Obama Will Not Release bin Laden Death Photo
President Barack Obama decided Wednesday not to release photographs of al-Qaida terror network leader Osama bin Laden after he was shot and killed. The president’s decision ended three days of debate on the issue within his administration.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the president made the decision not to release the photos of Osama bin Laden’s body for several reasons.
Carney read excerpts from the transcript of an interview Mr. Obama gave to CBS television earlier Wednesday. According to Carney, the president said he is concerned that making the gruesome images public could damage U.S. national security. "It is important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence or as a propaganda tool. That is not who we are. We do not trot out this stuff as trophies," he said.
Carney said the president told the interviewer that there is no doubt among al-Qaida members that bin Laden is dead. The White House spokesman quoted Mr. Obama as saying, "You will not see Osama bin Laden walking on this Earth again."
Carney told reporters that the president has held his position on the issue very firmly, and that Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton agreed with his decision to not to disclose the pictures.
But CIA Director Leon Panetta, whom Mr. Obama has chosen to be the next defense secretary, said publicly, several times before the decision was announced, that the photographs should be released.
Whether the president should make the pictures public also caused some disagreement on Capitol Hill.
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said that keeping the photographs from the public would be a mistake. Another Republican Senator, Kelly Ayotte, said that doing so will foster doubts that bin Laden is really dead. "We have seen that in many instances around the world, there can be conspiracy theories about these types of events. And so, I think it is important in terms of closure that, while nobody wants to see disturbing photos, the closure aspect of it, I think, is very important," he said.
But many other lawmakers, Republicans among them, support Mr. Obama’s decision.
Republican Mike Rogers is Chairman of the House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. "If you are a sergeant in a town in Ghazni, Afghanistan and you are trying to get some local elder to cooperate about what is happening in your village, are you going to do it if this inflames? We have a trophy of Osama bin Laden? I worry about that," he said.
President Obama made a similar decision in May, 2009, when he reversed an earlier decision and decided against releasing photographs of the abuse of detainees at U.S. military prisons. In that case, he also based his decision on the potential for the images to incite violence.
Mr. Obama is scheduled go to New York on Thursday, to lay a wreath at the National September 11 Memorial, on the site of the World Trade Center. About 2,800 people were killed in 2001, when the 110-story twin towers were destroyed in an al-Qaida attack.
The president will not speak publicly at the event. He will meet with the families of the victims and emergency workers who died that day.
UN: Panel Links River to Haiti Cholera Outbreak
A United Nations panel of experts say the cholera outbreak in Haiti that killed almost 5,000 people was caused by contamination of the Artibonite River, which runs near a peacekeepers' base.
The panel's report released Wednesday found sanitation at the Nepalese peackeeper base was not sufficient enough to keep human waste from seeping into the tributaries of the river.
But the panel stopped short of directly blaming the peacekeepers, saying instead, the outbreak of the South Asian strain of cholera was caused by a “confluence of circumstances” and not the fault of, or deliberate action of, a group of individuals.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon says he will review the report's findings and ensure a timely response.
The panel recommends peacekeepers heading to cholera affected areas be screened for the disease and immunized.
It also recommends that fecal materials be treated with chemicals to prevent the spread of cholera.
Haiti's cholera epidemic broke out in October of last year.
Haiti is still struggling to recover from last January's earthquake that left more than 200,000 people dead and 1 million homeless.
Australian Police Makes “Record” Drug Bust
Police in Australia say they have seized a record 239 kilograms of methamphetamine, a drug commonly known as “ice.”
Officials said Thursday that the drugs were seized in several raids in Sydney an Perth. They said the estimated value of the drug sold on the streets would have been more than $50 million. Officers also found a semi-automatic pistol and cash during the raids.
Four men have been detained in connection with the bust. The four suspects — two Australian, one Belgian and one Dutch — have been charged with drug trafficking and drug possession.
Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Kevin Zuccato said that the drug haul and the investigation represent a significant blow to criminal groups operating in Australia.
It is believed that the drugs arrived to Australia through its ports and were sent by organized crime groups in Europe.
In the past year, Australian police have seized more than 1.8 tons of drugs.
The previous largest seizure of methamphetamine in Australia was 219 kilograms made in Melbourne in 2008.
Zuccato said the strong Australian dollar makes the country increasingly attractive to international dug syndicates.
Palestinians Sign Unity Pact in Cairo
Rival Palestinian leaders from the Fatah and Hamas groups formally ended a bitter, four-year rift Wednesday, but Israel's prime minister denounced their reconciliation as a “tremendous blow to peace” and a “victory for terrorism.”
