Submitted by admin on Thu, 2005-11-03 09:00. ::
WASHINGTON -- Prince Charles dryly pronounced himself "still here" and "alive" Wednesday on his arrival at the White House for a visit showing off his new bride, Camilla. The Duchess of Cornwall, hoping to impress American Diana-philes on her first overseas trip as a British royal, was decidedly more enthusiastic.
Greeted by President Bush and his wife, Laura, with a no-pomp welcome, the all-smiles Camilla could be heard declaring something Mrs. Bush said was "fabulous." As the foursome headed inside for an intimate lunch, Camilla briefly lagged behind, straying off the red carpet and showing the jostling media horde a shy grin and a little wave.
There was no shortage of pageantry for the royal couple in the evening. A rare White House black-tie evening featured buffalo for dinner, music by cellist Yo-Yo Ma and dancing with several dozen luminaries from the worlds of politics, history, writing, diplomacy and sports -- but few high-wattage celebrities.
With an American tour that began Tuesday in New York, Charles and Camilla were looking to stoke trans-Atlantic enthusiasm for their new marriage. Camilla was long reviled in the British press as the woman who broke up Princess Diana's marriage to Charles, but has begun gaining acceptance with increasingly high-profile appearances since the longtime loves wed in April.
Bush had something to gain as well. With the recent indictment of a top-level aide and the Iraq war among the troubles rocking his White House, spending a sunny fall day feting royalty and underlining U.S.-British ties provided a welcome change of subject.
The visit invited comparisons to the Charles' 1985 U.S. trip with Diana. Then, the young princess wowed America with her demure smiles, fashion sense and well-remembered turn around the White House dance floor with John Travolta.
On Wednesday, no military bands or ceremony heralded the royals' arrival -- only the president and first lady waiting in the White House driveway. The duchess and the first lady both chose unadorned suits, Camilla's of navy blue with a kick-pleated skirt, Laura Bush's in tan and more tailored.
Other than the two countries' ambassadors, the only guests invited to lunch of lemon sole at fall-themed tables in the Bushes' private dining room were members of the president's family, including his mother, Barbara.
Then a lavish gift exchange. The Bushes presented custom-made his-and-hers leather saddles, each engraved with the crests of Charles' and Camilla's titles. The royal couple brought Winston Churchill essays, a sterling-silver-and-turquoise pill box and a cachepot of English bone china.
The conversation apparently did not turn to a potentially embarrassing issue -- Charles' passionate position on global warming that conflicts with Bush's. Instead, the discussion topics over the meal and a tour of the Oval Office ranged from sustainable farming and education to their children.
From the elegance of the president's residential quarters, Charles and Camilla traveled to one of Washington's poorest neighborhoods to tour a public boarding school that Mrs. Bush wanted to showcase as an example of American educational innovation. A welcome banner held up by students proclaimed enthusiastically -- but inaccurately -- "Welcome Prince Charles and the Duchess of Wales."
The early to-bed Bush typically shuns late nights and black-tie attire. Wednesday's formal dinner -- not termed an official state dinner, but little different in practice -- was just the sixth in Bush's presidency.
With the Bush White House not known for its love of flash and celebrity, Washington's A-list was heavily represented on the guest list but Hollywood's was not.
Among the well-known types expected for dinner were former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw, fashion designer Oscar de la Renta, actor Kelsey Grammer, Nancy Reagan -- accompanied by television personality Merv Griffin -- along with pro golfer Tom Watson and author Herman Wouk.
The 130 guests were seated in a State Dining Room outfitted in a simple gold-and-white decor. The four-course menu -- the debut of new White House chef Cristeta Comerford -- featured celery-and-shrimp soup, buffalo medallions, salad, and petits fours cake and chartreuse ice cream for dessert.
Goldsberry finally subdued the five-point whitetail deer that crashed through a bedroom window at his daughter's home Friday. When it was over, blood splattered the walls and the deer lay dead on the bedroom floor, its neck broken.
"I was standing about like this peeking around the corner when the deer came out of the bedroom," said Goldsberry. The deer ran down the hall and into the master bedroom -- "jumping back and forth across the bed."
