Baby, who have only nine years, was killed...

Baby, who have only nine years, was killed...
At just 9 years old, Christina-Taylor Green already had big plans to one day serve her country. Christina-Taylor, who was the youngest of the six victims shot and killed Saturday during the shooting spree outside a Tucson, Ariz., grocery store, had gone to Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' political event to "learn more about politics," according to her mother, Roxanna Green.

"As young as she was, Christina-Taylor talked about getting all the parties to come together so we could live in a better country," Green told ABC News. "She was going to Giffords' event to ask questions about how she could help and to learn more about politics in our country."

"She was proud of her country and wanted to know more about the political process," she said. "She was a beautiful girl inside and out."

Christina-Taylor, the granddaughter of former Phillies manager Dallas Green, was taken to Giffords' informal town hall meeting by a neighbor who was considered her pseudo-aunt, said her mother.

She died on the scene from a single bullet wound to her chest, when alleged gunman Jared Loughner opened fire, shooting a total of 20 people.

"She had a great morning, she got up early yesterday morning and was talking about the event, and how excited she was," said Green of her daughter's final hours. "She was very mature for her age."

Christina-Taylor was born on 9/11 and had used her birthdate as a source of inspiration during her short life. She was featured in a book about babies born on 9/11 called "Faces of Hope."

"She was very interested in politics since she was a little girl," Green said. "I think that being born on 9/11 had a lot to do with that."

"She always thought about how she was born on 9/11, and she saw the positive in it," Green said. "She thought of it as a day of hope and change, a chance for the country to come together to be united."

The little girl's father, John Green, called the tragedy "disappointing."

"She came into the world on 9/11 and then at 9 years old she leaves it all on this terrible day," said John Green. "But we wouldn't take it back any of the 9 years we had with her."

"It was all worth it," he said. "But we still believe in this country."

Third grade had already been off to a good start for Christina-Taylor, who was recently elected student council president at Mesa Verde Elementary School.

In addition to politics, Christina-Taylor loved to dance and was the only girl on her baseball team, the Pirates, in what is otherwise an all-boys little league.

2010: Year of the angry traveler...

There's generally no shortage of aggravated travelers, but as far as years go, 2010 seems to have gone above and beyond in irritating the moving masses. Last year on Christmas Day, a Nigerian man was accused of attempting to detonate explosives hidden in his underwear aboard a Northwest Airlines flight. That incident got the air travel year off to a rocky start with a rush put on the deployment of the now-infamousfull-body scanners, which critics call "virtual strip searches." Add an onslaught of bag fees hikes in January, and you have a delicious recipe for disgruntlement. In April, Spirit Airlines heaped it on with a fee for carry-ons stowed in overhead bins. Fortunately, the major carriers didn't follow boldly in Spirit's footsteps. 

On a positive note, airline passenger protections designed to reduce long tarmac delays went into effect in April, and the new rules have dramatically cut the number of domestic tarmac strandings lasting more than three hours, without causing a noticeable increase in flight cancellations. Flights on international carriers -- as we've seen during this week's Snowpocalypse -- are not subject to the same rules. 

We all learned that air travel and ash clouds don't mix this spring when a volcanic eruption in Iceland grounded thousands of flights across Europe, stranding travelers on both sides of the pond for days.

From fire and crashing waves to gastrointestinal illness, many cruise passengers have had a tough time of it this year with a handful of unfortunate events rendering some seafaring retreats less than relaxing. 

But, let's be honest, travelers are no picnic. In fact, during a 5,900-mile airport odyssey, one CNN reporter discovered how awful and annoying we are. 

And there's no lack of examples of travelers behaving badly: Adrunk cruise passenger managed to drop anchor on his vacation, and just this week an airline passenger smacked a fellow travelerwho wouldn't turn off his iPhone as their flight was taxiing for takeoff. 

Angry with the ill-behaved masses, flight attendant Steven Slater channeled his outrage into one of the most spectacular take-this-job-and-shove-it moments in recent memory this August. His employer, JetBlue Airways, didn't share the public's admiration. Slater was suspended and eventually resigned. He made a deal with prosecutors to avoid jail time. 

