did an amazing job -- kudos to him on that landing," said Kolodjay, who was sitting in seat 22A.

Sullenberger's wife told CNN that she was stunned to hear the news from her husband after it was all over.

"I hadn't been watching the news. I've heard Sully say to people, 'It's rare for an airline pilot to have an incident in their career,' " said Lori Sullenberger of Danville, California.

"When he called me he said, 'There's been an accident.' At first I thought it was something minor, but then he told me the circumstances and my body started shaking and I rushed to get our daughters out of school."

US Airways said all 155 passengers and crew are alive and safely off the plane.

The crash-landing has also earned the former fighter pilot and private safety consultant accolades from state and government officials.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg commended the pilot for not leaving the plane without checking to make sure every passenger had been evacuated.

"It would appear that the pilot did a masterful job of landing the plane in the river and then making sure that everybody got out," Bloomberg said at a press conference Thursday. "I had a long conversation with the pilot. He walked the plane twice after everybody else was off and tried to verify that there was nobody else on board -- and assures us there was not."

Sullenberger apparently was forced to make an emergency landing after geese were sucked into one or both of the jet's engines. An eyewitness working on the west side of Manhattan said the belly of the plane touched the water first.

An official who heard tape recordings of the radio traffic from Flight 1549 reported the pilot was extraordinarily calm during the event.

"There was no panic, no hysterics," the official said. "It was professional, it was calm, it was methodical. It was everything you hoped it could be."

The pilot and air traffic controller discussed options, including landing at Teterboro airport in New Jersey, the official said. Then there was a "period of time where there was no communications back, and I'm assuming he was concentrating on more important things."

Sullenberger's background in aviation appeared to have prepared him for such a situation.

He has been a pilot with US Airways since 1980, following seven years in the U.S. Air Force.

His resume -- posted on the Web site for his safety consulting firm, Safety Reliability Methods, Inc. -- lists piloting procedures, technical safety strategies, emergency management and operations improvement, as areas of industry expertise.

He served as an instructor and Air Line Pilots Association safety chairman, accident investigator and national technical committee member, according to a biography on the site. He participated in several USAF and National Transportation Safety Board accident investigations, and worked with NASA scientists on a paper on error and aviation, his site says.

For the passengers on flight 1549, Sullenberger's skill and expertise were apparent. iReport.com: Did you see the crash-landing? Send images

"I've flown in a lot of planes and that was a phenomenal landing," said passenger Fred Berretta said.

Berretta was sitting in seat 16A right over one of the engines when it failed and the pilot turned the plane to align it with the Hudson River. He described silence in the plane as the passengers waited to hear from the crew.

A few moments later, the direction to brace for landing came.

"It was an amazing piece of airmanship," said Peter Goelz, a former NTSB managing director.
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Australia seeks answers to worst naval disaster

Australia's navy Monday opened two weeks of hearings into the World War II sinking of the cruiser Sydney II, an effort to formally close the book on the country's worst naval disaster.

The ship's entire crew of 645 died when it was sunk by the German commerce raider Kormoran. About 15 relatives of the lost men attended Monday's opening session, said Cmdr. Jack Rush, the lawyer presenting the evidence gathered by investigators to a commission of inquiry led by a retired judge.

"I don't think until today -- until you actually get to hear the evidence of the impact of a bombardment of the ship and the nature of the injuries -- I think there are some pretty mixed emotions as a consequence of it," Rush said. The inquiry could produce its report on the sinking by April, he said.

In March, researchers discovered the Sydney's wreckage in the Indian Ocean, about 207 km (128 miles) off Australia's west coast. At the time it sank, searchers found only two floatation belts and an empty life raft -- and the only accounts of its November 1941 destruction came from survivors of the Kormoran, an armed cargo ship flying a false flag.

The German ship inflicted "enormous damage" on the Sydney during a battle that is believed to have lasted about 35 minutes and left 70 percent of its crew dead or incapacitated, Rush said.

"It is likely that the captain, the navigator, all the senior officers were taken out on the first salvo," he said.

A torpedo tore into the Sydney's bow, flooding the forward end of the ship, while the Kormoran fired an estimated 87 rounds from its 15-cm (5.9-inch) guns into the Australian cruiser. The Sydney limped away and sank sometime between two to four and a half hours later, Rush said.

During the battle, however, the Kormoran was hit by an Australian shell that damaged its engines and set the vessel ablaze. With hundreds of mines aboard, its captain ordered the crew to abandon ship, fearing the fire would set those off.

A search began only five days after the battle, when the Sydney had failed to return to port in Fremantle. And an 11-day delay by Australia's government in announcing the ship's loss fueled what a 1999 parliamentary report called "a proliferation of theories" about the fate of the crew -- that the ship was actually sunk by a Japanese submarine, that survivors were machine-gunned in the water or that the government hid bodies after they washed up on the beach.

Rush said some of the proponents of those theories will be allowed to present their cases to the inquiry as well.

