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Show DAILY HERALD Thursday, September 1 2004 A5 FAST FACT MorningBr:IEFM Compiled from Daily Herald wire services - The common laurel is a shrub introduced to Europe from ' Turkey in 1576 and is much prized for its glossy leaves, often used as a flavoring. ' ' Sore Moopah of MtofU Fact , The NATION The World W-'f- r. BINOD JOSHI Police shield a Muslim man at a mosque Associated Press in Katmandu, Nepal, on Wednesday. Thousands of demonstrators ransacked a mosque and clashed with police in the Nepalese capital to protest the killing of 12 Nepalese hostages by Iraqi militants. A FRED BLOCHER Associated Press KATMANDU, Nepal Subtle reminder An aerial view taken Monday and made available on Wednesday shows Steve Frey's corn maze he designed to raise voter awareness on 25 acres of his land at the Weston Red Bam Farm north of Platte City, Mo. Frey and a friend used a global positioning system device in early July to cut the shape into the yellow feed corn with a brush cutter. The maze is open 8 am.-- 5 p.m. every day voters with their or reserve military families and first-tim- e through the middle of November. Admission is free for active-dut- y $3. costs maze the cards. the Otherwise, through registration trip Police: Youth released pepper spray in building Members of a visiting youth group accidentally released pepper spray inside a building near the White House, authorities said, and terroWASHINGTON officials respond- rism-wary ed with two dozen ambulances and a triage center in a nearby park. Jn the end, five people were treated for eye irritations and one was taken to a hospital with complications from asthma, said District of Columbia fire and emergency spokesman Alan Etter. About 130 people were assessed at the scene, he said. The hinchtime incident occurred in a restaurant and sitting area of an off ice building near the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, which are under heightened alert as possible targets. But Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey blamed youthful horseplay, not terrorism A girl in the youth group was wearing a small container of tear gas on a chain around her .neck, Ramsey said, and when a boy grabbed for the chain, he touched the container and trig-- 1 gered the spray. Army reservist charged in connection with deaths of detainees The Army charged a military police reservist with assault and dere-- liction of ehity in connection with the deaths of two Afghans in U.S. military control in Afghanistan, and investigators have implicated about two dozen other soldiers, Army officials said Wednesday. Two officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the investigation is not complete and that it is uncertain how many soldiers eventually will face criminal charges. The deaths, on Dec. 3 and Dec. 10, 2002, were ruled homicides by U.S. military medical examiners. In the first case, Mullah Habibullah, believed to be about 28, died of "pulmonary embolism due to blunt force injuries to the tegs," according to doctors. He was in detention at Bagram, Afghanistan. One week later, an Afghan identified only as Dilawar, 22, died in U.S. custody at Bagram. Doctors blamed his death on "blunt force injuries to lower extremities complicating coro- - -nary artery disease." Criminal charges were filed Aug. 23 by Army Forces Command at Fort McPherson, Ga., against Sgt. James P. Boland of the Army Reserve's 377th Military Policy Company, based in Cincinnati. Others who are expected to face charges are from the 519th Military Intelligence Battalion from Fort Bragg, N.G WASHINGTON . FORT POLK, La. A Bengal tiger on the loose in the thick A man charged in a deadly string of highway shootings in Ohio pleaded innocent by reason of insanity Wednesday. Charles A. McCoy Jr., 29, suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, according to court documents and his attorneys. They said psychiatrists found evidence McCoy did not understand right from wrong I ... I when the shootings took place. McCoy has had the illness, which is characterized by dehi- sions and hallucinations, for at least 10 years, defense attorney Mark Collins said. Before his arrest, McCoy went long periods of time without taking his medicaCOLUMBUS, Ohio iff . chickea About 100 soldiers and sheriff's deputies searched the woods in Fort Polk for the cat, believed to be about a year old and 100 pounds. "We're trying to flush the little rascal out, but he's not cooperating," said Scott Heinrich, owner of a wild animal consultancy that was brought in to track the tiger. Soldiers set up nets with raw chicken and used helicopters in the search., It was unclear where the animal came from, but it's likely a pet that escaped or was set free, said Leslie Whitt, director of the Alexandria Zoo, which assisted in the search. No one has claimed