Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/52476
6B Daily News – Wednesday, January 11, 2012 WORLD BRIEFING US Coast Guard cutter rescues 6 Iranian mariners WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. Coast Guard cutter rescued six Iranian mariners from a vessel in distress in the Persian Gulf, the second time in less than a week that the American military has come to the aid of Iranians at sea, an official said Tuesday. The incident was anoth- er reminder of U.S. efforts to demonstrate the human- itarian value of its naval presence in the Gulf, a strategic waterway that the Iranian government has threatened to close in retal- iation for international sanctions over its nuclear program. Last Thursday, the U.S. Navy rescued 13 Iranian fishermen who had been held captive by pirates in the northern Arabian Sea, just outside the Gulf, for more than 40 days. That happened just days after Tehran warned the United States to keep its warships out of the Gulf. The fisher- men were sent on their way and the 15 pirates were taken aboard the air- craft carrier USS John C. Stennis. Tuesday's rescue was the fifth time in 14 months that American naval forces have aided Iranians at sea, according to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command. The biggest was on Feb. 3, 2011 when the guided- missile cruiser USS Cape St. George provided assis- tance to 16 Iranian mariners on a fishing ves- sel in the Gulf of Oman. In the latest incident, Pentagon press secretary George Little said the Ira- nians aboard a cargo boat known as a dhow about 50 miles southeast of the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr used flares and flashlights to hail the cutter Monomoy at 3 a.m. local time Tuesday. The vessel's master indi- cated that his engine room was flooding and ''deemed not seaworthy,'' Little said. NC proposes to pay as many as 2,000 people forcibly sterilized RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — As many as 2,000 peo- ple forcibly sterilized decades ago in North Car- olina should get $50,000 each, a task force said Tuesday, marking the first time a state has moved to compensate victims of eugenics programs that weeded out the ''feeble- minded'' and others deemed undesirable. The payout, which could amount to as much as $100 million, still needs approval from the Legislature. But the prospects for passage of some sort of compensa- tion are promising, since the governor immediately embraced the recommen- dation, and the House speaker has come out in favor of payments. While dozens of states had programs in the 20th century that allowed peo- ple to be sterilized against their will in the name of improving the human race, none of the others has offered anything more than apologies. Compensation ''sends a clear message that we in North Carolina are people who pay for our mistakes and that we do not tolerate bureaucracies that tram- ple on basic human rights,'' said panel chair- woman Dr. Laura Gerald, a pediatrician. From 1929 to 1974, more than 7,600 people in North Carolina were sur- gically rendered unable to reproduce under state laws and practices that singled out epileptics and others considered mental- ly defective. Many were poor, black women deemed unfit to be par- ents. Syrian president vows to use an iron hand BEIRUT (AP) — By turns defiant and threaten- ing, President Bashar Assad vowed Tuesday to use an ''iron hand'' to crush what he called the terrorists and saboteurs behind Syria's 10-month- old uprising in which thousands of people have been killed. In his first speech since June, Assad showed a steely confidence in the face of the uprising, one of the bloodiest of the Arab Spring. But oppo- nents called it a rambling address by a leader who is dangerously out of touch. Assad repeated his past claims that a foreign con- spiracy and terrorists are driving the revolt, not peaceful protesters seek- ing to reform the country. ''We will not be lenient with those who work with outsiders against the country,'' Assad said in a nearly two-hour speech at Damascus University in a conference hall packed with cheering supporters. He also issued a veiled threat against those who have yet to choose sides. ''Those who stand in the middle are traitors,'' Assad said, flanked by Syrian flags. ''There is no alternative.'' Smoking joints didn't hurt lung function in 20-year study CHICAGO (AP) — Smoking a joint once a week or a bit more appar- ently doesn't harm the lungs, suggests a 20-year study that bolsters evidence that marijuana doesn't do the kind of damage tobacco does. The results, from one of the largest and longest stud- ies on the health effects of marijuana, are hazier for heavy users — those who smoke two or more joints daily for several years. The data suggest that using mar- ijuana that often might cause a decline in lung func- tion, but there weren't enough heavy users among the 5,000 young adults in the study to draw firm con- clusions. Still, the authors recom- mended ''caution and mod- eration when marijuana use is considered.'' Marijuana is an illegal drug under federal law although some states allow its use for medical purposes. The study by researchers at the University of Califor- nia, San Francisco, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham was released Tuesday by the Journal of the American Medical Association. SCOTUS debates FCC rules for curses, nudity WASHINGTON (AP) — In colorful give and take, the Supreme Court debated whether policing curse words and nudity on broad- cast television makes sense in the cable era, one justice suggesting the policy is fast becoming moot as broad- cast TV heads the way of ''vinyl records and 8-track tapes.'' The case involves pro- graming that is available to all viewers free over the air — even though many now receive it through paid cable connections — during hours when children are likely to be watching. Some justices said they were troubled by inconsis- tent standards that allowed certain words and displays in some contexts but not in others. One example frequently cited by the networks was the Federal Communica- tions Commission's deci- sion not to punish ABC for airing ''Saving Private Ryan,'' with its strong lan- guage, while objecting to the same words when uttered by celebrities on live awards shows. Justice Elena Kagan said the FCC policy was, ''Nobody can use dirty words or nudity except Steven Spielberg,'' director of the World War II movie. Other justices seemed more open to maintaining the cur- rent rules because they allow parents to put their children in front of the tele- vision without having to worry they will be bom- barded by vulgarity.