China Tops List of World’s Deadliest Roads for 11th Consecutive Year

For the 11th consecutive year, China has topped the list in number of traffic deaths — 5.1 for every 10,000 motor vehicles. The Xinhua News Agency report Friday says government statistics show nearly 82,000 road deaths in China last year.

Xinhua said the world average was two deaths per 10,000 vehicles. U.S. government statistics reported about 1.7 fatalities per 10,000 registered vehicles in 2006.

Private car ownership in China has soared along with the country’s economic boom. But overloaded vehicles, reckless driving and poor road conditions are still common and frequently lead to fatal crashes.

Source

Wrongly accused man free after 25 years

LOS ANGELES, California — Willie Earl Green walked out of a California courtroom as a free man Thursday after serving nearly 25 years in prison for the execution-style murder of a Los Angeles woman, which he insists he never committed.
art.green.released.ap.jpg

Willie Green said he “would never ponder harming anyone” after working for civil rights in Mississippi.

A Los Angeles judge set the graying 56-year-old free after ruling that the prosecution’s star witness, Willie Finley, lied to a jury during key portions of his original testimony. Finley recently recanted his story.

Green, who earned a college degree while at California’s San Quentin State Prison, said he was “humbled” by his release.

“Today is a glorious day,” he said. “It’s a great day. I never gave up on this day. I knew one day this day would come.

“I never asked for mercy. I only asked for justice to be served, and it was served today.”

“Good Friday arrived early for my husband,” said Green’s wife, Mary.

Green had been serving 33 years to life for the murder, burglary and robbery of Denise “Dee Dee” Walker, 25, at a Los Angeles crack house in 1983.

Based on Superior Court Judge Stephen Marcus’ ruling, Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Hyman Sisman told the court, his office would not pursue a new trial.

After his release, Green and his wife embraced.
Don’t Miss

“It’s real,” she said as her husband’s eyes teared up. “I’m fine now. This is the second best day of my life. The best was the day I married you.”

In February, Green proclaimed his innocence to CNN’s documentary unit during an interview inside his prison cell at San Quentin.

“I was once a freedom marcher in Mississippi fighting for civil rights and social justice during the Martin Luther King Jr. era,” he said. “I would never ponder harming anyone, let alone kill a human being, after spending my early life fighting for nonviolent social change the way King taught us.”

Walker was killed August 9, 1983. According to court documents, the single mother had been preparing crack cocaine in Finley’s kitchen when a man dragged Finley inside the home after pistol-whipping him on a sidewalk.

Within moments, a second intruder entered a back door of the apartment with a sawed-off shotgun. Finley testified that the newcomer beat him again with the shotgun. After stealing money from a bedroom, the second intruder returned to the kitchen, exchanged weapons with his accomplice and left, according to court documents.

Moments later, Finley testified, he heard the first suspect yell to Walker, “you’re the only one who knows me,” followed by multiple shotgun blasts. But instead of calling for help as Walker lay dying with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, Finley scoured his house for drugs the gunmen missed, documents state.

A month later, Finley was arrested and charged with selling drugs. At that time, police showed him mug shots of possible suspects in the Walker case, but Finley was unable to identify anyone.

According to court documents, the case appeared stalled until Walker’s mother told police that her daughter had been the victim of an assault and robbery a year earlier. Two men had been arrested in that case: Willie Green and his cousin, who was Walker’s companion at the time. Both men pleaded guilty to grand theft of a television set.

On the night of Walker’s murder, Green’s cousin was in prison.

Green, who had briefly lived at Walker’s apartment a year earlier, told police he was in the San Fernando Valley at the time of the murder. But he also had no one to corroborate his alibi.

Detectives interviewed Finley again in jail, showing him additional photographs of possible suspects, this time including Green. By that time, Finley had been informed about Green’s prior encounter with Walker and tentatively identified him as the second intruder, according to court documents. At a live lineup, Finley selected Green as the second intruder.

