Child prostitution sweep nets hundreds of arrests

Child prostitution sweep nets hundreds of arrests

WASHINGTON — Hundreds of people have been arrested and 21 children rescued in what the FBI is calling a five-day roundup of networks of pimps who force children into prostitution.

The Justice Department says it targeted 16 cities as part of its “Operation Cross Country” that caps off five years of similar stings nationwide.

Many of the children forced into prostitution are either runaways or what authorities call “thrown-aways” — kids whose families have shunned them. Officials say they are preyed upon by organized networks of pimps who lure them in with shelter or drugs, then often beat, starve or otherwise abuse them until the children agree to work the streets.

In all, authorities arrested 345 people — including 290 adult prostitutes — during the operation that ended this week.

Briton guilty of murders

WOBURN, Mass. — A British man who fled the U.S. after his wife and baby were shot to death was convicted of murder Wednesday by a jury that rejected defense claims that the mother killed her daughter and herself as they snuggled in bed.

Neil Entwistle, 29, closed his eyes and shook his head slightly upon being found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his wife, Rachel, 27, and their 9-month-old baby, Lillian Rose.

Bush wants deal for Iraq

WASHINGTON — President Bush and Iraq’s president expressed cautious optimism Wednesday about prospects for completing a complex agreement that would keep U.S. troops in Iraq after a U.N. mandate expires at year-end.

Bush said the U.S. was working on an agreement that “suits” the Iraqi government. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, speaking in the Oval Office after meeting with Bush, cited recent progress.

U.S. and Iraqi authorities are trying to meet a July target date for completing the security agreement.

Bush wants the agreement in place before he leaves office. If not, major decisions about how U.S. forces operate in Iraq could be left to the next president, including how much authority the U.S. must give Iraqis over military operations and how quickly the handover takes place.

Oldest 4-legged creature

WASHINGTON — Scientists unearthed a skull of the most primitive four-legged creature in Earth’s history, which should help them better understand the evolution of fish to advanced animals that walk on land.

The 365 million-year-old fossil skull, shoulders and part of the pelvis of the water-dweller, Ventastega curonica, were found in Latvia, researchers report in a study published in today’s issue of the journal Nature. Even though Ventastega is likely an evolutionary dead-end, the finding sheds new details on the evolutionary transition from fish to tetrapods. Tetrapods are animals with four limbs and include such descendants as amphibians, birds and mammals.

The fierce-looking creature probably swam through shallow brackish waters, measured about 3 or 4 feet long and ate other fish. It likely had stubby limbs with an undetermined number of digits, scientists said.

From trash to treasure

EASTON, Md. — An old painting dropped off at a rural Maryland Goodwill store turned out to be a work by a French Impressionist. And now, thanks to the sharp eye of a store employee, the charitable organization is $40,000 richer.

The Parisian street scene, left at the store in March along with daily donations of pots, pans, old clock radios and other items, turned out to be a work by Edouard-Leon Cortes, probably from the early 20th century.

The painting — called “Marche aux fleurs” or “Flower Market” — was sold for $40,600 at a Sotheby’s auction a few weeks ago.

“It could have very easily ended up put in a pile, marked for $20,” says Ursula Villar, marketing and development director for Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake Inc.

Beef import ban lifted

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea lifted an import ban on American beef today, officials said, hoping to move on from a crisis that battered the pro-U.S. government with protests over mad cow disease concerns.

South Korea and the United States agreed last week to restrict U.S. beef exports to younger cattle, modifying an earlier deal that placed few restrictions on meat shipments and sparked widespread outrage against the government.

Associated Press