TEHRAN, Iran – The family of an American woman detained in Iran for more than a year is appealing to authorities to drop a $500 000 bail for her release because they cannot afford it, her lawyer said.
Masoud Shafiei told The Associated Press that Swiss diplomats acting on behalf of the United States are asking that the bail be dropped or lowered for 32-year-old Sarah Shourd. Switzerland handles United States affairs in Iran because the two countries do not have diplomatic relations.
“I am aware the Swiss are making this appeal,” the lawyer said. “I remain hopeful. God willing, she will be released.”
In Washington, White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said the Obama administration is in close contact with the families of the detained hikers and the Swiss Embassy.(AP)
Move to block cellephone signals in prisons
COLUMBIA – South Carolina authorities who have helped push for permission to block cellphone signals inside prisons say an officer in charge of keeping out contraband was nearly killed at his home – in an attack planned with a smuggled phone.
Corrections Department Captain Robert Johnson was getting ready to go to work at Lee Correctional Institution about 50 miles east of Columbia one day last March. Around 5:30 a.m., a man broke down the front door of Johnson’s mobile home, shooting the 15-year prison veteran six times in the chest and stomach.
“I heard a yell, ‘Police!’” said Johnson, 57, who believes the intruder may have been impersonating an officer. “I came out the bathroom door, and there was this person there. I really don’t remember the rest. From the trauma, my mind just went blank.”
Six months into his recovery, Johnson and his bosses want Congress to change a 1934 law that says the Federal Communications Commission can grant permission to jam the public airwaves only to federal agencies, not state or local ones.
The cellphone industry says the jamming methods some states want could interfere with emergency communications and legitimate cellphone use in the area. They advocate other potentially more expensive technology that they say could be more precise but has seen only limited use.
While authorities say Johnson is the first corrections officer in the United States harmed by a hit ordered from inmate’s cellphone, other people have been targets.
In 2005, a New Jersey inmate serving time for shooting at two police officers used a smuggled phone to order a fatal attack on his girlfriend, who had given authorities information leading to his arrest.
Two years later, a drug dealer in Baltimore’s city jail used a cellphone to successfully plan the killing of a witness who had identified him as the gunman in a previous killing. And in 2008, a Texas death row inmate used a cellphone to threaten the life of a state senator. (AP)
Berlusconi: Go for a wealthy partner
ROME – Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi says young women should follow the money when looking for a partner, noting that women seem to like him and “I’m loaded”.
Berlusconi, who was embroiled in a sex scandal last year and is known for his gaffes, also raised eyebrows with a joke about Hitler’s followers urging him to return to power.
The billionaire businessman appeared at a convention on Sunday of the youth wing of his People of Freedom party. When questioned by one of his Cabinet ministers – a woman – he joked about marriages of convenience, saying women were lining up for him because “I’m a nice guy” and “I’m loaded.”
He also recalled a much-criticised TV interview he once gave, when “I said to a girl to look for a wealthy boyfriend. This suggestion is not unrealistic.”
He also claimed women favour older men, thinking that “he’s old. He dies and I inherit.”
The 73-year-old Berlusconi was engulfed in a sex scandal last year centring on his purported dalliances with young women, including an escort.
Berlusconi’s wife Veronica Lario said last year she was seeking a divorce. They are now separated. (AP)
Hijacker seeks to plead guilty to some charges
DETROIT – A Nigerian man charged with trying to blow up an international flight near Detroit on Christmas fired his lawyers and suggested he wanted to plead guilty to some charges.
United States District Judge Nancy Edmunds advised Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab not to get rid of his attorneys, but he insisted. Edmunds then granted his request and asked if he had anything further to say.
“If I want to plead guilty to some counts . . . basically, how would that go?” Abdulmutallab responded during his first court appearance since being arraigned in January on six charges, including attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.
Edmunds told him she couldn’t advise on such matters and ordered that a stand-by attorney be named to assist him with his defence.
Asked for comment on yesterday’s developments, Miriam Siefer, who headed Abdulmutallab’s defence team, said: “Mr Abdulmutallab has the right to represent himself, and he’s exercised that right.”
Passengers who saw flames pounced on Abdulmutallab, subdued him and forced him to the front of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 as it approached Detroit Metropolitan Airport carrying nearly 300 people last December 25. (AP)
Pope to beatify former anglican
VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI will break his own rule this weekend when he beatifies Cardinal John Henry Newman, the renowned 19th Century Anglican convert who greatly influenced the Roman Catholic Church.
Newman remains a complicated figure within the Anglican Church he abandoned, and the pope’s glorification of him during a state visit to Britain could unleash new tensions between churches already divided over issues like the ordination of women and gay bishops. (AP)
