Nurse: Trapped Chilean miner’s daughter Esperanza born healthy
COPIAPO, Chile (AP) — The first baby of trapped Chilean miner Ariel Ticona and his wife, Elizabeth Segovia, was born by cesarean section in a hospital in Copiapo, where many of the trapped miners’ families live.
Ticona and his wife had planned to name the child Carolina but each decided independently to change the name to Esperanza — Spanish for “hope.”
Israeli military accused of not probing Palestinian deaths
JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli human rights group charged in a report released Tuesday that Israel’s military has failed to adequately investigate cases in which Palestinian civilians have been killed by soldiers.
The B’Tselem report said that in the past four years, soldiers have killed 1,510 Palestinians, including 617 civilians, but no soldiers have been indicted.
New York judge says terror case defendant is faking mental illness
NEW YORK (AP) — A defendant in a terrorism trial who claims he sees ghosts, dead people and even the Virgin Mary is faking mental illness, a judge concluded Tuesday as she ordered a resumption of the trial of four men accused of plotting to blow up New York City synagogues and upstate military planes.
U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon made the ruling concerning 28-year-old Laguerre Payen.
But it remained unclear whether the trial will proceed Wednesday with or without him. Lawyers for the other three defendants said they would prefer to proceed without Payen in the courtroom so that a mistrial could not occur if he acts up.
The judge noted that Payen had dodged trial after an arrest seven years ago in another case by being found incompetent to stand trial, only to exhibit no symptoms of psychiatric disorder when he arrived at a mental health facility.
Airmen: Lesbian flight nurse should not have been discharged
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A staff sergeant in the Air Force Reserve says a lesbian flight nurse discharged from her unit in Washington state under the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy would be welcomed back if she wins reinstatement.
Staff Sgt. Stacey Julian is the latest of several former colleagues of Maj. Margaret Witt testifying in federal court in Tacoma.
Witt argues that her firing failed to further military goals.
Julian told the judge Tuesday that Witt was an excellent nurse who held a respected job.
Lawyers for the Air Force suggested in cross-examination that the witnesses don’t really know how all 150 people in the unit feel about gays serving openly.
Arena Football League team VooDoo returning to New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The New Orleans VooDoo has been relaunched as an expansion team in the Arena Football League.
The first incarnation of the AFL’s VooDoo was formerly owned by New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson, who shut the team down in 2008 while the league was undergoing reorganization.
The VooDoo will play home games in the New Orleans Arena.
Judge allows closed abortion clinic to reopen temporarily
(AP) — A state judge has overturned a closure order for a Louisiana abortion provider.
District Judge R. Michael Caldwell issued on Tuesday an order temporarily lifting suspension of the license for Hope Medical Group for Women, based in Shreveport.
The state Department of Health and Hospitals suspended the clinic’s license Sept. 3, citing health and safety concerns. The closure was the first time the state had used a new Louisiana law, signed by Gov. Bobby Jindal, to shut down a clinic for those reasons. Previously, abortion clinics could continue to operate while appealing a license suspension.
A hearing on whether the clinic will be allowed to remain open while it fights the suspension will be held Sept. 21.
Feds have charged more than 1,300 with hurricane fraud
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — More than 1,300 people have been charged in federal fraud cases related to the 2005 hurricanes in the five years since the storms struck the Gulf Coast, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
Most of the cases have involved attempts to fraudulently obtain disaster aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross.