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Show DAILY A4 Sunday. April 27, 2008 HERALD Morning Briefing FAST FACT The Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn are the northernmost and The southernmost lines on the globe where the sun can be directly overhead. ; area in between the two lines is called ... the tropical zone. Source: Time Almanac 2004 Compiled from Daily Herald wire services The Nation Overnight fire in Conn, apartment complex leaves 150 homeless NORWICH, Conn. A fire destroyed a large apartment complex early Saturday, and authorities were looking for dozens of people reported unaccounted for. No deaths had been confirmed, but Fire Chief Ken Scandariato said he couldn't rule out that some residents might not have escaped. He said Saturday morning that 105 of the estimated 150 residents of the Peachtree Garden Apartments had been located. Some may have gone to stay with friends and relatives, he said, adding: "It's a question right now. It's in question." The wreckage was still too hot by late morning to allow the use of arson dogs or cadaver dogs, Scandariato said, and officials expected to be at the scene until at least Sunday afternoon; Fire and police officials were not giving updates Saturday afternoon. The cause of the fire remained unclear, but officials were treating the blaze as suspicious, said Mayor Benjamin Lathrop. fast-movi- w .'v. Paddleboarders return to San Diego waters despite shark warnings SOLANA BEACH, Calif. A few paddleboarders ig- nored posted signs warning that a great white shark still could be lurking below the surface Saturday, just a day after a swimmer was killed in a rare attack near San Diego. "It's like going to see 'Jaws' getting in the water the next day, all you could think about was the music," said Bob Rief, 63, who was teaching a friend how to stand up on a paddle-boar"But if you're afraid of the ocean, you shouldn't be in d. it." , The San Diego-are- a native was worried that the attack would scare away vacationers or weekend beachgoers and hurt businesses. Solana Beach is 14 miles northwest of San Diego. Despite the summer-lik- e . temperatures and cloudless skies that normally lure large crowds, beaches were mostly empty near where triathlete David Martin was killed Friday. A shark, presumed to be a . great white, lifted Martin, 66, out of the water with his legs in its jaws, leaving deep lacerations and shredding the retired veterinarian's black wetsuit. . Hrl Coming home - ROBIN TRIMARCHIThe r old daughter Angelina upon his arrival to Fort Benning, Ga., from Iraq on Saturday. Sgt. Christopher Alcala, 23, of Victoria, Texas, kisses his Alcala returned with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division advance parly, which will set the stage for the remaining 3,800 brigade soldiers to come home throughout May: five-mon- Two top Army leaders and the 70 members of Sgt. Matt Maupin's unit first met privately with his family and filed past the casket at the Union Township Civic Center in suburban Cincinnati. Lt. Gen. Jack Stultz, chief of the U.S. Army Reserve, and Lt. Gen. James L. Campbell of the Army chief of staff's office presented Maupin's family with the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Meritorious Service Medal, the POW Medal and other commendations. "Everyone wanted to see him step off the plane. But Matt came home, and that brings some closure to his family and the 724th. It lives up to the Army ethos of never leaving a fallen comrade behind," said Maj. Jeffrey Smith, who served with Maupin in the Illinois-base- d 724th Transporof the Army Hundreds mourn Ohio tation Company soldier captured in Iraq Reserve. The BATAVIA, Ohio remains of an Ohio soldier missing since he was captured in Iraq almost four years ago were returned to his home state on Saturday, and hundreds of mourners lined the streets with American flags as a police procession led his casket to a memorial service. V northern Vt. pond, spring arrives when cinder block falls On WEST DANVILLE, Vt. Forget what the calendar says. In these parts, spring doesn't arrive until the cinder block falls through the ice on Joe's Pond. because it's not over. It's far from over. It's just starting," Sean Bell's fiancee, Nicole Paultre Bell, told supporters at a rally in Manhattan's Harlem neighborhood. "Every protest, every march, every rally, I'm going to be right up front." If history is a guide, the family may indeed still have a chance at extracting some measure of retribution, but it would very likely come at the expense of the city and not the officers who pulled the trigger. Bell, 23, was killed and two friends wounded in a barrage outside a Queens strip club hours before his wedding. Legal experts said Bell's family faces an uphill fight in their attempt to have the officers charged with federal civil rights violations and might have to settle for battling them in civil court, where the city, Family of N.Y. shooting not the officers, would be revictim still seek justice sponsible for paying off any multimillion-dolla- r verdict. NEW YORK The family Peter J. Neufeld, an attorof an unarmed man killed in ney who represented police a hail of police gunfire on his torture victim Abner Louima, JAE C. HONGAssociated Press wedding day pledged Saturday said he believed the chances to continue its fight to have that the U.S. attorney's office A hug for Obama someone held accountable for would bring federal charges in A his death, a day after a judge the case were "close to zero," supporter puts her hands together while waiting to shake hands with Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Barack in the three officers Justice acquitted judging