Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/11422
WORLD BRIEFING Wednesday, June 2, 2010 – Daily News – 5B US attorney general opens criminal probe in nation’s worst oil spill PORT FOURCHON, La. (AP) — Attorney General Eric Holder said Tuesday that feder- al authorities have opened crim- inal and civil investigations into the nation’s worst oil spill, and BP lost billions in market value when shares dropped in the first trading day since the company failed yet again to plug the gusher. Investors presumably real- ized the best chance to stop the leak was months away and there was no end in sight to the cleanup. As BP settled in for the long-term, Holder announced the criminal probe, though he would not specify the companies or individuals that might be targeted. ‘‘We will closely examine the actions of those involved in the spill. If we find evidence of illegal behavior, we will be extremely forceful in our response,’’ Holder said in New Orleans. With the ambitious ‘‘top kill’’ abandoned over the week- end, BP’s hope to stanch the leak lies with two relief wells that won’t be finished until at least August. The company is, however, trying another risky temporary fix to contain the oil and siphon it to the surface by sawing through the leaking pipe and putting a cap over the spill. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the national incident commander, said Tuesday that BP was making its first major cut with super shears that weigh 46,000 pounds and resemble a giant garden tool. The company will also use a powerful dia- mond-edged cutter the resem- bles a deli slicer to try to make a clean cut above the blowout preventer, then will lower a cap over it with a rubber seal. Israel, Egypt easing blockade on Gaza after 9 activists killed ing factory but causing no deaths or injuries. FBI dubs elusive, bald man the ’Granddad about 50 would be held for investigation into their part in the violence on at sea. Israel pledged to halt a new attempt by pro-Palestinian groups to sail more ships into Gaza, and claimed some of the arrested activists carried weapons and large quantities of cash, raising questions about whether they were mercenaries. Worldwide condemnation has been flooding in since Israeli naval commandos halted the aid flotilla in international waters overnight Monday, set- ting off a melee that left nine activists dead and dozens wounded. Turkey, an unofficial backer of the flotilla, has led the criticism, accusing Israel of committing a ‘‘massacre,’’ and the U.N. Security Council demanded an impartial investi- gation. Al Gore to separate from wife Tipper after 40 years NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Former Vice President Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, are separating after 40 years of marriage that included a White House run when their sunny relationship offered a counter- point to President Bill Clinton’s philandering. According to an e-mail cir- culated among the couple’s associates on Tuesday, the Gores said it was ‘‘a mutual and mutually supportive decision that we have made together fol- lowing a process of long and careful consideration.’’ Gore spokeswoman Kalee Kreider confirmed the state- ment came from the Gores, but declined to comment further. The Gores were telling friends they ‘‘grew apart’’ after 40 years of marriage and there was no affair involved, accord- ing to two longtime close asso- ciates and family friends, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it was a per- sonal matter. The associates said the Gores, over time, had carved out separate lives, with the for- mer vice president on the road frequently. One of the associ- ates said: ‘‘Their lives had got- ten more and more separated.’’ Al-Qaida announces JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel and Egypt signaled a temporary easing of the Gaza Strip block- ade Tuesday following harsh international condemnation of the deadly Israeli raid on an aid flotilla en route to the sealed-off Palestinian territory. Egypt said it was freely opening its border with Gaza for the first time in more than a year to allow in humanitarian aid, setting off a mad rush to the crossing by thousands of resi- dents, while an Israeli official said there is an ‘‘ongoing dia- logue’’ with the international community on how to expand the amount of goods entering the area. At the same time, Israel began expelling some of the nearly 700 activists it rounded up in the naval raid, and strong- ly rejected criticism of its heavy-handed tactics. The gov- ernment said late Tuesday it would deport almost all of them within the next two days, but death of No. 3 WASHINGTON (AP) — Al-Qaida announced Monday that its No. 3 official, Mustafa al-Yazid, had been killed along with members of his family — perhaps one of the most severe blows to the terror movement