Hard-line supporters criticize Ahmadinejad

Hard-line supporters criticize Ahmadinejad

TEHRAN,Iran — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, already at the center of a post-election crisis, came under criticism from his own hard-line supporters Sunday for appointing a first vice president who once caused an outcry by saying Iranians were friends of Israelis.

Ahmadinejad has been under siege by opposition supporters who claim he stole last month’s election from pro-reform candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Authorities have cracked down violently and have arrested hundreds, including Iranian employees of the British Embassy. Iran released the embassy’s chief political analyst on bail Sunday after charging him with harming national security for alleged involvement in the protests, said the man’s lawyer.

Tennessee man charged with killing 6 people

FAYETTEVILLE, Tenn. — A southern Tennessee man faces homicide charges in the slayings of his wife, her father, brother and teenage son, along with two other people in two states, authorities said Sunday.

The bodies of the relatives, along with a teenage neighbor, were found Saturday in two rural homes near Fayetteville in southern Tennessee, said the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. A sixth body discovered at a business about 30 miles south in Huntsville, Ala., has not been identified, and authorities have not said how the killings are linked.

Jacob Shaffer, 30, of Fayetteville in Lincoln County, faces six counts of homicide, his motive described as domestic, according to TBI spokeswoman Kristin Helm. She identified the victims as Shaffer’s wife, 38-year-old Traci Shaffer; her son, 16-year-old Devin Brooks; her brother, 34-year-old Chris Hall; her father, 57-year-old Billy Hall; and a neighbor, 16-year-old Robert Berber. Jacob Shaffer was being held in the Lincoln County jail without bond.

Civilian helicopter crash kills 16 in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan — A Russian-owned civilian helicopter crashed and burst into flames shortly after takeoff at southern Afghanistan’s largest NATO base Sunday, killing 16 civilians in the latest in a string of deadly aircraft crashes in the country.

A U.S. military helicopter also made an emergency landing in the country’s east, causing several injuries. A military spokeswoman said there was no insurgent fire involved.

There were no indications that the crash of the Mi-8 helicopter at southern Kandahar Air Field was caused by hostile fire, military officials said. Sixteen people died in the crash, and five were wounded and were treated on the NATO base, said Capt. Glen Parent, a spokesman for the NATO-led force in Kandahar.

The Russian news agency Interfax said the Mi-8 was owned by the Russian air company Vertikal-T. It cited Russian charge d’affaires Andrei Vadov as saying there were no Russians among the 16 killed.

Daughter of slain couple to take care of 13 kids

PENSACOLA, Fla. — The adult daughter of a slain Florida couple known for adopting 13 special-needs children said she is planning to move into her parents’ home and raise the children as her own.

Ashley Markham, 26, told the Pensacola News Journal in Sunday’s editions that she and her husband intend to care for the children, saying it was her mother’s wish.

Markham also defended her parents, Byrd and Melanie Billings, whose lives and deaths had gained national attention since the July 9 attack.

Byrd Billings, 66, was an entrepreneur who had dabbled in used cars, boats and the adult-entertainment industry. His 43-year-old wife was a country-music lover who fed the homeless and was devoted to her MySpace page. They adopted 13 children with autism, Down Syndrome and other developmental disabilities and lived in a sprawling home west of Pensacola.

Town wants to photograph license plates of every car

TIBURON, Calif. — Visitors should be prepared to have their pictures taken as they enter and leave this picturesque town of million-dollar views and homes along the San Francisco Bay.

Officials want to photograph every car and use the license-plate information to solve crimes in the town of 9,000. Critics see the plan as an intrusion into the rights of visitors, but proponents say it is a sensible precaution that absolutely will not cross privacy lines. Tiburon’s geography — laid out on a narrow peninsula with only two roads in and out — makes it possible to keep a close eye on everyone who comes to town.

Associated Press