WASHINGTON — The Bush administration will cut counterterrorism money for police, firefighters and rescue departments next year, but not by as much as it originally proposed. Next month the White House will request $2.2 billion to help states and cities protect against terrorist attacks in 2009, and not $1.4 billion, an administration aide told Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., on Friday. That would be 10 percent more than the president requested for 2008, but 40 percent less than Congress gave the Homeland Security Department this year.
California: Rocket motor deaths
The company that flew the first privately funded manned rocket into space has been cited in connection with an explosion last summer that killed three workers, the state said Friday. California occupational safety inspectors said in a report that Scaled Composites LLC failed to properly train workers about the dangers of nitrous oxide that was used during a test in July. Three workers died in the explosion, which was part of the development of a new rocket motor.
Virginia: Gun background checks
Emotional pleas by relatives of Virginia Tech shooting victims failed Friday to persuade a legislative committee to close a loophole that allows criminals and the mentally ill to buy firearms at gun shows. The House Militia, Police and Public Safety Committee voted 13-9 to kill legislation that would require unlicensed sellers at gun shows to conduct criminal background checks on buyers. Such checks now are required only on transactions by federally licensed gun dealers.
Vermont: Frost home vandalized
Twenty-eight people are accused of attending a birthday party and New Year’s celebration that left a farm house where poet Robert Frost once spent his summers in tatters. They were all charged with trespassing and five of them with unlawful mischief, stemming from the Dec. 28 party at the Homer Noble Farm house, authorities said. The farm house had broken windows, broken antique furniture and tables burned in a fireplace. Vomit and urine stained the carpeting and beer cans and drug paraphernalia were left behind.
Michigan: 911 operator guilty
A jury convicted a 911 operator Friday of willful neglect of duty after authorities said she didn’t take seriously a boy’s calls to report his mother had collapsed. The mother was found dead three hours after the first call. The misdemeanor charge against Sharon Nichols is punishable by up to a year in jail. She will be sentenced March 11. Robert Turner, now 7, testified that Nichols hung up on him and accused him of playing games.
Canada: U.S. on torture list
A manual for Canadian diplomats lists the United States as a country where prisoners risk torture and abuse, citing interrogation techniques such as stripping prisoners, blindfolding and sleep deprivation. The Foreign Affairs Department document, released Friday, singled out the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay. It also names Israel, Afghanistan, China, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Syria as places where inmates could face torture. Canada has said the manual is for training and does not amount to official government policy.
Colombia: Galeras volcano erupts
A volcano in southwestern Colombia spewed ash Friday after a violent eruption, while authorities fought to persuade thousands of living in the mountain’s shadow to evacuate. No damages or injuries were reported in the eruption of the 14,110-foot Galeras volcano, which began at 8:06 p.m. Thursday. Although authorities ordered the 8,000 residents of the two towns nearest the volcano evacuated, few people abandoned their homes, fearing theft, a local mayor said.
Iraq: Shiite cult launches attacks
Gunmen from a messianic Shiite cult attacked police and worshippers preparing Friday for a major Shiite holiday, prompting fierce clashes that left nearly 50 people dead in a major test for Iraqi security forces in oil-rich southern Iraq. Carrying yellow flags or wearing yellow headbands to show their allegiance to the Soldiers of Heaven cult, the gunmen attacked police stations and opened fire randomly on civilians in Basra and Nasiriyah.
Kenya: Third day of protests
Clashes between rival tribes armed with machetes and bows and arrows on Friday marked the third, the bloodiest and what the government hopes is the last, day of opposition protests over Kenya’s disputed presidential election. With more than 20 people killed since Wednesday, the opposition announced a new strategy of economic boycotts and strikes to ratchet up pressure. President Mwai Kibaki insists he won the election, but international and local observers say the vote count was rigged.
From Herald news services
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