Qaddafi supposedly Died of Wounds Sustained Before Capture

Libyan Deputy U.N. Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi says ousted leader Muammar Qaddafi was not killed by a Libyan government soldier.

Dabbashi told the U.N. Security committee Wednesday that Qaddafi died from wounds sustained before he was captured by Libyan fighters.

"Qaddafi was wounded in the course of the clashes between his loyalists and the revolutionaries,"Dabbashi said. "When he was arrested, he was bleeding from his abdomen and head and he passed away (upon) his arrival to the hospital in Misrata."

"According to early reports, nothing of the revolutionaries fired at him after arresting him," he said.

He added that the Libyans were conducting an investigation.

A Misrata military council administrator said Muammar Qaddafi, his son Muatassim and a top aide were buried at dawn Tuesday in a secret position, with a few relatives and officials in attendance.

In a text message shown to The Associated Press, spokesman Ibrahim Beitalmal said Islamic prayers were read over the bodies. The information could not be independently verified.

The bodies of Qaddafi, his son Muatassim and former Defense Minister Abu Bakr Younis had been held in cold storage in the port city of Misrata since the dictator and members of his entourage were captured near his hometown of Sirte on Thursday. Qaddafi and Muatassim were captured alive, with some injuries, but died in unclear circumstances later that day.

Libya's interim leaders have promised an investigation, responding to mounting international pressure.

On Monday, Beitalmal had said the three would be buried in unharmed graves in a secret location to prevent vandalism. Presumably, the graves would also be kept concealed to avoid turning them into shrines for Qaddafi loyalists.

International organizations asking to see the burial site would be given access, Beitalmal said.

Over the weekend, Libya's chief pathologist, Dr. Othman el-Zentani performed autopsies on the three bodies and also took DNA samples to verify their identities. El-Zentani has said Qaddafi died from a shot to the head, and said the full report would be released later this week, after he presents his findings to the attorney general.

Networking Robots and Sensor Systems to Help First Responders React More Quickly

Earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes -- natural disasters constantly catch us by surprise, no matter how many early-warning systems are in place. This makes it all the more significant for rescue teams to get a quick overview of the situation at hand. In SENEKA, a Markets Beyond Tomorrow project, Fraunhofer researchers are working to network the a variety of robots and sensor systems first responders use so that they can react more quickly and professionally in the case of an emergency to search for victims and survivors.

The earth is shaking, buildings are collapsing, power and usefulness lines as well as roads are destroyed. A disaster can have many causes, but frequently the outcome is the same: chaos, panic and dedicated but overtaxed first responders. The people lying buried beneath the rubble hold hopes for a speedy rescue, but sometimes it takes hours or even days to work through an entire area. To make matters worse, the work of liberate personnel can become extremely dangerous. Because every minute counts when the work of saving lives is concerned, robot-supported systems are increasingly used to go faster search operations. According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), the rate of growth in the use of these helpers is predictable to increase to 17 percent by 2013. The experience of the past several years also shows that the collision of special robots is very minor because individual devices and systems often cannot function with one a different in the field.

Cairo witnesses fault security forces for bloodshed at Coptic march

Eyewitness testimonies have been emerging that contradict the authorized accounts of the violence at a march of Coptic Christians in Cairo that left 26 dead and more than 500 injured.

Egyptian state television originally blamed the bloodshed on protesters, who it said had attacked security forces. There were also attempts to portray the violence as sectarian in nature.

But more and more people who were caught up in the fighting have been coming forward to point the finger of blame squarely at the security forces, who they say employed vicious tactics to suppress the protest.

Here is the testimony of four people who were involved.

1. Sherief Gaber, 27, recent graduate

2. Mos'ab Elshamy, 21, pharmacy student and freelance photographer

3. Steve Nabeel, 22, computer engineering student

4. Hossam Bahgat, 32, NGO worker for the Egyptian Institute of Personal Rights

Tx may be at risk for disease

Chagas disease, a tropical disease that can guide to heart and digestive disorders, may be more widespread in Texas than before thought, researchers say.

Epidemiological maps prepared by researchers from the University of Texas at Austin suggest south Texas, in exacting, is an area of high risk for infection by the parasitic disease.

Endemic to rural areas of Latin America, Chagas disease is frequently transmitted by triatomine bugs, also known as "kissing bugs."

"We've been studying this for four years now, and this year the number of disease-causing insects is quite amazing," biology Professor Sahotra Sarkar said in a UT release Thursday.

Researchers have been collecting and classifying insects from the field and analyzing them to decide how many of the bugs carry the protozoa Trypanosoma, which causes the disease.

The epidemiological maps are prepared from data counting the number and location of carrier insects, recorded human Chagas infections and hospitable habitats for the insects.

They recommend eleven counties in south Texas are at high risk for Chagas infection, and Sarkar says there may already be hundreds of undiagnosed cases of the disease.

Dozens Arrested as Union Groups Join Protests Near Wall Street

Unions lent their muscle to the long-running protest against Wall Street and economic disparity Wednesday, with their members joining thousands of protesters in a lower Manhattan march as smaller demonstrations flourished across the country.

Protesters in suits and T-shirts with union slogans left work early to march with activists who have been camped out in Zuccotti Park for days. Some marchers brought along their children, hoisting them onto their shoulders as they walked downward Broadway.

"We're here to stop communal greed," said Mike Pellegrino, an NYC Transit bus mechanic from Rye Brook. "They must pay their fair share of taxes. We're just working and looking for decent lives for our families."

Of the camping protesters, he said, "We feel kinship with them. We're both looking for the same things."

People gathered in face of the courthouses that encircle Foley Square, then marched to Zuccotti Park, where they refueled with snacks and quickly painted new signs as the strong scent of burning sage wafted through the plaza.

Previous marches have resulted in mass arrests. Police said there were about 28 arrests on Wednesday night, frequently for disorderly conduct. But at least one arrest was for assaulting a police officer; authorities said a demonstrator knocked an officer off his scooter.

Minnesota trial for woman accused of aiding Somali group

MINNEAPOLIS - One of two Minnesota women facing charges of raising money for the al Qaeda-affiliated Somali set al-Shabaab, was cited for contempt after refusing to stand on Monday as a federal judge entered the courtroom.

Amina Farah Ali, who became a U.S. citizen in 2004 and lived in Rochester, Minnesota, cited religious grounds for refusing to stand when Chief Judge Michael Davis entered the courtroom for the start of jury assortment in her trial.

Ali and Hawo Mohamed Hassan, who became a U.S. citizen in 2008 and also lived in Rochester, face numerous federal charges each for supposedly raising more than $8,600 for al-Shabaab from September 2008 to July 2009. The U.S. had chosen al-Shabaab a terrorist group months before in February 2008.

Ali and Hassan are accused of communicating with al-Shabaab persons in Somalia and in turn going door-to-door in Somali communities in Rochester, Minneapolis and elsewhere to raise money and holding teleconferences to solicit support.

The defendants starved of raising money for the group, saying it was planned for the poor and needy. The indictment accuses Ali of saying on two conference calls that the priority was support for the Mujahadin or Jihad, not the needy.

Ali was prearranged removed from the courtroom, temporarily delaying the start of jury selection and later returned to the courtroom, court officials said. Ali, who had been free on bail, was being detained on the contempt charge.

Ron Paul calls US killing of American-born al-Qaida cleric in Yemen an 'assassination'

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is condemning the Obama administration for killing an American born al-Qaida functioning without a trial.

Paul, a Texas congressman recognized for libertarian views, says the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki on Yemeni soil amounts to an "assassination." Paul warned the American people not to casually accept such violence against U.S. citizens, even persons with strong ties to terrorism.

Anwar al-Awlaki was measured one of the most influential al-Qaida operatives wanted by the United States. U.S. and Yemen officials say he was killed in a U.S. air strike targeting his group Friday morning.

Paul made the comments to reporters after a crusade stop Friday at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire. He said America's leaders must think hard about "assassinating American citizens with no charges."

6 in UK court over terror plot

Six men are due to emerge in a London court on terrorism charges, three of them charged with plotting suicide bomb attacks in Britain.

The men were under arrest in Birmingham last week and charged late on Sunday.

Four are accused of planning a terrorist act. Three of them — 30-year-old Irfan Nasser, 26-year-old Irfan Khalid and 26-year-old Ashik Ali — are accused of setting up a bombing campaign, making explosives and stating an intention to become suicide bombers.

Nasser and Khalid also are accused of traveling to Pakistan for terrorism training.

Two others are stimulating with failing to disclose information, and one with funding terrorism.

All six will emerge at West London Magistrates Court on Monday.

Gunman Kills Three National Guard Members, One further in Shooting Rampage at Nevada IHOP

Authorities recognized the gunman behind a deadly rampage at a Nevada IHOP as a 32-year-old local man, who opened fire with an AK-47 on five uniformed National Guard members, killing 3 and another person before killing himself.

