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Saturday, August 18, 2012 – Daily News WORLD BRIEFING Pentagon report accuses US general of lavish travel WASHINGTON (AP) — The four- star general who headed U.S. Africa Command used military vehicles to shuttle his wife on shopping trips and to a spa and billed the government for a refueling stop overnight in Bermuda, where the couple stayed in a $750 suite, a Defense Department investigation has found. A 99-page report alleges excessive unauthorized spending and travel costs for Gen. William ''Kip'' Ward, including lengthy stays at lavish hotels for Ward, his wife and his staff members, and the use of five-vehicle motorcades when he traveled to Washington. It also said that Ward and his wife, Joyce, accepted dinner and Broadway show tickets from a government contrac- tor during a trip on which he went back- stage to meet actor Denzel Washington and they and several staff members spent two nights at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. The allegations, coming after a 17- jet blasted the top three floors of a five- story apartment building, killing a moth- er, father and their three boys. Buried in the rubble was a newlywed couple who moved in on their wedding night two months ago. Rebel fighters crawled through col- lapsed debris and punched holes in walls while searching the building for Mohammed Ezzo, his wife Ola, and any- one else that might be there. Across the street, the groom's father gazed at the building and wailed into his hands. ''The top floor and the floor below it and the floor below that, they all fell on top of them!'' cried Munir Ezzo, 70. The destruction, witnessed by The Associated Press during a visit to the city Friday, have transformed Aleppo, a city of around 4 million that for much of Syria's 17-month-old conflict, was con- sidered a bastion of support for the regime of President Bashar Assad. Tens of thousands — as many as 200,000 by one U.N. estimate — have fled the city. month investigation, deliver an embar- rassing blow to the Army and to Ward, who had claimed a place in history as the military's first commander of U.S. Africa Command. ''We conclude Gen. Ward engaged in multiple forms of misconduct related to official and unofficial travel,'' the inspector general's report said. ''He con- ducted official travel for primarily per- sonal reasons and misused'' military air- craft. It said he also misused his position and his staff's time and received reim- bursement for travel expenses that far exceeded the approved daily military rate without approval. half its market value NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook's stock fell to $19 for the first time on Fri- day, losing half its market value since the company's initial public offering in May. Facebook stock falls to $19 and has lost The stock dipped 87 cents, or 4 per- cent, to briefly hit $19, just minutes before it closed the trading day at $19.05. Facebook's shares ended the week down nearly 13 percent. Facebook hit the $19 milestone a day after the expiration of a lock-up period that had previously prevented some early investors and insiders from selling their shares. Stakeholders who owned a com- bined 271 million Facebook shares before Thursday can now sell their hold- ings. Facebook Inc. shareholders sold their stock this week won't be available until next week at the earliest, when sellers must disclose such transactions. Facebook's stock has struggled since the company's mid-May IPO. It closed its first day of trading barely above its initial offering price of $38. It has been below that level since. A breakdown of just how many major forces vie for control ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — Entire neighborhoods of Syria's largest city bear battle scars: buildings toppled by government shells, charred tanks blown up by rebels and trash-strewn no-man's lands where neither side has full control after nearly a month of deadly street bat- tles. Rebels and Syrian Ruin and tragedy can come in an instant. On Friday, a government fighter Eddie Murray paying $358,000 to settle civil 7B insider-trade case WASHINGTON (AP) — Hall of Fame baseball player Eddie Murray has agreed to pay $358,151 to settle federal civil charges of profiting in stock trades by using confidential information passed to him by a former teammate. The Securities and Exchange Com- mission on Friday also announced relat- ed charges against James Mazzo, former CEO of Advanced Medical Optics, and businessman David Parker. The SEC said Mazzo provided illegal tips about a planned acquisition of Advanced Med- ical Optics by Abbott Laboratories in January 2009. Murray's former teammate Doug DeCinces, who tipped off Murray and Parker, the SEC alleges in a civil lawsuit. DeCinces settled the SEC's charges a year ago by agreeing to pay $2.5 million. Murray, who retired in 1997, neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing but agreed to refrain from future violations of securities laws. Mazzo passed the information to Mississippi HANCOCK COUNTY, Miss. (AP) — When a sport utility vehicle ran off a rural stretch of interstate and slammed into pine trees in Mississippi, nearly two dozen peo- ple rushed to help two sisters who were trapped inside the burning vehicle. Among them was AP photographer Ger- ald Herbert, who was on his on his way to Biloxi for an assignment. Herbert arrived just after good Samaritans were able to pull the passenger, 