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(New York-AP) -- A former federal drug agent has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for lying and visa fraud. Prosecutors say 41-year-old Eric Newton of Newburgh, New York, participated in a scheme to help Nigerian citizens enter the United States illegally. He was sentenced yesterday after a jury convicted him on March Third of conspiracy, making false statements and visa fraud.Prosecutors say Newton committed the crimes while working as a deputy country attache at the D-E-A's Lagos Country Office at the U-S embassy in Lagos, Nigeria.Newton's been accused of exploiting his position as a D-E-A agent to falsely...

The Senate's partisan strength is so delicately balanced right now, the outcome in November of a few close races will determine the ultimate fate of the president's agenda and nominees. In fact, the way things look right now, we could have at least six Senate races decided by single-digit margins, most likely by margins in the low single digits. The states that should feature close contests include: Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire and South Dakota. Horse races also might develop in Colorado, Georgia, Montana and perhaps even in Illinois and New Jersey. In these competitions any number of factors...

U.S. Gets Bridge Impostor TORONTO -- A man accused of impersonating a military officer to try to take control of rescue efforts after a deadly bridge collapse in Oklahoma was handed over to U.S. authorities Wednesday. William Clark, 36, of Tallapoosa, Mo., was arrested in Canada last week as he waited in Tobermory, Ontario, about 180 miles northwest of Toronto. He pleaded guilty to a weapons charge Monday and was deported on Wednesday, turned over to U.S. authorities at Niagara Falls, N.Y., said Jennifer Etter, a spokeswoman for Canada's immigration department. Clark showed up at Webbers Falls, Okla., within two...

  Top Russian Official Points at Faulty Torpedo in Kursk Sinking 19 Jun 2002 23:37 UTC A top Russian official has confirmed that a flawed torpedo sank the Kursk nuclear submarine, not a Western submarine or a World War Two mine as Moscow initially theorized. Russian Minister Ilya Klebanov, who heads the Kursk investigation, says the focus now is solely on the explosion of a practice torpedo and says the other two theories have been formally rejected. The formal findings of the government commission headed by Mr. Klebanov are expected to be released on June 29. Earlier this year, a...

Candidate Asks Opponent to Fight Alabama Secretary of State Candidate Challenges Opponent to a Fist Fight During Debate The Associated Press MONTGOMERY, Ala. June 19 — A Republican candidate for secretary of state challenged his GOP runoff opponent during a televised debate to settle their political differences outside with a fist fight: "mano a mano." State Rep. Dave Thomas became rattled Tuesday during the Alabama Public Television debate in which his opponent, Dean Young, repeatedly called him a liar and interrupted his answers."We'll take this matter outside after this program is over," Thomas said. "I will fight for my...

Here's the new thread, all ready for Thursday. Testimony recently discussed includes fingerprint evidence, as well as Westerfield's clean laundry. The Van Dam home was (strangely) devoid of fingerprints, except for a couple of latents that didn't match any of the pizza party people or, apparently, David Westerfield. Westerfield's motorhome didn't contain any of his fingerprints, but did have one print from Danielle L. (the daughter of Westerfield's ex-girlfriend), Jennifer (a friend of Danielle L.), and a partial from Danielle Van Dam. The prosecution said yesterday that they would be finished "in seven court days".

MIDI - 500 MILES They had sued…oh, what a feud…Eschoir said FR was screwed It looks like the four-chinned whackjob is wrong again Five thousand bucks…five thousand bucks…although each plaintiff thinks it sucks They are heading down the road for five thousand bucks Both the POST and the TIMES had played down Sinkmaster's crimes They had worn their golden kneepads a full eight years Five thousand bucks…five thousand bucks…although each plaintiff thinks it sucks They are heading down the road for five thousand bucks We can't print the whole thing…not one tear's that gonna bring What they sell is...

(CNSNews.com) - The House is expected to take up a Medicare prescription drug bill next week that would for the first time give drug coverage to seniors in addition to the hospital insurance they already enjoy. By a vote of 22 to 16, the House Ways and Means committee worked until the wee hours of the morning on Wednesday to pass the $305 billion GOP plan, despite the objections of Democrats, who believe the plan doesn't spend enough and leaves too much decision-making in the hands of private industry and beneficiaries. In fact, committee proceedings were interrupted three times in...

Judge censures the retirement home resident, calling him a 'mean old man' After giving him an earful, a King County superior court judge gave Paul Trummel his freedom yesterday -- although it may be short-lived. If the self-styled journalist wants to stay out of jail, he must by Friday remove phone numbers and addresses from his Web site that identify the directors of his old retirement center and stop bothering them. It's something he so far has refused to do. Trummel, 68, was locked up Feb. 27 after the judge, James Doerty, found his site was harassing administrators at Council...

A new thread regarding the Westerfield trial.

After protests from service chiefs, Downing Street has accepted that the armed forces cannot cope with so many overseas operations By Kim Sengupta 20 June 2002   The Government would like today's announcement by Geoff Hoon of Britain's deployment in Afghanistan coming to an end to be seen as a routine matter. The withdrawal from the Balkans, they will say, is still under consideration in the Force Strategic Review.But, in reality, what we are seeing is a sea change in British military and political strategy, a latter-day equivalent of the retreat from "East of Suez", and a realisation that the...