"We're not hearing from everyone, but we are giving an opportunity to people to make those arguments," he said
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Britain's Prince Harry apologizes for offensive language


(CNN) Videos purportedly shot by Britain's Prince Harry and including offensive language prompted an official apology Saturday from the prince and the royal family.

According to the British-based News of the World, which released the videos on its Web site, the videos show British soldiers while a voice presumed to be Harry's calls one solider a "Paki," and in another clip tells soldier wearing a cloth on his head that he looks "like a raghead."

A spokesman for Prince Harry apologized in a statement released by St. James's Palace Saturday after the videos surfaced online. The spokesman said the prince -- who is third in line to the British throne -- "understands how offensive this term can be, and is extremely sorry for any offense his words might cause."

It is not first apology for offensive behavior by Prince Harry. In 2005, he was photographed wearing a Nazi uniform to a party, for which he said he was sorry.

"It was a very stupid thing to do and I've learned my lesson, simple as that really," he said in a September 2005 interview marking his 21st birthday. "I'd like to put it in the past now. What's done is done. I regret it."

The videos, filmed during his military service in 2006, were shot by the prince, according to the Web site.

In one video, a voice from behind the camera says "Ah, our little Paki Friend...Ahmed," as the camera zooms in on a soldier from across the room. The video does not show Prince Harry's face, but News of the World suggests that the voice is his.

The soldiers were waiting for their flight to Cyprus for a mission, according to the Web site.

The royal family said the 'paki' term was a nickname for a friend in his platoon.

"There is no question that Prince Harry was in any way seeking to insult his friend," the St. James's Palace statement said.

The second video was filmed after arriving in Cyprus, according to News of the World, and shows a British soldier with a cloth over his head.

A voice, which the News of the World claims to be Harry's, is heard saying, "(explicative) me, you look like a raghead."

In response to that comment, St. James's Palace said, "Prince Harry used the term 'raghead' to mean Taliban or Iraqi insurgent."

Dickie Arbiter, a former press secretary to Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Harry's grandmother, urged people to take the prince's words in context.

"Harry is not the same man as he was three years ago," Arbiter told Britain's ITN network. "You don't think when you are shooting a video."

And he pointed out that Harry was serving in the army, where language is not always delicate.

"It is quite common for names to be used in the military.... He's a serviceman first and foremost, but people see him as a prince first and he has to be careful of what he says."

The British Ministry of Defense said it was not aware of any complaints against Prince Harry and would investigate the allegations of inappropriate behavior, according to a written statement released Saturday.

"Bullying and racism are not endemic in the Armed Forces," it said.
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Polygamy leader's alleged bride subject of custody trial


CNN: Court proceedings will be held in September to determine whether a 14-year-old girl believed to have married polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs should permanently remain in state custody.

The September 28 proceedings were scheduled at a hearing Thursday in San Angelo, Texas, according to CNN affiliate KLST.

The 14-year-old girl was one of 400 children removed in April from the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Yearning for Zion (YFZ) ranch near Eldorado, Texas. A judge later ordered the children returned after the Texas Supreme Court ruled there was no evidence the children were in imminent danger on the ranch.

The girl was among those ordered released, but was taken back into foster care in August after child protection officials alleged her parents did not take measures to limit her contact with men involved in underage marriage.

According to court documents filed in December, the girl's mother, Barbara Jessop, "has not demonstrated herself as a safe and responsible caregiver" and "has not demonstrated that she can provide a safe and stable home" for the girl. In counseling sessions, Jessop has denied that her daughter was abused, the documents said.

The girl is believed to have married Jeffs as a 12-year-old in July 2006 with the consent of her parents. At the time, Jeffs was 50. Jeffs is also accused of marrying several other underage girls, authorities have said.

Jeffs was indicted last year by a Texas grand jury, along with five FLDS members, on sexual assault charges. He is already facing a sentence of up to life in prison in Utah and is awaiting trial in Arizona. As part of the case, Texas authorities took DNA samples from Jeffs in May, saying at the time they were investigating allegations he "spiritually" married four girls ranging in age from 12 to 15.

Authorities in the criminal case have pictures showing Jeffs and the girl kissing, apparently at their wedding. Police believe she was sexually assaulted later in the day, according to court documents.

Court documents note the girl's father, Frederick Jessop, was among those indicted and faces felony charges of conducting an unlawful marriage ceremony involving a minor.

While in foster care, the girl has been home-schooled and received counseling. She has supervised visits and phone calls with her mother, the documents said.

The girl has "expressed sadness with not being around her family" to a counselor, but in weekly therapy sessions, she has "slowly been sharing more information about her family and how she sees herself," according to the documents.

The FLDS, a 10,000-member offshoot of the mainstream Mormon church, openly practices polygamy on the ranch, as well as in the twin border towns of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Arizona. Critics of the sect say young girls are forced into "spiritual" marriages with older men and sexually abused. Sect members have denied any sexual abuse takes place.
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