since the U.S. campaign against al- Qaida began. A U.S. official said al-Yazid was believed to have died in a U.S. missile strike. A statement posted on an al-Qaida Website said al- Yazid, which it described as the organization’s top com- mander in Afghanistan, was killed along with his wife, three daughters, a grandchild and other men, women and children but did not say how or where. The statement did not give an exact date for al-Yazid’s death, but it was dated by the Islamic calendar month of ‘‘Jemadi al-Akhar,’’ which falls in May. A U.S. official in Washing- ton said word was ‘‘spreading in extremist circles’’ of his death in Pakistan’s tribal areas in the past two weeks. His death would be a major blow to al-Qaida, which in December ‘‘lost both its internal and external opera- tions chiefs,’’ the official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information. Suspect must speak up to claim right to remain silent WASHINGTON (AP) — Want to invoke your right to remain silent? You’ll have to speak up. In a narrowly split deci- sion, the Supreme Court’s conservative majority expanded its limits on the famous Miranda rights for criminal suspects on Tuesday — over the dissent of new Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who said the ruling turned Americans’ rights of protec- tion from police abuse ‘‘upside down.’’ Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the majority opin- ion, said a suspect who goes ahead and talks to police after being informed he doesn’t have to has waived his right to remain silent. Elena Kagan, who has been nomi- nated by President Barack Obama to join the court, sided with the police as U.S. solicitor general when the case came before the court. She would replace Justice John Paul Stevens, one of the dissenters. A right to remain silent and a right to a lawyer are at the top of the warnings that police recite to suspects dur- ing arrests and interrogations. But Tuesday’s majority said that suspects must break their silence and tell police they are going to remain quiet to stop an interrogation, just as they must tell police that they want a lawyer. This decision means that police can keep shooting questions at a suspect who refuses to talk as long as they want in hopes that the person will crack and give them some information, said Richard Friedman, a Univer- sity of Michigan law profes- sor. Death toll from Tropical Storm Agatha at 179 GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — Rural villagers used hoes and pick axes to hunt for vic- tims of landslides that have killed at least 179 people in Central America while officials in Guatemala’s capital tried to cope with a vast sinkhole that swallowed a clothing factory. Thousands remained home- less and dozens still missing following the season’s first tropical storm. Rescue crews struggled to reach isolated com- munities to distribute food and water. ‘‘This is a total tragedy,’’ said Jose Vicente Samayoa, president of a neighborhood group in Amatitlan, a flooded town south of Guatemala’s cap- ital. Officials in Guatemala reported 152 dead but said 100 people were still missing. In the department of Chimaltenango — a province west of Guatemala City — landslides buried rural Indian communi- ties and killed at least 60 peo- ple. Curious onlookers also gath- ered at a massive sinkhole that swallowed an entire intersec- tion in Guatemala City over the weekend, gulping down a cloth- Bandit’ ST. LOUIS (AP) — A bald, heavyset man who has robbed 21 banks in the east- ern and central U.S. is prov- ing to be so elusive that the FBI has given him a name — the ‘‘Granddad Bandit’’ — and the agency announced plans Tuesday to post a digi- tal picture of him on bill- boards in several states in hopes of catching him. The man, who is believed to be 50 to 60 years old, is suspected in 21 bank rob- beries in 12 states, the most recent on May 18 at a Regions Bank branch in St. Louis County, the FBI said. To catch him, the FBI has partnered with outdoor adver- tisers on a digital billboard campaign displaying a sur- veillance picture of the rob- ber. The FBI describes the sus- pect as about 6 feet tall, white, bald and heavy. Along with Missouri, he is wanted in: Alabama, Arkansas, Geor- gia, Kansas, Florida, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, Mis- sissippi, Tennessee and Vir- ginia. ‘‘It’s not that the individ- ual can’t be caught,’’ Lowe said of the robber who has so far escaped capture for a year-and-a-half. ‘‘The right person hasn’t seen this pic- ture yet. He has to sleep somewhere. He has to eat somewhere. He has family somewhere.’’ Federal officials meet with ’Titanic’ director on his ideas to stop Gulf spill WASHINGTON (AP) — ‘‘Top kill’’ didn’t stop the Gulf oil spill. How about something ‘‘titanic’’? Federal officials are hop- ing film director James Cameron can help them come up with ideas on how to stop the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The ‘‘Avatar’’ and ‘‘Titan- ic’’ director was among a group of scientists and other experts who met Tuesday with officials from the Envi- ronmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies for a brainstorming session on stopping the massive oil leak. The Canadian-born Cameron is considered an expert on underwater filming and remote vehicle technolo- gies. ‘‘Avatar’’ and ‘‘Titanic’’ are the two highest-grossing films of all time. Actress Kirsten Dunst reprises her role as key witness in NYC court drama NEW YORK (AP) — It was witness stand, the sequel, for Kirsten Dunst. The ‘‘Spider-Man’’ star reprised her role Tuesday as a star witness against a mechanic being tried — for the second time — on charges of helping steal her designer purse from a Manhattan hotel suite during a 2007 movie shoot. Wearing a demure, loose black dress and a sometimes weary expression, the actress gave jurors a clipped, subdued account of returning from film- ing to find her $2,000 Balencia- ga handbag gone from a SoHo Grand Hotel penthouse suite. Her assistant’s bag and co- star Simon Pegg’s cell phone and other possessions also were taken from the room, which was being used as an actors’ lounge while the 2008 comedy ‘‘How to Lose Friends & Alienate People’’ was shot downstairs. ‘‘All our belongings were gone. I thought that my assis- tant had taken them and put them somewhere else, but everything was gone,’’ Dunst testified. Inside the bag were her wallet, credit and other cards, vintage Ray-Ban Wayfar- er sunglasses and $2,000 in cash, she said. It’s a bee market as insects swarm Wall Street NEW YORK (AP) — For- get bears and bulls. It’s bees that are making waves on Wall Street. About 15,000 of them buzzed the posh Cipriani Wall Street restaurant this week, blanketing an elegant front door and forcing police to cor- don off the block. ‘‘We had 15,000 girls who wanted to get in and have a nice, fresh Bellini on a hot, sunny day,’’ general manager Eric Bonnetain joked Tuesday. At noon Monday, with the markets closed for Memorial Day and tourists filling Wall Street, Bonnetain was outside when he suddenly saw ‘‘thou- sands of bees flying around.’’ Pedestrians stopped in won- der; some ran in fear. Soon, the female worker bees landed at Cipriani. ‘‘They could sting, but they were pretty quiet because they were following the queen bee, which was trying to get in,’’ he said. The queen had disap- peared into a crack of the closed portal. He called police, who sum- moned Officer Anthony Planakis, their bee handler. Wearing a white jacket and gloves, he used a vacuum to suck up the bees into a con- tainer. Even though they weren’t successful in New York, they’re getting a country place — on a bee farm in Connecti- cut. Bee swarms have popped up in the city for years in spring, usually in search of homes after a new queen emerges and an existing hive becomes overcrowded. It was the third time in a year that a swarm swept through Manhattan. On a Saturday afternoon in May in Union Square, one of the city’s busiest shopping areas, a sign in the window of the GameStop announced: ‘‘Closed due to bee infesta- tion.’’ Upstate New York became their country abode. And last June, bees tried to settle on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. One Sunday, at least 8,000 of them were spotted flying up busy Lexington Avenue. They had built a hive in a tree, and when the queen went sightseeing, the entire swarm followed. Again, Planakis came to the rescue, with onlookers applauding. That winged colony also was hauled off to Connecticut. Planakis, who works in the New York Police Department’s building maintenance depart- ment, became the resident bee expert after learning the skill from his father. Not everyone wants to deport bees from New York. Some denizens are inviting them to settle here. In March, bee enthusiasts scored when the Board of Health voted to lift a ban on beekeeping, legalizing hun- dreds of existing hives that were part of an underground honeybee world. The activity previously carried fines of up to $2,000. While bees were banned as dangerous in the city’s original health code, the Board of Health now considers ‘‘responsible urban beekeep- ing’’ as sustainable agriculture that ‘‘does not pose a public health issue,’’ according to a statement issued Tuesday by the city’s Department of Health. And while large swarms are chased away, a bee-loving Brooklyn group with more than 760 members is trying to pique New Yorkers’ interest in the subject. ‘‘Want to bring bees to your garden or rooftop, or to adopt a hive?’’ asks the New York City Beekeeping Meetup Group on its website. The next gathering is sched- uled at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden on June 12 — ‘‘Bee Day.’’