Thanksgiving brought the usual travel rush and a new catchphrase in "don't touch my junk,"  prompted by the Transportation Security Administration's implementation of "enhanced" pat down screening procedures for some travelers. 

The pat downs, conducted by TSA screeners of the same sex as the passenger, involve touching the groin and breast areas. Opponents say they're an invasion of privacy, with some comparing the procedures to sexual molestation. The uproar over the pat downs didn't amount to much during the peak Thanksgiving travel period, and the Christmas holiday has been plagued with a wintry weather snarl on roads and at airports in the U.S. and Europe. Tarmac delays reared up again this week with some travelers on international airlines stranded at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport for up to 11 hours.All this on top of the quiet (and not-so-quiet) battles waged daily on planes -- from reclining seat wars to critics of crying babies. Why do we heap all this hassle on ourselves? The magic's in thedestination -- and getting there does make for some of the best travel tales.

WikiLeaks: Panama's leader pressured U.S. to help wiretap opponents...

 n July 2009, the U.S. ambassador in Panama received an unexpected message on her BlackBerry. It came from newly elected President Ricardo Martinelli, and said simply, "I need help with tapping phones."
According to a diplomatic cable written in August 2009, which was obtained and published by the website WikiLeaks, then-Ambassador Barbara J. Stephenson did not reply to the message but subsequently expressed her concern that the Panamanian leader wanted "to conduct wiretaps against ostensible security threats as well as political opponents."
The response from Panamanian officials was that an "anti-corruption campaign is taking on powerful and corrupt individuals... Some of those individuals may attempt to retaliate by threatening Martinelli's personal safety."
The Panamanian leader, who leads a right-of-center government, also feared that he would be "a target of leftist governments in the region who will attempt to infiltrate Panama's trade unions and destabilize the GOP (government of Panama.)"
The leaked cable says U.S. diplomats in Panama drew a sharp distinction between a secret court-sanctioned wiretap program known as "Operation Matador" -- targeting drug traffickers -- and "any effort to expand wiretaps to domestic political targets." The existence of Matador has not been officially confirmed, but several leaked cables regarding Panama and other countries refer to an extensive international wiretap program run by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
In a cable marked "secret," the ambassador said "Martinelli's seeming fixation with wiretaps and his comments to Ambassador during an August 12 meeting demonstrate that he may be willing to set aside the rule of law."
"He made reference to various groups and individuals whom he believes should be wiretapped, and he clearly made no distinction between legitimate security targets and political enemies," the cable continued.
Referring to businessmen who had received corrupt concessions from his political opponents, "Martinelli promised to 'throw them to the sharks.' He chided the Ambassador for being 'too legal' in her approach to the issue of wiretaps."
When Martinelli apparently suggested that anti-narcotics cooperation with the United States might be affected should he not get help with wiretapping, Stephenson responded that "she would readily inform Washington and we would all see Panama's reputation as a reliable partner plummet dramatically."
The cable illustrates the dilemma for U.S. diplomats: helping foreign governments combat corruption and organized crime may sometimes lead to less legitimate requests.
It ends with a withering analysis. "Martinelli's near-obsession with wiretaps betrays a simplistic and naive attitude toward the criminal investigative process," it says. "He appears to believe that wiretaps are the solution to all of his crime problems, and seems unable to grasp the concept that wiretaps are only one tool in the investigative process."
Not mincing words, the ambassador adds: "A president only gets his 'first hundred days' once, and Martinelli is spending his obsessing about vengeance against his political foes. Most of his government appointments have favored loyalty over competence."
Referring to his background as a supermarket tycoon, the ambassador adds: "His penchant for bullying and blackmail may have led him to supermarket stardom but is hardly statesmanlike."
Martinelli's behavior also appears to have embarrassed his own foreign minister, who told the ambassador that "he hates Martinelli's bluster but has not yet convinced him that whatever his persona is as 'Ricardito,' such behavior is inappropriate for the President of the Republic."
Relations continued to be difficult. Later in 2009, the United States decided to remove the Matador wiretap program from control of the Panamanian government's Council for Public Security and National Defense, which had led to a threat to expel the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration from Panama.
A cable from December 2009 notes: "All of this comes at a time when Panama's judicial institutions are under assault by the executive, with Martinelli's strong political pressure on the attorney general and the controversial appointment of two Martinelli political cronies to the supreme court."
It comes with a recommendation: "If we cannot guarantee with a high level of confidence that the Matador program will not be misused for political purposes, then we prefer to suspend the program."

