Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/110766
8A Daily News ��� Thursday, February 21, 2013 WORLD BRIEFING Investigator in Pistorius investigation offers confused testimony PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) ��� The detective leading the police investigation into Oscar Pistorius��� fatal shooting of his girlfriend offered confusing testimony Wednesday, at one point agreeing with the athlete���s defense that officers had no evidence challenging the runner���s claim he accidentally killed her. Testimony by Detective Warrant Officer Hilton Botha of the South African Police Service left prosecutors rubbing their temples, only able to look down at their notes as he misjudged distances and acknowledged a forensics team left in the toilet bowl one of the bullet slugs fired at Reeva Steenkamp. However, Botha still poked holes in Pistorius��� own account that he feared for his life and opened fire on Valentine���s Day after mistaking Steenkamp for an intruder. The second day of the bail hearing in a case that has riveted South Africa and much of the world appeared at first to go against the double-amputee runner, with prosecutors saying a witness can testify to hearing ������non-stop talking, like shouting������ between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. before the predawn shooting on Feb. 14. However, Botha later said under cross examination that the person who overheard the argument was in a house 600 meters (yards) away in Pistorius��� gated community in the suburbs of South Africa���s capital, Pretoria. Later, prosecutor Gerrie Nel questioned Botha again and the detective acknowledged the distance was much closer. But confusion reigned for much of his testimony, when at one point Botha said officers found syringes and steroids in Pistorius��� bedroom. Nel quickly cut the officer off and said the drugs were actually testosterone. Pistorius��� lead defense lawyer, Barry Roux, asserted when questioning the detective ��� who has 16 years��� experience as a detective and 24 years with the police ��� that it was not a banned substance and that police were trying to give the discovery a ������negative connotation.������ New effort launched to stem theft of trade secrets WASHINGTON (AP) ��� The Obama administration announced a broad new effort Wednesday to fight the growing theft of American trade secrets following fresh evidence linking cyberstealing to China���s military. The plan includes a new diplomatic push to discourage intellectual property theft abroad along with better coordination at home to help U.S. companies protect themselves. The administration says indications are that economic espionage is increasing, not only through electronic intrusion over the Internet but also through the recruitment of former employees of U.S. companies with knowledge of inside trade information. ������Trade secret theft threatens American businesses, undermines national security and places the security of the U.S. economy in jeopardy,������ said a report from the White House. ������These acts also diminish U.S. export prospects around the globe and put American jobs at risk.������ Earlier this week, a Virginia-based cybersecurity firm, Mandiant, accused a secret Chinese military unit in Shanghai of years of cyberattacks against more than 140 U.S. companies. The accusations and supporting evidence increased pressure on the United States to take more action against the Chinese for what experts say has been years of systematic espionage. The Chinese government denied being involved in cybertheft, with China���s defense minister calling the Mandiant report deeply flawed. China���s Foreign Ministry said that country has also been a victim of hacking, much of it traced to the United States. Pentagon: Worker furloughs are likely WASHINGTON (AP) ��� Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Congress on Wednesday that if automatic government spending cuts kick in on March 1 he may have to shorten the workweek for the ������vast majority������ of the Defense Department���s 800,000 civilian workers. They would lose one day of work per week, or 20 percent of their pay, for up to 22 weeks. Panetta also said the across-the-board spending reductions would ������put us on a path toward a hollow force,������ meaning a military incapable of fulfilling all of its missions. In a written message to employees, Panetta said that he notified members of Congress Wednesday that if the White House and Congress cannot strike a deficit reduction deal before March 1 to avoid the furloughs, all affected workers will get at least 30 days��� advance notice. The furloughs would be part of a broader plan the Pentagon is preparing in order to cut $46 billion through the end of this budget year, which ends Sept. 30. More cuts would come in future years as long as the automatic government spending cuts, known as sequestration, remained in effect. Egypt���s military signals impatience with Islamist president CAIRO (AP) ��� Egypt���s powerful military is showing signs of growing impatience with the country���s Islamist leaders, indirectly criticizing their policies and issuing thinly veiled threats that it might seize power again. The tension is raising the specter of another military intervention much like the one in 2011, when generals replaced longtime authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak after they sided with anti-regime protesters in their 18-day popular uprising. The strains come at a time when many Egyptians are despairing of an imminent end to the crippling political impasse between President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood group on one side, and the mostly secular and liberal opposition on the other. The tug of war between the two camps is being waged against a grim backdrop of spreading unrest, rising crime and a worsening economy. ������In essence, the military will not allow national stability or its own institutional privileges to come under threat from a breakdown in Egypt���s social fabric or a broad-based civil strife,������ said Michael W. Hanna, an Egypt expert from the New York-based Century Foundation. Jesse Jackson Jr. pleads guilty in scheme to spend $750K WASHINGTON (AP) ��� Former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., holding mercial aircraft maker. Google to sell early version of $1,500 Internet glasses back tears, entered a guilty plea Wednesday in federal court to criminal charges that he engaged in a scheme to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on personal items. He faces 46 to 57 months in prison, and a fine of $10,000 to $100,000, under a plea deal with prosecutors. A few hours later, his wife, Sandra Jackson, pleaded guilty to filing false joint federal income tax returns that knowingly understated the income the couple received. She faces one to two years in prison and a fine of $3,000 to $40,000. Before entering the plea to a conspiracy charge, Jesse Jackson told U.S. District Judge Robert L. Wilkins, ������I���ve never been more clear in my life������ in his decision to plead guilty. Later, when Wilkins asked if Jackson committed the acts outlined in court papers, the former congressman replied, ������I did these things.