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Saturday, October 26, 2013

Greece suspends state aid to neo-Nazi party

Athens (AFP) - Greek authorities on Wednesday prepared to hit neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn with fresh indictments, hours after its state funding was suspended by parliament in a move linked to the murder of an anti-fascist musician last month.

Magistrates were expected to press criminal charges against three Golden Dawn lawmakers whose immunity from prosecution was lifted last week, a justice source said.

So far, the party's leader Nikos Michaloliakos and two other lawmakers, including deputy party leader Christos Pappas, are being held in a high-security Athens prison on charges of running or belonging to a criminal group.

Six other Golden Dawn lawmakers have also been tied to the criminal investigation.

Early on Wednesday, parliament adopted a bill suspending Golden Dawn's state funding by 235 votes out of 300 lawmakers.

Members of Golden Dawn called the move "unconstitutional" and abstained from voting, walking out of the chamber after the debate.

The measure says state aid is suspended "to a party where the leader... or a tenth of the elected members are under investigation for constituting or participating in a criminal organisation" -- which is the case for Golden Dawn.

According to reports, the party has drawn 1.2 million euros ($1.6 million) in state funding this year.

Golden Dawn is Greece's third-most-popular party, with 18 seats in parliament.

Authorities began a crackdown on the far-right group following the killing of an anti-fascist musician by a self-confessed neo-Nazi.

The September 18 murder of hip hop artist Pavlos Fyssas by a Golden Dawn supporter triggered public outrage, putting pressure on Greek authorities to take action against the party.

Having long been accused by migrant groups of turning a blind eye, police are now probing a string of violent incidents blamed on the group.

Several officers have been arrested in connection with the investigation.

Court documents have linked Golden Dawn to two murders, three attempted murders and numerous assaults.

Witnesses have also testified that senior party members were involved in migrant beatings, extortion and possible arms smuggling.

Formerly on the fringe of Greek politics, Golden Dawn skyrocketed to popularity by tapping into widespread anger over immigration and austerity reforms in debt-wracked Greece, which is slogging through its sixth year of recession and where youth unemployment stands at 60 percent.

Golden Dawn denies all the charges against it, and claims it is the victim of a smear campaign ahead of local elections next year.

Observers say owing to constitutional safeguards designed to protect political freedom, the Golden Dawn lawmakers, including its leader Michaloliakos, are unlikely to lose their parliamentary seats even if convicted.

Any attempt to ban the party would also be legally complicated, and government officials have already said it would be preferable to expose Golden Dawn's alleged criminal activities to its own voters, rather than make political martyrs out of its leaders.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/greece-suspends-state-aid-neo-nazi-party-230339583.html
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Police chase gunman, hostages across Mojave Desert

RIDGECREST, Calif. (AP) — Police were investigating a deadly shooting in this Mojave Desert city when they got a chilling call — from the killer.

Sergio Munoz said he wanted to deliver a "package" to police and to kill officers, but to avoid being outgunned at the station he would instead "wreak havoc" elsewhere.

Munoz kept his word Friday during a nearly hour-long chase. With two hostages in the trunk of his car, Munoz sped along some 30 miles of desert highway, taking shots at passing motorists and trying to run oncoming cars off the road before police killed him.

Investigators were puzzling over what triggered the rampage by Munoz, 39, whose criminal record stretched back at least two decades.

There were signs his life was unraveling. He was arrested last Sunday and Ridgecrest police have said he lost his job recently. A woman who knew him said he was using and dealing heroin.

The violence began at about 5:15 a.m. Friday when police responded to a call at a home where Munoz had been staying. They found a woman shot to death and a man wounded.

Dawn Meier, the sister of the wounded man, told The Associated Press that Munoz had been staying at her brother's house for about two weeks. She said her brother, Thaddeus Meier, told her Munoz was a friend he wanted to help out but that Munoz had been using and dealing black tar heroin.

She moved out of the house a week ago to join her boyfriend, who lived next door, after he insisted she get her 7-month-old son away from the drugs.

Her boyfriend, Derrick Holland, said on Thursday he heard Munoz complaining in the yard about how his life was falling apart and he was losing everything "due to drugs."

Early Friday morning, Munoz showed up and told Thaddeus Meier, "We're going to reduce all of the snitches in town," Dawn Meier said, recounting what her brother said from the hospital where he was being treated for gunshot wounds.

When her brother declined, Munoz shot him at least twice, then shot and killed Meier's girlfriend. Her identity has not been released.

Later that morning, Munoz called a police officer on his cellphone, Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said at a press conference. Munoz said he had a package for police and wanted to come to the station and "kill all the officers but they had too many guns," Youngblood said.

