DEA sued over fake Facebook account

DEA sued over fake Facebook account

WASHINGTON

The Drug Enforcement Administration set up a fake Facebook account using photographs and other personal information it took from the cellphone of a New York woman arrested in a cocaine case in hopes of tricking her friends and associates into revealing incriminating drug secrets.

The Justice Department initially defended the practice in court filings but now says it is reviewing whether the Facebook guise went too far.

The account was the work of DEA Agent Timothy Sinnigen, Sondra Arquiett said in a federal-court lawsuit. The case was scheduled for trial next week in Albany, N.Y., although a mediator now has been selected for the dispute, court records show.

N. Korea admits it has labor camps

UNITED NATIONS

A North Korean official publicly acknowledged to the international community the existence of his country’s “reform through labor” camps Tuesday, a mention that appeared to come in response to a highly critical U.N. human-rights report earlier this year.

Diplomats for the reclusive, impoverished country also told reporters that a top North Korea official has visited the headquarters of the European Union and expressed interest in dialogue, with discussions on human rights expected next year.

Getting insurance waiver complicated

WASHINGTON

Millions of Americans may qualify for waivers from the most-unpopular part of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul. But getting that exemption could be an ordeal.

Community groups are concerned about a convoluted process for waivers from the law’s tax penalty on people who remain uninsured. Not everyone is complaining, however: Tax-preparation companies are flagging it as a business opportunity.

The law’s requirement that Americans carry health insurance remains contentious. Waivers were designed to ease the impact.

But though some exemptions seem simple, others will require math calculations.

Some involve sending in the application — by mail — and supporting documents, such as copies of medical bills, police reports, obituaries, utility shut-off notices — even news articles. Consumers will have to dig up the documentation — it’s not like filing the W-2s they get from employers.

3 win physics Nobel for blue diode

STOCKHOLM

Two Japanese scientists and a Japanese-born American won the Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday for inventing blue light-emitting diodes, a breakthrough that has spurred the development of LED technology to light up homes, computer screens and smartphones worldwide.

Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and naturalized U.S. citizen Shuji Nakamura revolutionized lighting technology two decades ago when they came up with a long-elusive component of the white LED lights that in countless applications today have replaced less- efficient incandescent and fluorescent lights.

Strong earthquake hits southwest China

BEIJING

A strong, shallow earthquake shook southwestern China overnight, killing at least one person, damaging buildings and prompting thousands to camp outside as aftershocks continued to strike the area, officials said today.

The earthquake with a magnitude of at least 6.0 hit the Weiyuan city area of Yunnan province at 9:49 p.m. At least 324 people also were injured, eight of them seriously, the Yunnan provincial government said.

Associated Press