UN monitors flee Syria after gunfire

UN monitors flee Syria after gunfire

beirut

Syrian security forces opened fire Wednesday on anti-regime demonstrators surrounding the cars of a U.N. team meant to monitor a shaky cease-fire, sending the observers speeding off and protesters dashing for cover, according to activists and amateur videos.

The fresh violence in a suburb of Damascus, the Syrian capital, provided the first public glimpse of the work of the small team struggling to reinforce the international community’s stumbling efforts to end 13 months of deadly conflict in Syria.

The shooting, which wounded at least eight people, also could complicate the deployment of a larger U.N. mission to help a cease-fire take hold between President Bashar Assad’s forces and opposition fighters.

Norway gunman: freedom or death

oslo, norway

The right-wing fanatic on trial for massacring 77 people in Norway says he wants either freedom or death, calling the country’s prison terms “pathetic” and arguing for the return of capital punishment, which was last used here to execute Nazi collaborators after World War II.

In the third day of his terror trial, Anders Behring Breivik was grilled by prosecutors about the anti- Muslim militant group he claims to belong to.

He rejected their suggestions that the “Knights Templar” doesn’t exist, but admitted he had embellished when describing the network in a 1,500-page manifesto he published online before the bomb- and-shooting rampage July 22.

Judge quits Trayvon case, cites conflict

orlando, fla.

The Florida judge presiding over the Trayvon Martin shooting case removed herself Wednesday after the attorney for defendant George Zimmerman argued she had a possible conflict of interest relating to her husband.

Judge Kenneth M. Lester Jr. will preside over the case, including the Friday bail hearing for the neighborhood-watch volunteer, according to a news release from the court.

Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in the Feb. 26 shooting of the unarmed Martin, 17. Zimmerman said he shot Martin in self-defense after the teen attacked him.

Florida Circuit Judge Jessica Recksiedler had said she would make a decision by Friday, when the hearing had been set.

Her husband works with Orlando attorney Mark NeJame, who was first approached by Zimmerman’s family to represent the neighborhood-watch volunteer.

Retirees claim their share of jackpot

red bud, ill.

Merle Butler routinely laughed off what became the well-worn exchange among locals in Red Bud the instant word swept through the tiny southern Illinois village that a Mega Millions lottery ticket bought there scored a share of a record $656 million jackpot.

“Are you the winner?” someone would ask.

“Yeah, sure, I won it,” the retired Butler played along each time.

Little did anyone in the 3,700-resident town know Butler wasn’t kidding.

On Wednesday, 19 days since that drawing, Butler and his wife, Patricia, finally stepped in front of news cameras and reporters to publicly claiming their $218.6 million stake of the jackpot — the secret the famously private retirees and grandparents had no trouble keeping for so long.

Associated Press