Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/12201
8A – Daily News – Friday, June 18, 2010 WORLD BRIEFING BP chief pilloried by Congress WASHINGTON (AP) — Channeling the nation’s anger, lawmakers pilloried BP’s boss in a withering day of judg- ment Thursday for the oil company at the center of the Gulf calamity. Unflinching, BP chief executive Tony Hayward said he was out of the loop on decisions at the well and coolly asserted, ‘‘I’m not stonewalling.’’ That infuriated mem- bers of Congress even more, Democrats and Republicans alike. Testifying as oil still surged into the Gulf of Mexico and coated ever more coastal land and marshes, Hayward declared ‘‘I am so devas- tated with this accident,’’ ‘‘deeply sorry’’ and ‘‘so distraught.’’ Yet the oil man dis- claimed knowledge of any of the myriad problems on and under the Deepwa- ter Horizon rig before the deadly explosion, telling a congressional hearing he had only heard about the well earlier in April, the month of the accident, when the BP drilling team told him it had found oil. ‘‘With respect, sir, we drill hundreds of wells a year around the world,’’ Hayward told Republican Rep. Michael Burgess of Texas. Lawmaker apologizes to BP executive WASHINGTON (AP) — Who’s sorry now? Rep. Joe Barton, that’s who. The Texas Republican, the House’s top recipient of oil industry campaign contributions since 1990, apologized Thursday for apologizing to the chief of the British company that befouled the Gulf of Mex- ico with a massive oil spill. His double mea culpa plus a retraction, executed under pressure from fum- ing GOP leaders, suc- ceeded in shifting atten- tion from the tragedy, BP’s many missteps and the stoic British oil chief at the witness table, to his own party’s close connec- tion to the oil industry. Barton started the ruckus at midmorning when he took aim at the $20 billion relief fund for victims of the spill sought by the White House and agreed to by BP. ‘‘I apologize,’’ Barton said to BP CEO Tony Hayward, who was sitting at a witness table for another of Congress’ ritu- al floggings of wayward corporate heads. 400,000 uprooted by Kyrgyzstan unrest OSH, Kyrgyzstan (AP) — An estimated 400,000 people — nearly one- twelfth the population — have fled their homes to escape Kyrgyzstan’s eth- nic violence, the U.N. said Thursday as throngs of refugees huddled in grim camps along the Uzbekistan border with- out adequate food or water. That figure represents half the roughly 800,000 ethnic Uzbeks who lived in Kyrgyzstan’s south before Central Asia’s worst ethnic violence in decades erupted there last week. More than 200 peo- ple — possibly many more — have been killed, and Uzbeks have been all but purged from some parts of the south. Ethnic Uzbeks on Thursday accused securi- ty forces of standing by or even helping ethnic- majority Kyrgyz mobs as they slaughtered people and burned down neigh- borhoods. Col. Iskander Ikramov, the chief of the Kyrgyz military in the south, rejected allegations of troop involvement in the riots but said the army didn’t interfere in the con- flict because it was not supposed to play the role of a police force. The military and police set up roadblocks and began patrols this week after the worst violence was over. Uzbeks interviewed by Associated Press journal- ists in Osh, the country’s second-largest city, said that on one street alone, ethnic Kyrgyz men sexu- ally assaulted and beat more than 10 Uzbek women and girls, includ- ing some pregnant women and children as young as 12. Mass. man left notes admitting he killed family WOBURN, Mass. (AP) — A man charged with killing his wife, two young children and moth- er-in-law left behind notes in their suburban Boston home admitting to the savage, bloody slay- ings, authorities said Thursday. Thomas Mortimer IV, 43, was captured Thurs- day by police in north- western Massachusetts hours after he was charged with four counts of first-degree murder. The bodies of his wife, Laura Stone Mortimer, a 41-year-old economist; their 4-year-old son, Thomas Mortimer V, who was known as Finn; their 2-year-old daughter, Charlotte; and his wife’s 64-year-old mother, Ellen Stone, were found Wednesday at their in home in Winchester, an upper-middle-class com- munity north of Boston. There were signs of attempted suicide at the home, and two identical letters, believed to have been written by Mortimer, were left behind, District Attorney Gerry Leone said. ‘‘I did these horrible things. What I’ve done was extremely