Iraqi forces storm church to end standoff; 37 killed

Iraqi security forces stormed a Catholic church Sunday where gunmen suspected of having ties to al Qaeda were holding worshippers hostage, ending an hours-long standoff, police officials said Sunday.
Thirty-seven people were killed in the operation, including hostages, kidnappers and security workers, they said. At least seven of the victims were hostages, police officials said, while another 57 were wounded.
Eight suspects were arrested.
"All the marks point out that this incident carries the fingerprints of al Qaeda," Iraqi Defense Minister Abdul Qader Obeidi said on state television Sunday.
He said that most of the hostages were killed or wounded when the kidnappers set off explosives inside the church.
The Islamic State of Iraq later claimed responsibility for the attack through a statement posted on a radical Islamic website. The umbrella group includes a number of Sunni extremist organizations and has ties to al Qaeda in Iraq.
An American military spokesman said that as many as 10 hostages died and that between 20 and 30 people were injured in the operation. Seven Iraqi security workers and between five and seven suspected insurgents were also killed, said Lt. Col. Eric Bloom.
Survivors of the ordeal said they were about to begin Sunday night services when the gunmen entered the church, according to Martin Chulov, a journalist for the U.K.-based Guardian newspaper who was on the scene. About 50 people were inside the church at the time, and a priest ushered them into a back room, Chulov reported survivors said.
The U.S. military spokesman said that as many as 120 people were taken hostage.
At one point, one of the gunmen entered the room and threw an unidentified explosive device inside, causing casualties, Chulov said.
The gunmen seized the hostages after attacking the Baghdad Stock Market in the central part of the Iraqi capital, earlier Sunday, police said. Four armed men entered the nearby Sayidat al-Nejat church after clashing with Iraqi security forces trying to repel the stock market attack.
The gunmen were demanding that the Iraqi government release a number of detainees and prisoners inside Iraqi prisons, saying the Christian hostages would be freed in return, according to the police officials. Iraq's defense minister later said on state television that the kidnappers had demanded the release of a number of prisoners in both Iraq and Egypt.
Iraqi security forces sealed off the area surrounding the church, the officials said, and buildings were evacuated of civilians as a precautionary measure. At least 13 hostages, including two children, managed to escape ahead of the security operation, police said.
The Iraqi authorities ordered the attackers to release the hostages and to turn themselves in, warning that they would storm the church if they do not comply. A few hours passed quietly as military units took up positions outside the church, including several American units, said Chulov.
"Then all hell broke loose," he said. A firefight erupted and Chulov said he heard three to four large explosions. Later, he saw about 20 ambulances race away from the scene.
The American military spokesman minimized the role U.S. troops played in the operation.
"The U.S. only provided UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) support with video imagery. As always we have advisers with the ISF (Iraqi security forces) command teams," said Bloom.
While the U.S. combat mission in Iraq officially ended earlier this year, some 50,000 American troops are expected to remain in the country until the end of 2011 to train, assist and advise Iraqi troops.
Two guards were killed and four others were wounded in the earlier attack on the stock market, according to the police officials.

The attackers also remotely detonated two car bombs outside the stock exchange, they said.

Source: CNN

Need, death toll mount in Indonesia

The death toll has gone up to 449 after a massive earthquake struck off Indonesia's coast, triggering a tsunami and leaving hundreds injured, authorities said Sunday.
At least 270 people were injured, according to the Indonesia Disaster Management Agency.
Ninety-six others are still missing, authorities said.
At least 135 people were found alive over the past five days, officials said Saturday.

More than 22,000 people have been displaced or affected by the tsunami, which swept up villagers and swallowed homes without warning. It started after a 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck last week.
The government is considering relocating some residents in the earthquake-prone islands near Sumatra, the state-run Antara news agency said.
On the country's hard-hit Mentawai Islands, at least six of the 27 villages have "practically been flattened," state media said.
The quake struck Monday, triggering a tsunami warning. Its epicenter was 240 kilometers (150 miles) south of Padang, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The remoteness of many Indonesian islands left residents without warning and continued to limit communications and rescue and recovery efforts.
Medicine and supplies being used to treat hundreds of injured residents are being depleted, Antara reported.

The naval base in Padang had set up aid command posts in the Mentawai waters as well as medical command posts for victims, Antara said. 

