Federal judge dismisses terrorism charges

Federal judge dismissesterrorism charges
DETROIT -- A federal judge dismissed terrorism charges against two men convicted last year, saying the prosecution's zeal to obtain a conviction in the wake of Sept. 11 overcame its professional judgment.
But U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen said the two, as well as a third man, must stand trial again on charges of document fraud.
The judge's decision came after the Justice Department admitted widespread prosecutorial misconduct in the case and asked the judge to dismiss the terrorism charges against two men accused of being part of a Detroit terror cell.
Rosen said the prosecution's "understandable sense of mission and zeal to obtain a conviction" in the wake of the Sept. 11 "overcame not only its professional judgment, but its broader obligations to the justice system and the rule of law."
The case had been hailed by the Bush Administration as a victory in the war on terror.
State police to pay $5Mto settle sex-assault case
PHILADELPHIA -- State police have agreed to pay $5 million to settle allegations that commanders failed to rein in a rogue trooper who was sexually assaulting women.
The settlement covers civil lawsuits filed in federal court by four women, including one who was 14 in the late 1990s when she was assaulted by former trooper Michael Evans.
Evans pleaded guilty to criminal charges in 2000 and is serving a 5- to 10-year prison sentence. The women said several of his supervisors knew he had a history of unsavory conduct, but never punished him or removed him from duty.
The deal was announced Thursday in a joint statement by State Police Commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller and three attorneys for the women, who will split the money.
U.N. envoy urges Sudanto accept monitoring force
UNITED NATIONS -- The U.N. envoy to Sudan pressed the government to accept an international monitoring force of more than 3,000 troops to help prevent escalating militia attacks in the Darfur region.
Jan Pronk called the situation in Darfur "critical" and said the government "has to be blamed" for failing to stop attacks outside designated areas where thousands of Sudanese fleeing the violence have gathered.
At a Security Council briefing, he elaborated on Secretary-General Kofi Annan's call for an expanded force and said the Sudanese government should "accept assistance from the international community" if it can't protect its citizens.
Afterwards, when asked about reports that the United Nations was pushing for a 3,000-strong force, Pronk told reporters "three is not enough."
Court acquits 5 men in Jewish center bombing
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- A federal court acquitted five men Thursday of being accessories to the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center that killed 85 people, the deadliest terrorist attack on Argentine soil.
In a nationally televised verdict, a three-judge panel cleared four former provincial police officers and a former used car salesman accused of supplying the van used in the attack, which also injured about 300 people.
The verdict concluded a three-year trial -- the longest in Argentine history. The five were not accused of direct involvement in the bombing but were charged as accomplices for their parts in a stolen car ring responsible for the sale and delivery of the van.
Prosecutors had sought life sentences for the five, several of whom were ordered to remain in custody pending separate charges unrelated to the bombing probe. Fifteen others were exonerated of minor charges. Jewish community leaders condemned the ruling.
The rigged van exploded July 18, 1994, outside the Argentine Israeli Mutual Aid Association. The explosion leveled the seven-story building, a symbol of Argentina's 300,000-strong Jewish community, the largest in Latin America. The masterminds of the attack were never identified.
It was the second of two bombings targeting Jews in Argentina during the 1990s. A March 1992 blast destroyed the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 29 people in a case that remains unsolved.
Abandoned cougar kittensthrive under PAWS care
DUVALL, Wash. -- Three 6-week-old cougar kittens were found in a couple's back yard, and authorities have no idea how they ended up there.
The kittens were found Aug. 21 behind the home of Steve Schroeder and Sheilah MacDonald in this rural town. They took the little cougars to the animal welfare organization PAWS in Lynnwood the next day. There the kittens are being fed by wildlife specialists working to prevent them from imprinting on humans.
The kittens were weak, dehydrated and hungry when they were found, Fish and Wildlife Capt. Bill Hebner said.
They weighed 3 pounds each when found and now weigh 5 pounds each.
Associated Press