Some 200 women gang-raped by rebels near Congo UN base
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Rwandan and Congolese rebels gang-raped nearly 200 women and some baby boys over four days within miles of a U.N. peacekeepers’ base in an eastern Congo mining district, an American aid worker and a Congolese doctor said Monday.Will F. Cragin of the International Medical Corps said aid and U.N. workers knew rebels had occupied Luvungi town and surrounding villages in eastern Congo the day after the attack began July 30.More than three weeks later, the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Congo has issued no statement about the atrocities and said Monday it still is investigating.Cragin told The Associated Press by telephone that his organization was only able to get into the town after rebels ended their brutal spree of raping and looting and withdrew of their own accord on Aug. 4. 
DEA seeks Ebonics translators to help with drug investigations
ATLANTA (AP) — Federal agents are seeking to hire Ebonics translators to help interpret wiretapped conversations involving targets of undercover drug investigations.The Drug Enforcement Agency recently sent memos asking companies that provide translation services to help it find nine translators in the Southeast who are fluent in Ebonics, Special Agent Michael Sanders said Monday.Ebonics, which is also known as African American Vernacular English, has been described by the psychologist who coined the term as the combination of English vocabulary with African language structure.Some DEA agents already help translate Ebonics, Sanders said. But he said wasn’t sure if the agency has ever hired outside Ebonics experts as contractors.”They saw a need for this in a couple of their investigations,” he said. “And when you see a need — it may not be needed now — but we want the contractors to provide us with nine people just in case.”
 
Hearings into cause of Gulf oil spill began in Houston on Monday
HOUSTON (AP) — Federal investigators heard testimony Monday from BP executives in a joint probe into the cause of the explosion that led to the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.BP’s Gulf of Mexico marine authority official Neil Cramond testified Monday in Houston. Two officials from Transocean, the owner of the rig, testified later Monday.The U.S. Coast Guard and the Bureau of Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement are conducting the investigation.Federal investigators are trying to uncover what caused the April 20 explosion on the BP-operated Deepwater Horizon rig that led 206 million gallons of oil to pour into the Gulf.
 
Thousands of fish found floating at Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet
CHALMETTE (AP) — Thousands of dead fish have been found floating at the mouth of a shipping channel that connects the Port of New Orleans with the Gulf of Mexico.St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro says the fish kill was found Sunday afternoon at the mouth of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, or MR-GO. He says between 5,000 and 15,000 dead fish were found, collected in pockets of boom that was deployed in the area to block oil from the spill from the Deepwater Horizon rig.Taffaro said Monday the species found dead included crabs, sting rays, eel, drum, speckled trout and redfish.There’s no word on what caused the kill. Taffaro says they believe there’s some recoverable oil in the area but can’t specifically link it to that because there’s also been some depleted oxygen issues in the area as well.The state Wildlife and Fisheries’ marine division is sampling the water in hopes of finding a cause.
 
Ex-state Sen. Charles Jones convicted in tax fraud case
SHREVEPORT (AP) — A federal jury has found former state Sen. Charles D. Jones guilty of tax evasion and other tax charges.U.S. Attorney Stephanie A. Finley says Jones, of Monroe, was convicted Monday of filing two false tax returns and one count of tax evasion.Sentencing is set for Dec. 6. The 60-year-old Jones faces up to three years in prison and a $100,000 fine on each of the filing false tax return counts and up to five years and a $100,000 fine on the tax evasion charge.Jones was accused of failing to pay at least $190,000 in taxes. Jones’ first trial ended in a mistrial June 3 because jurors could not agree.