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8A – Daily News – Friday, September 17, 2010 WORLD BRIEFING Gunman wounds doctor, kills self, mother BALTIMORE (AP) — A man who became dis- traught as he was being briefed on his mother’s condition by a surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital pulled a gun and shot the doctor Thursday, then killed his mother and himself in her room at the world-famous medical center, police said. The doctor, who was wounded in the abdomen, was expected to survive. The gunman, 50-year- old Paul Warren Pardus, had been listening to the surgeon around midday when he ‘‘became emo- tionally distraught and reacted ... and was over- whelmed by the news of his mother’s condition,’’ Police Commissioner Frederick H. Bealefeld III said. Pardus pulled a semi- automatic gun from his waistband and shot the doctor once, the commis- sioner said. The doctor, identified by colleagues as orthopedic surgeon David B. Cohen, col- lapsed outside the eighth- floor room where Pardus’ mother, Jean Davis, was being treated. Pardus then holed up in the room in a more than two-hour standoff that led authorities to lock down a small section of the Nel- son Building while allow- ing the rest of the sprawl- ing red-brick medical complex — a cluster of hospital, research and education buildings — to remain open. Pope faces hostile UK EDINBURGH, Scot- land (AP) — Pope Bene- dict XVI waded into the hostile atmosphere Thurs- day of highly secular Britain, admitting the Catholic Church did not act decisively or quickly enough to remove priests who molested children in his strongest comments yet on the worldwide sex abuse crisis shaking his church. In a visit unprecedent- ed for the bitter opposi- tion to his papacy, Bene- dict warned against ‘‘aggressive forms’’ of secularism. The German pope recalled how Britain had stood against ‘‘Nazi tyranny that wished to eradicate God from soci- ety.’’ Benedict’s historic four-day state visit has been overshadowed by disgust over the abuse scandal and indifference in Britain, where Catholics are a minority of 10 percent and endured centuries of bloody perse- cution and discrimination until the early 19th centu- ry. The trip is the first ing,’’ said son Mark O’Ha- gan, 45, of Bolton, Mass. ‘‘We keep hoping that wherever she is, that some- one has her for a reason and that she’s well. But the days are getting longer.’’ FBI agents joined recently with a dozen Ver- mont State Police detectives on the case while searchers combed corn fields, barns, abandoned buildings and a quarry in the dairy farming community, to no avail. A $5,000 reward has been offered. Authorities say there’s no reason to believe that O’Hagan, a grandmother of nine who by all accounts is mentally alert and physical- ly active, just wandered off. SF man pleads guilty to state visit by a pope to the U.K., and his meeting with Queen Elizabeth II was symbolically signifi- cant because of the his- toric divide between the officially Protestant nation and the Catholic Church. Only 65,000 of the faithful had tickets to an open-air Mass at Bella- houston Park in Glasgow, far less than the 100,000 initially expected. The British media has been particularly hostile to the pope’s visit, noting its $18.7 million (12 million pound) security cost to taxpayers at a time of aus- terity measures and job losses. Expiring tax cuts would mean big tax increases WASHINGTON (AP) — Here’s some pressure for lawmakers: If they don’t reach agreement on extending soon-to-expire Bush-era tax cuts, nearly all their constituents back home will get big tax increases. A typical family of four with a household income of $50,000 a year would have to pay $2,900 more in taxes in 2011, according to a new analy- sis by Deloitte Tax LLP, a tax consulting firm. The same family making $100,000 a year would see its taxes rise by $4,500. Wealthier families face even bigger tax hikes. A family of four making $500,000 a year would pay $10,800 more in taxes. The same family making $1 million a year would get a tax increase of $52,300. The estimates are based on total household income, including wages, capital gains and qualified dividends. The estimated tax bills take into account typical deductions at each income level. Democrats have been Fall Sale Last 3 days September 17, 18, 19th Pottery 30% off Glazed Garden Center Red Bluff 766 Antelope Blvd. (Next to the Fairground) 527-0886 arguing for much of the past decade that tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003 under former President George W. Bush provided a windfall for the wealthy. That’s true, but they also reduced taxes for the working poor, the middle class, and just about everyone in between. Republicans seek to unite with tea party WASHINGTON (AP) — Can this political marriage survive? More than a half dozen tea party-backed candidates have captured Republican Senate nomi- nations, and now the GOP is trying to bring their rebel supporters’ enthusiasm into the fold for November. Republicans have lit- tle choice but to at least put on a show of unity: Alienating the antiestab- lishment tea party could undercut GOP efforts to post big Senate gains, perhaps even win control outright. Judging by how quickly the GOP estab- lishment embraced tea party nominees after ear- lier primaries, it may not take long for them to consider insurgent Chris- tine O’Donnell one of their own in Delaware. The state’s Senate prima- ry was the freshest source of Republican division after O’Don- nell’s stunning upset of nine-term Rep. Mike Castle. He hasn’t yet ral- lied behind her but others have, including