Goldsberry, about 6-feet-1 and 200 pounds, entered the bedroom to confront the deer and, after a brief struggle, emerged to tell his wife to call police. After returning to the bedroom, the fight continued. Goldsberry finally was able to grip the animal and twist its neck, killing it.
ORANJESTAD, Aruba (AP) -- The mother of an Alabama teenager who vanished in Aruba more than five months ago has returned to the Dutch Caribbean island to press authorities to solve her daughter's disappearance.
Beth Holloway Twitty left Aruba in early September after a court ordered the release of three local youths who were the last people seen with her daughter, Natalee Holloway.
The honors student was last seen early on May 30 leaving a bar with Dutch national Joran van der Sloot and Surinamese brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe. They were arrested on June 9 but released after a court ruled there was not enough evidence to hold them.
Twitty, who arrived Tuesday, told reporters that she wanted to meet with prosecutors and police to discuss a taped interview in which Deepak Kalpoe allegedly says all three had sex with Holloway, who would have turned 19 last month.
"I want to keep the communication channels open with the police and prosecutor," she said, adding that so far the prosecution has declined to meet with her.
She met with Aruban tourism officials, who have expressed concern that negative publicity surrounding the case could hurt the island's tourism-dependent economy. However, the government says tourism so far hasn't been affect.
Myrna Jansen, managing director of the Aruba Tourism Authority, called the meeting informative. "Of course, we are not investigators, but we will do our utmost to solve this case."
Kalpoe's attorney and Aruban authorities did not immediately respond to phone calls seeking comment on the tape. Van der Sloot, in a television interview in September, said he had kissed Holloway but neither he nor the brothers had sex with her.
Holloway's body has never been found and authorities have announced no developments since the release of the Kalpoe brothers and van der Sloot, who has moved to the Netherlands to attend college.
Twitty said police have told her that authorities are analyzing an audiotape of an interview of Deepak Kalpoe by an investigator hired by the "Dr. Phil" show.
On the tape, Kalpoe says Holloway "dressed like a slut," and that he, his brother and van der Sloot had sex with the U.S. teen. Twitty said police told her that investigators are trying to make sure the tape has not been altered.
Wearing a blue sweatsuit, a belt of beer can pop-tops and a Superman-style emblem on his chest reading "BDM," William A. Griffin got into a fight Sunday morning at an apartment complex, authorities said.
Joseph Gilliam, dressed as the Green Lantern, tried to break up the fight but ended up pushing a sheriff's deputy, authorities said. Gilliam, 37, was charged with disorderly intoxication and battery on an officer. He was released on $753 bail.
Griffin, 26, was charged with disorderly intoxication and resisting arrest without violence. He pleaded no contest Monday and was ordered to pay court costs.
NEW YORK (AP) -- A trove of John F. Kennedy memorabilia amassed by a cleaning-supplies salesman -- from presidential doodles to a "hot line" telephone to the White House -- will be auctioned next month.
The sale of nearly 2,000 lots at Guernsey's auction house will also include the Omega watch Kennedy wore at his inauguration, a sailboat, two rocking chairs, and 1950s passports issued to Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy.
Robert White, who collected the items before his death in 2003, became fascinated as a teenager with the career of then-Sen. Kennedy, Guernsey's President Arlan Ettinger said.
"The two were kindred spirits in their devotion to the late president," Ettinger said. "It was said that Robert became the son that she never had."
When Lincoln died in 1995 she bequeathed a file cabinet full of presidential items to White, adding to his already substantial collection, Ettinger said.
A 1996 auction of items consigned by the Kennedy family brought in $34.5 million at Sotheby's, and a second Sotheby's sale took in $5.5 million earlier this year.
Among the lots being sold by Guernsey's are a "hot line" telephone Kennedy took with him when he traveled -- and which provided an automatic connection to the White House -- and a page of doodles on which the phrase "Blockade Cuba!" is circled.
MOBILE, Ala. (AP) -- A man convicted of raping and murdering an Alabama woman has confessed to at least 12 more slayings in four other states, and may be linked to four more killings, authorities said Wednesday.
During his trial last month, Jones maintained his innocence in the presence of his mother and girlfriend, but privately gave detectives details of the crimes, including victims' names and the locations of the killings, said sheriff's Detective Paul Burch.