During his testimony, Finley identified Green as the second intruder, claiming he heard Denise Walker scream “Willie.” Prosecutors cited Walker’s use of the name as crucial evidence that she was referring to Willie Green, because most of Willie Finley’s friends called him Doug.

However, Los Angeles police detectives found no evidence connecting Green to the crime scene, according to court documents.

In his ruling Thursday, Marcus said the relationship between Walker and Green probably played a significant role in the jury’s decision to convict. Finley now says it was the primary reason he identified Green in the photo lineup.

Marcus noted that Finley had failed to reveal that he suffered from hemophilia and that his vision had been impaired after the two beatings on the day of the killing.

Marcus also said that Finley lied when he said he was not under the influence of cocaine at the time of the murder or when he was testifying.

Walker’s case has never been solved.

After his release, Green said he wasn’t bitter about his experience.

“I don’t hate anybody,” he said. “I don’t hate Willie Finley for doing what he did. I forgive him, too.”

Green, who said he’d never even met Finley, said it was unfortunate that he’d spent so much time behind bars while Walker’s real killers went free.

“Everybody’s talking about me,” he said. “But nobody’s talking about the victim. She didn’t get any justice. Me being locked up for 25 years didn’t give her any justice.”

Iraq war protesters make selves heard in Chicago and elsewhere on anniversary of invasion

Kate Caleal has two friends who are fighting in Iraq. She wants them to come home now.

So the Rogers Park resident joined about 2,200 other anti-war demonstrators Wednesday, the fifth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, at a rally in Federal Plaza and a subsequent march through downtown Chicago calling for an end to a conflict that has gone on longer than World War II.

“We as individuals have power. I’m exhibiting that power. [Government officials] don’t speak for us,” said Caleal, 22, as she held up a tree branch attached to a pizza box with “Stop the slaughter” and “You’re killing my brothers and sisters” written on it. “We need more of this, people standing up and speaking out against this,” she said.
The downtown protest Wednesday was one of many across the Chicago area and the nation against and in support of U.S. military involvement in Iraq. On Wednesday morning, a group gathered outside Soldier Field to show support for U.S. troops in Iraq. Another group of anti-war protesters held an evening candlelight vigil in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood.

In Washington, at least 30 anti-war protesters were arrested Wednesday as they attempted to block access to Internal Revenue Service offices.

Wednesday night’s rally and march is part of an effort to pressure politicians to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq as soon as possible, said Andy Thayer, a member of one of the rally’s chief organizers, Chicago’s 5th Year Anti-War Coalition.

“The main thing is that the politicians have failed to stop this war,” said Thayer, 47. “We need a very strong militant domestic peace movement.”

He said the war in Iraq is similar to the Vietnam War because both wars were “built on lies.”

There were no disturbances or arrests at the downtown march.

At the Wednesday morning rally in Soldier Field, Ald. James Balcer (11th) stood in front of a military monument at the north end of Soldier Field and announced plans to petition the City Council for a memorial to honor American soldiers who serve in the war on terrorism.

More than 140 soldiers from Illinois have died in this war, said Balcer, a former Marine who served in Vietnam. Hundreds of Chicago police officers, firefighters and residents have been deployed.

This has nothing to do with politics, he added.

“We’re here to support the troops,” Balcer said. “This memorial will be important.”

Balcer will present the proposed resolution at the next City Council meeting April 9. If it is approved, Balcer expects a committee to be selected to determine the design and location of the memorial.

Standing behind Balcer were a handful of supporters with military ties. Standing tall in the middle of the group was a soldier who had lost an eye.

Jim Frazier, a member of the mayor’s Memorial Day committee, talked about his son’s dedication to the military. Jacob Frazier, an Air Force staff sergeant, died in Afghanistan in March 2003. Jacob Frazier, 24, was serving as a tactical air controller embedded with the Green Beret army unit.

