| Suspects in Haiti child sex abuse case include Quebec's 'Father Teresa ...
An aid worker once described as the "Québécois Father Teresa" is one of two men who were charged Wednesday with sexually assaulting children at a Haitian orphanage. Quebec City residents Armand Huard, 64, and Denis Rochefort, 59, each face multiple counts of sexual assault under a rarely used law allowing international child-sex crime prosecutions. Police say the allegations involve 10 boys in their early teens. The men will face a bail hearing in Quebec City on Thursday. A Quebec charity internet site named Association Grandir describes Huard as "a veritable Québécois Father Teresa" but says he was better known to Haitian orphans as "Papi" over 12 years of aid work. Association Grandir did not respond to an e-mail interview request on Wednesday.
Charges not filed after racial incident
Deputy Eric Bridges, who works for the Montgomery County Sheriff's department in suburban Philadelphia, complained in late November to administrators of the 19-week program at Penn State University's Justice and Safety Institute. Institute director Don Zettlemoyer said Wednesday that the complaint was made about a month after the incidents were reported to have begun. "There was conduct that appeared to be ethnically driven that was inappropriate," Zettlemoyer said. "The deputy made it clear that he found the action inappropriate and hurtful and asked them to stop and it continued." The three deputies were kicked out of the program immediately after the report on the grounds that they had violated institute guidelines prohibiting harassment, and the case was forwarded to State College police, officials said.
Harrison DILLARD's biography
He won a second gold medal in the 4x100m relay. But Dillard still wanted to win an Olympic hurdles championship. Four years later, the 29-year-old Dillard got his chance in Helsinki. He was hard-pressed by fellow American Jack Davis, but he surged ahead at the end and crossed the finish line first. The usually calm Dillard leaped for joy and exclaimed, "Good things come to those who wait." Dillard won another gold medal in the relay to bring his career total to four.
.
Review: Jonas Brothers live up to their hype
Ten thousand screaming superfans demonstrated Wednesday night at Target Center that, after a few months as openers on the "Hannah Montana" tour, the Jonas Brothers can fill an arena on their own terms. The pop trio's audience of primarily teen and pre-teen girls shrieked, yelled, gasped and jumped with excitement from before the opening act (Rooney) until after the encore, unable to contain their love for everything Jonas. The show opened dramatically with the drop of a giant white curtain, revealing a multi-level stage complete with platforms and trap doors. An earth-shattering swell of screams erupted as curly-haired brothers Nick and Kevin Jonas pranced onto the stage with electric guitars, and the volume increased as an elevator lifted frontman Joe Jonas out of the center of the highest platform, dressed in a gold satin blazer and tight black pants.
forget it
Mahoney has gone from long shot to strong contender because of Mr. Foley's resignation after news reports that he sent sexually explicit communications to teenagers who were House pages. ... [snip] Still, strategists from both parties say Mr. Mahoney stands a better than even chance of winning the race, a sharp shift in electoral fortunes that is contributing to Democrats' optimism about taking the House next month. [E.A.] Wait. Weren't we told a Dem victory in Foley's district was a sure thing--"no question" (McIntyre). "Democrats are 1/15th of the way there. I can't see how they could lose," (Halperin, at 28.10). Now Mahoney's only a "strong contender" with a "better than even chance"? At this rate, by November he'll be "favored to run a strong second." ... 1:04 A.M.
Dan Coughlin: Cleveland fans kow all about bad trades
A conversation developed with the chap sitting next to me at a high school basketball game. That's the charm of high school basketball. You can actually hold a dialogue with a stranger, unlike a Cavs game, where the atmosphere simulates the day room of an insane asylum because of that lunatic with a microphone. The subject the other night was the worst trade in Browns history, which demonstrates the pervading negative attitude around here. This town is a half-empty glass, not a half-full one. Within a couple of minutes we identified the worst trades made by the Browns, Indians and Cavs, which is so easy a fifth-grader could do it. The worst trade by the Browns was sending Bobby Mitchell to the Washington Redskins for the rights to 1961 Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis, whom the Redskins had just picked first in the entire draft.
PM promises $20m to move horses for Pope
PRIME Minister John Howard has promised $20 million to help relocate move horses from Sydney's Royal Randwick Racecourse ahead of the Catholic Church's World Youth Day in 2008. The horses will have to be moved to Warwick Farm and Rosehill Gardens during the July 15-20 event, which Pope Benedict XVI and up to 500,000 people will attend. "The Coalition recognises there are significant costs involved in constructing the necessary infrastructure at Warwick Farm and Rosehill Gardens to accommodate the Royal Randwick horses and trainers," Mr Howard said. The pledge follows discussions between the Commonwealth, the NSW Government, Australian Jockey Club and the NSW Racing and Trainers Association about the financial burden of World Youth Day 2008. "This funding will help make the youth day a big success while looking after the interests of the horse racing industry," Mr Howard said.
Bhutto death explanation 'pack of lies'
A TOP aide to slain Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has rejected the government's explanation of her death as a "pack of lies". The Pakistan interior ministry said Bhutto died when she hit her head on her vehicle's sunroof as she ducked after a gun and suicide attack on a campaign rally, and that no bullets or shrapnel were found in her. "It is baseless. It is a pack of lies,'' said Farooq Naik, Bhutto's top lawyer and a senior official in her Pakistan People's Party. "Two bullets hit her, one in the abdomen and one in the head. "Bhutto's personal secretary Naheed Khan and party official Makhdoom Amin Fahim were in the car and they saw what happened. "It is an irreparable loss and they are turning it into a joke with such claims.
Jazz fest an NAU treat
Ardrey Auditorium was alive with the popping of snare drums and the roar of trumpets and saxophones during the three-day NAU Jazz Festival, which wrapped up last night.More than 50 high school and junior college jazz bands took the stage of the main auditorium, showing off their styles of rolling bass lines and trombone solos. The festival is designed to showcase and build talent, with musical workshops in many of the classrooms. The music clinics are separated by instrument to help musicians hone their skills."The clinics are really valuable," said Mindy Lapinski, assistant director of the NAU Jazz Festival. "It helps schools to build their jazz programs and the students gain experience."The Greenway High School Jazz Ensemble from Phoenix was honed enough, taking the stage to play their version of "Musicians Can't Dance." The drummer went heavy on the ride cymbal, sprinkling in some complicated drum fills while guitar, piano and brass riffs rounded out the sound."We were a lot better today than we were two nights ago," said Chris Stoffle, the bass player whose fingers almost blurred with speed while he played.
More than skin deep: Taiwanese attitude to foreigners
TAIPEI, Taiwan: "Beauty does not distinguish between black and white" reads a billboard at a metro station in Taiwan. The words are complemented by the smiling face of a Taiwanese girl, printed in black and white contrast. "Do you want to run everywhere? Are you not afraid of getting darker?" the dialogue-like message continues. "Isn’t dark skin beautiful?" comes the reply. .
Importantitis, Enemy of Art
Convinced that it was his destiny to make great movies, he turned his back on the theater, where he had previously done more modest but equally impressive work. In "Moby-Dick -- Rehearsed" Welles showed one last time that he still knew how to make magic happen on a stage, but otherwise he kept banging his head vainly against the wall of an indifferent film industry. The result was a half-dozen deeply flawed movies that wanted desperately to be masterpieces, though none of them, not even "Chimes at Midnight," Welles's fascinating study of Shakespeare's Falstaff, came close to making the grade. Voltaire said it: The best is the enemy of the good. Ralph Ellison, like Bernstein and Welles, learned that lesson all too well. In 1952 he published "Invisible Man" and was acclaimed as a major novelist.
|
