Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/227694
8A Daily News – Friday, December 13, 2013 WORLD BRIEFING American missing nearly 7 years in Iran was working for CIA WASHINGTON (AP) — An American who vanished nearly seven years ago in Iran was working for the CIA on an unapproved intelligencegathering mission that, when it came to light inside the government, produced one of the most serious scandals in the recent history of the CIA — but all in secret, an Associated Press investigation found. The CIA paid Robert Levinson's family $2.5 million to head off a revealing lawsuit. Three veteran analysts were forced out of the agency and seven others were disciplined. The U.S. publicly has described Levinson as a private citizen. ''Robert Levinson went missing during a business trip to Kish Island, Iran,'' the White House said last month. That was just a cover story. In an extraordinary breach of the most basic CIA rules, a team of analysts — with no authority to run spy operations — paid Levinson to gather intelligence from some of the world's darkest corners. He vanished while investigating the Iranian regime for the U.S. government. North Korea executes leader's uncle PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea on Friday announced the execution of Kim Jong Un's uncle, calling the leader's former mentor a traitor who tried to overthrow the state. The announcement came only days after Pyongyang announced through state media that Jang Song Thaek — long considered the country's No. 2 power — had been removed from all his posts because of allegations of corruption, drug use, gambling, womanizing and leading a ''dissolute and depraved life.'' The state news agency KCNA said a tribunal examined Jang's crimes, including ''attempting to overthrow the state by all sorts of intrigues and despicable methods with a wild ambition to grab the supreme power of our party and state.'' The report called him are not seeing meaningful wage increases. And some of those who can splurge say the brash commercialism around the holidays — many more stores are opening for business on Thanksgiving — is a turnoff. ''a traitor to the nation'' and ''worse than a dog.'' Jang was seen as helping Kim Jong Un consolidate power after the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, two years ago. Jang was the latest and most significant in a series of personnel reshuffles that Kim has conducted in an apparent effort to bolster his power. Argentine slum-dwellers praise Pope Francis Fake sign language interpreter says he "saw angels" JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The sign language interpreter at Nelson Mandela's memorial says he suffers from schizophrenia and hallucinated and saw angels while gesturing incoherently just 3 feet away from President Barack Obama and other world leaders, outraging deaf people worldwide who said his signs amounted to gibberish. South African officials scrambled Thursday to explain how they came to hire the man and said they were investigating what vetting process, if any, he underwent for his security clearance. ''In the process, and in the speed of the event, a mistake happened,'' deputy Cabinet minister Hendrietta BogopaneZulu said. She apologized to deaf people around the world who were offended by the incomprehensible signing. However, she declined to say whether a government department, the presidency or the ruling African National Congress party was responsible for hiring the sign interpreter, telling reporters it isn't the time to ''point fingers and vilify each other and start shouting.'' Samantha Lewthwaite spins tangled web, eludes capture AYLESBURY, England (AP) — She is called the most wanted woman in the world, a suspected terrorist charged with plotting to blow up resort hotels in Kenya packed with Christmas tourists, a Westerner who wrote an ode praising Osama bin Laden, a jihadist who has eluded the law even as she has traveled through Africa with four young AP photo In this July 27 file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, is followed by his uncle Jang Song Thaek, second from left, and Yang Hyong Sop, left, vice president of the Presidium of North Korea's parliament, as he tours the newly opened Fatherland Liberation War Museum as part of celebrations for the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice in Pyongyang, North Korea. children in tow. Samantha Lewthwaite's saga is one of betrayal and revenge in a murky world where, somehow, a white woman born to a British soldier becomes a Muslim convert and then an international fugitive accused of conspiracy. Her first husband blew himself up as part of Britain's worst ever terrorist attack in 2005, an act she first condemned — and her second partner adhered to the same militant brand of Islam and also apparently met an early death. Her notebooks, seized in 2011, are filled with lavish praise for extremists who slaughter civilians and hopes that her children will do the same. And yet, since she disappeared some months after the London bombing, no one can say how the ''white widow'' became radicalized, moving from mainstream Islam to a ''holy war'' against the West — or why she would embrace a movement that denies a woman's right to education and other basic liberties. ''That is the mystery,'' said Niknam Hussain, a community organizer and former Aylesbury mayor. There was never a hint