Mine owner disputes MSHA blast findings

Mine owner disputes MSHA blast findings

MORGANTOWN, W.Va.

Massey Energy Co. on Friday rejected nearly every part of the federal government’s theory on what caused the deadly explosion at its Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia last spring, killing 29 men.

The Richmond, Va.-based coal company doesn’t believe that worn shearer bits, broken water sprayers or an excessive buildup of coal dust contributed to the blast, Vice President and General Counsel Shane Harvey said.

Instead, Massey continues to argue there was a sudden inundation of natural gases from a crack in the floor that overwhelmed what it insists were good air flow and other controls that should have contained the blast.

American faces murder charges

LAHORE, Pakistan

Pakistan will pursue murder charges against a U.S. consular employee suspected of shooting two armed men during a possible robbery attempt, a prosecutor said Friday as protesters called for the American to be severely punished.

The killings in this bustling city Thursday have attracted intense media coverage in Pakistan, and the government — already viewed by some critics as being subservient to the United States — will be under pressure to allow the law to run its course.

Police: Mom killed 2 ‘mouthy’ teens

TAMPA, Fla.

The wife of a military officer shot and killed her son on the way to soccer practice, then drove to their upscale home and shot her daughter in the head while she studied at her computer, police said Friday. Afterward, the woman told detectives she killed the teens for being “mouthy.”

Julie Powers Schenecker admitted the slayings after officers found her covered in blood on the back porch of her home Friday morning, police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said.

Shooting trial moves to Tucson for now

PHOENIX

Prosecutors and defense lawyers have agreed that the federal trial against the suspect in the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords will be in Tucson, at least for now.

The case against Jared Lee Loughner moved to Phoenix after federal judges in Tucson recused themselves because a fellow judge died in the attack.

The deal doesn’t prevent future requests for moves.

AF sergeant gets prison for adultery

MASCOUTAH, Ill.

A military jury on Friday sentenced a chief master sergeant of the Air Force to a year and eight months in prison and a dishonorable discharge for committing adultery with four married female subordinates and making unwanted sexual advances toward several others.

A six-man jury of officers from Scott Air Force Base deliberated for about four hours before rendering their sentence on Chief Master Sgt. William Gurney, who was the top-ranking enlisted man at the Air Force Materiel Command at Wright- Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, when the allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced in 2009.

Year of the Rabbit not so cuddly?

TAIPEI, Taiwan

The Year of the Rabbit conjures images of fluffy bunnies, but fortune tellers in Asia predict that the coming year on the Asian lunar calendar will be anything but cuddly.

Among key predictions for the new year beginning Feb. 3: terrorist threats, continuing tensions between China and the United States, natural disasters around the world and wobbly global markets.

Associated Press