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Posted on 03/12/2004 8:23:06 PM PST by thecabal
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- This week's deadly train bombings in Spain will not lead to a rise in the U.S. color-coded terror threat alert system, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman said Friday.
"Based on the current intelligence, we have no specific indicators that terrorist groups are considering such an attack in the U.S. in the near term," said department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
By TOBY STERLING, Associated Press Writer
THE HAGUE, Netherlands - The International Court of Justice on Wednesday ruled that the United States violated the rights of 51 Mexicans on death row and ordered their cases be reviewed.
The United Nations' highest judiciary, also known as the world court, was considering a suit filed by Mexico claiming 52 convicted murderers weren't given their right to assistance from their government.
"The U.S. should provide by means of its own choosing meaningful review of the conviction and sentence" of the Mexicans, presiding judge Shi Jiuyong said.
Shi said the review, in all but three cases, could be carried out under the normal appeals process in the United States.
But for three men whose have already exhausted all other appeals, the court said the United States should make an exception and review their cases one last time.
The court found that in the remaining case, the convict had received his rights and his case didn't need to be reviewed.
At the heart of the Mexico-U.S. case is the 1963 Vienna Convention, which guarantees people accused of a serious crime while in a foreign country the right to contact their own government for help and that they be informed of that right by arresting authorities.
The world court is charged with resolving disputes between nations and has jurisdiction over the treaty. It found that U.S. authorities hadn't properly informed the 51 men of their rights when they realized they were foreigners.
Both the United States and Mexico were preparing reactions to the ruling.
The United States had argued the case was a sovereignty issue, and the 15-judge tribunal should be wary of allowing itself to be used as a criminal appeals court, which is not its mandate.
In hearings in December, lawyers for Mexico argued that any U.S. citizen accused of a serious crime abroad would want the same right, and the only fair solution for the men allegedly denied diplomatic help was to start their legal processes all over again.
Juan Manuel Gomez said that Mexico "doesn't contest the United States' right as a sovereign country to impose the death penalty for the most grave crimes," but wants to make sure its citizens aren't abused by a foreign legal system they don't always understand.
U.S. lawyer William Taft argued that the prisoners had received fair trials. He said even if the prisoners didn't get consular help, the way to remedy the wrong "must be left to the United States."
In its written arguments, the United States said that Mexico's request would be a "radical intrusion" into the U.S. justice system, contradicting laws and customs in every city and state in the nation.
"The court has never ordered any form of restitution nearly as far reaching as that sought by Mexico," the arguments said.
In 2001, a similar case came before the court filed by Germany to stop the execution of two German brothers who also had not been informed of their right to consular assistance. One brother was executed before the court could act. The judges ordered a stay of execution for the second brother, Walter LaGrand, until it could deliberate, but he was executed anyway by the state authorities of Arizona.
Under the court's statute, its judgments are "binding, final and without appeal." Its rulings have rarely been ignored, and if one side claims the other has failed to carry out the court's decision, it may take the issue to the U.N. Security Council.
When the court finally handed down the belated ruling in 2001, it chastised the U.S. government for not halting the LaGrand execution, and rejected arguments that Washington was powerless to intervene in criminal cases under the authority of the individual states.
Mexican President Vicente Fox canceled a visit to President Bush's ranch in 2002 to protest the execution of a Mexican citizen not mentioned in the world court suit. The visit finally took place earlier this month.
TEXAS CITY, Texas - A furnace at the BP refinery has exploded and burned, sending 10 people to a hospital for treatment of exposure to chemicals.
The furnace fire followed multiple blasts that rocked the Houston Ship Channel-area petrochemical complex about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday was fueled by naphtha, a petroleum feed stock used at the refinery, said Bruce C. Clawson, the Texas City emergency management director.
Regulatory agencies will conduct investigations into the incident, which forced the evacuation of the plant for several hours Tuesday night.
"There was a boom, followed by two more booms," said Tommy Clark, who was in his office at Trey Industries not far from the refinery when the blasts occurred. "It shook the whole building."
Clawson said an internal investigation was also under way, following a heightened security alert from recent reports from the FBI and industry groups that refineries in this area might be targeted by terrorists.
"That was one of our first concerns" with the blasts, Clawson told the Texas City Sun in Wednesday's editions. "But there is no indication of that, none at all."
Ten people reported to Mainland Center Hospital complaining of exposure, said spokesman Harold Fattig. He said a decontamination area had been set up in case dangerous chemicals had been released into the air.
BP spokeswoman Annie Smith said operations resumed late Tuesday.
The blasts prompted an early ending to high school baseball and softball action between the Texas City Stings and the La Marque Cougars. Texas City's junior varsity baseball team, which had been in La Marque for a game, sheltered in place at the student center at College of the Mainland.
Some College of the Mainland evening classes were dismissed.
The Texas City refinery is the largest of BP's four refineries in the Houston area. It has the capacity to refine 435,000 barrels of crude oil daily.
May it be thus, O Lord ... may it be thus ...
By Jennifer Wilson, Amarillo Globe-News, Texas Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Mar. 27 - A national multimillion-dollar grant is helping America fight bioterrorism -- and Amarillo College has joined the battle.
AC was chosen last fall to take part in Texas CARES, a grant program run by the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. The program, funded by $459,000 in federal grant money from the Department of Homeland Security, develops bioterrorism training materials for medical professionals and students.
AC is the only community college in the state to participate in the program, said Danita McAnally, director of institutional effectiveness and advancement. She made the first contact with grant program officials.