selfish and cowardly. I murdered my family,’’ the letters read. Times Square suspect indicted NEW YORK (AP) — Times Square bomb sus- pect Faisal Shahzad (FY’- sul shah-ZAHD’) has been indicted in the May 1 botched car bombing in New York. An indictment filed in New York on Thursday charges Shahzad with 10 terrorism and weapons charges, adding five counts to the original case against him. The 30-year-old Shahzad is charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruc- tion among several ter- rorism and weapons charges. The Pakistan-born U.S. citizen was arrested two days after his smok- ing SUV was found with a homemade gasoline- and-propane bomb that failed to ignite. Authorities say he cooperated with investi- gators for two weeks before he asked for a lawyer. Bill increases lending by small banks WASHINGTON (AP) — A $30 billion govern- ment fund would be avail- able to community banks to increase lending to small businesses under a bill passed by the House Thursday as congression- al Democrats tried to revive their election-year jobs agenda. House Democrats pro- jected that banks would use the fund to leverage up to $300 billion in loans to small businesses, help- ing to loosen tight credit markets. Republicans called the bill another bank bailout that would do little to increase lend- ing to small businesses. The bill passed by a vote of 241-182 as con- gressional Democrats struggled to balance elec- tion-year concerns about high unemployment with voter complaints about the rising national debt. Only three Republicans voted for the bill. Dr. Andrew PomazalD.O. Physician & Surgeon General Medicine Saturday Appointments Available • High Blood Pressure • Diabetes • Joint & Muscle Pain • Lung Problems We offer Osteopathic Manipulation 530 528-2066 2050 Main St, Red Bluff Accepting New Patients The bill now goes to the Senate, where Democrats tried to round up support for legislation to renew pieces of last year’s economic stimulus bill. The measure would combine jobless aid for the long-term unem- ployed, aid to cash- strapped state govern- ments and the renewal of dozens of popular tax breaks for businesses and individuals. Congressional Democ- rats began the year with an aggressive agenda of passing a series of bills designed to create jobs. One has become law, offering tax breaks to companies that hire unemployed workers. Others stalled as lawmak- ers, after hearing from angry voters, became wary of adding to the national debt, which stands at $13 trillion. BP’s $20B only a drop in a bucket NEW YORK (AP) — BP holds enough oil in its reserves to single- handedly supply the United States for two years. It has little debt for a company of its size and makes more money than Apple and Google combined. So when the White House arm-twisted its executives into setting aside $20 billion for the Gulf oil spill, investors weren’t worried it would bankrupt BP. They bare- ly batted an eye. ‘‘The U.S. govern- ment will become insol- vent before BP does,’’ said Bruce Lanni, a stock analyst with Nol- lenberg Capital Part- ners. Sure, BP stock has crumpled in half in a matter of weeks. Credi- tors are demanding ever higher interest. But this time it’s not some inscrutable, high-flying Wall Street bank in trou- ble. BP posted $17 billion in profit from its vast operations around the globe last year, com- pared with $5.7 billion for Apple and $6.5 bil- lion for Google. More important, in the past three years the company generated $91 billion in cash flow from opera- tions. FDA panel backs new morning after contraceptive WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health experts said Thursday a new type of morning- after contraceptive that works longer than exist- ing drugs is safe and effective. The Food and Drug Administration’s panel of reproductive health experts voted unani- mously that the pill ellaOne successfully reduces the chance of pregnancy up to five days after sex. Plan B, the most widely used emergency contracep- tive pill, is only effec- tive if women take it within three days of sex. In a separate vote the panel unanimously ruled that the drug appeared safe, accord- ing to an FDA spokes- woman. The positive recom- mendation moves the pill, which is already approved in Europe, one step closer to the U.S. market. The FDA is not required to follow the panel’s advice, though it often does. Studies by the drug’s manufacturer, HRA Pharma, showed ellaOne prevented preg- nancies longer and more consistently than Plan B.