Journalist's testimony brings mixed reactions

Journalist's testimonybrings mixed reactions
NEW YORK -- New York Times reporter Judith Miller's decision to escape jail by testifying about her conversations with a confidential source surprised some of her supporters and left journalists wondering what her choice will mean for press freedoms. Miller spent 85 days in jail for initially refusing to tell a grand jury whom she spoke with about Valerie Plame, a covert CIA official whose identity was leaked to several reporters in 2003. But on Thursday she was abruptly released from prison, and a day later gave a grand jury the testimony long sought by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald. The reason for the abrupt change: Miller said that her source, identified by the Times as Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby, called her in prison and urged her to break her silence. "This was the first time where he was saying, do it. I want you to testify," said Miller's attorney, Floyd Abrams. News of her release from jail was greeted with joy by some of the organizations that had supported her, but also some dismay.
Murder charge in caseof woman's disappearance
NEW YORK -- A Queens man was charged Saturday with murdering his live-in girlfriend, a week after the woman's 4-year-old daughter was found walking down a city street alone in the middle of the night, police said. Cesar Ascarrunz, 32, was arrested on murder charges two days after he was picked up by investigators, police said. Authorities were still searching Saturday for 26-year-old Monica Lozada's remains. More than a dozen tips came in to police after child welfare officials took the unusual step of putting the child, Valerie Lozada, on television Thursday, in the hopes it would produce more information. In the appearance, Valerie described her mother as looking "like a princess." Lozada was last seen at the apartment she shared with Ascarrunz on Sept. 24, at 11:45 p.m., authorities said. A little more than an hour later, Valerie was found on a Queens street, shivering and barefoot. She told residents that her father dropped her off and drove away. She remained in foster care Saturday. Authorities used records from the child's day-care center to figure out her mother's identity, and declared her a missing person Friday. Ascarrunz also was charged with reckless endangerment, endangering the welfare of a child, child abandonment and evidence tampering, said Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown. If convicted on the murder charge, he faces 25 years to life in prison.
U.S. soldier, Afghan killedin attack near Kandahar
KABUL, Afghanistan -- A U.S. soldier and an Afghan soldier have been killed in an attack in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. military said Saturday. The small-arms and rocket-propelled grenade attack Friday also wounded another U.S. soldier and two Afghan National Army troops during combat operations north of the city of Kandahar, the military said. The three wounded soldiers were taken to a nearby forward operating base for treatment, according to a statement from the main U.S. base at Bagram, north of the capital of Kabul. The American's death brought to 198 the number of U.S. service members killed in and around Afghanistan since the 2001 campaign that drove the hard-line Taliban from power.
3 communities evacuatedafter volcano eruption
PALO CAMPANA, El Salvador -- A volcano in western El Salvador erupted Saturday, sending a column of ash 50,000 feet into the air and killing two farmers buried by chunks of earth and boiling water that tumbled down the slopes. Authorities ordered the evacuation of three communities in the shadow of the Ilamatepec volcano, which towers near Santa Ana, the country's second largest city, 40 miles from San Salvador, the capital. "The volcano has entered an eruptive phase that consists of ashes and gases," Interior Secretary Rene Figueroa said. It was unclear how many people had been ordered to leave their homes. Figueroa said as many as 10,000 residents live close to the volcano, but that most areas were not evacuated. Emergency response officials said two farmers died and two other residents of the coffee-growing town of Palo Campana were missing. The ground was smoldering when soldiers arrived to assist in the evacuations. Falling ash had destroyed coffee crops and damaged trees in surrounding forests. Small bodies of water were steaming and bubbling from the heat and ash covered the ground. Problems with landslides worsened as afternoon rains pelted the area.
Associated Press