Police now believe the "package" was the hostages.

Nearly two hours later, a sheriff's deputy spotted Munoz's car and a pursuit began through the shrub-dotted desert about 150 miles north of Los Angeles. Munoz ran traffic off the road, firing at least 10 times at passing vehicles with a shotgun and a handgun.

No motorists were hurt, Youngblood said.

At one point during the chase, Munoz pulled over and the car's trunk popped open, revealing a man and woman inside. They appeared to shut the trunk, the sheriff said. Munoz got back in the car and sped off.

In the end, Munoz pulled over again on U.S. 395, turned in his seat and began shooting into the trunk. As many as seven officers opened fire and killed him.

The hostages were flown to a hospital in critical condition, but were expected to survive. Their names have not been released and police have not said anything about their relationship to Munoz.

Munoz is a felon with convictions dating back to 1994, when he was sentenced to more than two years in prison for receiving stolen property. In May, he was arrested for possessing ammunition as a felon, but the felony charge was dismissed.

Munoz was most recently arrested Sunday for investigation of possessing controlled substance paraphernalia and a felony charge of possessing ammunition as a felon. Dawn Meier said police found a syringe at the home where the slaying would happen five days later.

Ridgecrest is a city of about 27,000 people adjacent to the vast Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, which sprawls over more than 1,700 square miles of desert. U.S. 395 runs through the western Mojave, below the eastern flank of the Sierra Nevada.

Ridgecrest Mayor Dan Clark called the incident disturbing, especially because the small city is relatively crime free.

___

AP Writers Tami Abdollah and Greg Risling in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/police-chase-gunman-hostages-across-mojave-desert-055301171.html
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10 Incredible DIY Castles Built by a Single Person

You know the saying "a man's home is his castle?" Some folks out there take it very seriously — setting out to build their own medieval fortresses. Carlos Zahumenszky from Gizmodo en Español collected some of the most fascinating castles, all with one thing in common: they were all begun as one-person projects.

McConnell wins praise from some in Kentucky

FILE - In this Oct. 15, 2013 file photo, Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. walks on Capitol Hill in Washington. In the midst of a double-barreled re-election fight, Mitch McConnell is earning praise back home _ and from some of the most unlikely of corners _ for brokering of the deal that ended the partial government shutdown and averted a potential default on U.S. debt. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci, File)

FILE - In this Aug. 3, 2013 file photo, Louisville businessman Matt Bevin, the Senate primary election opponent of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky. speaks in in Fancy Farm, Ky. In the midst of a double-barreled re-election fight,McConnell is earning praise back home _ and from some of the most unlikely of corners _ for brokering of the deal that ended the partial government shutdown and averted a potential default on U.S. debt. (AP Photo/Stephen Lance Dennee)

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — In the midst of a double-barreled re-election fight, Mitch McConnell is earning praise back home from some unlikely corners for brokering the deal that ended the partial government shutdown and averted a potential default on U.S. debt.

"He did yeoman's work making sure this thing got fixed," said Owensboro tobacco farmer Rod Kuegal, a Democrat.

Newspaper opinion pages that typically disagree with McConnell also give him positive marks. Among them: the Lexington Herald-Leader, which said McConnell "does deserve credit for what he does best — managing in the real, messy world of democratic government."

While McConnell may have temporarily hushed Democratic foes who call him "the guardian of gridlock," his collaboration with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to break the impasse again riled tea party Republicans and other conservatives who long have criticized him.

"We're feeling betrayed," says Tim Isaac, a tea party Republican in Wilmore who owns a small information technology company. "Either he's one of us or he's not, and based on what he did," he's not.

By deciding to work with Democrats, McConnell became the latest Republican to show a willingness to risk the ire of tea partyers by making the pragmatic decision rather than the ideologically pure one. Earlier this week, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie stopped fighting legal gay marriage in his state, angering parts of the GOP's conservative base but endearing him to others across the political spectrum.

Even Republican allies say McConnell faced a tough choice as the shutdown entered a third week.

He could stand firm with conservative demands for more spending cuts — a move that could help overcome a challenge from tea party-backed Matt Bevin — while angering everyone else he'd need to win another term. Or he could look to next fall and broker a deal with Democrats. That would enrage the tea party but endear himself to the broader electorate of independents and moderates whose backing he will need in the general election against Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes

In the end, McConnell's decision suggested a confidence that he can overcome such gripes from the tea party, which has never fully warmed to him. It also reflected his campaign's belief that he'll ultimately win the primary over Bevin and will face a tougher fight from Grimes in the general election next fall.

One year out, the electoral environment is shaping up to be difficult for Republicans.