39-year-old Felicidad De Monte, from the SUV, along with her wheel- chair. Her younger sister, Giovanna De Monte, was still inside. In his own words, here is what Herbert and others did to help her: ''The car was on fire in the engine com- partment and the fire was increasing, getting to the point where it was fully involved. ''She was crying and screaming for help and nobody could help. People were yelling 'fire extinguishers' so I ran out on to the highway where all that traffic had stopped. I was running between all the stopped cars, looking for 18-wheelers because I know they carry fire extinguishers. Associated Press photographer recalls helping woman from burning car in mile to 3/4-mile, jumping onto the cabs of all of these 18-wheelers, telling them a woman was burning to death in a car, and to please get up there with their fire extinguish- ers. ''I wound up running probably a 1/2- English teacher had sex with the stu- dents at her home over two months in 2011, authorities said. ''I directed them onto the emergency lane. In time, I got about six tractor-trailers going down the breakdown lane. They all got out and started putting the fire out. ''Simultaneously, a cement mixer had Colleps is married and has three chil- dren. She turned herself in after a cell- phone video of one encounter that involved multiple students emerged. That video was shown a trial. shown up and he had a hose, and he proba- bly made the biggest difference because I'm told that while I was marshaling the trucks to get their fire extinguishers up there, the flames were coming through the engine wall. He put his hose on her and he doused her and made sure the flames didn't get on her. ''It was a really horrific feeling to hear her screaming and seeing those flames grow so high and get so close. You knew she was going to perish and there was nothing you could do about it. It sent this horrible chill through your spine. ''Ultimately, the flames got knocked Navy's oldest commissioned 200-year-old battle BOSTON (AP) — The U.S. Navy's oldest commissioned warship will sail under its own power for just the second time in more than a century to commem- orate the battle that won it the nickname ''Old Ironsides.'' warship to sail again to commemorate down. Someone hooked a cable to the car and a pickup truck pulled the car out of the trees. At this point, they were able to pry the door open and get her out as the fire was finally extinguished. ''It never occurred to me to go into jour- nalist mode until the fire was knocked down. I knew she was safe so I went and got the cameras. The car accident is not news to the AP, but this clearly was an amazing heroic effort by all these people and I wanted to document it. ''I was so humbled. It was just amazing to be with this group of people, and to see what they did. It was just unbelievable. It turned out to be a beautiful day instead of a tragic day. Afterward, there were a lot of congratulatory handshakes and back slap- ping. ''It was really powerful to see all these people saving someone from dying. It was amazing.'' Friday. Giovanna De Monte was in critical condition and her sister was in good condi- tion. The De Montes were still in the hospital Texas high school teacher convicted of inappropriate relationships after first launched in 1797, will be tugged from its berth in Boston Harbor on Sun- day to the main deepwater pathway into the harbor. It will then set out to open seas for a 10-minute cruise. The short trip marks the day two cen- turies ago when the Constitution bested the British frigate HMS Guerriere in a fierce battle during the War of 1812. It follows a three-year restoration project and is the first time the Constitution has been to sea on its own since its 200th birthday in 1997. The USS Constitution, which was own power since 1881. The Constitution is periodically tugged into the harbor for historical display. Chief Petty Officer Frank Neely, a Constitution spokesman and crew mem- ber, said the crew wants to honor and preserve the Constitution with Sunday's sail. Before that, it hadn't sailed under its mer Texas high school teacher was con- victed Friday after having sex with five 18-year-old students at her home. It took the jury less than an hour to conclude that Brittni Nicole Colleps, 28, of Arlington, was guilty of 16 counts of having an inappropriate relationship between a student and teacher. The sec- ond-degree felony is punishable by two to 20 years in prison per count. Sentencing was scheduled for Friday afternoon. The former Kennedale High School sex with 5 students FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A for- that pierced his skull RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A 24-year- old construction worker survived after a 6- foot metal bar fell from above and pierced his head, doctors said Friday. Luiz Alexandre Essinger, chief of staff at Rio de Janeiro's Miguel Couto Hospital, said doctors successfully withdrew the iron bar from Eduardo Leite's skull during a five- hour surgery. ''He was taken to the operating room, his Brazilian construction worker survives after surgery for iron bar skull was opened, they examined the brain and the surgeon decided to pull the metal bar out from the front in the same direction it entered the brain.'' Essinger said. He said Leite was conscious when he arrived at the hospital and told him what had happened. He said Leite was lucid and showed no negative consequences after the operation.