Improvements noted in minority health
WASHINGTON – A new report says African Americans and Hispanics have improved health care and are less frequently victims of violent crimes this year than last.
But the State of Black America report also shows that these minorities still lag behind whites when it comes to most areas of social justice in the United States.
The National Urban League is to release the report on Thursday.
The reports says full equality with whites in economics, health, education, the justice system and civic engagement would be at 100 percent. Blacks were at 72.2 percent in this year’s report, while Hispanics were at 77.7 percent. Both were increases from last year.
Officials may know tainted-mail sender
WASHINGTON – The person suspected of sending an envelope to the White House that may have contained cyanide is known to the Secret Service and has sent multiple suspicious items over the last two decades, a federal law enforcement official familiar with the investigation said Wednesday.
The official said the suspected sender has previously sent packages with rambling messages and foreign substances. The official was not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation by name and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The envelope was received at a mail processing center away from the White House for routine screening Monday and initial tests were negative for cyanide.
Snowden says he can’t get fair trial
BERLIN – Edward Snowden, the former security contractor charged with theft and espionage for leaking a trove of top-secret documents, said the “best resolution” to his legal turmoil would be to return to the U.S. and make his case.
Speaking on a live video link from Russia to an audience at Wednesday’s CeBIT technology conference in Hanover, Germany, Snowden said a return to his homeland is “not possible procedurally.” He said he wouldn’t be able to receive a fair trial.
“It’s the best resolution for the federal government and the public broadly,” said Snowden.
19 killed in attack at Tunisian museum
TUNIS, Tunisia – Foreign tourists scrambled in panic Wednesday after militants stormed a museum in Tunisia’s capital and killed 19 people, “shooting at anything that moved,” a witness said.
Two gunmen were slain by security forces following the deadliest attack on civilians in the North African country in 13 years, and the president said the young democracy was embroiled in a war with terror.
The militants, who wore military-style uniforms and wielded assault rifles, burst from a vehicle and began gunning down tourists climbing out of buses at the National Bardo Museum.
Associated Press and Washington Post
