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Jackson jury selection starts in LA

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 03 April 2013 | 20.24

Michael Jackson performing Michael Jacksons doctor was sentenced to four years in jail after a trial

Jury selection has begun in Michael Jackson's 82-year-old mother's $40bn (£26bn) lawsuit against the late singer's promoters, AEG Live.

Katherine Jackson claims AEG Live was neglectful when it hired doctor Conrad Murray, who gave the singer the overdose that lead to his death in 2009.

Murray is in jail for accidental manslaughter.

AEG Live claims the figure is "preposterous".

Michael Jackson's death was caused by an overdose of Propofol, a drug used as a sedative to help the singer sleep.

He died three weeks before the start of his 50-show comeback tour at the London 02 Arena. Katherine Jackson believes rehearsals for the tour pushed her son too hard.

AEG Live says the singer had a long history of drug abuse before he met Murray.

The promoter also says it was not responsible for the hire or supervision of the doctor and that the $40bn in damages sought is a "preposterous" amount considering Jackson's ''descending career''.

Conrad Murray might be asked to give evidence at the trial, but he has the right to refuse. The trial is due to start this week.


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Obama proposes brain mapping project

2 April 2013 Last updated at 11:37 ET
Barack Obama

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President Obama: "There's this enormous mystery waiting to be unlocked"

US President Barack Obama has unveiled a new initiative to map the brain.

Speaking at the White House, he announced an initial $100m investment to shed light on how the brain works and provide insight into diseases such as Alzheimer's and epilepsy.

President Obama said initiatives like the Human Genome Project had transformed genetics; now he wants to do the same with the brain.

The project will be carried out by both public and private-sector scientists.

The project is called Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies - or BRAIN.

Mr Obama said: There is this enormous mystery waiting to be unlocked, and the BRAIN initiative will change that by giving scientists the tools they need to get a dynamic picture of the brain in action and better understand how we think and learn and remember. And that knowledge will be transformative."

Next frontier

The project will begin in 2014, and will involve the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Continue reading the main story

We can't afford to miss these opportunities while the rest of the world races ahead"

End Quote President Barack Obama

The $100m investment will be used to develop new technologies to investigate how the billions of individual cells in the human brain interact.

Scientists will also focus on how the brain records, stores and processes information, and investigate how brain function is linked to behaviour.

Mr Obama said that while our understanding of the brain was growing, there was still a long way to go.

"As humans we can identify galaxies light years away, we can study particles smaller than the atom, but we still haven't unlocked the mystery of the 3lb of matter that sits between our ears," he said.

The project will also involve partnerships with the private sector.

This includes the Allen Institute for Brain Science, which has committed to spending $60m annually on projects relating to the BRAIN initiative, and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, which has dedicated $28m.

An ethics committee will oversee the work.

Mr Obama said that it was worth investing in science, claiming that it would help to create new jobs and boost the economy.

He said that basic research was "a driver of growth".

"We can't afford to miss these opportunities while the rest of the world races ahead," he added.

The funding announcement comes after recent news of another push in neuroscience in Europe.

About 80 European research institutions and some from outside the EU will take part in the Human Brain Project, which is estimated to cost more than 1bn euros.

The project will use supercomputer-based models and simulations to reconstruct a virtual human brain to develop new treatments for neurological conditions.


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Six held for NY mayoral race 'bribe'

2 April 2013 Last updated at 12:06 ET

Two New York state lawmakers are among six officials who have been arrested over an alleged plot to rig the city's mayoral race, prosecutors have said.

State Senator Malcolm Smith and City Councilman Dan Halloran were detained at their homes.

Mr Smith was attempting to "bribe his way" on to the ballot for the vote in November 2013, prosecutors said.

Charges include bribery, extortion, as well as wire and mail fraud, according to the criminal complaint.

Mr Smith, a Democrat from the New York borough of Queens, is accused of bribing the leaders of local Republican county committees to get the certificates needed to let him run as a Republican.

'Smorgasbord of graft'

Also charged are Bronx County Republican Party Chairman Joseph Savino; Queens County Republican Party Vice-Chairman Vincent Tabone; Noramie Jasmin, Mayor of Spring Valley, New York state; and her deputy, Joseph Desmaret.

Continue reading the main story

Public service is not supposed to be a short cut to self-enrichment"

End Quote George Venizelos FBI New York

Mr Smith also allegedly agreed to pay a co-operating witness and an undercover FBI agent who was posing as a wealthy real estate developer, the complaint says.

Mr Halloran is accused of negotiating payments and making other arrangements to further the scheme.

The case represented "an unappetizing smorgasbord of graft and greed involving six officials who together built a corridor of corruption", US Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.

George Venizelos, the FBI's New York assistant director in charge, said in a statement that public officials must hold themselves to a higher standard.