Police say Eduardo Sencion of Carson City at home in a minivan registered to his brother, and opened fire at an IHOP restaurant in Nevada's capital city Tuesday, wounding eight people and killing three before terminally shooting himself.

Aside from the AK-47 rifle used in the attack, establishment say they found a pistol and another rifle in the minivan Sencion left in the parking lot.

Carson City Sheriff Kenny Furlong said Sencion was not in the military, had no known ties to anybody in the restaurant and had worked at a family business in South Lake Tahoe. Family members say Sencion had mental issues.

"We came into this with everything we had. All agencies were dedicated to it," Furlong told the Associated Press. "There were concerns at the onset, so we took certain steps to make certain we had the capability to embrace an even larger circumstance. At this point in time it appears to be remote to this parking lot."

Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval released a statement Tuesday indicating the shooting was an inaccessible event.

Wind and Lightning Push Wildfires across Montana

Firefighters on Tuesday were unable to hold a blaze that had burned 2,000 acres east of Missoula, but officials said they consider the threat to nearby homes had been reduced.

Crews were putting out hot spots and patrolling the area near the 40 threatened West Riverside homes about seven miles east of Missoula near the convergence of the Blackfoot and Clark Fork rivers.

No evacuations have been prearranged and no structures have been damaged. Incident commander Ken Parks said in a statement the coming up threat to the homes has been greatly diminished.

The wildfire had quickly spread from its first reported size of 150 acres to 1,500 acres within hours Monday night.

More than 120 people were fighting the fire. Two 20-person crews were building fire lines all along its western flank, while crews, dozers, engines and helicopters are fighting the fire on the more active eastern flank, the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation said in a statement.

Rachel Peterson, 7, told the Missoulian newspaper that she was playing outside her home when she was worried by a sound. "We were playing Barbies on the porch, and I heard a `poof' like a firework," she said. "Then I saw smoke, and so I said, `Uh-oh, I ought to tell Dad."'

Miranda Cosgrove breaks ankle in tour bus accident

Actress and singer Miranda Cosgrove has broken her ankle in a tour bus accident in southern Illinois. Gina Schulman, a spokeswoman for the star of Nickelodeon's "iCarly," says the accident happened early Thursday on throughway 70 near Vandalia, 70 miles northeast of St. Louis. Schulman says all five passengers on the bus "will be fine."

Schulman says Cosgrove's "Dancing Crazy Summer Tour" is postponed awaiting further notice. Cosgrove was planned to perform Friday in Wichita, Kan., and Saturday in Denver.

She says, "Miranda thanks everyone for their understanding and support."

Cosgrove stars as Carly Shay, the daughter of a colonel serving overseas, on "iCarly." Her album is "High Maintenance." She also featured in "The School of Rock" and voiced the character Margo in "Despicable Me."

Coast Guard: Marine Corps jet missing off Calif.

Search-and-rescue teams took to the air and water early Thursday looking for a Marine Corps fighter jet that went missing over the Pacific Ocean near San Diego, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

The aircraft was flying with an additional jet when contact with the plane was lost, said Coast Guard spokesman Henry Dunphy Wednesday night. Crews were searching for the F/A-18 Hornet in the area about 60 miles southwest of San Diego and 35 miles west of Ensenada, Mexico.

The Coast Guard was notified about the missing jet around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dunphy said.

Several aircraft were being used in the mission. Two Coast Guard cutters and a Navy ship have been unfocused into the area.

A spokesman for the Marine Corps confirmed the jet is assigned to the Marines.

The aircraft is based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in California, said Marine Corp. Capt. Brian Block.

Officials have not free how many crew members were aboard the plane. Additional details were not immediately obtainable.

Satellite images show outbreak on Alaska volcano

A volcano on a remote Alaska island has begun erupting, but poses slight danger to people or aircraft, officials said Tuesday.

The eruption at Cleveland Volcano is a sluggish effusion of magma that is forming a lava dome, and not an explosive eruption that generates big ash plumes, said John Power, the scientist-in-charge at the Alaska Volcano Observatory.

"So far, it's now lava as far as we can tell from our satellite imagery and the people who have managed to see it from passing airplanes," he said.

The volcano is in a very remote area, on unoccupied Chuginadak Island, and that lowers the danger level.

"Surely, if there were people who were going to be in the area, they would need to be worried but there aren't many of those folks there right now," he said.

Currently the lava dome is restricted within the summit crater. Power said the biggest danger would be if the lava dome began to grow large sufficient to spill out, then it could begin to produce ash-producing explosions.

