QUOTE OF THE DAY “I respect President Obama.
I love my country and would never do anything to pose a threat to him or any other U.S. official.”Paul Kevin Curtis,
who was released from custody Tuesday after charges that he sent ricin-laced letters to President Barack Obama and others were dropped Article, 1A
Hacked AP Tweet says Obama injured
WASHINGTON - The Twitter account for The Associated Press was hacked Tuesday and sent out a message saying there had been explosions at the White House, injuring President Barack Obama.
Within a few minutes, Twitter suspended the account, and Julie Pace, the chief White House correspondent for the AP, announced at a White House briefing that the account had been hacked. Jay Carney, Obama’s press secretary, confirmed that the president was unharmed.
Editors at the AP soon followed with a statement saying that “The @AP twitter account has been hacked. The tweet about an attack at the White House is false. We will advise more as soon as possible.”
Within seconds of the posting, the false AP headline had spread all over Twitter. The Dow Jones industrial average plummeted more than 130 points before recouping the losses after it became clear the posting was a hoax.
Through a Twitter account, a group called the Syrian Electronic Army took credit for the attack.
2nd day of budget-cut air travel smoother
NEW YORK - A day after flight delays plagued much of the nation, air travel was smoother Tuesday, but the government warned passengers that the situation could change by the hour as thousands of air-traffic controllers are forced to take furloughs because of budget cuts.
Meanwhile, airlines and members of Congress urged the Federal Aviation Administration to find other ways to reduce spending. Airlines are worried about the long-term costs of late flights on their budgets and on passengers.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said no one should be surprised about the delays, noting that he warned about the potential for problems two months ago.
But critics of the agency insist it could reduce its budget in other ways that would not inconvenience travelers.
Montana’s Baucus won’t seek 7th term
WASHINGTON - Democratic Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, the powerful Senate Finance Committee chairman who steered President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul into law but broke with his party on gun control, said Tuesday that he will not run for re-election.
“I don’t want to die here with my boots on. There is life beyond Congress,” he said.
Baucus, 71, who arrived in Washington as a member of the 1974 Watergate class in the House and has been a fixture in the Senate since 1979, said the decision was hard.
He faced a tough re-election bid next year, with opposition to the health-care law in his state taking a toll on his approval ratings.
Baucus, who helped write Obama’s health-care law, stunned administration officials last week when he told the president’s health-care chief that he thought the law is headed for a “train wreck” because of bumbling implementation.
He became the eighth senator to announce retirement plans for 2014, and the sixth Democrat. Republicans must gain six seats in 2014 to win a majority.
Judges to review flipped al-Qaida verdict
WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court said Tuesday it will take another look at a three-judge panel’s decision to overturn the military commission conviction of an accused al-Qaida propagandist.
In January, the three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia threw out the conviction of Ali Hamza al-Bahlul, who was charged with providing material support to terrorism and conspiracy for making propaganda videos for al-Qaida.
That’s because a panel in a previous case concluded that before the enactment of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which authorized the tribunals for the terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay, only violations of the international law of war and pre-existing federal offenses were subject to military commission trials. That previous panel said the charges of material support for terrorism didn’t meet that standard.
The full seven-judge court Tuesday vacated the al-Bahlul ruling and will hear arguments in the case in September.
In the earlier case, the panel also threw out the conviction of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a former driver for Osama bin Laden who served a prison term for material support for terrorism. Hamdan had been sentenced to 5 ½ years, received credit for time served and is back home in Yemen, reportedly working as a taxi driver.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 04/24/2013