Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/434960
ByRiazKhanand Rebecca Santana The Associated Press PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN In the deadliest slaughter of innocents in Pakistan in years, Taliban gunmen attacked a military-run school Tuesday and killed 141 people — almost all of them students — before government troops ended the siege. The massacre of innocent children horrified a country already weary of unending terrorist attacks. Pakistan's teenage Nobel Peace laure- ate Malala Yousafzai — her- self a survivor of a Taliban shooting — said she was "heartbroken" by the blood- shed. Even Taliban militants in neighboring Afghanistan decried the killing spree, calling it "un-Islamic." If the Pakistani Tali- ban extremists had hoped the attack would cause the government to ease off its military offensive that be- gan in June in the coun- try's tribal region, it ap- peared to have the oppo- site effect. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif pledged to step up the campaign that — along with U.S. drone strikes — has targeted the militants. "The fight will con- tinue. No one should have any doubt about it," Sharif said. "We will take account of each and every drop of our children's blood." Taliban fighters have struggled to maintain their potency in the face of the military operation. They vowed a wave of violence in response to the operation, but until Tuesday, there has only been one major attack by a splinter group near the Pakistan-India border in November. Analysts said the school siege showed that even diminished, the militant group still could inflict horrific carnage. The rampage at the Army Public School and Col- lege began in the morning when seven militants scaled a back wall using a ladder, said Maj. Gen. Asim Ba- jwa, a military spokesman. When they reached an audi- torium where students had gathered for an event, they opened fire. A 14-year-old, Mehran Khan, said about 400 stu- dents were in the hall when the gunmen broke through the doors and started shoot- ing. They shot one of the teachers in the head and then set her on fire and shouted "God is great!" as she screamed, added Khan, who survived by playing dead. From there, they went to classrooms and other parts of the school. "Their sole purpose, it seems, was to kill those in- nocent kids. That's what they did," Bajwa said. Of the 141 people slain before gov- ernment troops ended the assault eight hours later, 132 were children and nine were staff members. An- other 121 students and three staff members were wounded. The seven attackers, wearing vests of explo- sives, all died in the eight- hour assault. It was not im- mediately clear if they were all killed by the soldiers or whether they blew them- selves up, he said. The wounded — some still wearing their green school blazers — flooded into hospitals as terrified parents searched for their children. By evening, fu- neral services were al- ready being held for many of the victims as clerics an- nounced the deaths over mosque loudspeakers. The government declared three days of mourning for what appeared to be Paki- stan's deadliest since a 2007 suicide bombing in the port city of Karachi killed 150 people. "My son was in uniform in the morning. He is in a casket now," wailed one parent, Tahir Ali, as he came to the hospital to col- lect the body of his 14-year- old son, Abdullah. "My son was my dream. My dream has been killed." One of the wounded stu- dents, Abdullah Jamal, said he was with a group of eighth, ninth and 10th grad- ers who were getting first- aid instructions and train- ing with a team of army medics when the violence became real. Panic broke out when the shooting be- gan. "I saw children falling down who were crying and screaming. I also fell down. I learned later that I have got a bullet," he said, speak- ing from his hospital bed. Another student, Amir Mateen, said they locked the door from the inside when they heard the shooting, but gunmen blasted through anyway and opened fire. Responding to the attack, armored personnel carriers were deployed around the school, and a military heli- copter circled overhead. A little more than 1,000 students and staff were registered at the school, which is part of a net- work run by the military, although the surrounding area is not heavily forti- fied. The student body is made up of both children of military personnel as well as civilians. NOBEL WINNER 'HEARTBROKEN' Taliban assault on school leaves 141 dead in Pakistan MOHAMMADSAJJAD—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Hospital security guards carry a student injured in a shootout at a school under attack by Taliban gunmen in Peshawar, Pakistan on Tuesday. SUSAN WALSH — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush on Tuesday took his most definitive step yet toward running for president. By Gary Fineout and Thomas Beaumont The Associated Press