He wanted to hunt down Osama bin Laden personally and died doing what he loved, Frazier said.

“I’m very honored, and I choose to honor our troops, men and women who take an oath and know they will possibly go in harms way,” Frazier said. “They do so because they believe in the mission.”

In Washington, protesters outside the IRS said they don’t believe liberating Iraq should be a U.S. mission.

Ashalyn Sims, 20, a Howard University student, said that she had been concerned about the United States going to war with Iraq from the start. At the time, both of her parents were in the armed services, and Sims was living on a military base in Hungary. But she said she only started protesting the war in the last year.

Sims said that her mother was supportive of Sims’ involvement in anti-war protests. “These are my mom’s Army pants,” Sims said, showing off the green camouflage she was wearing.

Organizers of the protest targeted the IRS because the agency allocates money to the Pentagon to pay for the war, they said.

Bin Laden Slams EU Over Prophet Cartoons

Osama bin Laden warned in a new audiotape of a “severe” reaction for Europeans’ publication of cartoons of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad in what experts saw as a direct threat of a new attack in Europe.

The message, posted late Wednesday on a militant Web site that has carried al-Qaida statements in the past and bore the logo of the extremist group’s media wing al-Sahab, showed a still image of bin Laden aiming with an assault rifle.

“The response will be what you see and not what you hear and let our mothers bereave us if we do not make victorious our messenger of God,” said a voice believed to be bin Laden’s, without specifying what action would be taken.

Ben Venzke, the head of IntelCenter, a U.S. group that monitors militant messages, called Wednesday’s video a “clear threat against EU member countries and an indicator of a possible upcoming significant attack.”

The five-minute message, bin Laden’s first this year, made no mention of the fifth anniversary Wednesday of the U.S.-led invasion in Iraq.

It came as the Muslim world marks the Prophet Muhammad’s birthday Thursday and amid the reigniting of a two-year-old controversy over Danish cartoons deemed by Muslims to be insulting.

On Feb. 13, Danish newspapers republished one of the cartoons, which shows Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban, to illustrate their commitment to freedom of speech after police said they had uncovered a plot to kill the artist.

Danish intelligence service said the reprinting of the cartoon had brought “negative attention” to Denmark and may have increased the risk to Danes at home and abroad.

The original 12 cartoons first published in a Danish newspaper triggered major protests in Muslim countries in 2006. There have been renewed protests in the last month. Muslims widely saw the cartoons as an insult, depicting the prophet as violent. Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable, for fear it could lead to idolatry.

In the message, bin Laden described the cartoons as taking place in the framework of a “new Crusade” against Islam, in which he said the pope has played a “large and lengthy role.”

“You went overboard in your unbelief and freed yourselves of the etiquettes of dispute and fighting and went to the extent of publishing these insulting drawings,” he said, according to a transcript released by the SITE Institute, another U.S. group that monitors terror messages. “This is the greater and more serious tragedy, and reckoning for it will be more severe.”

Bin Laden dismissed as “excuses” Europe’s citing of freedom of expression to justify the publishing of the cartoons.

“If there is no check on the freedom of your words, then let your hearts be open to the freedom of our actions,” according to a transcript released by the SITE Institute, another U.S. group that monitors terror messages.

Adam Raisman, senior analyst at the SITE Institute, said that the tape’s release coincides with an increased buzz in online jihadi forums calling for revenge against Europe over the cartoons.

The tape appeared to have been recorded since December because bin laden refers to revelations made that month by the British press that former Prime Minister Tony Blair pushed to halt a fraud investigation against aerospace company BAE Systems PLC in part because he feared it would jeopardize an arms deal with Saudi Arabia.

In the message addressed to “the intelligent ones in the European Union,” bin Laden also criticized the “aggressive policies” of President Bush.

“How it saddens us that you target our villages with your bombing: those modest mud villages which have collapsed onto our women and children. You do that intentionally, and I am witness to that,” he said, according to SITE. “All of this (you do) without right and in conformity with your oppressive ally who - along with his aggressive policies - is about to depart the White House.”