that Lewthwaite had chosen jihad during her years in Aylesbury, the small English city 40 miles (65 kilometers) northwest of London where she grew up. Health coverage disparities emerging JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Residents in some parts of the U.S. are signing up for health care coverage at a significantly greater rate than others through the new online insurance marketplaces now operating in every state. The discrepancy may trace back to the political leanings of their elected leaders. Newly released federal figures show more people are picking private insurance plans or being routed to Medicaid programs in states with Democratic leaders who have fully embraced the federal health care law than in states where Republican elected officials have derisively rejected what they call ''Obamacare.'' On one side of the political divide are a dozen mostly Democratic leaning states, including California, Minnesota and New York. They have both expanded Medicaid for lower-income adults and started their own health insurance exchanges for people to shop for federally subsidized private insurance. On the other side are two dozen conservative states, such as Texas, Florida and Missouri. They have both rejected the Medicaid expansion and refused any role in running an online insurance exchange, leaving that entirely to the federal government. Yemeni officials say US drone strike hits a convoy SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Missiles fired by a U.S. drone slammed into a convoy of vehicles traveling to a wedding party in central Yemen on Thursday, killing at least 13 people, Yemeni security officials said. The officials said the attack took place in the city of Radda, the capital of Bayda province, and left charred bodies and burnt out cars on the road. The city, a stronghold of alQaida militants, witnessed deadly clashes early last year between armed tribesmen backed by the military and al-Qaida gunmen in an attempt to drive them out of the city. There were no immediate details on who was killed in the strike, and there were conflicting reports about whether there were militants traveling with the wedding convoy. A military official said initial information indicated the drone mistook the wedding party for an al-Qaida convoy. He said tribesmen known to the villagers were among the dead. One of the three security officials, however, said alQaida militants were suspected to have been traveling with the wedding convoy. Some Americans are cutting back during the holiday season NEW YORK (AP) — Many Americans are watching the annual holiday spending ritual from the sidelines this year. Money is still tight for some. Others are fed up with commercialism of the holidays. Still others are waiting for bigger bargains. And people like Lark-Marie Anton Menchini are more thoughtful about their purchases. The New York public relations executive says in the past she'd buy her children up to eight Christmas gifts each, but this year they're getting three apiece. The leftover money is going toward their college savings. ''We told them Santa is ... being very conscious of how many gifts he puts on his sleigh,'' Menchini, 36, says. Despite an improving economy, most workers BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Thousands of Paraguayan immigrants living along the polluted Riachuelo river in Argentina's capital celebrate their ''Blue Virgin'' every year with a grueling but joyful 10-hour procession that winds through every corner of their slum. Last year, their feast day's Mass was led by none other than Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who has since become their beloved ''slum pope.'' That Time magazine named Pope Francis ''person of the year'' on Wednesday makes perfect sense to those who knew him as the church leader who saw to it that every major slum in the city had a working parish. ''For us slum-dwellers, it's a point of pride that Francis has been here drinking mate (an herbal tea shared communally by South Americans) and spending lots of time with the poorest people, and that he's now recognized by the entire world. The church that he promotes is one that has really helped the poor and the marginalized, like me,'' said Miguel Sergio Leiva. ''I watched the whole procession when I was homeless and taking drugs, and now I'm an active member of the church of Caacupe.'' The slum's parish is named for Paraguay's patroness, ''Our Lady of Caacupe,'' commonly called the ''Blue Virgin'' by the half-million Paraguayans who migrated to Argentina, many of whom live in ramshackle settlements known as ''misery villages'' in and around Buenos Aires. Swimmer nabs monster lobster off California HUNTINGTON BEACH (AP) — Joseph Ali says onlookers thought he was drunk when he dove into the nighttime waters around a Southern California pier. But he came away with a monster of a lobster and the catch of a lifetime. Ali tells the Orange County Register he was closing his father's business, Zack's Pier Plaza in Huntington Beach, on Monday when he saw the ocean was calm and decided to dive for dinner. He was down about 15 feet going after a smaller lobster when he saw the giant. He says it was too big to grab properly, but it latched onto him, and he wrestled it to shore. The lobster weighed nearly 18 pounds — even a 5-pounder is considered trophy-sized — and was likely at least 30 years old.