WASHINGTON – The Bush administration for the first time Thursday called the attacks in Sudan’s Darfur region by government-backed Arab militias against black Africans genocide. Secretary of State Colin Powell told Congress that Sudan’s government is to blame for the killings of tens of thousands and the uprooting of 1.2 million people. In recent interviews with 1,136 refugees in neighboring Chad, the State Department found a “consistent and widespread pattern of atrocities committed against non-Arab villagers,” according to a department report. It added that about a third of the refugees who were interviewed heard racial epithets while under attack.
Leak Iraq documents, activist urges Daniel Ellsberg, the former Defense Department official who leaked the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam war, is urging government insiders to provide similar classified documents about the invasion of Iraq. Joined by other whistle-blowers and former government employees, Ellsberg said Thursday that claims of government deception and lies have “little credibility” unless supported by documentary evidence, which often is available only in classified materials.
Pentagon targets military sex assaults
The Pentagon on Thursday named a one-star general to a newly created position of policy chief for all matters related to sexual assault prevention and response. Air Force Brig. Gen. K.C. McClain was described in a Pentagon announcement as the “single point of accountability” for all sexual assault policy within the Defense Department. She will report to the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. In her new post, McClain is responsible for sexual assault policy throughout the Defense Department, not just in the services.
Warships mark Sept. 11 crash sites
The Navy announced Thursday that it will name two ships after the places where two of the planes hijacked on Sept. 11, 2001, crashed. The USS Arlington will be named for Arlington, Va., where the Pentagon is. The USS Somerset will be named for the county in Pennsylvania where it is believed hijackers deliberately crashed their plane after passengers rose up against them. The ships are amphibious transport docks, the eighth and ninth of the San Antonio class.
A lion attacked an animal keeper at a zoo Thursday, leaving her with serious wounds before fellow workers could shoo the beast away. Nancy DeFiesta suffered injuries to her back, neck and arm during the attack, which occurred during her routine morning work on the lion exhibit, said the chief veterinarian for Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo. DeFiesta was listed in serious condition Thursday.
Nevada: Vegas monorail shuts down
The Las Vegas monorail was closed one day after it reopened when a piece of a train’s undercarriage fell off Wednesday and landed in a busy street. No one was injured when a slip disk – similar to a large washer – came loose and fell about 25 feet to the pavement, a monorail spokesman said. The 6-inch disk, weighing 1 to 2 pounds, first struck a power rail, causing electrical arcing but no serious damage to the track. The $650 million monorail reopened Tuesday after being closed for six days after a Sept. 1 incident in which a 60-pound wheel fell off one of the trains.
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