Murder Police Quiz 'Abduction' Dad
Detectives are interviewing Clark Rockefeller - the man accused of kidnapping his seven-year-old daughter - about a suspected double murder.
Two murder detectives from Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department are to fly to Boston to speak to Rockefeller about the crime.
Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for the LA County Sheriff Department confirmed Rockefeller was a "person of interest" in the case of Jonathan and Linda Sohus - a couple from San Marino, California who were reported missing in 1985.
Accoring to media reports a man named Christopher Chichester lived on the Sohus property at the time, but also disappeared and was never questioned by police.
Mr Whitmore said: "We want to find out if he (Rockefeller) is indeed Christopher Chichester.
"And if so, if there's anything he can tell us about the disappearance and possible homicide of the Sohuses."
In 1994, three plastic bags containing human remains, found by workers digging a swimming pool in San Marino, were linked to the Sohus case but never identified.
Rockefeller's attorney, Stephen Hrones, denied his client had any link to the California case and said Clark Rockefeller was his legal name.
Rockefeller - who is also known by several other aliases - appeared at Boston Municipal Court on Tuesday on charges related to the July 27 disappearance of his daughter, Reigh Boss.
Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley said they have no record of him before 1993 and said Rockefeller has claimed he does not remember details ranging from where he is from, where his parents are and even whether he is from the US.
Assistant district attorney David Deakin said in court: "At this point, he provided essentially no biographical data about himself before 1993."
He added that after thousands of hours' work by the FBI, local and state officials and Homeland Security, authorities were still unsure of the details of Rockefeller's real identity.
Police say Rockefeller, 48, snatched his daughter from a Boston street on July 27 in an elaborately-planned kidnapping in which he hired two people to drive them to New York.
He was caught Saturday in Baltimore, where he had bought a home and boat.
Mr Deakin said 300 1oz gold coins and £6,000 in cash also were found in Rockefeller's apartment following his arrest.
In court on Tuesday charges of felony parental kidnapping, assault and battery and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon were read to Rockefeller.
His lawyer, Stephen Hrones, said his client maintained he did not kidnap his daughter.
His daughter Reigh, known to family and friends as "Snooks", was found in good condition in Baltimore and has been reunited with her mother, Sandra Boss.
A pre-trial hearing for Rockefeller is set for September 3 this year.
sky news
Musharraf cancels China visit
Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has cancelled his scheduled visit to China, a member of his entourage said, as opponents in the coalition government consulted over his possible impeachment.
"We have been told that the president's visit to China has been cancelled," said the official, who had been due to fly with Musharraf on Wednesday to attend opening ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics and meet with the Chinese leadership.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq confirmed the visit had been called off. The president's spokesman was not immediately available for comment.
Musharraf, a US ally who came to power as a general in a 1999 coup, has become overwhelmingly unpopular. His allies were defeated in an election in February that stripped him of parliamentary support.
Yet, he has resisted pressure to quit, and has insisted that he was willing to work with the new civilian government.
Asif Ali Zardari, the head of the ruling alliance, met his major coalition partner and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in Islamabad on Tuesday to discuss issues that have bedeviled their four-month-old coalition government.
Sharif said before the talks he was looking for a decisive meeting with Zardari to discuss the contentious issues of Musharraf's impeachment and restoration of Supreme Court judges who were dismissed by the president last November during a brief period of emergency rule.
A spokesman for Zardari's Pakistan People's Party told reporters after Tuesday's meeting the two had reached a consensus on major issues and would meet again on Wednesday for more discussion.
Sharif, the prime minister Musharraf overthrew, wants wheels set in motion to impeach the embattled president, but Zardari has until now warded off a confrontation with Musharraf, who neither the army nor the United States wants to see humiliated.
Sharif withdrew his party's ministers from Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani's cabinet in May, but did not go as far as pulling out of the coalition completely.
The intense uncertainty has taken a toll on Pakistani markets, with the main Karachi Stock Exchange index hitting near 23-month lows earlier this week, while the rupee edged closer to all-time lows posted in early July.
Investors have harboured doubts over whether the civilian coalition government has the ability to handle widening trade and fiscal deficits and inflation at a three-decade high.
Reuters
Tibet protesters detained in Beijing
Four foreign protesters displaying a "Free Tibet" banner in the Chinese capital were held by police, state media reported, as the Olympic Games torch made its way through the city.