Stephenson has since moved to a posting in London. Media reports suggest that Matador was suspended earlier this year, but the U.S. State Department refuses to comment on the contents of cables published by WikiLeaks. A Panamanian official told local television that the ambassador's cables had arisen out of a "mistaken interpretation" of President Martinelli's remarks.

Russia defends verdict against oil tycoon...

Russia on Tuesday responded to international criticism over the conviction of a former Russian oil tycoon and his business partner on corruption charges. 

A judge in Moscow found Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former head of the Yukos oil company, and his partner guilty Monday.
The United States in particular criticized the court proceeding, calling it a case of selective prosecution.
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement dismissing Western criticism over the verdict.
"The attempts at pressuring the court are unacceptable," the statement said, adding that the case falls wholly within the Russian legal system.
Money laundering and tax evasion charges would similarly be criminally prosecuted in any other country, the statement said.
"Allegations about some kind of selective prosecution in Russia are groundless. Russian courts deal with thousands of cases where entrepreneurs are prosecuted," the statement said.
It concluded, "We are expecting that everyone will mind their own business, both at home and in the international arena."
Khodorkovsky's son, Pavel, told CNN that his father will appeal the verdict.
"Of course there will be an appeal," Pavel Khodorkovsky said. "What I'm hoping for right now is the shortest sentence possible, because I'm really hoping to see my dad as soon as possible a free man."
The trial on money laundering and embezzlement charges, which began in March 2009, was the second for the two men. Khodorkovsky, who is already imprisoned after being convicted on other charges, could be sentenced to prison until 2017.
"The trial was a charade of justice, the charges were absolutely false, but I fear the sentencing will be very real," lead defense lawyer Vadim Klyuvgant said in a written statement.

 

 

 

 

African leaders meet with Gbagbo to deal with Ivory Coast crisis

African leaders meet with Gbagbo to deal with Ivory Coast crisis
Three African presidents met with their defiant counterpart in Ivory Coast Tuesday in an effort to thwart the country's political crisis.
No details of the meeting in Abidjan, the administrative center of the conflict-torn country, were immediately available. But incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo's ministers had already signaled that the man who believed he had won Ivory Coast's presidential election had no intention of stepping down.
Presidents Yayi Boni of Benin, Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone and Pedro Pires of Cape Verde were next meeting with Gbagbo's challenger, Alassane Ouattara, who also claimed victory at the polls and who has the international community's support as Ivory Coast's legitimate leader.
The three heads of state represent the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which held an emergency meeting last Friday in Nigeria and delivered an ultimatum to Gbagbo: step down or face the threat of military force.

Gbagbo's Minister of Interior Emile Guirieoulou said Sunday the three leaders would be "received as brothers, friends."
"We will listen to them, listen to the message they are carrying," he said. "If they abide to our constitution, we're going to talk ... our constitution is not negotiable."
However, Foreign Affairs Minister Alcide Djedje said Gbagbo would not step down.
The ECOWAS delegation met earlier Tuesday with Young-Jin Choi, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's special envoy; and a representative of the African Union.
It's unclear if ECOWAS intends to make good on its threat or what kind of force would be used. It has intervened before in Liberia and Sierra Leone.
Ivory Coast's Independent Electoral Commission, backed by the United Nations, declared opposition leader Ouattara the winner of a November runoff. But its Constitutional Council invalidated those results and declared incumbent Gbagbo the winner.
The international community, including the United States, the United Nations and the African Union, has recognized Ouattara as the winner and urged Gbagbo to cede power.
The political stalemate has thrown Ivory Coast into crisis and scores of people have died in related violence.
A convoy of Bangladeshi peacekeepers came under attack Tuesday in Abidjan, the United Nations said. The U.N. peacekeeping mission said one soldier was slashed in the arm by a machete and a U.N. vehicle was burned.
The African Union has suspended Ivory Coast from the organization "until such a time the democratically elected president effectively assumes state power." And the World Bank has halted lending and disbursing funds to Ivory Coast and has closed its office in the country.