Voters of all stripes are fed up with gridlock in Washington. And national polls show that Americans overwhelmingly blame the GOP for the standoff.

That could be a potential problem for McConnell, the top Senate Republican who is seeking his sixth term and is deeply unpopular in the state.

But McConnell's shutdown maneuvering may have undercut that argument, even though Democrats have spent nearly $1 million on TV ads this year painting him as "Sen. Gridlock.

Grimes, McConnell's chief Democratic challenger claims McConnell had hidden in the shadows through much of the debt-ceiling debate until it was nearly too late. She argued the five-term senator opted to negotiate only because of political pressure back home, and that he now "is attempting to pat himself on the back for finally deciding to do his job."

Tea party activists say McConnell will be punished for compromising instead of siding with tea party lawmakers. They were demanding that any deal to end the shutdown include provisions gutting funding for President Barack Obama's health care law.

Bevin, a Louisville businessman and McConnell's underfunded primary opponent, charged that he "negotiated the GOP surrender" despite his promise that he "would fight to eliminate Obamacare 'root and branch.'

And, within days of the deal being struck, the Senate Conservatives Fund, a conservative group sharply critical of the budget deal and that had been hammering McConnell in TV ads, promised to work on Bevin's behalf.

That criticism aside, voters from various quarters say they give him credit for being the go-to guy for hammering out bipartisan agreements.

Robert Myer, a Democrat who is the co-owner of a Mayfield lumber company, applauded McConnell for helping end the shutdown and says he had few options because of Obama's unwillingness to negotiate.

"I'm more appalled at Obama for doing nothing," he said.

Other Democrats also give McConnell credit for deftly handling the situation.

"Somebody had to give in ... At least old Mitch was wily enough to get something for Kentucky out of it, even if he had to cave," said retired teacher June Rice.

Kuegal, the Owensboro farmer, gave McConnell credit for a nearly $2.9 billion appropriation to replace the Olmsted Lock and Dam on the Ohio River between Kentucky and Illinois, saying: "That was pretty amazing."

But while McConnell supported the money, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., chairwoman of the appropriations committee that handles spending on water projects, and Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., the top Republican on that panel, got the provision in the budget agreement.

McConnell got credit for the deal from The Independent, in the Ohio River city of Ashland, which said in an editorial: "Our reasoning is simple: Allowing the federal government to default on its loan obligations or killing a project that is critical to transporting goods on the Ohio River had the potential of devastating the economy of this region."

Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-10-23-US-Budget-Battle-McConnell/id-d469bfc6fe0645a088f91c90c9ffeb2e
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Orlando Bloom Talks Separating from Miranda Kerr: "We're Not Friends...We're Family"

Caught alone while coming back from work on "Romeo and Juliet" in the Big Apple, the multi-talented Orlando Bloom was grilled about the collapse of his marriage with wife, Miranda Kerr.

The photog asked Orlando if he was alright, questioning the "Hobbit" star about his friendship with Miranda, asking if they were indeed, still friends. He kept a cool head, saying, "We're not friends. We're family."

Not satisfied with the answers given to him, the photog kept pressing the issue, asking what happened between Miranda and Orlando, but the 36-year-old star jumped into a waiting car before any more questions could be asked of him.

Before motoring away, Orlando told the photog that life works in mysterious ways, and not always the way you want it to. He has been separated from Miranda for several months, but they officially ended their marriage today.

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Britney: Balancing 'crazy mom' home life with work

LONDON (AP) — Britney Spears may take on a sexy pop star persona in the video for her latest single "Work B---- ," but at home she says she feels like a "crazy mom."

Speaking in London, the 31-year old singer says these days she juggles the demands of an international singing career with taking care of her two sons, Sean, 8, and 7-year-old Jayden.

"Once you've done a shoot ... you have to come in and do homework and fix dinner twice and it's a lot of work," she told The Associated Press in an Oct. 15 interview. "But I think as women we just manage it, we make it work."

Spears says she worked hard with her fitness trainer to get into top shape for her new video, sticking to two or three small meals each day. The American singer admitted, however, that she struggled to stave off food cravings in the weeks leading up to the video shoot, saying: "I love to eat my popcorn at night!"

And the first thing she ate afterward?

"Just chocolate, chocolate, chocolate," she said.

"Work B----" is the lead single from Spears' 8th studio album "Britney Jean" — the name her family calls her — and she says it's her most personal album to date. Produced with will.i.am, Spears co-wrote every track, including a song about her split with Jason Trawick in January.

"'I think it will make girls not feel alone in this situation," she explained. "When they're alone in their room and they broke up with their boyfriend, they have a song they can go to and listen to, just makes them feel better about themselves."