He is charged with killing a Georgia teen and a Louisiana woman. He is also a suspect in 10 other deaths -- seven in Oklahoma, two in Georgia and one in Kansas. State and local law enforcement also believe he may be linked to the slayings of four Atlanta-area prostitutes.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A federal appeals court Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit by parents who were outraged that the Palmdale school district had surveyed their elementary school-age children about sex.
The three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the parents' claim that they have the exclusive right to tell their children about sex.
In upholding a lower court ruling against the parents, Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt said "no such specific right can be found in the deep roots of the nation's history and tradition or implied in the concept of ordered liberty."
The appeals court noted that other courts have upheld mandatory health classes, a school system's condom distribution program and compulsory sex ed.
The district dropped the survey in 2002 amid complaints from parents. It was given to children in the first, third and fifth grades as part of a program to gauge early trauma and help youngsters overcome barriers to learning.
His father, Johnny C. Harris, 35, was indicted last week on charges of attempted murder and child endangering. Police said he will probably face upgraded charges.
Harris denied the allegations to police and said his son lies. He claimed one of the family's several pit bulls must have knocked a water heater onto the boy.
Acting Dean Thomas C. Duffy said Wednesday the university will stop charging students next year. Duffy said the donors want to remain anonymous.
MIAMI (AP) -- Two men pleaded guilty Wednesday to organizing a Cuban smuggling trip that ended when their speedboat capsized and a 6-year-old boy drowned.
The men, both Cubans who had immigrated to Miami, loaded 29 Cubans onto a Florida-registered speedboat on Oct. 12, including young Julian Villasuso and his parents. The boat tried to speed away after the Coast Guard intercepted it 45 miles south of Key West, but it capsized when the passengers moved to one side of the boat.
Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Chris O'Neil likened Gil and Taboada to a driver who tries to flee police and then blames officers when he loses control and hits a tree.
"They were the ones who unsafely overloaded the boat. They were the ones who operated the boat at an unsafe speed. They were the ones who operated the boat in an erratic manner to avoid law enforcement," O'Neil said.
NEW YORK (AP) -- A man in a firefighter costume set a small blaze in a stairwell to dupe a woman into letting him into her apartment, then sexually assaulted her, police said.
As smoke from the fire filled the hall, the man knocked on the woman's door and yelled "FDNY!" police said. The woman told detectives that when she opened the door, the man said he needed to check her apartment.
When she let him in, he pulled a gun and covered her face in a chemical-soaked rag, she told police. He put on a ski mask, tied her up, gagged her with duct tape and videotaped the sexual assault, police said.
CLICHY-SOUS-BOIS, France (AP) -- Menacing youths smoked cigarettes in doorways Wednesday and hulks of burned cars littered the tough streets of Paris' northeastern suburbs scarred by a week of riots that left residents on edge and sent the government into crisis mode.
In a seventh consecutive night of skirmishes, young people threw rocks at police Wednesday in six suburbs in the Seine-Saint-Denis region north of Paris -- about a 40-minute drive from the Eiffel Tower. In one of them, Le Blanc-Mesnil, about a dozen cars burned and curious residents, some in slippers and bathrobes, poured into the streets.
Some said the unrest -- sparked by the accidental deaths of two teenagers last week -- is an expression of frustration over grinding unemployment and police harassment in the communities, where many North African immigrants live. "It is not going to end. It is going to explode," said an 18-year-old who would only give his name as Amine.
Muslim leaders at Clichy-sous-Bois' mosque, meanwhile, prayed for peace and asked parents to keep teenagers off the streets after skirmishes broke out after two teenage boys were electrocuted last Thursday while hiding in a power substation because they believed police were chasing them.
The unrest spread to at least nine Paris-region towns overnight Tuesday, exposing the despair, anger and criminality in France's poor suburbs -- fertile terrain for Islamic extremists, drug dealers and racketeers.
The violence, concentrated in neighborhoods with large African and Muslim populations, has highlighted the difficulties many European nations face with immigrant communities feeling marginalized and restive, cut off from the continent's prosperity and, for some extremists, its values, too.
"They have no work. They have nothing to do. Put yourself in their place," said Abderrahmane Bouhout, president of the Clichy-sous-Bois mosque, where a tear gas grenade exploded Sunday evening. Local youths suspected a police attack, and authorities are investigating.