They were "displaying a pro-Tibet independence banner in English," said the brief report from the Xinhua news agency. It did not describe their nationality.
The three men and one woman gathered near the main Bird's Nest Stadium, where the Games will open, and two of the men climbed electricity poles to unfurl the banner, said Xinhua.
Police rushed to the scene after 12 minutes and took them away, the report said.
The Beijing Games torch relay was dogged by protests over Chinese rule in Tibet when it made its way through Paris, London and other cities earlier this year. On Wednesday, the torch began the final stage of its relay through Beijing, under tight security ahead of the Games opening on Friday.
China has accused followers of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader, of stirring riots and protests in Tibetan regions in March in a bid to upstage Olympic preparations. The Dalai Lama has denied the claim and said he does not oppose the Games.
But groups campaigning for an independent Tibet have said the Beijing Olympics should be an opportunity to voice criticism of Chinese policy.
Reuters
Sri Lanka troops kill 42 rebels in northern battles
Sri Lankan troops killed 42 Tamil Tiger guerrillas in two days of fighting in the north of the island, the military said, pressing on with an offensive against rebel strongholds.
Government jets also bombed a Sea Tiger base in the northern rebel held district of Mullaitivu, destroying two boats.
There was no comment from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam fighting for an independent homeland for minority Tamils. Independent confirmation of battlefield casualties is not possible, and analysts say both sides tend to exaggerate enemy losses while playing down their own.
"Troops attacked LTTE forward defence line in Muhamalai in seven directions this morning," said a spokesman at the Media Center for National Security. "Monitoring of rebel communications confirmed five LTTE terrorists were killed and 25 others were wounded in the confrontation."
On Tuesday, troops killed 37 rebels in fighting in the northern region. The army lost four soldiers.
Sri Lanka's government is pursuing a strategy to gradually retake the Tiger's northern stronghold and win the 25-year civil war that has killed more than 70,000 people.
Last week the government said troops had entered Kilinochchi district where the rebels' de facto capital by the same name is located.
Reuters
Hospitals infested with rats
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FILTHY hospital wards are crawling with rats, cockroaches, flies and maggots, it has been revealed.
Shock new figures show there were 20,000 separate infestations in just over two years.
Virtually every NHS trust in the country has been hit by the stomach-churning crisis.
And experts fear the legions of pests help spread infections in our hospitals — which are already battling superbugs such as MRSA and Clostridium difficile (C-diff).
Cases exposed in a bombshell dossier published today by the Conservatives include:
RATS in maternity units;
COCKROACHES found on sick kids’ wards and a urology unit;
MAGGOTS in patients’ slippers and mortuaries;
WARDS “over-run” by mice and ants.
The crisis is so bad that 70 per cent of trusts had to call in pest exterminators 50 OR MORE times between January 2006 and March 2008.
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust alone recorded the most incidents.
Concerns
The sickening figures reveal two-thirds of trusts in England had problems with rats, biting insects and fleas.
Six out of 10 had suffered cockroach infestations.
Rat plague ... Cartoon
Rat plague ... Cartoon
Four out of five had reported mice and ants on the wards.
One in 20 had problems with maggots.
Drain flies infested operating theatres at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
Fruit flies were found in a “sterile” room at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham.
And unidentified insects were discovered in operating theatres at Trafford NHS Trust, Greater Manchester.
The scale of the crisis — exposed by Freedom of Information requests — will raise fresh concerns about the state of our hospitals.
The Tories said the revelations would appal patients and their families.
Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: “Labour have said over and over again that they will improve cleanliness in our hospitals but these figures clearly show that they are failing.
“It is difficult for health service estates to maintain a completely pest-free environment but the level and variety of these infestations is concerning.
Hygiene
“We need greater transparency in NHS infection control, and publishing data like this is one way we can drive up overall hygiene standards.”
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Hospital bosses last night insisted that they were doing everything they could to control rats, cockroaches and maggots.
The Conservatives contacted all 171 trusts in England about problems with pest control.
A total of 127 — or 74 per cent — responded.
A spokesman for pest experts Rentokil said: “Most buildings attract pests in some form or another and hospitals are no different.
“Large buildings, with many people coming and going, that can be good environments for pests. Hospitals do require ongoing pest prevention and not just pest control. People come in and out of schools and workers in offices go home at the end of the day, but hospitals look after people who can be immobile for a period of time “As such, pest prevention has been and will continue to be top of the mind for hospitals.”
the sun
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