In an interview with the Tehran-based Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA), Iranian academic Askar Khani, a foreign-policy expert who heads the US and European section at Tehran’s Center for Strategic Studies, spoke openly of the underlying reasons behind Iran’s repeated failures in the field of foreign affairs. Khani said Iran’s repeated inability to secure its foreign-policy objectives in the international arena was mainly because the country’s diplomatic machine was being run by a group of incompetent civil servants who have managed to interject and impose themselves in key foreign-policy decision-making positions. It is a known fact that at the time...

thr 085                                                               Germany-Afghanistan-Sharia Laws    /WRD/                                 Germany 'to fiercely resist' Afghan plans for re-imposing Sharia  Berlin, June 18, IRNA -- Germany here Tuesday warned against          introducing Sharia laws in the war-ravaged country, saying it would   'fiercely resist' the move, DPA reported.                                 "A fallback on the Sharia with its partially draconian            punishments, would deviate the country from the path of democracy and rule of law which the country committed itself in the Petersberg      accord last December," said Development Minister Heidemarie           Wieczorek-Zeul.                                                           She stressed such fallback would be met with her 'fiercest        resistance'.                                                              Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced...

How old is Grandma?  One evening a grandson was talking to his grandmother about currentevents. The grandson asked his grandmother what she thought about theshootings at schools, the computer age, and just things in general.  The Grandma replied, "Well, let me think a minute, I was born, beforetelevision, penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, contactlenses, Frisbees and the pill.  There were no credit cards, laser beams or ball-point pens. Man had notinvented pantyhose, air conditioners, dishwashers, clothes dryers, andthe clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air and man had yet towalk on the moon.  Your Grandfather and...

The Middle East Media Research Institute June 12, 2002 No.388 'Why We Fight America': Al-Qa'ida Spokesman Explains September 11 and Declares Intentions to Kill 4 Million Americans with Weapons of Mass Destruction Al-Qa'ida spokesman Suleiman Abu Gheith, originally from Kuwait, recently posted a three-part article titled "In the Shadow of the Lances" on the website of the Center for Islamic Research and Studies, www.alneda.com. Following numerous hacking attempts after the international media reported that the site was linked to Al-Qa'ida, its address was changed to http://66.34.191.223. Recently, the site published an article by Ayman Al-Zawahiri, bin Laden's deputy and leader...

John King, the White House correspondent for CNN was reporting on the small plane that came close to the WH today. Twice, this piece of crap reporter who looks like he is going to sleep with every report he gives referred to our President as "Mr. Bush". He said, "Mr. Bush was in the White House". Frankly, I never though a lot about John King's reporting because he is about as drab and ho-hum as they get. But this report was about a potential plane in the area that could possibly go after "Mr. Bush". I remember John King specifically...

Michigan governor, lawmakers proposes 50-cent cigarette tax increase amid budget crunch Wednesday, June 19, 2002 ©2002 Associated Press URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/06/19/financial2256EDT0434.DTL (06-19) 19:56 PDT LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- Gov. John Engler and legislative leaders on Wednesday proposed increasing the cigarette tax by 50 cents. The increase would raise the state tax on cigarettes from 75 cents to $1.25 per pack, making it the nation's third-highest, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The per-pack tax is $1.50 in New York, and $1.42 in Washington state. It also would affect other tobacco products, such as chewing tobacco. The tax hike is...

Two Charged with Stealing Genes From Harvard Wed Jun 19, 5:54 PM ET By Christopher Noble BOSTON (Reuters) - In a case shining a spotlight on the high-stakes world of academic medical research, police arrested two foreign-born scientists on Wednesday and accused them of trying to use genetic materials allegedly stolen from a Harvard Medical School ( news - web sites) lab to make and sell drugs. Chinese national Jiangyu Zhu and Kayoko Kimbara of Japan were taken into custody in San Diego and charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy, theft of trade secrets and interstate transportation of stolen...

Wednesday, June 19, 2002 Jack Buck, RIP: The Impossible Becomes The Improbable Yes, I know. Baseball is in a mess of its leadership's own making, between Bud Selig's conflicts of interest (real and alleged) and Donald Fehr's duplicity. (Fehr sits on the board of the U.S. Olympic Committee, which send to the Phantom Zone competitors caught using cold remedies if certain ingredients just so happen to be even a minor part of the mix, but he runs the Major League Baseball Players' Association on the plank that steroid testing - which a continually rising number of players favour, perhaps to...

KINGSPORT, Tenn. (AP) - State Rep. Keith Westmoreland, charged last week with exposing himself in Florida, was found dead at his home Wednesday night, authorities said. Westmoreland, 55, apparently took his life, police chief Mark Addington told the Kingsport Times-News. Westmoreland, who had been in Nashville earlier Wednesday for a legislative session, was arrested last week in Florida on seven counts of indecent exposure. On Tuesday, Nashville police said they had warned Westmoreland about showing his body after another incident _ this one March 13. Earlier Wednesday, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation confirmed a report on WTVF-TV of Nashville that...