On Wednesday, Bush praised Sunni tribal leaders for rising up against al-Qaida in Iraq and said that has led to similar uprising across the country. All that, combined with a strategic influx of U.S. troops last year, has “opened the door to a major victory in the broader war on terror,” Bush said.

“Iraq was supposed to be the place where al-Qaida rallied Arab masses to drive America out,” Bush said. “Instead, Iraq has become the place where Arabs joined with Americans to drive al-Qaida out. In Iraq, we are witnessing the first large-scale Arab uprising against Osama bin Laden, his grim ideology.”

In Wednesday’s message, bin Laden also attacked his long-time nemesis, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, whom he described as the “crownless king in Riyadh” and said he could have ended the entire dispute over the cartoons if he had wanted because of his influence with European governments.

Bin Laden, who hails from a powerful Saudi family, was stripped of his citizenship in 1994 after criticizing Saudi Arabia for allowing U.S. troops on its soil.

Wednesday’s message, which featured English subtitles, follows up an hour-long, audio missive from Dec. 29 in which he warned Iraq’s Sunni Arabs against fighting Al-Qaida in Iraq and vowed new attacks on Israel.

Tibet “separatists” trying to wreck Olympics

SEOUL - Communist North Korea on Thursday blasted Tibetan “separatists,” saying they are seeking to scuttle this summer’s Beijing Olympics, and backed China’s handling of unrest in the region.

A foreign ministry spokesman said violence in Lhasa was ”committed by Tibet separatists in an organised manner at the prodding of dishonest elements.”

The spokesman, in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, described Tibet as “part of an inalienable territory” of China.

China is North Korea’s only remaining major ally and supports its impoverished neighbour with fuel and food deliveries.

“The DPRK (North Korean) government strongly denounces the unsavoury elements for their moves to seek “independence of Tibet’ and scuttle the upcoming Beijing Olympics, and supports the Chinese government in its efforts to ensure social stability and the rule of law in Tibet and defend the fundamental interests of the Tibetan people,” the spokesman said.

North Korea also supports China in opposing what is seen as Taiwan’s bid for independence.

China has denied using deadly force to quell the recent unrest and said the only deaths so far were 13 “innocent civilians” killed by rioters in Lhasa on Friday, while 325 people were injured.

Tibet’s government-in-exile has put the “confirmed” death toll from a week of unrest at 99.

Judge scathing of Heather Mills

The judge who heard the divorce case between Beatle legend Paul McCartney, and his wife Heather Mills, has been scathing in his criticism of Mills.

In his judgement handed down on Monday, Mr. Justice Bennett discredited much of Mills evidence, at one point hinting part of it could have been characterised as fraudulent. He described her conduct on one occasion as ‘distasteful,’ and some claims as ‘exaggerated,’ or ‘make-belief.’

The judge conversely praised McCartney’s evidence saying it was ‘balanced’ and ‘honest.’

The judgement, which addressed financial provisioning sought by Mills, followed a six day hearing from 11 to 18 February. It was the final matter to be dealt with in the divorce proceedings.

The judgement was initially suppressed but Justice Bennett ultimately decided it could be made public. Mills had opposed its publication saying it would interfere with the security of the couple’s daughter, Beatrice. The judge didn’t agree.

Mills set out her claims for the hearing in a letter dated 31 January 2008. She advised the Court her reasonable needs for herself and Beatrice computed to £3,250,000 per annum, which the judge said amounted to ‘a Duxbury capitalised basis’ £99.5 million. Mills sought a property adjustment order in respect of a property in Beverley Hills called “Heather House” and of a property in New York State, 11 Pintail. She sought between £8 million and £12.5 million for a home in London, £3 million to purchase a property in New York, £500,000 to £750,000 to purchase an office in Brighton, a transfer to her of a mortgage over her sister’s (Fiona) