Top general to ‘fully cooperate’ in inquiry

Top general to ‘fully cooperate’ in inquiry

washington

After two days of silence, the top general in Afghanistan says he will “fully cooperate” with the investigation ordered into communications he had with a Tampa socialite at the center of the military’s sex scandal.

Marine Corps Gen. John Allen released a statement through his lawyer Wednesday night saying he’ll cooperate and that he instructed his staff to do the same.

The lawyer, Col. John G. Baker, says Allen wants questions in the probe resolved as quickly and completely as possible.

What does it take for evacuation?

new york

Despite days of dire forecasts and explicit warnings, hundreds of thousands of people in New York and New Jersey ignored mandatory evacuation orders as Superstorm Sandy closed in. Now, after scores of deaths and harrowing escapes, emergency officials will look at what more can be done to persuade residents to get out when their lives are in danger.

“The issue of those who either can’t or won’t abide by those orders — that is a question that we have to address,” Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said during a tour of ravaged Staten Island over the weekend.

The same troubling pattern has been seen in previous storms, and the ideas tried across the country include stern warnings about the dangers of staying behind, moral appeals not to imperil rescuers, scary ads, and laws that threaten fines or jail time. And yet people refuse to leave, and some come to regret it — that is, if they survive.

Israel: Rebels take Syrian villages

jerusalem

Syrian rebels control almost all the villages near the frontier with the Israel-held Golan Heights, the Israeli defense minister said Wednesday, bringing the conflict dangerously close to the Jewish state and raising the possibility of an armed clash with the region’s strongest power.

During a tour of the Golan Heights, Defense Minister Ehud Barak gave a scathing assessment of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces and said Israel will remain “vigilant and alert.”

Suspect indicted in death of Etan Patz

new york

A man authorities say confessed to the infamous 1979 disappearance of a 6-year-old boy from his New York City neighborhood has been formally charged with murder and kidnapping, a major milestone in a case that has stymied investigators and Etan Patz’s devoted family for decades.

The indictment against Pedro Hernandez, 51, of Maple Shade, N.J., was made public Wednesday and sets up a potential showdown at trial over whether prosecutors can convince a jury that his claim that he strangled the boy — a secret kept for more than 30 years — is credible.

Booze calories like soda’s for US adults

new york

Americans get too many calories from soda. But what about alcohol? It turns out adults get almost as many empty calories from booze as from soft drinks, a government study found.

Soda and other sweetened drinks — the focus of obesity-fighting public health campaigns — are the source of about 6 percent of the calories adults consume, on average. Alcoholic beverages account for about 5 percent, the new study found.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released its findings today.

Associated Press