Fatah's leader, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told a ceremony in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, that Palestinians have forever turned the “black page of division.” He promised to soon visit the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal said the two groups seek a common goal – a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and no Israeli settlers. He said Palestinians should not give up “a single inch of land” or the right of return for Palestinian refugees.
The accord calls for the formation of an interim Palestinian government followed by presidential and legislative elections within a year.
The two Palestinian factions split in 2007 amid fighting over Fatah officials being removed from power in Gaza. Israel responded by placing the territory under an economic blockade.
Israeli leaders say the new agreement could derail peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with his British counterpart in London Wednesday. He urged David Cameron not to recognize the Fatah-Hamas government. Mr. Netanyahu will meet Thursday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
U.S. President Barack Obama will host Mr. Netanyahu May 20 at the White House.
State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Wednesday that Washington continues to believe Hamas must recognize Israel's right to exist, reject violence and abide by interim peace agreements if it wants to play a meaningful role in the political process.
He said the United States will look at the formation of any new Palestinian government before taking steps on future aid. The presence of Hamas politicians in the new governing structures could mean a cutoff in U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority.
The U.S., Israel and the European Union all consider Hamas a terrorist group.
In an early sign of change on the ground, Hamas' al-Aqsa television was permitted to broadcast for the first time since 2007 in the West Bank and the Fatah-controlled Palestine television into Gaza.
In Gaza City, thousands turned out to celebrate the deal. Some waved yellow Fatah flags, which had been banned for the past four years.
The outgoing head of Israel's Shin Bet internal security service, Yuval Diskin, predicted the unity deal will not last long. He also said Israel is prepared to maintain its cooperation with Mr. Abbas' security service.
For now, while a committee negotiates the future of security cooperation and prisoners, Fatah and Hamas will police their own areas independently.
Last WWI combat veteran Claude Choules dies aged 110
The world's last known combat veteran of World War I, Claude Stanley Choules, has died in Australia aged 110.
Known to his comrades as Chuckles, British-born Mr Choules joined the Royal Navy at 15 and went on to serve on HMS Revenge.
He moved to Australia in the 1920s and served in the military until 1956.
Mr Choules, who had been married to his wife Enid for 80 years, was reported to have died in his sleep at a nursing home in his adopted city of Perth.
He is survived by three children and 11 grandchildren. Enid, his wife of eight decades, died three years ago.
Mr Choules' 84-year-old daughter, Daphne Edinger, told the Associated Press news agency: "We all loved him. It's going to be sad to think of him not being here any longer, but that's the way things go."
Holyfield eyes world title fight
Former heavyweight champion, Evander Holyfield, is hoping to line up a world championship fight if he can beat Brian Nielsen in a non-title bout on Saturday.
The 48-year-old Holyfield (43-10-2), who held the world heavyweight title four times, arrived in Denmark on Sunday for the bout at Copenhagen's concert hall and said he wouldn't be fighting if he wasn't ready.
Holyfield's latest bout in January against Sherman Williams was ruled a no-contest. Before that, he knocked out Francois Botha, after losses to Nikolay Valuev and Sultan Ibragimov.
"If I win, I am moving to the next level," Holyfield said on Monday. "I am hoping to get a championship bout with other guys with other belts.
"Back then when I was young, I made a lot mistakes but I had the stamina and all that to overcome. Today, you have less stamina but more focus. Either way you go, if you play with what you have, you win."
Nielsen (64-2, 43 KOs) acknowledged that Holyfield is the favourite, but promises the fight won't be a walkover.
"I know that he will be really tough to beat, but he won't meet someone who will throw himself on to the floor before him," Nielsen said after a training session. "I will fight until I cannot stand up any longer.
"I have fought 200 fights and I have never been knocked out, so why should that happen now?"
Nielsen, who lost to Mike Tyson in 2001, last fought in 2002 and retired soon after because of a knee injury.
Barcelona advance to final
Barcelona advanced to the Champions League final by dominating Real Madrid in a 1-1 tie yesterday, winning the semi-final on 3-1 aggregate as Pedro Rodriguez scored off a perfect through pass from Andres Iniesta in the 54th minute.
In the fourth match between the rivals in 18 days, Rodriguez gave Barcelona a three-goal lead in the home-and-home, total-goals series.
Marcelo scored for Real Madrid in the 64th minute off a pass from Angel Di Maria, whose initial shot bounced back off a post.