Source: CNN

Former surgeon general calls for marijuana legalization

Former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders told CNN Sunday she supports legalizing marijuana.
The trend-setting state of California is voting next month on a ballot initiative to legalize pot, also known as Proposition 19. The measure would legalize recreational use in the state, though federal officials have said they would continue to enforce drug laws in California if the initiative is approved.
"What I think is horrible about all of this, is that we criminalize young people. And we use so many of our excellent resources ... for things that aren't really causing any problems," said Elders. "It's not a toxic substance."
Supporters of California's Prop. 19 say it would raise revenue and cut the cost of enforcement, while opponents point to drug's harmful side-effects.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a letter, obtained by CNN Friday, that federal agents would continue to enforce federal marijuana laws and warned Prop. 19, if passed, would be a major stumbling block to federal partnerships between state and local authorities around drug enforcement.
His letter was a response to an August letter from several former directors of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration urging the White House to block Prop. 19 if it's approved next month.
Elders stressed the drug is not physically addictive and pointed to the damaging impact of alcohol, which is legal.

"We have the highest number of people in the world being criminalized, many for non-violent crimes related to marijuana," said Elders. "We can use our resources so much better."

Source: CNN

Soldier silenced for testimony in Afghan killings probe

First, Justin Stoner blew the whistle on his platoon. Now, the Army apparently wants to silence him.

In photos obtained by CNN, Stoner sports bruises and abrasions on his back, chest and near his neck -- the marks of a beating inflicted by fellow soldiers as payback for reporting their rampant hashish use, the Army said.

At the time, those close to the investigation tell CNN, Stoner just wanted the smoking in his tent and around him to stop. So he went outside his group and reported the drug use to his superiors.

But that move, and the subsequent beating he endured for being viewed as a snitch, triggered a wide-ranging criminal investigation that has left some soldiers accused of killing innocent Afghan civilians and others accused of posing in gruesome photos with the dead or keeping body parts as war trophies.

Now the Army is doing everything it can to limit the publicity its own explosive account created.

Stoner, a private first class now back in the United States, had agreed to speak with CNN about the torment he went through at the hands of fellow soldiers earlier this year.

But just three hours before the interview was to take place in Seattle, CNN received this e-mail from his military attorney, Capt. Ernesto Gapasin, Jr., abruptly pulling the plug on the scheduled interview:

"About two hours ago, prosecutors and I met re [regarding] the disposition of the case against PFC Stoner,'' the attorney wrote. "Based on this meeting, PFC Stoner will be given full immunity in this case and not be prosecuted for any allegations made against him, contingent also however, on staying away from the media."

The Army disputes that account, however, saying Stoner has not been given immunity.

"Discussing PFC Stoner's direct involvement in these hearings is inappropriate and could affect the outcome of these cases," Lt. Col. David P. Doherty, a spokesman for the Army's I Corps, told CNN in a statement issued Thursday.

"It is imperative that we follow the judicial process in order to provide the accused a fair and impartial trial, while at the same time serve justice," Doherty said. "PFC Stoner is currently not charged in these matters, nor has he been granted immunity by the convening authority for his cooperation in these ongoing investigations."

What is clear is the Army is scrambling to contain the news of an apparently out-of-control platoon.

The portrait of rogue soldiers at a forward operating base in Afghanistan has been painted by the Army itself in chilling charge sheets leveled at 12 members of the 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, based out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord outside Tacoma, Washington.

Five of the dozen are charged with pre-meditated murder in what investigators call the "staged" killings of three civilian Afghans. Those soldiers and the others face various other charges as well from unlawful use of illicit drugs, possession of a human skull, fingers and leg bones to the assault on Stoner.

Two directives have been sent to military and civilian attorneys representing the Stryker dozen. They involve grisly photos allegedly showing dead bodies and body parts, and soldiers posing as if they had killed a deer on a hunt.

One of the orders commanded military defense attorneys to return all "documents inadvertently provided by the government" on September 9. The marked exhibits, lawyers told CNN, correspond to the photos.

A number of lawyers have told CNN the photos are worse than those that depicted humiliating poses of Iraqi prisoners at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison. Those photos sparked outrage and riots in parts of the world.

Another directive apparently was meant for civilian attorneys and not only pointedly ordered the return of photos but further said defense and prosecution teams could only view them at Lewis-McChord.

Lawyer Dan Conway, who represents Pfc. Andrew Holmes, told CNN the order makes it difficult to represent their client, because it prohibits them from forensic testing and they are housed in many cases thousands of miles from where the lawyers are based.

Other attorneys have similarly complained to CNN that the Army is tying their hands in defending their clients to avoid more embarrassment.Holmes is charged with premeditated murder in a January killing. Conway said his client is innocent of the charges and was denied representation for 20 days, despite repeatedly asking for an attorney while still in Afghanistan.

Both orders were signed by Col. Barry H. Higgins, the brigade's commander. The second directive reads, in part: "Further I order that all such images may not be distributed to any persons outside of personnel assigned to CID. 'Human Casualties' are defined as dead, wounded or injured human beings to include separated body parts, organs, and biological materials, resulting from either combat or non-combat activities.''

Even without those photos surfacing, much has already leaked out about the case, spurred in no small part by the Army's release and description of grisly details in the charging documents.

And the headlines around the world about the rogue unit have created a backlash in a part of the world where the Army desperately hopes to win over hearts and minds.

The beating of Stoner and the murders of Afghans apparently just for sport and then staged to look like combat casualties- have been highlighted by some of the accused soldiers' whose own words captured on interrogation tapes obtained by CNN.

Tapes describe killings for sport

In one of those videotaped sessions, Cpl. Jeremy Morlock -- who has been charged in all three of the killings -- recounts how he and several other soldiers deliberately ambushed Stoner on May 5.

"So yeah, we walked into the room and locked the door behind us and a couple guys started talking to him, laying on him," Morlock told investigators.

Asked by investigator what he meant, Morlock replied, "Why would you rat out your guys, stuff like that."

He said Stoner initially denied he went to superiors, then admitted it as he was being confronted by their squad leader, Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs.

"I think someone had grabbed him at that point and maybe punched him in the chest or something," Morlock said on the tape.

"He then made a comment like you guys can sit here and punch me all day long if you want and once he said that, Gibbs was like OK, grabbed him off his cot and threw him on the ground in his room and that's when a few guys got some licks in."

Morlock's attorney, Michael Waddington, said his client was on prescription drugs from the Army, high on hashish and suffering combat-related injuries when the crimes were committed.

The Army has recommended Morlock be court-martialed. Gibbs' attorney said he is not ready to comment on the case.

But Gibbs has been charged with the most crimes, and is depicted in the interrogation tapes made by some of the accused and in witness statements as the ringleader who reveled in his kills and dropped three human fingers in front of Stoner after the beating.

Other soldiers told investigators that Gibbs liked to collect fingers, teeth and leg bones as souvenirs.

Gibbs is also suspected of being a skinhead who kept track of his "kills" with skull tattoos on his leg.

Reports show Army sgt. tracked kills with tattoos

CNN has obtained investigators' photos of the tattoos clearly showing skulls and cross bones. One soldier, not charged, said Gibbs "associates with skinheads online.

"It's scary because they are worse than most gang members I've met," the soldier told investigators.

The photos are included in over 1,000 pages of evidence compiled by the Army and turned over to attorneys. They include witnesses' statements and depict a platoon where Gibbs ruled -- and anyone who didn't follow his rules believed they could end up like Stoner.

"I take that man very seriously," Spc. Adam Winfield told investigators in his videotaped confession. "He likes to kill things. He is pretty much evil incarnate. I mean I have never met a man who can go from one minute joking around then mindless killings. I mean he likes to kill things."

Winfield is charged with premeditated murder in a May killing of an Afghan civilian whose death was made to look like a hostile enemy battlefield death. His lawyer, Eric Montalvo, said his client is not guilty of premeditated murder despite what his client told investigators on the videotaped interrogation.

The Army is now investigating claims by Winfield's father, Christopher Winfield, that it ignored his attempts to warn them about Gibbs.

Warning may have been ignored

The elder Winfield told CNN that his son alerted him after the first killing, and he said two more men died needlessly after that because the Army would not listen to his warnings.

In addition, the Army reportedly is re-examining Gibbs' role in the 2004 shooting of two adults and a child in Iraq, near the city of Kirkuk. The shooting involved a car which purportedly was swerving towards a uniformed patrol.

Spc. Michael Wagnon is the fifth member of the Stryker platoon charged with premeditated murder. His attorney, Colby Vokey, said his client is innocent.

The Army, meanwhile, seems to have decided to let the charging documents be its official comment.

"I don't want to do anything that could in any way jeopardize the prosecution or their ability of the defendants in this case to get a fair trial, " Geoff Morell, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters October 5.

Source: CNN

2 found guilty of hate crimes related to death of immigrant

Two men on trial in a Pennsylvania federal court in connection with the beating death of an undocumented Mexican immigrant have been found guilty on all counts, including hate crimes.

Derrick M. Donchak, 20, of Shenandoah, and Brandon J. Piekarsky, 18, of Shenandoah Heights, had previously been acquitted of murder charges in state court and convicted of simple assault.

But Donchak and Piekarsky were charged in federal court with hate crimes and depriving Luis Ramirez of his civil rights. Donchak also was accused of trying to cover up the July 12, 2008, crime.

"Four people attacked one person because of his race and because they didn't want people like him living in their town," prosecutor Myesha K. Braden said during her closing argument.

Witnesses testified that racist language was used before and during the attack and that Ramirez was kicked in the head repeatedly after falling down. The defendants, they said, didn't want immigrants in their neighborhood and repeatedly ordered Ramirez to leave.

Regarding the cover up, Braden said, "They hatched a plan to leave out the kick, to leave out the race and even to leave out the drinking."