"Public service is not supposed to be a short cut to self-enrichment," he said.

But Mr Smith's lawyer, Gerald L Shargel, told the New York Times: "Malcolm Smith is a dedicated and highly respected public servant and he steadfastly denies these charges."

His client and Mr Halloran were due to appear in court later on Tuesday.

New York City's current Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, is unable to seek re-election this November because of term limits.


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US educators 'cheated for bonuses'

2 April 2013 Last updated at 13:03 ET

Thirty-five former school officials implicated in a test cheating scandal have until Tuesday to surrender to authorities in the US state of Georgia.

The accused in the city of Atlanta face counts of racketeering, making false statements and conspiring to improve test scores to win cash bonuses.

Several of the defendants have already reported to jail in Fulton County.

Former Atlanta School Superintendent Beverly Hall is among those named in the grand jury's indictment.

In 2009, she was named national superintendent of the year by the American Association of School Administrators - the same year much of the alleged cheating is said to have taken place.

'Whistleblowers faced retaliation'

According to prosecutors, Ms Hall was given a $78,000 (£51,000) bonus from the public school system.

"The money she received, we are alleging, was ill gotten and it was theft," Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard told reporters on Friday, when the grand jury indictment was made public.

Continue reading the main story

It's the largest school teaching scandal yet recorded in the country"

End Quote Ron Carlson Georgia law professor

By Tuesday morning's deadline, five educators - not including Ms Hall - had turned themselves in, the Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper reported. They were being held on bail bonds of up to $1m.

All those identified by the grand jury must surrender, or face arrest at home or at work.

A 65-count indictment alleges a major conspiracy to cheat, conceal cheating or retaliate against whistleblowers, while inflating student test scores.

The defendants include senior administrators, principals, assistant principals, teachers, testing co-ordinators, a school secretary and a school improvement specialist.

Ron Carlson, professor of law emeritus at the University of Georgia, told the Associated Press news agency: "It's the largest school teaching scandal yet recorded in the country."

Each accused is charged under a Georgia state law modelled on a federal statute enacted to target organised crime.


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US priest dealt methamphetamine

2 April 2013 Last updated at 13:44 ET

A Catholic priest has pleaded guilty to selling methamphetamine from his flat in the US state of Connecticut.

Kevin Wallin admitted making more than $300,000 (£200,000) from drugs sent to him from California.

The 61-year-old bought an adult video and sex toy shop, Land of Oz and Dorothy's Place, to launder the drug money, prosecutors said.

Wallin is due to be sentenced on 25 June. The sentence, already agreed, is between 11 and 14 years in jail.

Prosecutors said Wallin had sold nearly 4lb (1.8kg) of methamphetamine.

He was the pastor of St Augustine Parish in Bridgeport, Connecticut, for nine years, before he resigned in June 2011, citing personal and health reasons.

'Monsignor Meth'

He was given a sabbatical, but the Diocese of Bridgeport suspended him as a minister last May.

Church officials accused Wallin of sexually inappropriate behaviour with other men in the church rectory.

Earlier, he was the pastor at St Peter's Church in the town of Danbury for six years until 2002.

Wallin was arrested in January after an undercover agent bought 23g (0.8oz) of methamphetamine for more than $3,400 on six separate occasions.

Wallin was dubbed Monsignor Meth by some media.

Prosecutor David Fein said the arrest shut down "a significant methamphetamine distribution organisation that spanned from California to Connecticut".

Charges against four other people arrested in the case are pending.


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Senate Republican backs gay marriage

2 April 2013 Last updated at 16:09 ET

Senator Mark Kirk has become the latest US lawmaker and second Republican senator to back gay marriage.

In a statement, the Illinois senator said civil marriage should be available to same-sex couples.

Sen Kirk, first elected in 2010, returned to Congress in January after almost a year away following a stroke.

A bevy of US lawmakers have backed gay marriage in recent weeks, reflecting a rapid rise in public support for same-sex marriage.

Last week, the US Supreme Court heard two major cases related to same-sex marriage, one challenging a California ban and the other challenging a federal law restricting tax and other marriage benefits to opposite-sex couples only. The court is expected to issue rulings in June.

Eight Democratic senators have spoken out in support of gay marriage within the last week. In mid-March Ohio Senator Rob Portman became the first Republican senator to support same-sex nuptials, two years after his son told him he was gay.

'Who you love'

Sen Kirk said that as he climbed the steps of the US Capitol building to return to work in January he promised himself he would "return to the Senate with an open mind and greater respect for others".

"Same-sex couples should have the right to civil marriage," he said. "Our time on this Earth is limited, I know that better than most. Life comes down to who you love and who loves you back - government has no place in the middle."

The senator, who holds the former seat of President Barack Obama, represents a Democratic-leaning state and is considered a moderate Republican.

He previously voted to end the policy barring gay people from serving openly in the US military and is the lead co-sponsor of a bill to ban employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.

His announcement comes as the Illinois state legislature considers a bill that would make the state the 10th to legalise same-sex marriage.

And 50 of the Senate's 100 members now back civil marriage for same-sex couples, including all but seven Democratic senators, according to a tally by the Reuters news agency. A majority of Republican lawmakers still oppose the move.


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Gun group urges more guns in schools

2 April 2013 Last updated at 16:56 ET

US schools should train and arm staff members and appoint an armed guard to respond to shootings, a powerful US gun-rights group has said.

In a report commissioned in response to a December school massacre, the National Rifle Association (NRA) said armed guards would make schools safer.

It advised schools to use its online assessment tools to improve security.

A national teachers' union called the report a "cruel hoax" designed to sell more guns and ammunition.

The NRA study comes amid a national debate on gun control after 26 people, including 20 children, were killed in a primary school shooting in Connecticut in December.

"The presence of armed security personnel in a school adds a layer of security and diminishes the response time that is beneficial to the overall security," said Asa Hutchinson, a former Republican congressman who led the NRA task force that developed the report.

'Assisting gun makers'

The study, which Mr Hutchinson said cost more than $1m (£660,000), said the NRA had the "nationally recognised expertise to develop and implement the stringent training courses" that armed security officers would need.

Among the recommendations in the 225-page study were better co-ordination with law enforcement agencies and online security assessments for schools.

The recommendations were criticised by the American Federation of Teachers, which represents 1.5 million teachers.

"Today's NRA proposal is a cruel hoax that will fail to keep our children and schools safe," union President Randi Weingarten said, adding the proposals were "designed to assist gun manufacturers" to sell more weapons and ammunition to Americans.

Since the December massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, the states of Colorado and New York have enacted strict gun control measures, while Connecticut is poised to do so this week.

Federal gun control legislation, meanwhile, has stalled in Congress amid strong opposition from the NRA and its allies in the US Senate. The chamber will begin debating legislation next week.

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama is due to travel to Denver, Colorado to continue his push for new gun control measures including an assault weapons ban, background checks on all prospective gun purchasers, and a ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines.


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Colorado suspect 'absconded parole'

2 April 2013 Last updated at 20:17 ET

An ex-convict suspected in the death of Colorado's prisons chief shed a parolee monitoring device days before the murder, officials have said.

Evan Ebel's bracelet, worn as a condition of his release to confirm he was obeying curfew, signalled on 14 March that it had been tampered with.

But officials did not determine he had absconded until five days later - hours before Tom Clements was shot dead.

Ebel, 28, was killed in a shootout with Texas police three days after that.

Also, on Monday Colorado officials acknowledged Ebel was released from prison four years too early due to an apparent courthouse clerical error.

The confusion stemmed from whether he had been ordered to serve a consecutive or simultaneous prison sentence for assaulting a prison officer while incarcerated for an earlier crime.

Clements's death was the second in a series of three killings of US justice officials, including a Texas prosecutor and his deputy, just weeks apart.

Court oversight

According to court documents released on Tuesday in Colorado, Ebel had followed the conditions of his parole without incident since his release in January, checking in by phone every day and even once calling parole officials because no-one had requested a weekly drug test.

Continue reading the main story

How do I tell my four-year-olds, 'Daddy was murdered because of a clerical error'?"

End Quote Katherine Leon

He worked for his father, a well-connected lawyer, and lived in housing his father had found.

"From 28 January to the middle of March, we had an individual who was calling in every day, who was employed, who showed no indication that he would do the kind of things that we now know," said Tim Hand, a spokesman for Colorado's parole division.

But on the afternoon of 14 March, the electronic radio monitoring bracelet he had been ordered to wear registered a "tamper alert". Later, he failed to report to officials as required to have the device repaired.

Parole officials did not speak with Ebel's father until 18 March. He told them he feared his son had absconded and gave them permission to search the younger Ebel's apartment.

The next day, officers found Ebel had fled - and taken a large amount of clothing. They listed him as absconded and obtained a warrant for his arrest.

That evening Clements, 58, was gunned down after he was called to the front door of his home near the city of Colorado Springs.

Authorities now say Ebel used the same gun to kill Clements that he used in the 21 March shootout in Texas in which he was shot dead by police.

Ebel is also suspected in the 17 March killing of Nathan Leon, a pizza delivery man and father of three.

Ebel first went to prison in 2005 for robbery, assault and car jacking. He was sentenced to three separate prison terms, all to be served at the same time, and scheduled for release this year.

While in prison he is said to have joined a violent white supremacist prison gang, and official documents state his body was covered with Nazi-themed tattoos.

Also while incarcerated, in 2008 he pleaded guilty to assaulting a prison officer and threatening his family. For this he was sentenced to up to four additional years.