"If it were to explode and push a group of ash up into the flight levels, then it would be a much more dangerous condition," he said.

Based upon past annotations at several volcanoes, dome growth like this can go on for weeks to months.

"It's something we're going to be watching very directly, or as close as we can given our operational constraints there," he said.

Salazar: Administration involved in AK drilling

The Obama administration is concerned in seeing more oil and gas development in Alaska, both onshore and off, but it wants to make sure that any drilling is done sensibly, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Monday.

Salazar's comments come just days after a central agency gave conditional approval to Shell Oil Co.'s plans to begin drilling in the Arctic Ocean as early as next year. Approval is contingent upon Shell receiving necessary drilling, air quality and other permits and authorizations, including backing of its oil spill response plan.

Critics have charged that the technology and infrastructure do not exist to sufficiently respond to a spill in the Arctic.

Salazar spoke with reporters in Anchorage after a round table conversation on issues including Arctic drilling with business and labor interests. He said lessons learned from last year's massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico — counting the fact that companies weren't as ready to respond to a spill as they'd claimed — are "engrained" in his mind and that of Deputy Secretary David Hayes.

But he noted that conditions in the Arctic are quite dissimilar than those in the gulf — waters are shallower, for example. The government was looking at ways to develop stronger offshore leasing and development oversight, place conditions on drilling that incorporate lessons learned from the gulf spill and better understand the Arctic, Salazar said.

Earlier in the day, he said greater investment is wanted to build up the nation's Arctic infrastructure, with a role for both the government and private interests to play.

Man gets 60 years in Ohio firebombing, arson

A centralized judge has sentenced an Ohio man to 60 years in prison in the 2009 firebombing of a city hall and a bar fire.

Forty-one-year-old Kevin Dye also was prearranged Friday to pay some $860,000 in restitution.

Federal prosecutors say Dye used bombs made from milk jugs, cloth, duct tape and gasoline to damage Mansfield City Hall court offices in north-central Ohio in December 2009. He was planned to go on trial at the court on drug and other charges two days later.

Prosecutors also say he set an August 2009 fire at Belcher's House of Rock, where he had been debarred.

Dye's attorney, Javier H. Armengau, says he's dissatisfied in the sentence. He says Dye maintains his virtue and will seek to appeal his convictions.

Ore. dad jailed in slaying of wife, 4 children

The man accused of killing his wife and four children and setting their house on fire improved enough to leave the hospital Thursday and was immediately jailed on provoked murder charges.

Police said Jordan Adam Criado, 51, was alert and able to walk when he left the Rogue Valley Medical Center in Medford and was taken to the Jackson County Jail. He suffered smoke breathing in the July 18 fire and was unconscious and on a ventilator for days.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Beth Heckert said he would be arraigned Friday in Jackson County Circuit Court on charges of provoked murder, felony murder, manslaughter and arson. Detective Sgt. Mike Budreau said Criado did not up till now have an attorney.

An autopsy showed Tabasha Paige-Criado was stabled multiple times in the neck and abdomen.

The probable cause of death for the children — Elijah, 7; Isaac, 6; Andrew, 5; and Aurora, 2 — was listed as smoke inhalation. Stab wounds to the neck were listed as an extra cause of death for Isaac and Andrew.

Firefighters and medics worked excitedly on all six family members on the front lawn of their home before rushing them to the hospital. Only Criado survived.

Family members said Criado met his wife at a community college in Bakersfield, Calif. They married, even though she found out he went to prison for sexually abusing three girls in Sacramento County, they said.

Paige-Criado's family has said he moved them to Oregon to get away from his wife's family, who urged her to go away him.

Friends and family have said Paige-Criado required a divorce. Her postings on Facebook referred to Criado with disdain.

Syrian Activists Say at Least 100 Killed in Protests

The Syrian army allegedly killed at least 100 people Sunday during an attack on the flashpoint city of Hama, as an uptick of gunfire left bodies scattered in the streets, according to various news reports from the region. There has been an rise of the crackdown on protests ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, activists and residents said.

Demonstrations calling for President Bashar Assad's ouster are predictable to swell during Ramadan, which starts Monday, in Syria. Security forces appeared to be racing against time as they stormed and raided cities and small villages across the country in an attempt to crush a amazingly resilient uprising that began in mid-March.

The AFP reports that the official SANA news agency said two security forces officers were killed Sunday by "armed groups.”

"Two law enforcement members were martyred by armed groups in Hama who set police stations on fire, vandalized public and private properties, set up roadblocks and barricades and burned tires at the entrance of the city and in its streets," AFP reported, citing an English-language report on the SANA website.