the aniniaL but several witnesses said it was wearing a collar. f'm Charles A. McCoy tion, Collins said. Prosecutors did not immediately ; return calls for comment. McCoy previously pleaded innocent. On Tuesday, a judge, - ruled he was competent to stand trial. McCoy could be sentenced to death if convicted of murwoman in November. She der in the shying of a was the only person hit in the more than 20 shootings that occurred mostly around the Interstate 270 beltway on the city's south side from October through February. His trial is set for Jan. 7. testified that the dog, a Labrador named Trimble, had picked up Laci Peterson's scent at the Berkeley Marina four days after she was reported missing in December 2002. The defense is trying to show g that techniques , are unreliable and not based on scent-sniffin- science. Trade center families rally for 'proper burial' NEW YORK Relatives of some of the World Trade Center victims rallied at ground zero Wednesday to urge the city to remove the ashen mains of their loved ones from a landfill where debris was sorted after the terrorist attack. "We are here to send our message out to the entire nation and to the international community that this indignity against the dead will not be tolerated," said Diane Horning of Scotch Plains, N.J., whose son, Matthew, was killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack. Homing's group, WTC Families for Proper Burial, was formed after the city announced plans to develop Stat-e- n Island's Fresh Kills landfill where trade center debris was taken, into a park. The group has collected 47,000 signatures to press for what its members call a more dignified resting place for the remains. It wants the city to remove the fine-duremains of the victims from the landfill and bring them back to the trade center site to be part of a memorial there. The administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg has repeatedly opposed the idea of moving the "fines," the name given to the blood, bone and human ashes that are believed to be mingled with the concrete dust and pulverized glass from the collapsed buildings. The city has cited the enormous cost of removing more than a million tons of the material and insists brush surrounding an Army base was winning a game of for the second day Wednesday, despite efforts to entice the animal with raw hide-and-se- . Buildings condemned in Richmond neighborhood RICHMOND, Va. Police and fire officials escorted Richmond residents and business d owners into their homes and shops Wednesday, but only to allow them to retrieve pets and essentials such as prescription drugs. Flooding touched off by the remnants of Tropical Storm Gaston on Tuesday left at least seven people dead in Virginia and devastated a historic Rich' mond district that was the heart of the Confederate capital during the Civil War. Cleanup and restoration in the Shockoe Bottom neighbor-- ' hood of restaurants, shops and loft apartments will have to wait a day or so until the buildings are deemed safe, said City Manager Calvin Jamison. He said 19 of 230 buildings inspected by midday were condemned. The damage was estimated at a preliminary $15 million and is likely to go higher. flood-ravage- st , Nepal's government imposed an indefinite curfew and appealed for calm Wednesday after thousands of demonstrators ransacked a mosque and clashed with police in the capital to protest the slaying of 12 Nepalese hostages by Iraqi militants. One demonstrator died late Wednesday after being wounded during the clashes, said doctors at the Bir Hospital in Katmandu. Three more protesters were in serious con-ditio- "We want revenge," the protesters shouted as they stormed the Jame mosque the only Muslim house of worship in the capital: They broke windows and set fire to carpets, furniture and parts of the building. No one was inside at the time. Police fired tear gas in an unsuccessful attempt to disperse the mob. Protesters also attacked the offices of at least two dozen agencies thar send workers abroad, throwing furniture and documents into the streets and burning buildings. Hours after the rioting broke out, the government imposed an indefinite curfew and warned that violators would be shot on sight. Army helicopters hovered over Katmandu while soldiers patrolled the streets. New Panama president takes office PANAMA CITY, Panama Martin Torrijos, the son of a former dictator, took office as Panama's president Wednesday promising jobs, better relations with Cuba and a refer- endum on a proposed $8 billion expansion of the Panama Canal Torrijos said Panamanians should deckle on the proposal to widen the canal for a new generation of bigger ships because of its high cost for this poor nation, where 40 percent of the people live in poverty. He also promised an stor-friendly government that is concerned for the poor. "Doing