More than 15,000 refugees have fled for neighboring Liberia, according to the U.N. refugee agency, a large number of them women and children.

Bus Crash Kills 8 Americans in Egypt

Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The wreckage of a bus that crashed in Egypt on Sunday, killing eight American tourists.

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CAIRO — Eight Americans were killed Sunday when their tour bus collided with a parked truck full of sand on a dimly lighted desert road, officials and local news reports said.
Twenty-one Americans and two Egyptian tour operators were injured in the accident, which occurred around dawn on a road from the southern Egyptian city of Aswan to the historic Abu Simbel temple.
“It was a lousy Christmas,” said Laura Light, 76, a retired French professor from San Francisco who was taken to the hospital with mild injuries. She was on a Christmas cruise down the Nile with her husband, Leon Light, 87, a retired federal agent who had broken six ribs in the crash.
“My husband was trapped between two chairs and he couldn’t move, but the woman next to me was very crushed,” Ms. Light said, “and her husband was dead.”
The Egyptian military transported a dozen of the injured to a hospital in Cairo for treatment, the American embassy said in a statement.
Passengers said their tour left Aswan at about 5:00 a.m., driving in pitch darkness on a narrow desert road toward Abu Simbel when the bus hit the truck.
About 8,000 people die from traffic accidents each year in Egypt, where two-way desert roads frequently have only one lane, street lamps are rare and traffic laws are often ignored.
The bus operator was the Misr Sinai tour company, a 30-year-old enterprise founded and partly owned by the Egyptian government. Company officials declined to comment.

Female suicide bomber was behind deadly Pakistan blast..

Female suicide bomber was behind deadly Pakistan blast, official says

 

 Islamabad, Pakistan -- A young, female suicide bomber was behind a blast in Pakistan that killed at least 46 people and injured 105 others at a food distribution point, an official said Sunday.
Zakir Hussain Afridi, the top government official in Bajaur Agency, Pakistan, said that the preliminary investigation into the explosion shows that a woman between the ages of 16 and 18 blew herself up. The determination was made from remains of the bomber that were recovered.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for Saturday's blast in that Asian nation's tribal region.
Azam Tariq, the central spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, told CNN in a phone call that it targeted people who had formed what he called a pro-government and anti-Taliban group.

The blast took place about 600 meters from a U.N. World Food Programme distribution point at a security checkpoint in Khar, according to Amjad Jamal, a spokesman for the agency. He said that more than 300 people were going through a security screening to get food and other items at the time of the explosion.
Khar is the headquarters of Bajaur Agency, one of the seven districts of Pakistan's tribal region bordering Afghanistan. Jamal said that those who had been internally displaced during military efforts in Bajaur Agency get a month's supply of food and other goods.
Afridi said that the suicide bomber was in a burqa, a traditional full-body covering worn by some Muslim women. He said she was stopped for a security check at a checkpoint, where she detonated herself.
The official said it was the first instance of a female suicide bomber in Pakistan that he could recall.
The Pakistani Taliban denied that the bomber was a woman.
"We have thousands of male suicide bombers ready who are keenly waiting for their turns. Then why would we use a woman, which is against the traditions of Islam?" the Pakistani Taliban's Azam Tariq said.
Jamal said all staff members of the World Food Programme and its partner organizations are safe, but added that all four of the program's food distribution points in Bajaur Agency have been temporarily closed for security reasons. Still, the U.N. agency will continue to provide services elsewhere in the country, Jamal said.
U.S. President Barack Obama issued a statement condemning Saturday's "outrageous terrorist attack," which he called "an affront to the people of Pakistan and to all humanity."
"The United States stands with the people of Pakistan in this difficult time, and will strongly support Pakistan's efforts to ensure greater peace, security and justice for its people," Obama said.
The blast took place a day after about 150 militants fired at five security checkpoints in Mohmand Agency -- another of the seven districts in Pakistan's volatile tribal region along the Afghan border -- killing 11 soldiers. Security forces later killed 40 militants who were among the group, authorities said Saturday.

The security forces pounded militant hideouts in Mohmand Agency with helicopter gunships, said Maqsood Amin, a senior government official in the area. Twenty-four militants were killed during retaliation Friday while 16 were targeted Saturday.