Clashes in Egypt leave at least 54 dead
CAIRO – Egypt was rocked Monday by the deadliest day since its Islamist president was toppled by the military, with more than 50 of his supporters killed by security forces as the country’s top Muslim cleric raised the specter of civil war.
The military found itself on the defensive after the bloodshed, but the interim president drove ahead with the army’s political plan. He issued a swift timetable for the process of amending the Islamist-backed constitution and set parliamentary and presidential elections for early 2014.
The killings further entrenched the battle lines between supporters and opponents of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, who was removed by the military July 3 after a year in office following mass demonstrations by millions of Egyptians.
Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood called for an uprising, accusing troops of gunning down protesters, while the military blamed armed Islamists for provoking its forces.
Death toll expected to jump in train crash
LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec – Traumatized survivors of an train derailment that wiped out the heart of a small town braced for more bad news as inspectors finally were cleared to enter the charred site’s epicenter and look for remains late Monday, more than two days after the disaster that killed at least 13 people. A total of 50 were missing and the death toll was sure to rise.
Quebec provincial police Sgt. Benoit Richard said eight more bodies had been found in the wreckage after firefighters doused the flames and cooled down some of the oil tankers that were in danger of exploding. Five bodies were found over the weekend, and police would not say where the newly discovered ones were for fear of upsetting families.
All but one of the train’s 73 tanker cars were carrying oil when they came loose early Saturday, sped downhill nearly seven miles into the town of Lac-Megantic, near the Maine border, and derailed. At least five of the cars exploded.
Alaska plane crash devastates S.C. family
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Five members of a vacationing South Carolina family were among those killed in a fiery Alaska plane crash that left all 10 on board dead.
The Antonakos family of Greenville, S.C., usually went to Myrtle Beach, S.C., each summer, but the father of Kimberly Antonakos said Monday his daughter and her family decided to travel to Alaska for 10 days this year instead.
H. Wayne Clayton said his son-in-law, Melet Antonakos, sold computer software to hospitals and doctors’ offices, while Kimberly shuffled the three children to their many activities. The children were 16-year-old Olivia, 14-year-old Mills and 11-year-old Anastacia.
“It’s rough to lose five (family) members at one time, Clayton said.
Report assails Pakistani officials over bin Laden
ISLAMABAD – Al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden was able to live in Pakistan undetected for nine years because of a breathtaking scale of negligence and incompetence at practically all levels of the Pakistani government, according to an official government report published by a TV channel on Monday.
The 336-page report was written by a commission tasked with investigating the circumstances surrounding the covert U.S. raid that killed bin Laden in Pakistan in May 2011. The pan-Arab Al-Jazeera satellite channel published the report on its website after it was leaked to the station by unknown sources.
Pakistani officials did not respond to requests for comment on the report’s authenticity.
The U.S. Navy SEALs raid that killed bin Laden in the northwest town of Abbottabad outraged Pakistani officials because they were not told about it beforehand. U.S. officials have said they kept Pakistan in the dark because they were worried the al-Qaida founder would be tipped off.
Judge blocks new Wisconsin abortion law
MADISON, Wis. – A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order Monday evening to block enforcement of a new Wisconsin law that bans doctors who lack admitting privileges at nearby hospitals from performing abortions.
U.S. District Judge William Conley granted the order after a hearing in a lawsuit filed Friday by Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin and Affiliated Medical Services. It alleged the requirement would unconstitutionally restrict the availability of abortions in the state, violates the U.S. Constitution’s due process guarantee and unconstitutionally treats doctors who perform abortions differently from those who perform other procedures.
The restraining order will remain in place pending a fuller hearing July 17. In his ruling, Conley said “there is a troubling lack of justification for the hospital admitting privileges requirement.” He said the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that states must prove that restrictions on abortion rights must be reasonably aimed at preserving the mother’s health.
The bill was introduced in the Legislature on June 4, passed nine days later and signed into law Friday by Gov. Scott Walker. It took effect Monday. The law also requires women to obtain an ultrasound before getting an abortion, but that provision is not being challenged.
Associated Press
