UN blames regime for Syria massacre

UN blames regime for Syria massacre

BEIRUT

The U.N. singled out government forces Friday for blame in the latest massacre in Syria, a frenzy of killing that raises new questions about whether diplomacy has any chance to end the crisis more than 16 months into the bloodiest revolt of the Arab Spring.

As the violence turns ever more chaotic, analysts warn the effort by special envoy Kofi Annan has become nothing more than a pretense, with government forces, rebels, jihadists and others fighting for power.

Support upheld in Russian adoption

LEWISBURG, Tenn.

The Tennessee woman who ended her adoption of a 7-year-old Russian boy by putting him on a plane to Moscow by himself lost her bid Friday to keep from paying $150,000 in child support.

Torry Hansen made her first court appearance Friday in a case that began in April 2010 when she sent Artyom Saveliev away from her home in Shelbyville with a letter that said he had violent behavior problems and she no longer wanted to be his mother.

Criminal charges never were filed, but the adoption agency she used, the World Association for Children and Parents, sued her last year for child support.

Kerry Kennedy arrested in NY

NORTH CASTLE, N.Y.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s ex-wife, Kerry Kennedy, was arrested Friday for driving while impaired by drugs after she accidentally struck a tractor-trailer and fled, police said.

Kennedy is the seventh of 11 children of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. State police said she was found Friday morning behind the wheel of her disabled vehicle on the side of a road in Westchester, just north of New York City.

Authorities say 911 callers reported the car was driving erratically on Interstate 684 and collided with a tractor-trailer in the town of North Castle. The car was damaged and had a flat tire, police said.

A spokesman for Kennedy, who lives in nearby Bedford, denied that she was driving under the influence of drugs.

“Kerry Kennedy voluntarily took breathalyzer, blood and urine tests — all of which showed no drugs or alcohol whatsoever in her system,” spokesman Ken Sunshine said in an emailed statement. “The charges were filed before the test results were available.”

Bonnie and Clyde guns to be auctioned

She kept a Colt .38- caliber revolver close, while he preferred a .45-caliber pistol from the same maker.

But neither weapon was enough to save American outlaws and lovers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow during a 1934 ambush by law-enforcement officers.

After the duo was dead, authorities recovered the revolver Bonnie had secured to an inner thigh with white medical tape. They also seized the handgun Clyde had tucked into his waistband.

Nearly 80 years later, those guns and other items connected to the infamous gangsters will be going up for auction in New Hampshire on Sept. 30. An auction official estimated Thursday that each weapon could bring between $100,000 and $200,000.

Stallone’s son dies

LOS ANGELES

A publicist for Sylvester Stallone says the actor’s son, Sage Stallone, has died in Los Angeles at age 36.

Michelle Bega said in a statement Friday that the elder Stallone is devastated and grief-stricken by his son’s death. The circumstances of Sage Stallone’s death were not immediately available.

Sage Moonblood Stallone appeared with his father in two films. He made his acting debut in 1990’s “Rocky V,” and also appeared with his father in 1996’s “Daylight.”

Associated Press