QUOTE OF THE DAY “It would not have been beyond the means
of a small New Zealand contingent to do this on their own.” Wesley Wark, a University of Ottawa national security professor, on reports that U.S. spy agencies and the New Zealand military monitored phone conversations between a New Zealand journalist and his Afghan sources Article, this page
Slain teen’s mom fights stand-ground law
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. - The mother of slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin joined a prominent black lawyers organization in vowing Monday to keep the pressure on legislators to repeal or overhaul “stand your ground” self-defense laws.
Sybrina Fulton repeated her assertion that neighborhood-watch volunteer George Zimmerman “got away with murder” in the 2012 killing of her son largely because of Florida’s self-defense law, which generally removed a person’s duty to retreat if possible in the face of danger. It was the first of its kind in the nation when passed in 2005.
Now about two dozen states have similar laws, but the focus of repeal efforts is squarely on Florida.
“We have to change the law so that this doesn’t happen to someone else’s child,” Fulton told reporters at the National Bar Association’s annual meeting. “My son wasn’t doing anything wrong. He was simply walking home. He wasn’t a suspect.”
Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, has rejected calls for a special legislative session on “stand your ground” from protesters who have been occupying part of the Capitol in Tallahassee since Zimmerman was acquitted earlier this month by a jury in Sanford. Zimmerman claimed self-defense in shooting the 17-year-old Martin during a fight; Martin’s supporters say Zimmerman profiled and followed him because Martin was black.
Senate, 93-1, sends Comey to FBI helm
WASHINGTON - The Senate on Monday confirmed James Comey to be the next director of the FBI, giving the agency its first new head since before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Comey, the former No. 2 official in the Justice Department under President George W. Bush, was confirmed 93-1.
Once sworn in, he will take over for Robert Mueller, who has led the agency since days before the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
Comey, 52, will lead a law enforcement agency that has been changing to address increased threats posed by cyberattacks and domestic terrorism, at a time of heightened public concerns over the reach and scope of classified surveillance programs disclosed by a former intelligence contractor.
Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, had said he’d hold up the nomination until he received answers from the FBI about the agency’s domestic use of unmanned aerial vehicles. He voted against Comey’s confirmation.
The agency, in a response to Paul, said in a letter that it didn’t require a warrant to use the drones to conduct surveillance on specific investigations.
Paul said in a statement that while he disagreed with the FBI’s interpretation, he would release the hold on Comey.
105 children saved in prostitution sweep
WASHINGTON - Authorities rescued 105 children who were forced into prostitution, and arrested 150 pimps and others in a three-day law enforcement sweep in 76 American cities, the FBI said Monday. The victims, almost all girls, range in age from 13 to 17.
The largest numbers of children rescued were in the San Francisco Bay and Detroit areas, Milwaukee, Denver and New Orleans. The campaign, known as Operation Cross Country, was conducted under the FBI’s Innocence Lost initiative.
The FBI said the campaign has resulted in rescuing 2,700 children since 2003.
Gas leak fells Philly row house; 8 injured
PHILADELPHIA - A natural-gas leak was to blame for an explosion on a densely packed city block that caused one row house to collapse into the street and left eight people injured, including two babies and a critically injured contractor, officials said.
City inspectors made the leak determination late Monday afternoon, several hours after the collapse of the unoccupied home being remodeled in the middle of a south Philadelphia street of connected two-story brick homes.
The contractor, whose name was not immediately released, was working on a water heater in the basement of the destroyed home, police said. He was hospitalized in critical condition with severe burns, Mayor Michael Nutter’s office said in a statement.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 07/30/2013