Lawyers for the defendants said that the encounter had been no more than a fight fueled by testosterone and alcohol. William Fetterhoff, a lawyer for Donchak, said Ramirez chased one of the men.

The all-white jury deliberated on the case for approximately six and a half hours before reaching a verdict. Both men face up to life in prison. Sentencing was set for January 24, and the judge denied a motion for bail, calling their crime "a crime of violence."

Donchak's head dropped as the verdict was read. His parents wept.

"We're going to be OK," said Piekarsky's mother, Tammy. "We will appeal."

Shenandoah police officer Jason Hayes, who was identified as Tammy Piekarsky's boyfriend at the trial, faces federal obstructing justice charges in the investigation, as do former Shenandoah Police Chief Matthew R. Nestor and police Lt. William Moyer.

Nestor, Moyer and Hayes are scheduled to go to trial in January. Nestor, who faces charges in an unrelated extortion case, has resigned.

U.S. District Judge Richard Caputo, who presided over the Donchak/Piekarsky trial in Scranton, is slated to preside over the officers' trials in Wilkes-Barre.

Crystal Dillman, the mother of Ramirez' two children, said she was "ecstatic" with the verdict.

"It's nice to know that there is some justice for Luis," she said.

"I won't completely move on until the federal trial of the police officers is done," she said, "until it is proven that there was a conspiracy to stop justice."

Ramirez' mother, in Mexico, is "in shock but relieved and happy," Dillman said, but the couple's two children "are not past this."

"They are coming to grips with the fact that their father is dead," she said. "They don't understand where their father went and why he'll never come home. They will never comprehend this."

Donchak and Piekarsky were tried on state charges in May 2009 and convicted of simple assault and alcohol-related offenses. County Presiding Judge William E. Baldwin sentenced Donchak to six months and one week and Piekarsky to 23 months. Both are currently on parole.

A political outcry from Latino groups followed the state trial, and politicians, including Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, urged the federal government to pursue the case. Federal authorities convened a grand jury, which indicted the pair on December 10. Prosecutors announced the indictment five days later.

The Obama administration's top civil rights official praised Thursday's outcome.

"This jury's verdict demonstrates that violence aimed at preventing people from living in America because of their race, national origin, or ethnicity is intolerable," said Thomas E. Perez, assistant attorney general for civil rights in the Department of Justice. "As this case illustrates, the Civil Rights Division will vigorously enforce the rights of every person who lives in this country to do so free of racially based violence and intimidation."

Source: CNN

'I am just one link in the chain,' Chilean mine rescuer says

Manuel Gonzalez was eager to get the rescue operation under way as he descended the shaft to the darkness where 33 miners had been trapped since August 5.

He and a team of 15 others from mines across Chile had been preparing for "Operation San Lorenzo" for a week. They'd done practice runs of readying the miners for their trip to surface and operating the metal rescue capsule bearing Chile's flag that would carry them 2,300 feet to freedom.

Each member of the rescue team was ready and able to do the job just as well as the rest, says Gonzalez -- which is why he was especially honored to be chosen as the first team member to go down to the mine.

"I was very moved because they chose me, because the whole team had the necessary skills," Gonzalez said in a press conference Thursday outside the San Jose mine site. "I had seen it on TV and I wanted to see it with my own eyes, and I wanted to start the operation."

Nothing could have prepared him for the jubilant reception -- or the intense heat -- he encountered upon entering the mine.

"They ran. One of them was already waiting for me. They hugged me and congratulated me for being the first one. But more than anything, I was very happy to see them. I mean, my first reaction was very strong because they were like in shock because temperature down there was about 40 degrees Celsius [104 degrees]."

Chile continued to celebrate the smooth success of the rescue operation on Wednesday as the miners prepared to leave a hospital in Copiapo, Chile, Thursday.

Gonzalez, a 20-year veteran of mining, said he was not particularly nervous about going into the mine, due to his years of experience and the amount of planning that had gone into Operation San Lorenzo.

The former professional soccer player had another reason to look forward to reaching the miners: the prospect of meeting Franklin Lobos, a former Chilean soccer star whom Gonzalez once regarded as an "idol."

But this time around, Gonzalez says he saw a different side of Lobos.

"I saw him almost immediately... he also remembered me, he's a great guy and he was one of the group's leaders. He was able to stay calm," he said.

With the help of Gonzalez's colleagues underground and above, the miners ascended the makeshift shaft one by one with such precision that the crew was able to shorten the length of time they thought they'd need to get each miner to the surface, from one hour to 20 minutes.

Echoing the sentiments of others involved in the rescue, Gonzalez credited the success of the rescue to solid teamwork and coordination at all stages, from planning to execution.

"I am just one link in the chain and there was tremendous discipline and order," he said. "I am just part of a great team."

