Woman indicted in MySpace suicide case

Woman indicted in MySpace suicide case

LOS ANGELES — A Missouri woman was indicted Thursday for her alleged role in perpetrating a hoax on the online social network MySpace against a 13-year-old neighbor who committed suicide.

Lori Drew of suburban St. Louis, who reportedly helped create a MySpace account in the name of someone who didn’t exist to convince Megan Meier she was chatting with a 16-year-old boy named Josh Evans, was charged with conspiracy and fraudulently gaining access to someone else’s computer.

Megan hanged herself at home in October 2006, reportedly after receiving a dozen or more cruel messages, including one stating the world would be better off without her.

Study finds heart risks in young cancer survivors

Children who survive cancer face a much greater risk of heart problems later in life than their brothers and sisters who did not have cancer, new research shows.

Doctors have long known that certain chemotherapy drugs and radiation can harm the heart, but it has been seen as a relatively small price to pay for beating cancer. Cancer itself may damage the heart. And even though the risk was higher, heart problems still were relatively rare.

The study used a national registry to track 14,358 cancer survivors diagnosed in the 1970s and 1980s, when treatments were harsher than those commonly used today, and compared them to about 4,000 healthy siblings.

Iran calls sanctions illegal

VIENNA, Austria — Iran’s new offer for international talks touches on a broad range of topics, but fails to address U.N. Security Council calls for Tehran to give up uranium enrichment, according to a copy of the offer obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

The Islamic Republic also sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon complaining that it was “illegal” for the Security Council to impose sanctions against the country for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment.

In the letter, which was also obtained by the AP, Iran obliquely slams the U.S. and its allies for their pursuit of the sanctions.

New York outlaws display of nooses as a threat

ALBANY, N.Y. — The state of New York has outlawed the display of a noose as a threat, following several high-profile cases involving the symbol of racist lynchings.

Gov. David Paterson signed the law Thursday to make such displays a felony punishable by as many as four years in prison.

“It is sad that in these modern times there remains a need to address the problem of individuals who use nooses as a means of threat and intimidation,” he said in a statement. “But it is a reality, and if we ignore it we would be derelict in our duty.”

Nooses were found last year on a black professor’s door at Columbia University, outside a post office near the site of the Sept. 11 attacks in Manhattan and on Long Island.

Private eye convicted

LOS ANGELES — A Hollywood private investigator was convicted Thursday of federal racketeering and other charges for digging up dirt for his well-heeled clients to use in lawsuits, divorces and business disputes against the rich and famous.

Anthony Pellicano, 64, was accused of wiretapping stars such as Sylvester Stallone and running the names of others, such as Garry Shandling and Kevin Nealon, through law enforcement databases to help clients in legal and other disputes.

Pellicano was found guilty of all but one of the 77 counts against him. He looked at the judge with his arms crossed and didn’t react when verdicts were read.

Prosecutors: Landlord tried to kill man over rent

NEW YORK — Prosecutors say a New York landlord who tried to kill a tenant with a bomb has been indicted on attempted murder and other charges. The tenant lost a leg in the blast.

Prosecutors said Thursday that 38-year-old Yung Tang placed the bomb in a bag next to Israel Halberstam’s minivan while it was parked outside his Brooklyn home in March 2002. The bag exploded when Halberstam tried to move it.

They say Tang wanted his tenant dead because Halberstam owed him about $100,000 in rent on a showroom for his electronics business.

Prosecutors say they don’t know whether Tang has an attorney.

If convicted, he faces up to 50 years in prison.

Associated Press