The violence cast doubt on the success of France's model of seeking to integrate its large immigrant community -- its Muslim population, at an estimated 5 million, is Western Europe's largest -- by playing down differences between ethnic groups. But rather than be embraced as full and equal citizens, immigrants and their French-born children often complain of police harassment and of being refused jobs, housing and opportunities.
"If French society accepts these tinderboxes in its society, it cannot be surprised when they explode," said Claude Dilain, the Socialist mayor of the Clichy-sous-Bois suburb.
Eric, a 22-year-old in Clichy-sous-Bois who was born in France to Moroccan parents, said police target those with dark skin. He said he has been unable to find full-time work for two years and that the riots were a demonstration of suburban solidarity.
"People are joining together to say we've had enough," he said. He refused to give his surname because talking to reporters was poorly regarded in his neighborhood.
Many immigrant families are trapped in housing projects that were built to accommodate foreign laborers welcomed by post-World War II France but have since succumbed to despair, chronic unemployment and lawlessness. In some neighborhoods, drug dealers and racketeers hold sway and experts say Islamic radicals seek to recruit disenchanted youths by telling them that France has abandoned them.
"French society is in a bad state ... increasingly unequal, increasingly segregated, and increasingly divided along ethnic and racial lines," said sociologist Manuel Boucher. Some youths turn to Islam to claim an identity that is not French, "to seize on something which gives them back their individual and collective dignity."
French governments have injected funds and job-creation schemes for years but failed to cure ills in suburbs where car-burnings and other crimes are daily facts of life.
"No matter what the politicians say, some neighborhoods are all but lost," said Patrice Ribeiro, national secretary of the Synergie police officers' union. "Police patrols pass through but without stopping and with their windows rolled up."
Police said 180 vehicles were torched overnight Tuesday, most in the Seine-Saint-Denis region that includes Clichy, Aulnay and other violence-hit neighborhoods. Police made 35 arrests in Seine-Saint-Denis.
President Jacques Chirac told a weekly Cabinet meeting that "the law must be applied firmly" but "in a spirit of dialogue and respect" to prevent "a dangerous situation" from developing.
Chirac acknowledged the "profound frustrations" of troubled neighborhoods but said violence is not the answer and that efforts must be stepped up to combat it.
In Aulnay-sous-Bois, another northeastern suburb where riot police fired rubber bullets at advancing gangs of youths Tuesday night, workers cleaned up charred debris Wednesday. A group of teenagers chased and threw stones at Associated Press reporters, some shouting "Go home!" and others yelling: "See you tonight."
"I am afraid. I have children," said Aulnay resident Houcine Yahiaoui, who watched the violence from his windows. "I have never seen anything like this here."
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- A woman who admitted hiding the body of a 7-year-old relative in a basement storage bin was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years in prison, and her son, who said he killed the child in a wrestling move, was sentenced to three.
Faheem Williams' decomposed body was found stuffed in a basement storage bin three years ago, and his twin and half brother were discovered living in squalor and filth. The case generated national outrage and led to an overhaul of New Jersey's child welfare agency.
"I wouldn't have treated objects or clothes as these kids were treated," Superior Court Judge Michael R. Casale said as he sentenced Sherry Murphy, 43.
Sherry Murphy pleaded guilty in September to criminal restraint, aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child; a charge of attempted murder was dropped. Her 19-year-old son, Wesley, pleaded guilty to reckless manslaughter.
Because he has been in custody since January 2003, Wesley Murphy could be freed on parole in several weeks. His mother will not be eligible for 13.5 years.
In September, Wesley Murphy testified that he killed Faheem while doing a wrestling move that included forcefully driving his knee into the child's abdomen.
Casale said that although Wesley Murphy is borderline mentally retarded, "he should have known better" than to roughhouse with a small child. He added, however, "I'm not blind to the fact that the defendant grew up in the same dysfunctional environment as the victims in this case."
Sherry Murphy admitted finding Faheem's body on the floor of her Irvington apartment in September 2002, trying to revive him, and then leaving the corpse there for several days. She took the plastic bin with her when she moved to Newark, she said, where it was found in the basement in January 2003.
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