Source: CNN

Facebook movie may be changing opinions about site

That movie about Facebook -- more formally known as "The Social Network" -- appears to be changing people's attitudes about the real website.
According to survey data released by YouGov BrandIndex, younger people have tended to like Facebook more since the movie hit theaters October 1. Older generations' opinions of the online social network, meanwhile, have generally soured since the film's release.
The survey conducted by that group, which polls consumers for their general attitudes about companies, shows the generational divide over Facebook had been closing until October 5, shortly after "The Social Network" was released. At that point, adults 35 and older, who generally had been warming to the website, reported a less positive association with Facebook's brand.
People ages 18 to 34 continued to like Facebook even more, according to data sent to CNN by YouGov BrandIndex, which based its numbers on interviews with 3,000 people.
Wired's Ryan Singel writes that the positive impressions from 18-to-34-year-olds is somewhat surprising given how Facebook is depicted in "The Social Network."

Younger people tended to view Facebook more positively after "The Social Network" than older people.

"That's despite the fact that the movie features no redeeming characters -- depicting Facebook's founding as a combination of backstabbing idea-borrowing, a way to get revenge on an ex-girlfriend and an attempt to vault Mark Zuckerberg into the upper echelon of Harvard society," he writes on Wired.com. "Meanwhile Sean Parker, the founder of Napster and one-time Facebook president, is portrayed as a paranoid playboy with a taste for coke and underage girls."
Some reviewers have written they came away from "The Social Network" without those negative impressions -- or without caring about them.
"I'm sure Zuckerberg doesn't like the way he is portrayed in the movie -- as a friendless, overly ambitious geek -- because it isn't accurate. But so what? Zuckerberg long ago lost control over what the world thought of him," writes Fred Vogelstein in a Wired article titled "Why Mark Zuckerberg Should Like The Social Network."
"If you start the most important company of the new millennium and are worth $7 billion at 26, no one is going to believe how down-to-earth you are, even if it's true."
Paste Magazine wrote Zuckerberg is a "dysfunctional genius" in the film.
Other well-known tech writers, including Peter Kafka at The Wall Street Journal, have said that the movie paints an unfairly harsh picture of Zuckerberg, the 26-year-old who started Facebook.
"It's hard to feel sorry for a billionaire. But here I am, feeling bad for Mark Zuckerberg. If you see the 'The Social Network' you're probably going to feel bad for him, too," Kafka wrote on September 13.
YouGov BrandIndex uses an in-house scale to judge peoples' impressions of the brands it surveys about, including Facebook, according to Wired. The scale, which ranges from minus 100 to 100, is a "net rating," according to the company.
"People are asked to identify the brands to which they have a positive response, and then those to which they have a negative response, to whatever is the prompt measure," the company's website says. "The net score is the positive minus the negative."
On October 6, after the Facebook movie debuted, people from Generations X and Y rated the Facebook brand as a 52 on that scale, on average, up from 33 on September 16, before the film's debut. Adults older than 50 rated the website's brand as a 20 and those aged 35 to 49 gave it a 35, according to the survey.
The blog Mashable writes that its unclear exactly what impact "The Social Network" had on peoples' views of Facebook, but it's clear there is some degree of correlation.

"We can't draw any clear-cut conclusions and say that brand impressions were directly affected by the film, but it seems fair to say that the media buzz and discussion surrounding the film has certainly made Facebook a more prominent discussion point, at least from a branding perspective," Christina Warren writes on that site.

Apple patents 'anti-sexting' technology

Apple has patented technology that could be used by parents to prevent their kids from sending sexually explicit text messages -- or "sexting."
The technology, which has not been commercialized, would let a phone's administrator block an iPhone from sending or receiving texts with certain words.
Messages containing blocked material either would not be received or would have the objectionable content redacted. Unlike other text blockers, Apple's version would also be able to filter content based on a child's grade level and claims to filter abbreviated words that maybe missed by other programs.
The patent, awarded Tuesday, does not address the sending or receiving of explicit images.
The U.S. patent, which Apple filed for in January 2008, could also turn these filters into educational tools, according to the patent document.
Parents of kids who are studying Spanish, for example, could be required to send a certain number of messages per month in that language, according to the document. If kids did not meet the foreign language quota, their texting privileges could be automatically revoked until they send more Spanish-language text messages.
Grammarians may cheer this innovation. The texting interface also could prod kids toward better grammar, requiring them to identify and fix spelling, punctuation and grammar mistakes before sending a message.
So maybe the Apple texting tool will be the end of LOL-speak.
Apple says old methods of monitoring and controlling text communications on phones have largely failed. Allowing kids to communicate only with a pre-set list of phone numbers or e-mail addresses is limiting, the patent document says, and does not address the content of the mobile phone communications, which Apple says is more important.
Other methods of filtering only block certain expletives, Apple says, instead of trying to recognize the overall offensiveness of a message and comparing that to a kid's age and learning level.
The blog TechCrunch asks if the patent will be the end of sexting:
"Yes and no," Alexia Tsotsis writes on that blog, "as those interesting in 'sexting' will probably find some clever workaround to express how much they want to bang, screw, hit it or a myriad of other words that don't immediately set off the censorship sensors."
The Daily Mail in the UK writes that this anti-sexting news "will be music to the ears of Tiger Woods. Or Ashley Cole, or Vernon Kay for that matter," referring to sexting scandals involving those celebrities.
It's unclear exactly how this technology would be incorporated into Apple's iPhone products, but it would appear to work through the phone's built-in text-messaging application. Other texting apps aim to prevent texting while driving and let iPhone users send text messages without incurring charges from AT&T, the mobile carrier that has exclusive rights to the iPhone in the U.S.

