Posts tagged "Associated Press"

A look at statements about foiled terror plot

A look at the events and public statements surrounding an Associated Press story about a foiled plot to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner:

— May 2, 2012: Federal government officials ask the AP to delay publishing a story about a foiled plot by al-Qaida’s affiliate in Yemen to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner, which the AP had recently discovered. They cite national security concerns. The AP agrees to temporarily delay publishing until national security concerns are allayed.

— May 7, 2012: Federal government officials inform the AP that the national security concerns have been allayed, but they still ask AP to withhold publishing the story until an official announcement planned for the following day. The AP declines and publishes the story. Later that day, John Brennan, then the president’s chief counterterrorism adviser, conducts a teleconference with analysts to discuss the plot. He assures them the bomb was never a threat to the American public.

— Feb. 7, 2013: Brennan, during his nomination hearing to become CIA director, tells senators, “I said there was never a threat to the American public, as we had said so publicly, because we had inside control of the plot and the device was never a threat to the American public.”

— May 14, 2013: Attorney General Eric Holder describes the disclosure of information about the foiled plot as “a very, very serious leak.” Holder says: “It put the American people at risk. And that is not hyperbole. It put the American people at risk. And trying to determine who was responsible for that, I think, required very aggressive action.” Holder does not specify how the disclosure of information about the foiled plot had endangered Americans.

Syrian Electronic Army Hacks E! Online Twitter Page, Posts That Justin Bieber …

The Syrian Electronic Army, which has previously hacked the BBC, Associated Press nad Britain's The Guardian, took credit for the attack on Saturday an hour after posting things like, "Exclusive: Justin Bieber to E!online: I'm a gay," and "Exclusive …
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Alabama woman fatally shot while holding 10-day-old son

An Alabama mother was shot and killed while standing in the doorway of her apartment holding her 10-day-old son Monday.

Police tell MyFoxAlabama.com it appears  24-year-old Sherri Williams was caught in the crossfire of a gun battle while going about her day. The infant was uninjured. 

Officials tells the Associated Press two men at a nearby store got into a fight. One of the men chased the other down the street and fired a gun as he ran.

Authorities say Williams was hit by a stray bullet and was pronounced dead at the scene.

“We need the public to step forward on this, give us all the information they have so we can get this person off the street,” Birmingham Police Sgt. Johnny Williams told MyFoxAlabama.com.

Authorities say they have not identified a suspect.

Click for more from MyFoxAlabama.com. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Michigan won't watch much Penn State film, trying to focus on positive …

Michigan Penn St Basketball.JPG Michigan coach John Beilein lets out a yell during Wednesday's loss to lowly Penn State. Associated Press. ANN ARBOR — Michigan is hurting after its humbling loss to last-place Penn State. And it does't intend to relive …
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Live blog today: Michigan vs. Penn State

… lay-up at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on Feb. 17, 2013. / Associated Press. Filed Under. Sports · Michigan Wolverines · Big Ten. Special writer Sean Merriman will lead the chat during today's Big Ten tournament game between Michigan and Penn State.
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Live blog today: Michigan vs. Penn State

… lay-up at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor on Feb. 17, 2013. / Associated Press. Filed Under. Sports · Michigan Wolverines · Big Ten. Special writer Sean Merriman will lead the chat during today's Big Ten tournament game between Michigan and Penn State.
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Justin Bieber booed at London concert, apologizes for tardiness

That 19-year-old pop star Justin Bieber could make loyal fans cry out of anything other than obsession, but according to the Associated Press and other sources, that's exactly what happened after the Canadian singer showed up late to a performance in …
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Friar accused of child sex abuse in 2 states kills self

Police say a Franciscan friar accused of sexual abusing students at schools in two states killed himself at a western Pennsylvania monastery.

 Blair Township police Chief Roger White tells the Associated Press an autopsy by the county coroner confirmed that 62-year-old Brother Stephen Baker died of self-inflicted wounds.

 White said officers were called to St. Bernardine Monastery in Hollidaysburg on Saturday morning after another resident had found Baker not breathing.

 Baker was named last week in legal settlements with 11 men who alleged he sexually abused them at a northeast Ohio school three decades ago. A Pennsylvania school said it has also received molestation allegations involving Baker.

Youngstown Bishop George Murray called for prayers for abuse victims, Baker’s family “and the repose of his soul.”

Vigil to mark 1-year anniversary of death of longtime Penn State football …

State College, Pa., community residents have organized a vigil at a downtown mural that includes a depiction of former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, one year after his death. Photo: Carolyn Kaster, Associated Press file. Camera Star Tribune …
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Mother lied about knowing sperm donor, agency says in demanding donor pay

Days after a sperm donor in Kansas was ordered to pay child support for the baby he helped a lesbian couple conceive, the state agency seeking payments says one of the women may have deceived the department.

In a court filing Wednesday, the Kansas Department for Children and Families questioned the validity of the sperm donor contract between William Marotta and the couple, Jennifer Schreiner and Angela Bauer.

Marotta’s lawyer dismissed the state’s claims, calling the filing “offensive.”

According to The Topeka Capital-Journal, documents show Schreiner did not indicate she knew the name or any other information about the sperm donor in her application for child support.

William Marotta told FoxNews.com earlier this week he might never have agreed to provide sperm to the couple had he known the legal morass that awaited him after responding to the women’s Craigslist ad for a donor in March 2009, and he suggested he might be a victim of bias against same-sex parenting.

“I have a hunch part of the reason this is going this way is because of people’s feelings toward same-sex couples,” Marotta told FoxNews.com.

The 46-year-old machinist said he received notice in late October that he was being targeted by state officials to pay child support after the couple — who parted ways in 2010 but still co-parent their eight children ranging in age from 3 months to 25 years — were ordered by DCF officials to provide the sperm donor’s name. State officials argued that if the women did not identify the donor, the agency would deny health benefits due to withheld information.

The state seeks to have Marotta named the child’s father so he can be held accountable for a $6,000 payment the state had provided in public assistance, as well as future child support payments.

The state agency claims it has several conflicting donor contracts on file — including a copy that doesn’t have dates or signatures. The contract “may be invalid on its face,” the filing suggests.

But Benoit Swinnen, an attorney for Marotta, said to The Tokepa Capital-Journal on Thursday, “the insinuation is offensive, and we are responding vigorously to that. We stand by our story.”

Swinnen said his client had never had a personal relationship with the couple.

The court filing argues the sperm donor contract overlooks a “well-established law in this state that a person cannot contract away his or her obligations to support their child,” adding that the right for support doesn’t belong to the parents, but rather to the child. And only when semen is provided to a licensed physician does a donor have protection from a paternity test.

Schreiner answered a question about who the father is with “no idea — sperm donor” on an application for child support dated Jan. 5, 2012, The Topeka Capital-Journal notes.

The filing called the applications “very troubling because [Schreiner] clearly deceived DCF on her first application. She knew the name of the respondent because of the purported ‘sperm donor contract.’” Adding that it is “implausible to think” Marotta didn’t know a licensed physician wasn’t performing the procedure when he took the sperm to the couple’s house.

Bauer, 40, and Schreiner, 34, had been together for eight years and previously adopted other children when Marotta responded to their ad and later provided sperm used to artificially inseminate Schreiner.

Marotta’s attorney said the DCF’s filing failed to address what he identified as gaps in its original petition case — asking for DNA testing.

A hearing on the matter is expected to be held next week.

Fox News’ Joshua Rhett Miller and the Associated Press contributed to this report.