������ He added later, ������Sir, for years I lived in my campaign,������ and used money from the campaign for personal use. Jackson dabbed his face with tissues, and at point a court employee brought some tissues to Jackson���s lawyer, who gave them to the ex-congressman. Jackson told the judge he was waiving his right to trial. Mahony abuse files dominate papal conclave���s dirty laundry VATICAN CITY (AP) ��� Popular pressure is mounting in the U.S. and Italy to keep California Cardinal Roger Mahony away from the conclave to elect the next pope because of his role shielding sexually abusive priests, a movement targeting one of the most prominent of a handful of compromised cardinals scheduled to vote next month. Amid the outcry, Mahony has made clear he is coming, and no one can force him to recuse himself. A Vatican historian also said Wednesday that there is no precedent for a cardinal staying home because of personal scandal. But the growing grass-roots campaign is an indication that ordinary Catholics are increasingly demanding a greater say in who is fit to elect their pope, and casts an ugly shadow over the upcoming papal election. Conclaves always bring out the worst in cardinals��� dirty laundry, with past sins and transgressions aired anew in the slow news days preceding the vote. This time is no different ��� except that the revelations of Mahony���s sins are so fresh and come on the tails of a recent round of sex abuse scandals in the U.S. and Europe. This week, the influential Italian Catholic affairs magazine Famiglia Cristiana asked its readers if the Los Angeles-based cardinal Mahony should participate in the conclave given the revelations. ������Your opinion: Mahony in the conclave: Yes or No?������ reads the online survey of one of Italy���s most-read magazines. The overwhelming majority among more than 350 replies has been a clear-cut ������No.������ Boeing to propose plan to FAA to fix 787 batteries WASHINGTON (AP) ��� Boeing has developed a plan that it intends to propose to federal regulators to temporarily fix problems with the 787 Dreamliner���s batteries that have kept the planes on the ground for more than a month, a congressional official told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Ray Conner is expected to present the plan to Michael Huerta, head of the Federal Aviation Administration, in a meeting on Friday, the official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn���t authorized to speak publicly. Boeing Co. spokesman Marc Birtel said the company doesn���t talk in advance about meetings with federal officials. ������Everyone is working to get to the answer as quickly as possible, and good progress is being made,������ Birtel said. After a battery caught fire on a plane parked in Boston and a smoking battery led to an emergency landing by another plane in Japan, the FAA and overseas aviation authorities grounded all 50 of the planes in service worldwide. The 787 is Boeing���s newest and most technologically advanced plane. It was supposed to exemplify the future of commercial aviation, but the groundings have been a major public black eye and financial drain for Boeing, which vies with Airbus for the position as the world���s largest com- HELP WANTED AUTO ROUTE DRIVER WANTED DAILY NEWS RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U NTY S I N C E 1 8 8 5 North Red Bluff Area Must be 21 or older & bondable. Call or apply in person Circulation Dept. Red Bluff Daily News (530) 527-2151 ext 128 DAILY NEWS RED BLUFF TEHAMA COUNTY SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ��� Google is giving more people a chance to pay $1,500 for a pair of the Internet-connected glasses that the company is touting as the next breakthrough in mobile computing. The product, dubbed ������Google Glass,������ will be offered to ������bold, creative individuals������ selected as part of a contest announced Wednesday. Participants must live in the U.S. and submit an application of up to 50 words explaining what they would do with the Google Glass technology. Entries must include the hash tag ������ifihadglass������ and be submitted through Google Plus or Twitter by next Wednesday. Google did not say how many glasses it will sell this way. Winners will receive the ������Explorer������ version of Google Glass, a forerunner of the product that is expected to be released to the mass market next year. Google Inc. already sold an unspecified number of the glasses to computer programmers who also paid $1,500 apiece at a company conference last June. The people picked to buy this next batch of glasses will be notified in mid- to late March. They will have to travel to New York, Los Angeles or the San Francisco Bay area to pick them up. Google Glass is supposed to perform many of the same tasks as smartphones, except the spectacles respond to voice commands instead of fingers touching a display screen. The glasses include a tiny display screen attached to a rim above the right eye and run on Google���s Android operating system for mobile devices. On Twitter, comedians and viewers mock the Oscars NEW YORK (AP) ��� You can simply tune into the Oscars. Or you can watch them with the peanut gallery on Twitter. While Hollywood parades in tuxedos and gowns, grandly celebrating itself, a freewheeling cacophony of quips and sarcasm ��� something like a digital, million-times multiplied version of those balcony Muppet onlookers, Statler and Waldorf ��� will provide a welcome and riotous counter-narrative to the pomp. The second-screen experience is never better than on Oscar night, when a separate (and some might say superior) entertainment experience plays out on social media. The running commentary, in which comedians and others parody the glamorous stars and their sometimes laughable speeches, has become as central to the Academy Awards as the red carpet. INCOME TAX PREPARATION Fast, Friendly, Reasonable Fees Fee for Short or Long form includes all the tax credits and E-filing with direct Deposit. Also Bookkeeping, Payroll and Financial Services available P RALPH CAMPBELL, EA Enrolled Agent 855 Walnut St. #2 530-529-9540