Do you think this kind of technology will bring about the end of sexting and SMS slang? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Source: CNN

U.S. aims to regulate mobile 'bill shock'

Kerfye Pierre had recently returned from volunteering in the aftermath of January's Haiti earthquake when she got the most outrageous mobile phone bill of her life.
The tab? Nearly $35,000.
"I was like, 'That cannot be possible,' " the 27-year-old Washington woman said of the moment she saw that staggering monthly statement from T-Mobile. "And I called them and they were like, 'Yeah, that's your bill.' "
To make matters worse, Pierre said, T-Mobile had agreed to grant her and other people in Haiti a temporary free voice plan. As she understood it, the plan would let her use her mobile phone for free while she was working in the country, setting up day camps for kids and distributing water to victims of the quake.
As it turned out, she said, the break from T-Mobile only applied to voice calls from her mobile phone. The texts she sent to family members in the United States -- telling them she had lived through the earthquake, which killed 220,000 people -- and the Facebook messages she sent to friends for similar reasons were not covered.
"I would be OK to pay for it if everything was disclosed, and I knew upfront that, if I used this part of the service [data and texts], I would be charged," she said, noting that text messages could be sent and received in the aftermath of the disaster when voice calls would not go through. "But I did not know."
A T-Mobile spokeswoman said customers in Haiti generally were made aware that the free plan only covered voice calls. The company has since forgiven some of Pierre's debt, but she says she still owes about $5,000.
Stories such as Pierre's are part of the reason the U.S. Federal Communications Commission this week plans to propose rules to prevent mobile phone "bill shock," a term that refers to bills that are higher than usual because of unanticipated fees and overage charges.
The rules will be discussed Thursday at an FCC meeting and then opened to public comment. After the comment period ends, the commissioners would have to vote on the proposed rules before they could become law.
The proposal will include requirements that mobile phone companies alert customers if they are about to rack up abnormal fees, such as those charged for sending too many text messages or downloading too much data. The alerts, which could be sent via text messages or voice mail, would allow consumers to stop sending texts or using the mobile internet before they incurred unexpected fees, said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski.
"Those kinds of alerts right now are the exception, not the rule," Genachowski said in an interview with CNN.com. "We want to make sure consumers are empowered with the information they need to make the market work and control their monthly bills."
Mobile phone users who want to disable their ability to send texts or data after they have used their monthly allotment may also be able to demand that service under the upcoming proposal, he said. The FCC proposal also would set up alerts for international roaming charges and would require phone companies to publicize the ways consumers can track their phone use and avoid fees.
The debate over bill shock comes soon after the FCC announced it was investigating Verizon Wireless for about $50 million in "mystery fees" it erroneously charged to its customers over several years. Verizon said it is rebating those fees on upcoming bills and will send refund checks to former customers. Genachowski declined to comment on that investigation.
While mobile phone bills that amount to tens of thousands of dollars are certainly the exception, "bill shock" appears to be a relatively common occurrence.
An FCC survey conducted in April and May found one in six mobile phone customers has experienced some degree of bill shock -- and nearly half of those who had been surprised by their bills were hit with charges of $50 or more.
As mobile phones become more essential to Americans, and as phone bills become increasingly complicated, it has become more pressing for the government to ensure consumers aren't tricked into paying huge overages, Genachowski said.
"Communications devices are becoming more and more essential to the daily lives of all of us," he said. "They're how we connect with friends and family; they're how we do our jobs, and they're how we connect with our families."
He added: "I think we can significantly reduce the volume of complaints, and I imagine that as we shine more light on this issue companies will work with us to develop rules that put in place basic alerts."
CTIA, a trade group that represents the four major mobile carriers in the United States, however, opposes the regulations. The group said wireless companies already offer consumers ways to find out how much data, texts and voice service they've used -- and continues to develop new tools in that regard.
"We agree with the FCC that the goal is to keep all customers happy, but we are concerned that prescriptive and costly rules that limit the creative offerings and competitive nature of the industry may threaten to offset these positive trends," the group said in a statement e-mailed to CNN.
Pierre, who was hit with the $34,872 bill from T-Mobile, said she strongly favors the new FCC rules to alert consumers about excessive charges.
T-Mobile later reduced Pierre's bill to about $5,000 after she complained, according to letters and bills sent to CNN by Pierre, but she said she is still unable to pay that amount and may file a formal legal complaint.
The FCC said it has been working with Pierre to resolve the issue.
In a statement e-mailed to CNN, a T-Mobile spokeswoman confirmed the company offered voice service and free voice roaming to people in Haiti in the aftermath of the earthquake but did not offer free text or data.
In addition, the spokeswoman said, T-Mobile "donated millions of dollars in handsets and equipment to the relief effort."
"Despite the fact that data and text services were never provided for free, we forgave more than $34,000 of Ms. Pierre's data and text usage on Ms. Destima's account as a courtesy," the statement said, referring to the friend's account Pierre had been using from Haiti. Pierre said she wasn't able to set up phone service from within that Caribbean country, so she had a friend take care of the transactions with T-Mobile from the United States.
Pierre, who was in Haiti during the January 12 earthquake because she was visiting her pregnant sister, said the excessive bill made it appear T-Mobile wanted to profit from earthquake victims.
She said she was initially grateful to the company for agreeing to waive the cost of her mobile phone while she was in the country and working with a nonprofit group, Color of Hope, to promote Haiti's recovery.
And since her $60-per-month plan in the U.S. normally included voice calls as well as mobile data and text messages, she assumed the same applied to the courtesy plan she had been granted.
"We saw it as a really good gesture to the people in Haiti," she said of the courtesy plan, adding: "In the future, I guess I really want to let them know that if they want to do something nice they have to just be kind -- not make profit.