Marcelo's was the only shot on goal by the visitors in the entire match.
"Another (setback), like always," Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas said as Barcelona players celebrated. "We're not going to get upset because it will just be used against us."
Mavs rally to stun Lakers
When Kobe Bryant drained a three-pointer to put the Los Angeles Lakers up by 16 points in the second half, nobody would have been surprised if the Dallas Mavericks packed it in. After all, these perennial underachievers are not exactly known for their play-off tenacity.
Nowitzki scored 28 points and hit two go-ahead free throws with 19.5 seconds left, Jason Kidd forced a crucial turnover moments later and the Mavericks escaped with a 96-94 victory in Game One on Monday night, when Bryant missed two late chances to steal it back for the Lakers.
Jason Terry scored 15 points and Nowitzki had 14 rebounds for the Mavericks, who erased that huge third-quarter deficit before the dramatic finish to the perennial play-off teams' first post-season meeting in 23 years. The Mavericks trailed 92-87 with 3:32 to play, but finished on a 9-2 run.
"I thought we did a great job hanging in there," Nowitzki said. "It wasn't looking good, but we talked about it in the huddle. Just stick with it, try to get some stops, don't turn the ball over and get a shot up every time. Just at least give ourselves a chance to make it."
They made it all right - but only when Bryant, who scored 21 of his 36 points in the second half, couldn't provide his usual late-game heroics.
"I think they always had hope," Bryant said of the Mavs. "They're in the second round. They're here to play. I don't really see it as a big deal. We've got to improve."
Game Two is tonight at Staples Center.
Hawks 103, Bulls 95
IN CHICAGO: Joe Johnson scored 34 points and Atlanta beat top-seeded Chicago in Game One of the Eastern Conference semi-finals. The Bulls got a scare when Derrick Rose came up limping at the end of the game. He stepped on Jamal Crawford's foot as he dribbled out the final seconds and was helped off by teammates and a trainer.
Game Two is tonight at the United Center.
Jackie Cooper: Ex-child star and Superman actor dies
Former US child star Jackie Cooper, who went on to work as a TV producer, film director and feature in four Superman movies, has died at the age of 88.
Cooper died in Santa Monica, California, on Tuesday of complications related to old age, his lawyer said.
Aged nine he became the youngest player to be nominated for an Oscar for best actor, for the 1931 film Skippy.
Late in his career he returned to the screen as the Daily Planet editor in Christopher Reeve's Superman films.
As a child, Cooper became a familiar face to many in Hal Roach's Our Gang series of short comedy films.
He went on to star in Skippy, an adaptation of a popular comic strip.
In one scene where he was required to cry, the director, his uncle Norman Taurog, pretended to have his dog shot off-set in order to bring on the tears - a ploy which worked.
Although the young Cooper did not in the end win the Academy Award for best actor, his uncle did take best director for that film.
Fifty years later, Cooper entitled his 1981 autobiography Please Don't Shoot My Dog.
He followed his success in Skippy with roles in films including the Champ, The Bowery and Treasure Island, and continued acting through his adolescence.
He served in the US Navy during World War II and returned to find his film career had waned, at which point he took to the stage in New York in a number of Broadway shows.
He went on to star in TV sit-coms and dramas, before turning his hand to directing and production.
His appearances as gruff Daily Planet editor Perry White in the Superman films brought him back to the big screen in the twilight of his career.
Born John Cooper in Los Angeles in 1922, he was married three times and had four children. Two sons survive him.
Swiss seize millions belonging to Duvalier
Switzerland Monday moved to seize more than US$6 million frozen in Swiss accounts belonging to former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier.
The finance department says it has initiated forfeiture proceedings before the Federal Administrative Court, 25 years after the funds were first frozen in Switzerland.
Duvalier, 59, who had been living in exile in France since he was ousted in 1986, made a surprise return to the French-speaking CARICOM country in January, sparking fears that his return would have disrupted the March 20 presidential and legislative council elections.
Duvalier has since been slapped with several charges including corruption, theft and misappropriation of funds that were allegedly committed during his 15-year rule.
The Swiss government recently drew up a special law to prevent Duvalier or members of his family from reclaiming the estimated 5.8 million Swiss francs (US$6.7 million).
The government says it will give the money to Haiti for use in aid projects if the court action is successful.
Haiti is seeking billions of dollars in aid following the January 12 earthquake last year that killed an estimated 300,000 people and left more than a million others homeless.
- CMC