TALLAHASSEE, FLA. For- mer Florida Gov. Jeb Bush on Tuesday took his most definitive step yet toward running for president, an- nouncing plans to "actively explore" a campaign and form a new political oper- ation allowing him to raise money for like-minded Re- publicans. In a holiday message posted on his Facebook page, the son and brother of past Republican pres- idents said he discussed the "future of our nation" and a potential bid for the White House with mem- bers of his family over the Thanksgiving holiday. "As a result of these con- versations and thoughtful consideration of the kind of strong leadership I think America needs, I have de- cided to actively explore the possibility of running for president of the United States," Bush wrote. He added, "In the com- ing months, I hope to visit with many of you and have a conversation about restoring the promise of America." Bush's announce- ment is sure to reverber- ate throughout Republi- can politics and begin to help sort out a field that in- cludes more than a dozen potential candidates, none of whom have formally an- nounced plans to mount a campaign. It overshad- owed comments from for- mer New York Gov. George Pataki, who told the New York Daily News in a story published Tuesday he is "very seriously" consider- ing his own bid. Should he ultimately de- cide to run, Bush can tap into his family's vast polit- ical network, and his cam- paign would attract strong support from the same do- nor pool that other estab- lishment-minded Republi- cans need to fuel their own prospective campaigns. It could also affect the plans of several sitting Republi- can governors, including New Jersey's Chris Chris- tie and Wisconsin's Scott Walker. "I don't think it will af- fect their willingness to run, but it will affect to some extent their ability to raise money," said Fred Malek, the finance chair- man of the Republican Governors Association. A Bush candidacy also has the potential to affect Florida Sen. Marco Ru- bio, who came up through Florida politics as a strong Bush supporter and is con- sidering whether to seek re-election to the Senate or run for president in 2016. Jeb Bush to explore run for president FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR By Rachel Zoll The Associated Press An unprecedented Vat- ican investigation of U.S. women's religious orders that alarmed Roman Cath- olic sisters when the inquiry began years ago ended Tuesday with a report sig- naling a softer approach under Pope Francis. The report praised sisters for their selfless work car- ing for the poor and prom- ised to value their "femi- nine genius" more, while gently suggesting ways to serve the church faithfully and survive amid a steep drop in their numbers. There was no direct cri- tique of the nuns, nor any demand for them to change — only requests that they ensure their ministries re- main "in harmony with Catholic teaching." "There is an encouraging and realistic tone in this re- port," said Sister Sharon Hol- land, head of the Leadership Conference of Women Reli- gious, the umbrella organi- zation for most U.S. religious orders. "Challenges are un- derstood, but it is not a docu- ment of blame, or of simplis- tic solutions. One can read the text and feel appreciated and trusted to carry on." The laudatory language contrasted sharply with the atmosphere in which the review started under Pope Benedict XVI. Car- dinal Franc Rode, who in 2008 initiated the nation- wide study when he led the Vatican office that over- sees religious orders, said there was concern about "a certain secular mental- ity that has spread in these religious families and, per- haps, also a certain 'femi- nist' spirit." Rode left the post while the review was still under way, and his successors had said they wanted a friend- lier relationship with the sisters. Still, many nuns re- mained concerned about the outcome of the investi- gation under Francis' still- young pontificate. Some nuns had taken legal steps during the inquiry to shield the financial assets of their religious orders in case of a Vatican takeover. The report expressed hope that sisters would take "this present moment as an opportunity to trans- form uncertainty and hes- itancy into collaborative trust" with the church hi- erarchy. Many sisters have complained that their work often went unrecognized by priests and requested im- proved dialogue with bish- ops to clarify their role in the church and give them greater voice in decisions, according to the report. Before the news confer- ence releasing the report in Rome, leaders for the sisters andthenunwhooversawthe review, Mother Mary Clare Millea, attended the pope's daily Mass in the Vatican ho- tel where he lives and spoke with him briefly, where he offered his blessing. Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, based in Mary- land, said in a statement the document signaled "a hope for future dialogue and communion among and between women reli- gious and church leaders." "The report is clearly focused on cooperation. It's clearly focused on dia- logue, which I think is not necessarily what people ex- pected back in 2008 when this issue came up," said Jana Bennett, a specialist in Catholic theology and eth- ics at the University of Day- ton, Ohio. Still, American nuns are dealing with the fallout from a separate investiga- tion from a different Vati- can office. The Congrega- tion of the Doctrine of the Faith in 2012 ordered an overhaul of the Leadership Conference of Women Re- ligious, which represents about 80 percent of U.S. sis- ters. The doctrine office said the organization strayed from church teaching and promoted "radical feminist themes incompatible with the Catholic faith." Seattle Archbishop Peter Sartain was appointed to oversee the Leadership Conference, potentially through 2017. Holland said she was "working hard and work- ing well" with Sartain and other Vatican-appointed delegates, and the process might end sooner than orig- inally expected. "We're moving toward resolution of that," she said. Both investigations prompted an outpouring of support from many rank- and-file American Catholics who viewed the inquiries as a crackdown by the all-male Vatican hierarchy against the underpaid, underappre- ciated women who do the li- on's share of work running Catholic hospitals, schools and services for the poor. 'FEMININE GENIUS' Vatican signals new tone on US nuns By Kathy Matheson and Sean Carlin The Associated Press PENNSBURG, PA. An Iraq War veteran suspected of killing his ex-wife and five of her relatives in a shoot- ing and slashing frenzy was found dead of self-in- flicted stab wounds Tues- day in the woods of subur- ban Philadelphia, ending a day-and-a-half manhunt that closed schools and left people on edge. Bradley William Stone's body was discovered a half-mile from his Penns- burg home, about 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia. The 35-year-old former Marine sergeant had cuts in the center of his body, and a knife was found at the scene, Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said. Locked in a custody dis- pute so bitter that his ex- wife feared for her life, Stone went on a gruesome, 90-minute killing rampage before daybreak Monday at three homes in three nearby towns, authori- ties said. He bashed in the back doors of the first two homes and then smashed his ex-wife's sliding glass door with a propane tank. The killings set off the second major manhunt to transfix Pennsylvania in the past few months. Sur- vivalist Eric Frein spent 48 days on the run in the Poconos after the ambush slaying of a state trooper in September. "There's no reason, no valid excuse, no justifica- tion for snuffing out these six innocent lives and in- juring another child," Fer- man said. "This is just a horrific tragedy that our community has had to en- dure. We're really numb from what we've had to go through over the past two days." Stone's former wife, 33-year-old Nicole Stone, was found shot twice in the face in her apartment after a neighbor heard glass breaking and saw Stone fleeing around 5 a.m. with their two young daughters. The girls were later found safe with Stone's neighbors. Also killed were Nicole Stone's mother, grand- mother, sister, brother-in- law and 14-year-old niece. A 17-year-old nephew suf- fered knife wounds to the head and hands, and Fer- man said he was in "very serious" condition. The adults were shot. The teens were slashed and suffered blows to their heads; the nephew had a gaping skull fracture, au- thorities said. "It's a relief that they found him," said Stone's neighbor Dale Shupe. "Now we know he's not out trying to do more harm to anybody else." As the manhunt dragged on, at least five schools within a few miles of Stone's home closed, and others were locked down. STAB WOUNDS Ex-Marine wanted in 6 killings commits suicide ANDREW MEDICHINI — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Sister Sharon Holland, le , and Mother Agnes Mary Donovan attend a press conference Tuesday at the Vatican. 100JacksonStreet, Red Bluff (530) 529-1220 NEW Membership Specials CallorComeIn for details RUNNINGS ROOFING SheetMetalRoofing ResidentialCommercial • Composition • Shingle • Single Ply Membrane Ownerisonsiteoneveryjob ServingTehamaCounty 530-527-5789 530-209-5367 NoMoney Down! "NoJobTooSteep" " No Job Too Flat" FREE ESTIMATES CA. LIC#829089 STOVEJUNCTION The TheNorthState'spremiersupplierofstoves 22825 Antelope Blvd., Red Bluff 530-528-2221 • Fax 530-528-2229 www.thestovejunction.com Over 25 years of experience Tues-Sat9am-5pm• ClosedSun&Mon Now Carrying! GreenMountainGrills & Accessories Serving Butte, Glenn & Tehama Counties Smog Check (MOST CARS & PICK-UPS) 527-9841 • 195 S. Main St. starting at $ 29 95 + $ 8 25 certificate SERVICESATLOWERPRICES All makes and models. 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