"You can mislead people easily when people are vulnerable."

Source: CNN

Hope, faith sustain miners in Chile after months below

A hero's welcome awaits them when they get to the top, not because they did anything markedly noble -- besides defy odds -- but because they showed us there is hope even when the worst seems certain.
By this time Wednesday, the historic moment should be long under way. After 68 days beneath the earth, the last of the 33 miners trapped in the San Jose gold and copper mine in Chile should be preparing for their ascent to freedom.
Their survival, many will say, was born of the strength, patience and resilience God instilled in them.
Already, there have been myriad times a higher power was more than a mere specter or matter of faith to the men. Crammed like the canned fish that first sustained them into a space the size of a Manhattan studio apartment, they have expressed a oneness with the Holy Spirit that resonates with Chileans, 87 percent of whom are Christian.
"We 33 miners are walking hand in hand with God," miner Mario Sepulveda reported on August 31, about 26 days after the mine collapsed and nine days after the world first learned they were alive.
Another 42 days have passed since that profession of faith. Each day has doubtless required similar, sustaining thoughts.
It's easy now to imagine what their joyful homecomings might bring. Fielding (or fending off) media requests, book publishers and movie and television producers might take up a lot of their time.
They may also have to speak to lawyers about a lawsuit filed against their employer.
They will be inundated with the warm wishes of spectators who monitored their ordeal from across the world. The Chilean Mining Ministry has set up a website to collect greetings, and already there are many from Italy, China, the United States and a dozen other nations.
"Estamos con ustedes" -- We are with you -- is a common sentiment.
Nina T. Villacorta in nearby Copiapó announced, "Miracles exist. There are 33."
A class in Sweden wrote with "kind regards" in elementary English, "We think a lot about you and wish you all the best and a quick resque. What is the firts thing you want to do?"
From Antwerp, Belgium, a woman identified as Jacqueline wrote, "I can't wait for the day in which you, the 33, can see the light of the sun. Do not give up and God will protect you."
Read more salutations from around the world
Simple joys await the miners, such as selecting what to eat after almost two months of health officials keeping tabs on their meals (and, before that, 17 days sharing cans of fish and a jar of peaches).
They will no doubt want Chile's specialties, maybe completo (hot dogs with avocado, tomatoes and mayonnaise) and sopa marinera (seafood soup). Or perhaps pastel de choclo (beef-and-vegetable pie) with alfajores (confections with milk caramel) will satisfy a craving.
Jose Sanchez said he wants simply to spend afternoons listening to his son-in-law, miner Victor Segovia, play ranchera music on the guitar.
Carlos Mamani, the only Bolivian in the group, has been invited to accompany Chilean President Sebastian Pinera on a trip next month to see Bolivian President Evo Morales.
Ariel Ticona will enjoy the company of his family's newest member, Esperanza (Hope in English), whose birth he watched on an MP4 on September 14.
Read how the miners celebrated Esperanza's birth
Victor Zamora's wife, Jessica, announced the same day that she was three months pregnant. Zamora will surely cherish all the pre-paternal rituals of the next six months as he and Jessica await the arrival of Paz Victoria, or Peace Victory in English.
Perhaps she will one day frolic in a backyard with Esperanza. How fitting would it be for Peace to play with Hope on the anniversaries of their fathers' rescues?
For the next few weeks at least, it's unlikely the miners will take anything for granted.
In an odd way, you might say they have been wildly fortunate. That is, things could have been much worse as far as being trapped almost a half-mile underground goes.
They've received plenty of water, corresponded regularly with loved ones, eaten pasta primavera and wine cookies, watched the Chilean national soccer team on a projector and divvied up beds, medicine, toiletries and athletic clothing that wicks away sweat.
None of these touches of life above, of course, will compare to donning the embroidered green coveralls and stepping into the 924-pound Phoenix capsule that will take them to the surface -- to their loved ones and the lives they once led.
Watch how the rescue will work
All that has happened inside the mine will serve only to strengthen them, if not their bonds with each other. Much of the news that made headlines while they were trapped -- the merger of United and Continental airlines, Oktoberfest's 200th anniversary, Lindsay Lohan's failed drug test -- will seem trivial at best.
They will step into a whirlwind, with military choppers flying them to Copiapó, motorcycles escorting their ambulances to the hospital and physicians rushing them to electric beds with clean, white sheets.
But soon, if everything goes well -- and rescuers are going to great lengths to ensure it does -- the men will get to rest and enjoy life, especially the things they may have forgotten were important before their confinement: family, friends, nature, love.
They'll be able to do so knowing they taught the world a lesson. Be it by circumstance or divine intervention, the men were never goners.
After all, for the first 17 days of their imprisonment -- when others believed them dead -- the men survived more off hope than they did off the meager supplies they found in their shelter.