Not content with just a new single and a new album, the singer is also preparing for a Las Vegas residency at the Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino. In a show titled "Britney: Piece of Me," Spears will perform 50 dates over two years.

The Grammy-winner says she has a vocal coach to strengthen her voice for the show. She described the process as "grueling" — but says she can't wait for the experience.

"I know I'll be nervous, but I'm going to be excited, too. It's going to be cool," she said.

Spears feels it's a good time for women in pop music right now, citing the success of Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Madonna and Taylor Swift as her inspiration.

"There's so many strong, powerful women in pop music culture today," she said.

"Britney Jean" is out Dec. 3 and "Britney: Piece of Me" debuts in Las Vegas on Dec. 27.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/britney-balancing-crazy-mom-home-life-173814943.html
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Reversed Call Gives Sox Opening To Win World Series Game One

In last night's game one of the World Series, umpires changed an out call at second base. Instead of a possible inning-ending double play, the Boston Red Sox went on to score three runs and eventually beat the St. Louis Cardinals.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

The St. Louis Cardinals hope to come back against the Boston Red Sox in game two of the World Series tonight. In game one, well, just about nothing went right with the Cardinals. NPR's Mike Pesca joins us. He's covering these games from Boston. Hey there, Mike.

MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: Hi.

CORNISH: So, in the first inning, there was this big mistaken call by the umpire at second base and then a reversal of that call. What happened?

PESCA: David Ortiz grounds to second, second baseman flips it to the shortstop. So that should have started a double play. In fact, the shortstop, Pete Kozma, just drops the ball. So what that means is that there should be the bases loaded. Unfortunately, Dana Demuth, the umpire, was not looking at the glove and the ball. He was looking at the feet, which is technically what umpires are supposed to do. They listen for the ball hitting the glove. And it did it hit the glove, but it trickled out.

So, Dana Demuth was the only person in the whole stadium who thought that there was an out on the play. Red Sox manager intervenes. There's a big conference. And every other umpire - and Fox Broadcasting aired this audio of John Hirschbeck, the chief of the crew, saying, the five of us saw it and we're a hundred percent certain that he should be safe.

And so the runner was ruled safe. This allowed the bases to be loaded. Next up, Mike Napoli hit a double. It totally changed the game. And it is kind of unprecedented to have umpires confer like that, eventually get the call right. But the process is not what we're used to in Major League Baseball.

CORNISH: Would replay have solved that?

PESCA: You know, it's interesting. I've heard people - because replay is coming next year. And there's kind of a convoluted system. It's - there will be an official in New York City looking at these replays, and then coaches or managers will have a certain amount of challenges. So I've seen everyone argue that this means that replay will be slow, this means that replay is unnecessary. This means that if this happened later in the game and the manager was out of challenges, maybe he wouldn't be even able to ask for a reversal.

I don't think it means any of that. I think next year, Major League Baseball is going to try a replay system and that's going to try to get more calls right. I think, at the same time, umpires are making an effort to get the calls right among themselves. The presence of replay does not preclude umpires from occasionally reversing when one of their brethren totally blows a call.

CORNISH: So this is a rough start for St. Louis. Do you think the Cardinals will be able to put this behind them?

PESCA: You know, it's interesting. I think that they're certainly a resilient team and it has nothing to do with their mental makeup. Yes. As far as that goes, yes. But physically, there was a moment in the game where perhaps if Mike Matheny, the Cardinals' manager, had intervened, he could have pulled his starter, his ace, Adam Wainwright, out after, say, the second inning, save his arm. You could possibly have gotten Adam Wainwright three more starts in this World Series.

I asked Matheny about that after the game and he says, well, he still had very few pitches. In fact, Wainwright had 95 pitches, which is not a tremendous amount, but it's a real start. So I think maybe an early intervention would have helped them more. But Matheny also said, we're not ruling anything out as far as Wainwright pitching on a little bit of rest.

CORNISH: OK. Mike, looking ahead, though, let's preview tonight's pitchers.

PESCA: Tonight's pitchers, John Lackey is pitching for the Red Sox. He hasn't been good for a while, but this year, he was really great. I can't quite explain why. And no one could explain Michael Wacha. Well, he's the 22-year-old phenom. He's had three starts in the post-season for St. Louis. He's won them all. He's only allowed one earned run in the post-season. He only came up on May 30, but he's been so phenomenal. So the Red Sox are now the ones who are going to have their hands full, I think.

CORNISH: NPR's Mike Pesca joined us from member station WBUR in Boston. He's covering the series there. Mike, thanks.

PESCA: You're welcome.

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