The Syrian protests, which began in earnest in March, seek to take apart the repressive rule by the Assad family. They appeared to be enthused by the Arab Spring uprisings seen in nearby Egypt and Tunisia.

"Hama is used to massacres by the Assad family, but we tell this tyrant the more you kill us the more we are resolute to oust you," an activist said, according to Haaretz.com, citing the German Press Agency.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the attacks against civilians were "all the more shocking" on the eve of Ramadan and appeared to be part of a "coordinated effort to deter Syrians" from protesting during Ramadan.

President Obama issued a statement Sunday saying he is "appalled" by the violence and cruelty the Syrian government has aimed at its own people. He calls the reports from Hama "horrifying" and says they demonstrate the true character of the Syrian regime.

Other raids were reported in southern Syria and in the suburbs of the capital Damascus. In the neighborhood of al-Joura in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, soldiers in tanks fired machine guns, killing at least seven people, activists said.

An estimated 1,600 civilians have died in the crackdown on the mostly peaceful protests against President Bashar Assad's regime since the uprising began. Most were killed in shootings by security forces on anti-government rallies.

Yosemite Rangers Fear Hikers Swept Over Falls

Search and rescue rangers at Yosemite National Park were scouring an area below a admired waterfall Tuesday afternoon after witnesses reported seeing at slightest one hiker being swept over the falls.

Park spokeswoman Kari Cobb said Tuesday that emergency services established "multiple calls" about one or more hikers going into the water and over the 317-foot Vernal Falls on the Merced River at around 1 p.m.

Rangers immediately closed the Mist Trail, a popular hike with tourists that leads to the waterfall, and liberate officials sent a member of the park's search and rescue team to the top of the falls while the rest of the team was deployed below.

"They're out there interviewing witnesses, but they still don't have anything," Cobb said at 4:30 p.m.

Park officials often close areas when they feel a body force be recovered. Visitors were disturbed in May when a hiker slipped and fell into the Merced River. His body snagged on a rock and rescuers were not able to reach it for hours.

Record snowfall has created spectacular waterfalls in the park, but it's a treacherous beauty. Visitors often undervalue the force of water, and the mist from waterfalls creates slippery conditions on trails.

At least eight people have died in the park this year, Cobb said. Two men died after being swept off a bridge near the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in June. One man who disappeared while climbing near Yosemite Falls with his church group is still missing.

Heat Wave Continues Throughout Midwest as Temperatures Climb

As temperatures climbed into the 90s Sunday in Steele, N.D., a small window air conditioner in Paul and Betty Smokov's ranch home just couldn't keep up.

"It's 82 in the house," Betty Smokov said. "The heat is really cruel and sticky."

That observation could be made wherever in the central U.S. Heat advisories and warnings were in place in 17 states, from Texas to Michigan, as temperatures and humidity joint to make being outside uncomfortable for millions. One National Weather Service forecaster called the heat wave "unrelenting" and said sweaty residents shouldn't wait for any relief soon: A so-called "heat dome" over the region isn't moving much.

"The trend is not our friend right now," said Daryl Williams, a forecaster in Norman.

In Oklahoma City, forecasters probable another day of 100-degree heat Sunday, which would be the 27th day this year the city has reached 100 or above. The city is on pace to break its record for such days -- 50 set in 1980 -- with triple-digit heat probable through September.

Families of missing US fishermen hold out hope

Family members Wednesday said they were asset out hope that seven U.S. tourists missing since their boat capsized off Mexico's coast three days ago were still alive.

Mexico's navy and the U.S. Coast Guard spent one more day searching for the men in the balmy Gulf of California as relatives who had gathered in San Francisco required assurances that the search would continue. Most of the 27 passengers on board the ship were Northern California men who traveled to the gulf for an yearly Independence Day fishing trip.

California state Sen. Leland Yee, a San Francisco Democrat, said at a news meeting with family members that Mexican authorities told him the search would expand beyond 96 hours.

"It's significant we hold the Mexican government to this," Yee said.

Mexican navy Capt. Ruben Bustos said Tuesday that a 96-hour search is frequently their protocol to rescue people. After that, their search characteristically turns into a recovery of bodies, though officials have said that the warm weather and water temperature may help the missing survive.

Rescue teams were coordinating with officials across the gulf in the state of Sonora since shipwreck survivors in the region sometimes are swept far away by tides.

Nineteen fishermen and all 16 crew members were rescued late Sunday, hours after a unexpected storm capsized the 115-foot vessel, the Erik.