by Department at a Obama, l, decisions in past police meeting in Anderson, Ind., slaying. on Saturday. "I'm still praying for justice, The block, which placed on a wooden pallet on the frozen surface of the pond and tied to an alarm clock on shore each winter in a guessing game, plunged into the water at 5:25 p.m. Friday. Four people who guessed the closApril 25 at 5:15 p.m. est time won $1,323 apiece in the annual Joe's Pond Ice Out Contest, according to organizer Dave Parker. Don Rogers, of Swartz Creek, Mich., Janet Egizi, of St. Johnsbury, Roxanne Gor-haof Lyndonville, and Joe Kelly, of Barre, were the winners. The 20th annual contest drew 12,039 entries, many far from Vermont. ice out date The earliest-eve- r was April 16, in 1998 and 2006; the latest was May 6, in 1992. is 50-sh- ft ' D-Il- town-hall-sty- le The WORLD 5 dead in Mexico border shootouts state media on Saturday blamed him for the deadly violence in the Tibetan capital that threatens to overshadow this TIJUANA, Mexico Runsummer's Olympics. ning gunbattles between susThe Dalai Lama, who lives pected drug traffickers broke out on the streets of the border in exile here in this northern Indian town, said the two sides city of Tijuana on Saturday, and there were conflicting needed to talk seriously about how to resolve the problems reports on how many people were killed. that triggered the riots in the One Tijuana police official, Tibetan capital last month. "We have to explore the speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not au- causes of the problems and thorized to talk on the record, seek solution through talks," said the shootouts left between the Tibetan spiritual leader said 14 and 15 people dead. Another a day after China said it would meet his envoy. official, speaking on the same He said he has yet to receive terms, put the number of dead at around 12. detailed information about the Initial versions said susoffer but stressed that talks pected drug traffickers fired at would be good. each other from moving cars on one of the city's main bouleSaudi activist blogger hours. vard's in the freed after 4 months Photos from the scene showed bodies and assault JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia rifles on the street. Saudi Arabia's most popular blogger was released Saturday Dalai Lama welcomes after serving four months in prison without charge. China's offer for talks Fouad 33, was deThe tained Dec. 10 after authorities DHARMSALA, India Dalai Lama said Saturday he warned him about his online welcomed China's offer to hold support of an activist group. talks with his envoy but cauAt the time of his arrest, the tioned it would be meaningless Interior Ministry said only that to meet if Beijing was not serihis violations were not related ous about trying to solvejhe to state security. Farhan had used his blog to problems that caused recent criticize corruption and call for unrest in Tibet. But just as it appeared China political reform in Saudi Arawas reaching ou to the Tibia, an absolute monarchy. In a telephone interview Sat betan spiritual leader, Beijing's 12-1- ml. pre-daw- n 11 ... - Associated Press Mattress factory fire Firefighters battle the flames of a fire that broke out in a mattress factory Saturday in Casablanca, Morocco. The fire killed 55 people and injured a dozen others. The official statement cited the presence of chemical products in the factory as responsible for the fire's rapid spread. urday, Farhan said he was hap- -' py to be free and described his time behind bars as "a unique experience." He said he had been "fairly treated" but would not comment on the specifics of his case. "I will be Hogging soon," he the Palestinian militant group would accept an Egyptian with proposal for a cease-fir- e Israel but it would be a "tactic" in the group's struggle with the Jewish state. Khaled Mashaal, the Damascus-based Hamas leader, said in an interview with said. television that Egypt had Turkish P.M. visits Syria proposed a truce between the Hamas rulers of in push for peace deal Gaza and Israel. He said his DAMASCUS, Syria Turgroup was ready to cooperate but added: "It is a tactic in key's prime minister flew to Damascus Saturday and said conducting the struggle ... It he was trying to restart direct is normal for any resistance ... talks between Syria and Israel, to sometimes escalate, other times retreat a bit. ... Hamas is stepping up his nation's efforts to negotiate known for that. In 2003, there a peace deal between the long- was a cease-fir- e and then the time enemies. operations were resumed." Prime Minister Recep Tayy-i- p He warned of an explosion Erdogan spent five hours in of violence in Gaza if Israel reSyria meeting with President jects the truce. Bashar Assad and discussing Turkish efforts to mediate a Conservatives control ra behind-the-scen- deal. "There was a request from Syria and Israel for this kind of an effort and Turkey will do its best in this regard," Erdogan said on his return to Turkey. "This effort will start among the lower level officials) and if they are successful, God willing, they will end with a higher level meeting." Hamas says is cease-fir- e a 'tactic' The chief CAIRO, Egypt of llamas said Saturday that runoff Iran elections ConservaTEHRAN, Iran tives consolidated their control of Iran's legislature in runoff elections but moderates within the bloc opposed to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad emerged as a stronger force, according to final results released Saturday. The conservative bloc is divided between supporters of the hardline president and opponents critical of his handling of the economy and the nuclear standoff with the West. |