Their story demands we re-evaluate foregone conclusions, that we find a purpose for hope no matter our despair.

Source: CNN

Mexican investigator in Falcon Lake case is beheaded, officials say

The lead Mexican investigator in the Falcon Lake case, Rolando Armando Flores Villegas, has been killed, his severed head delivered Tuesday in a suitcase to the Mexican military, officials told CNN.
"His head was delivered to the army garrison this morning in a suitcase after he failed to report back home last night," Zapata County, Texas, Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez Jr. said.
A spokesman for the attorney general of Tamaulipas state in Mexico, Ruben Dario-Rios, confirmed the killing Tuesday afternoon in a telephone interview.
The report came a day after authorities in the Tamaulipas state attorney general's office gave conflicting information on whether authorities were pursuing a pair of suspects in the case of David Michael Hartley's disappearance.
Hartley's wife, Tiffany, told authorities that her husband was fatally shot September 30 during a sightseeing trip the two were taking on Falcon Lake, which straddles the border.
While Luis Homero Uvalle, a spokesman for the office, told CNN the suspects are brothers who are "well known to this area" -- identifying them only as "El 27" and "El 31" -- Dario-Rios, the chief spokesman for the attorney general said, "We have nothing official about suspects in the disappearance of David Hartley. I do not know where that is coming from."
Dario-Rios said Monday that Flores had not indicated to him that any suspects had been identified.
Eva Rodriguez, Flores' secretary, said the news of his death came as a surprise. "We saw [Rolando] last night," she said. "After he came back [from the search for Hartley] we were all together here in the office. That was the last time any of us saw him."
She said she was not aware that Flores -- whom she described as "very dedicated to his job" -- had received any threats from narcotraffickers.
"What can you do?" she asked. "We're still going to be here. We still have to work."

And, despite the fact that "we're all scared right now," their work will go on, she vowed. "The investigation and search will still continue," she said.
On Monday, Tiffany Hartley, along with David Hartley's mother, Pam, appeared on television talk shows asking for information to help investigators find those responsible for David's death and find his body.
"Until we have him back, it's not final," Tiffany Hartley said on NBC's "The Today Show."
On Sunday, the U.S. Border Patrol, the Coast Guard, and Parks and Wildlife officials were back on the U.S. side of the lake searching for new evidence in the case, said Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzales.
Authorities from both nations have been conducting separate searches and holding regular meetings, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Virginia Staab said. But because the disappearance allegedly occurred on the Mexican side of the border, the United States cannot prosecute or make arrests in the case, the sheriff said.
Falcon Lake is a reservoir on the Rio Grande. The U.S.-Mexican border runs through the middle of the lake, with Zapata and Starr counties on the U.S. side.

Rep. Cuellar said 60 Mexican personnel, three boats and a helicopter had participated in the search.

Source: CNN