once and maybe future presiden- tial candidate Mitt Rom- ney. And, after an initial curt reaction, Sen. John Cornyn’s committee to elect Senate Republicans made its support clear. ‘‘Let there be no mis- take: The National Republican Senatorial Committee — and I per- sonally as the commit- tee’s chairman — strongly stand by all of our Republican nomi- nees, including Christine O’Donnell in Delaware,’’ said the Texas lawmaker. He also sent her $42,000. Number of Americans in poverty jumps WASHINGTON (AP) — The ranks of the work- ing-age poor climbed to the highest level since the 1960s as the recession threw millions of people out of work last year, leaving one in seven Americans in poverty. The overall poverty rate climbed to 14.3 per- cent, or 43.6 million peo- ple, the Census Bureau said Thursday in its annu- al report on the economic well-being of U.S. house- holds. The report covers 2009, President Barack Obama’s first year in office. The poverty rate increased from 13.2 per- cent, or 39.8 million peo- ple, in 2008. The share of Ameri- cans without health cov- erage rose from 15.4 per- cent to 16.7 percent — or 50.7 million people — mostly because of the loss of employer-provided health insurance during the recession. Congress passed a health overhaul this year to address the rising numbers of unin- sured people, but its main provisions will not take effect until 2014. In a statement, Presi- dent Barack Obama called 2009 a tough year for working families but said it could have been worse. GOPSenate candidate says Obama falls ’far short’ WEST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Senate Republican candidate Linda McMahon on Thursday described President Barack Obama as falling ‘‘far short’’ of the high expecta- tions that attended his elec- tion, criticizing the chief executive as he lent Democ- ratic rival Richard Blumen- thal some campaign help. Obama won this reliably Democratic state in 2008 with 61 percent of the vote. Now, 51 percent of voters disapprove of his job perfor- mance as president, accord- ing to a recent Quinnipiac University poll. Mindful of the state’s electoral history, McMahon offered a tem- pered view of the president in an interview with The Associated Press. ‘‘I think President Obama, in my view, has fallen far short of what the expectation was when he became president. We are further in debt, our deficit has grown, unemployment has grown,’’ she said in her West Hartford campaign headquarters. ‘‘From a lead- ership perspective, I think he has fallen short.’’ McMahon, a former wrestling executive, has pumped millions from her personal fortune into a con- tentious and tight Senate race with Blumenthal for the seat being vacated by retiring Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd. Given the state’s political leanings, she was pushing ahead with a campaign designed to appeal to Democrats as well as Republicans. On Thursday evening, as Obama attends private fundraisers for Blu- menthal in Stamford and for Democrats in Greenwich, she planned to visit the Spanish-American Mer- chants’ Association to talk about small businesses, then glad-hand at a town fair in Willimantic. FBI involved in search for 78-year-old Vt woman SHEFFIELD, Vt. (AP) — By helicopter, horse- back, and on foot, police and volunteers scoured northern Vermont on Thursday for an energetic 78-year-old grandmother who authorities believe was abducted from her home in a town so small it has no stores and no stop- lights. Pat O’Hagan, a widow who camped, kayaked and lived alone, was reported missing Saturday after a friend arrived to pick her up for a rug-hooking meeting and she wasn’t there. Police haven’t said what led them to believe she was abducted or mentioned a possible motive. ‘‘Every day is another day that she’s been miss- Pelosi threats SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A San Francisco man upset with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s support of health care reform pleaded guilty Thursday to threatening the Democratic congress- woman and her family. Gregory Lee Giusti, 49, admitted making more than 30 abusive and harassing phone calls to the homes and offices of Pelosi. He spoke to Pelosi directly on March 25 and threatened to destroy her Northern Cali- fornia home if she voted for the health care legislation. Under a deal with prose- cutors, he’ll be sentenced Dec. 2 to 21 months in prison and ordered to stay at least 100 yards away from Pelosi, her family and her staff when he’s released. Joseph Cotchett, a prominent Silicon Valley attorney and Democratic donor, represented Pelosi during the hour-long federal court hearing in San Fran- cisco. Cotchett told U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White that the speaker approved of the plea bargain and said Pelosi would not demand Giusti pay victim restitution typically required in such cases. A disheveled and weepy Giusti told the judge he made the phone calls because ‘‘I was upset with her passing the health care law.’’ 33-inch cow the world’s smallest LONDON (AP) — A minuscule cow with a taste for contemporary music has been named the world’s smallest by the Guinness World Records book. Guinness said the sheep-sized bovine from the West Yorkshire region of northern England mea- sures roughly 33 inches (84 centimeters) from hind to foot. The 11-year-old cow is named Swallow and her owner, Caroline Ryder, said she would spend Thursday either grazing with her herd or listening to BBC radio in her cow- shed. Swallow is a Dexter cow, a breed known for its diminutive stature, but is small even by Dexter standards.