Sunday, August 31, 2008
Navy stops construction of new class of destroyers
WASHINGTON — The Navy took the unusual step of abruptly canceling construction of its expensive new class of destroyers this summer because the ships lack abilities that top commanders believe are necessary to protect U.S. interests, according to the service’s senior officer.
Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations, said DDG-1000 Zumwalt class destroyer does not have crucial missile and air defense capabilities and defending it against enemy submarines would be difficult. The last ship in the class will cost $2.6 billion.
“I started looking at the DDG-1000. It has a lot of technology, but it cannot perform broader, integrated air and missile defense,” Roughead said in his first interview since the controversial move was made to cancel the destroyer program.
Bling Bandit busted
NEW YORK — He was a respected former NYPD detective and a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War who struggled in recent months with inoperable liver cancer.
But now Athelson Kelson is charged with bank robbery, identified by authorities as New York’s so-called Bling Bandit, suspected of pulling off nine heists while wearing a flashy watch and ring.
Kelson, 59, was arraigned Friday in connection with a robbery at a Queens bank July 10. He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted of the charge. He has been ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation before his next court appearance Sept. 12.
His mother, Hilda Kelson, told Newsday in Saturday editions that her son had been struggling over the past few years with the disintegration of his marriage, memories from his experience in Vietnam and, most recently, his terminal cancer diagnosis.
“He’s been having problems mentally for a long time,” Kelson, of Randallstown, Md., told the newspaper.
Shark found in Michigan
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — There’s no telling what might turn up in Lake Michigan.
Rich Fasi of Traverse City says he found a dead 2-foot shark in the water while fishing on West Grand Traverse Bay on Wednesday.
The saltwater fish was a juvenile blacktip shark, George Burgess, director of the Florida Program For Shark Research at the University of Florida, told the Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Mark Tonello, a fisheries biologist from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, said someone might have caught the shark off the Atlantic Coast and kept it on ice while bringing it to northern Michigan.
Afghanistan probe sought
HERAT, Afghanistan — NATO’s top commander in Afghanistan on Saturday called for a joint investigation into a U.S.-led airstrike that U.N. and Afghan officials say killed as many as 90 civilians recently. Meanwhile, an Afghan military official involved in the attack said misinformation led U.S. forces to hit the wrong target.
Gen. David D. McKiernan’s appeal for a coordinated inquiry came four days after U.N. officials in Afghanistan said their investigators had found “convincing evidence” that at least 60 children and 30 adults were killed in the Aug. 21 airstrike in the western province of Herat. U.S. military officials maintain that five civilians were killed.
NATO officials have said that about 40 Taliban insurgents were killed in the attack on a compound in the town of Azizabad.
“Gen. McKiernan wants to ensure that the numbers can be reconciled somehow, so it’s important that there’s cooperation,” said Brig. Gen. Richard Blanchette, a spokesman for McKiernan. “It’s very surprising that the numbers are so disparate. We believe that this could be because of some Taliban propaganda or misinformation.”
Throngs line up for Oprah
CHICAGO — Hundreds of Oprah Winfrey fans are lining up in Chicago’s Millennium Park for a chance at free tickets to the talk show host’s season premiere featuring 150 U.S. Olympic team members.
Some fans lined up as early as 6 a.m. for the tickets to “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” Tickets usually are available only by phone and are nearly impossible to get.
The tickets being handed out Saturday are for the planned taping of the show with the Olympic athletes Wednesday. The 23rd season premiere of the show will air Sept. 8.
Winfrey’s Harpo Productions says she intends the show as a “welcome home celebration” for the athletes and a chance to feature Chicago as the city bids for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Gold medalist Michael Phelps is among the Olympians to be included in the show.
Vindicator wire services