The San Antonio university chose AC because it offers a variety of allied health programs, from dental hygiene to radiography, McAnally said. The program aims to integrate bioterrorism training into these courses.
"It becomes more amazing to me all the time," she said.
AC will not receive any funds from the grant, McAnally said, but Amarillo will benefit by working with bioterrorism experts from across the state and showcasing the city's expertise.
Jim Clements is developing bioterrorism curricula to use in his AC classes. He is director of fire and environmental programs.
A key part of this will be teaching individuals to work in an "incident command system" that organizes all the fire, health, emergency and law enforcement officials into a chain of command when disaster strikes, Clements said.
"Without it you just have chaos," Clements said.
Clements also is working with others from San Antonio, Dallas and Laredo -- cities also involved in the grant -- to develop a separate bioterrorism course that could be used in schools across the country. It's been a good opportunity to share knowledge with officials across the state, he said.
"Each one of us has their own area of extra expertise," Clements said.
AC isn't the only Amarillo entity involved. Officials from the city of Amarillo, local fire and law enforcement agencies and the Canyon office of the Texas Department of Health also are taking part.
And the more prepared these individuals are, the better, said Theresa West, who works with Amarillo's emergency management department.
"I honestly feel that the more educated our population is about response effort, it just makes all of our lives easier," West said. "It calms down the panic."
-----
To see more of the Amarillo Globe-News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.amarillonet.com.
© 2004, Amarillo Globe-News, Texas. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
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ISSUE
DATE * |
LOCATION
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ATTACK
TYPE |
TARGET
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INTEL
SOURCE |
ATTACK
PROBABILITY* |
| Mar. 25 ongoing | all Texas and Louisiana coastal refineries | bombs in small aircraft and hand-delivered incendiary devices | refineries, natural gas storage facilities | FBI, Arab press, Internet, vanishing Jihad websites and forums | High |
| Mar. 25 ongoing | Sydney, Australia | bombs | Sydney Opera House | vanishing Jihad websites and statements from mullahs | High |
| Mar. 22 ongoing | United States | Bombings, suitcase nukes, assassinations | Churches, synagogues, malls, large gatherings, schools, hotels and other soft targets | Direct statements from Hamas and other terrorist leaders, Arab press, Internet | Unusually high |
| COMMENT: Today's announcement gave terrorists the 'go' signal to attack ALL American and Israeli targets both in Israel and the U.S., and throughout the rest of the world. "The door to the doors of Jihad are now open." Given the presence of terrorist cells within the U.S. including Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, al-Qaeda, (and every other terrorist group in the world,) they have now issued their attack orders. I would urge all readers of this terror alert, especially in the larger cities that border Canada and Mexico, to be extra diligent and to avoid large gatherings of people. Also, be cautious of gas stations with an obvious foreign presence. | |||||
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* NOTE: Attack Probabilities are rated Threat Specific, High, Extremely High or In Progress
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Reuters News Service BRUSSELS, Belgium - EU veterinary authorities have eased the bloc's blanket ban on poultry imports from Canada and the United States, imposed due to avian flu, to one region in each country, the European Commission said today.
"The current disease situation and available information now allow a reduction of the protective measures to a confined area," the Commission said in a statement.
"For the USA, the import restrictions are now limited to the state of Texas and for Canada to a part of the province of British Columbia," it added.
The vets' decision refers to the EU's ban in imports of live poultry, poultry meat and products and eggs from both countries.
For the United States, the narrower ban will apply until Aug. 23, and for Canada until Oct. 1. A large buffer zone will be set up in case of future outbreaks of the highly contagious disease.
An outbreak of a different strain of the highly contagious virus in Asia has caused at least 24 deaths and prompted the slaughter of tens of millions of fowl.
Vietnam has now said it has stamped out avian flu, after 16 people died from the disease. China has said the same.
Progress has been slower elsewhere in Asia. Thailand has not officially declared the epidemic over, while Indonesia said last week it hopes to declare itself disease-free "in a short time."
The EU is a major importer of hatching eggs from Canada.
It takes one-quarter of its annual egg imports from the United States, which is also a major poultry exporter to the EU.
By MIKE GLENN
Gunmen in two different vehicles opened fire on another car in north Houston on Tuesday night, killing one passenger and sending a second to the hospital, police said.
Others occupants in the vehicle that was attacked told police they were driving on West Rankin Road near Spears Road about 9 p.m. when a sports utility vehicle and an Acura pulled up beside them. The assailants began riddling the victims' white Mitsubishi with gunfire from a large-caliber pistol and a shotgun.
"None of them that we talked to so far know the people that shot at them," said Sgt. Russ Hayes with the Houston police homicide division. "They are saying that they were shot at unprovoked."
An 18-year-old in the front passenger seat was struck in the head and died in the car. A 17-year-old in the back seat also was shot in the head but survived the attack and was taken to Ben Taub General Hospital.
"He's apparently stable right now," Hayes said early today.
The victims fled but soon were stopped at Ella near Pennbright when a Harris County Sheriff's deputy spotted sparks flying from the heavily-damaged vehicle.
"One of the tires had been shot out (and) they were running on the rim," Hayes said.
While they claimed to be innocent victims of the assault, detectives said the people in the Mitsubishi also had been armed.
"We have reason to believe that they stopped their vehicle and threw the weapons out," Hayes said. "We're looking for those right now."
Police at the scene said they didn't have a viable description of the suspects. The motive also was unknown late Tuesday.
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