According to court transcripts, Ebel told the judge that would make him 33 when he was released. The judge told him that four extra years was fair.

But in a subsequent court filing, the term was not specified as consecutive, meaning his sentence was automatically recorded as simultaneous. Prison officials say they had no way of knowing the judge had intended to keep Ebel behind bars beyond 28 January.

In a statement, the chief judge and administrator of the judicial district said they regretted the oversight and extended "condolences to the families of Mr Nathan Leon and Mr Tom Clements".

Those condolences were not well-received by Leon's widow, Katherine Leon.

"How do I tell my four-year-olds, 'Daddy was murdered because of a clerical error'?" she told local broadcaster KUSA.


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'Adulterer' ex-governor in House run

3 April 2013 Last updated at 09:22 ET

A shamed former South Carolina governor will face the sister of a TV political satirist in a special election for a vacant seat in the US Congress.

Mark Sanford, a Republican who quit two years ago after an extramarital affair, became his party's candidate on Tuesday night after winning a primary election.

In May, he will run against Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch, the sister of comedian Stephen Colbert.

Ms Colbert Busch is a businesswoman who has long aspired to political office.

On Tuesday night, Mr Sanford comfortably saw off a rival in a run-off election to become the Republican candidate.

Results showed he had 57% of the vote compared with 43% for former Charleston City Council member Curtis Bostic.

'Vigorous campaign'

Mr Sanford was joined at his victory speech by the Argentine woman - now his fiancee - with whom he was having an extramarital affair in 2009.

He thanked volunteers and voters, saying that while he believes in "a God of second chances, at times voters are a little bit less forgiving".

His attempt to win election to the House of Representatives, where he previously served from 1995-2001, is his first foray back into public life since 2011, when he left the governor's office in disgrace.

The seat representing South Carolina's first congressional district, which covers the southern coast of the state, was left vacant after Congressman Tim Scott was appointed to a Senate seat by the state's Republican governor.

Mr Sanford, 52, represented the same district in Congress before he was elected governor in 2002 and re-elected in 2006.

In 2009, after disappearing for several days and telling his staff he was hiking the famed Appalachian Trail, the then-married Mr Sanford returned to the state to admit that he had been in Argentina with a mistress.

He was censured by the state legislature, but Mr Sanford defied numerous calls to step down before his term ended in January 2011.

He divorced his wife Jenny and is now engaged to the Argentine woman, ex-TV reporter Maria Belen Chapur.

Ms Colbert Busch's younger brother is Stephen Colbert, host of the popular satirical cable television show The Colbert Report.

In a statement on Tuesday, she said she was looking forward to "a vigorous campaign".

"As a businesswoman, I will use my experience to cut waste in Washington, lower tax rates so small businesses can create jobs and do the people of South Carolina proud as their representative," she said.


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Arkansas to probe Exxon Mobile spill

2 April 2013 Last updated at 22:27 ET

The US state of Arkansas has launched an investigation into the rupture of an Exxon Mobil oil pipeline that spilled thousands of barrels of crude.

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel asked the company to keep all documents pertaining to Friday's spill.

The rupture in Mayflower prompted the evacuation of 22 homes, with police enforcing a blockade around the spill.

The spill has renewed debate over a proposal to build another pipeline from western Canada to the US Gulf Coast.

Also on Tuesday, the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued an order preventing Exxon Mobile from restarting operations on the affected segment of the pipe until it had signed off on the repair work.

In the wake of Friday's release of between 3,500 and 5,000 barrels of oil from the Pegasus pipeline, black crude was seen soaking lawns and streaming down residential streets in the community north of the state capital, Little Rock.

'Future litigation'

"This incident has damaged private property and Arkansas's natural resources," Mr McDaniel said. "Homeowners have been forced from their homes."

He said the request that Exxon Mobil keep records on the spill was the "first step in determining what happened and preserving evidence for any future litigation".

The oil company has said it will co-operate with any investigation.

Exxon Mobil says it plans to dig up and replace the broken part of the 65-year-old line that runs from the state of Illinois to Texas.

But rain forecast for Tuesday afternoon could hamper the clean-up by carrying oil sheen towards nearby Lake Conway, a popular destination for bass, catfish, bream and crappie fishing.

Local responders have built barriers of rock and dirt to stop the oil from contaminating the lake, and Exxon Mobil put booms into the lake as a precaution.

The oil company said it was putting together a plan to enable residents return home. Until then, Mayflower police were accompanying them as they retrieved personal belongings from their houses.

Separately, Canadian oil company TransCanada has proposed building a 1,700-mile (2,735km) pipeline called Keystone XL to carry crude from Alberta, Canada's tar sands region to refineries in Texas.

The project has encountered stiff opposition from environmental groups.


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