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Jed Maniacs confront Simon Cowell

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:36:40 -0500

"Jed Mania" campaigners project pro Jedward propaganda onto X Factor judge Simon Cowell’s office - and the "Jed Maniacs" are set to expand...

Uighur residents confront troops

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:47:03 -0400

'Jed Maniacs' confront Simon Cowell’s office

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:38:37 -0500

"Jed Mania" campaigners project Jedward propaganda onto X Factor judge Simon Cowell’s office - and the "Jed Maniacs" are set to expanding More »

Palin faces new Alaska inquiry

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:33:54 -0400

Republican Sarah Palin has faced a second inquiry into whether she abused power as Alaska governor.

Stevens: The worst that could happen, we could go to jail

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 08:46:34 -0400

Alaska Daily News story about Sen. Stevens criminal case, with Palin for Governor vid featuring Stevens' endorsement. The day after the FBI searched the home of Veco Corp. chief Bill Allen and he agreed to cooperate with investigators in a wide-ranging federal investigation into corruption in Alaska politics, he spoke to Sen. Ted Stevens in a secretly recorded conversation. "I had an inkling More.. something was up, but I didn't know what it was," Stevens told Allen, in one of three conversations prosecutors played in court Monday morning. Prosecutors played recordings from 2006 that showed an occasionally profane Stevens, irritated with the federal investigation that led to charges this summer he took more than $250,000 in gifts – chiefly from Veco - and lied about them on his U.S. Senate financial disclosure forms. Stevens, on trial now, told Allen in one of the conversations that he wasn't getting much sleep when he thought about "all this (expletive) is going down. Why these (expletive) are doing this thing to friends?" But the Alaska Republican was also equally insistent he had done no wrong, telling Allen that his own lawyers had warned him about Martha Stewart, who Stevens described as going to prison not for what she had done, but because "she lied about a conversation she had with somebody." "I don't think we've done anything wrong," Stevens said Allen in a secretly recorded conversation where he tried to cheer up his longtime friend and encourage him to have a positive attitude and to get some exercise. "I can't think of a thing of anything we've done that wrong." The worst that could happen, Stevens told Allen, was that they would have to pay thousands of dollars in legal bills to get themselves out of hot water. "They're not going to shoot us, it's not Iraq," Stevens said, although he also expressed some concern about having to serve time in jail. "I hope to Christ it never gets to that, but I don't think it will," Stevens said. On cross examination later Monday morning, Stevens' main lawyer, Brendan Sullivan, zeroed in quickly on the heart of the defense: that Stevens would have paid for home renovations had he known he owed Veco or Allen any money. “You never tried to bribe Sen. Ted Stevens, did you sir?” “No,” Allen said. You knew you couldn’t bribe Sen. ted Stevens, could you sir?” “No.” Allen's testimony, which is at the center of the trial against the 84-year-old Stevens, began last week. It nearly derailed Thursday after Stevens' lawyers accused prosecutors of hiding evidence that Allen might have said things that would have helped Stevens win his case. They included notes from an FBI interview where Allen told the investigator that he thought Stevens would have paid a bill had he ever sent him one. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan, furious with the government team, ruled that prosecutors had bungled the evidence, but that there was not enough misconduct to declare a mistrial or throw out the charges. The trial, on hold for two days last week, restarted this morning with Allen's testimony. Stevens' lawyers continued to hammer at Allen's testimony, filing a motion late Sunday asking the judge to declare a mistrial. This time, they accuse the prosecutors of deliberate misconduct, and said they've manipulated Allen to elicit the testimony most damaging to Stevens. Judge Sullivan will hold a hearing tomorrow on the new request for a mistrial. The judge has already twice reprimanded the prosecution team. He earlier became upset when the government sent a key witness home to Alaska without testifying and without informing the court or defense until the man left town. Prosecutors said the man, Rocky Williams, a foreman on the project to expand Stevens' home in Girdwood, was seriously ill. http://www.adn.com/news/politics/fbi/stevens/story/547139.html Less..

207 Foot Cruise Ship Runs Aground in the Tarr Inlet - Alaska

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:50:08 -0400

NO LEAKS: Passengers evacuated; vessel refloated on rising tide. Passengers aboard a cruise ship hoping to see whales and other marine mammals were left high and dry Monday after the vessel went aground in the waters of Glacier Bay National Park in Southeast Alaska. The 207-foot Spirit of Glacier Bay was stranded for about nine hours. A Coast Guard response boat managed to tow the ship on More.. a rising tide to the middle of the bay late Monday afternoon, said Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Eric Eggen. A National Park Service vessel was transferring all the passengers and some of the crew to the nearby port of Gustavus before moving them to Juneau. Meanwhile, an evaluation of the ship's propulsion system was being performed to determine if it could get to marine facilities at Auke Bay near Juneau under its own power or would need assistance, Eggen said. The cruise ship with 24 passengers and 27 crew members was traveling just over 1 mph when it ran aground at 7:12 a.m., said Jerrol Golden, spokeswoman for Cruise West Enterprises, a Seattle-based company that owns the ship, which is home-ported in Juneau. Golden said the ship was moving slowly when the mishap occurred on a three-night cruise of Glacier Bay. It occurred in Tarr Inlet an offshoot of Glacier Bay inside the national park. "It was barely a bump, essentially," she said. The Coast Guard said the hull of the ship was not compromised and no injuries were reported. There also was no indication that the ship was leaking any fuel. A boom to contain any fuel that might spill was deployed around the vessel as a precaution. The cause of the grounding was not immediately apparent, Golden said. "It is one of those crazy things. It is under investigation," she said. Eggen said it is unclear whether the grounding was caused by human error or a mechanical or electronic malfunction. Golden said Cruise West was trying to get passengers to the Juneau airport. "The ship is stable. It is expected to float on its own on the rising tide," she said. When the grounding occurred, the Coast Guard in Juneau responded by sending aircraft and ships to the scene. Skies were clear, and seas were calm. The Coast Guard sent two MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters from Sitka to the cruise ship as well as the response boat. One of the helicopters returned while the other remained at the scene. Coast Guard Petty Officer Levi Read said a Coast Guard investigator and inspector also were flown to the ship by float plane. It was their job to begin a preliminary investigation into how the ship grounded and whether the Spirit of Glacier Bay is seaworthy, Read said. "It will take more than a casual look," Read said. The ship was built in 1984. It was formerly known as the Spirit of Nantucket and was based on the East Coast. It underwent minor refurbishing and was renamed and repositioned to Alaska this year, where twice a week it runs cruises of Glacier Bay National Park, a 3.3 million-acre marine park known for its spectacular glaciers and marine mammals, including humpback whales and Steller sea lions. Golden said passengers would be compensated for the inconvenience. Cruise West said it would refund half the price of the cruise in cash and half in credit for a future cruise. Three-night cruises aboard the Spirit of Glacier Bay range in price from $1,799 to $2,499. Anchorage Daily News US Coast Guard video Less..

Shell given green light to drill in Alaska

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:43:55 -0400

Environmentalists could launch a legal appeal after the US Government gave oil firm Shell permission to drill in Alaska’s Beaufort Sea.

African chemists caught selling aid

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 06:56:11 -0500

Sorious Samura visits his home country of Sierra Leone to confront those selling free life saving drugs and the government responsible for distributing aid.