business in Panama has become a headache," he inve- said. Torrijos had tough words for his predecessor, Mireya Moscqso, calling her term "five years of wasted opportunities." "We receive a country full of youth without hopes," he added. He also criticized Moscoso for last week's pardon of four Cuban exiles who had been accused by the Cuban government of trying to kill Cuban President Fidel Castro at a summit in Panama in 2000. "For me, there are not two - classes of terrorism, one that is condemned and another that is pardoned. ... It has to be fought no matter what its origins," Torrijos said. Police focus on Kenya's main hospital in stolen babies investigation 0 'f w A REDWOOD CITY, Calif. search dog handler who provided key evidence against Scott Person acknowledged Wednesday that her canine had failed a videotaped training ex--. ' Soldiers search for tiger spotted on Army base enters insanity plea Expert testifies dog in Peterson case failed training exercise VD ' Jurors looked on as the defense in Peterson's murder trial played the video of the dog's test, made before the dog was involved in the Peterson investigation. Dog handler FJoise Anderson, of the Contra Costa County Search and Rescue team, had that all identifiable human remains have already been removed. Ohio shooting suspect Laci erase. Government imposes curfew in Nepal capital ; GARY STELZER Associated Press Welcome home . Ohio, right, hugs his cousin Annette HoweU during the Sgt SeanDishun, from Columbus, welcome home ceremonies for the Ohio Army National Guard 324th Military Police Company at the Patrick L Kessler Armory in Middletown, Ohio, on Wednesday. The company has been away from home for almost 19 months assisting in Operation Iraqi Freedom. ... a r -- -' InvestiNAIROBI, Kenya gators are focusing on Kenya's main maternity hospital, police said Wednesday, following allegations that some parents were told their newborns had died but the babies were really stolen by an international child trafficking ring. Five people, including the . wife of a London-base-d Kenyan preacher, were released on bail Wednesday after pleading innocent to charges involving two infants. archbishop Gilbert Deya had claimed the two were among children born as the result of miracles he performed on infertile ' women. One of the babies was stolen in February from Nairobi's Pumwani Maternity Hospital and "it is the center of our investigations," police spokesman Jaspher Ombati said. No hospital employee has been charged so far. Since the five suspects.were detained last month, many couples have come forward seeking to claim the 20 children found with the suspects, saying their children disappeared from the hospital, Ombati told The Associated Press. DNA tests found that at least 17 of the children were not related to the adults arrested, authorities said. Deya is a prime suspect in the case, Ombati added, noting the preacher blessed inf or post menopausal women and sent them to Kenya purportedly to give birth. The women claimed to have delivered babies in as little as two months and then applied to British authorities to take them back to London, he said. er-ti- le -- Asylum seekers force their way into school A group of 29 BEIJING people claiming to be North ' forced Korean asylum-seeker- s their way into a Japanese school in Beijing on Wednesday. The 11 men, 15 women and three children broke in around 10:30 a.m., said a Beijing-base- d Japanese official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He said students were told to stay in their classrooms. In Tokyo, the top government spokesman said it was "highly likely" they were defectors from North Korea who want to leave for a third country. "But we were also told it may take some time to identify who they are," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda. He would not comment on the fate of the group or how they managed to get into the school "Basically, we have to make We judgments must give humanitarian consideration" to their situation, he said. case-by-cas- e. Thatcher posts bail for her son LONDON Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has posted bail for her son Mark, who is accused of involvement in a cpup plot in Equatorial Guinea, an aide to Lady Thatcher said Wednesday. Lord BeU, Lady Thatcher's spokesman, declined to confirm or deny the report, which also appeared in The Times newspaper and on Britain's Press Association news agency. ' However, the aide confirmed to The Associated Press that she had provided the bail money. He spoke on condition of anonymity. Sir Mark Thatcher was under house arrest at his residence in Cape Town, South Africa, pending the posting of a bond set at $300,000. Equatorial Guinea wants to question him and his alleged on charges of plotting to overthrow Teodoro Obiang, the president of the tiny but h African nation. oil-ric- ' |