LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY
“North Korea’s danger lies because they are unpredictable.”
Capt. David Lausman,
the commanding officer of the USS
George Washington, a nuclear-powered
super carrier deployed to joint maneuvers with South Korea Article this
20 tunnel deaths draw laxity probe
DUISBURG, Germany - German prosecutors are investigating whether negligent manslaughter was involved in the deaths of 20 people killed in a crush at the Love Parade techno music festival.
But amid a clamor of questions about who is to blame, they said Monday they haven’t yet identified any suspects.
The tragedy Saturday happened near a tunnel that was the only entrance to the festival grounds in the western industrial city of Duisburg. Police said 511 people were injured - one of whom was still in life-threatening condition Monday.
Police also raised the death toll late Monday to 20 from 19 after a 21-year-old German woman succumbed to her injuries in a hospital.
It remains unclear what triggered the panic, but it appears that people trying to escape the surging crowd climbed up a metal stairway in front of the tunnel and then fell into the crowd and were trampled or crushed.
Abbas told to resist U.S. pressure
RAMALLAH, West Bank - A senior U.S. envoy warned the Palestinian president that he must move quickly to direct talks with Israel if he wants President Barack Obama’s help in setting up a Palestinian state, according to an internal Palestinian document obtained by The Associated Press on Monday.
The 36-page memo, sent to senior Palestinian officials, advised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resist growing U.S. pressure, warning that rescinding his conditions for face-to-face negotiations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be “political suicide.”
Abbas has said he won’t resume talks that broke off in December 2008 unless Netanyahu accepts the idea of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem - with some alterations - and freezes all settlement building there.
Netanyahu refuses to commit to anything before the start of talks, but has said he will not give up east Jerusalem. On Monday, he strongly indicated that he would not extend a 10-month freeze on housing starts in West Bank settlements beyond September.
Taliban bomber kills 7 in Pakistan
PABBI, Pakistan - A Taliban suicide bomber struck Monday near the home of a Pakistani provincial minister whose only son was recently killed by the militants, officials said. Seven people were killed and 25 wounded.
Mian Iftikhar Hussain, information minister of Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa province and an outspoken critic of the Taliban, was the apparent target.
He was receiving condolences from visitors elsewhere in the town of Pabbi at the time of the blast and was safe. Some of his relatives were also receiving mourners at a mosque near the house, and two were hurt, police said.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying their goal was to kill Hussain because his political party is allied with the United States. The Awami National Party is a secular-leaning political group that has been outspoken against militant activity in Pakistan.
Front Section, Pages 5 on 07/27/2010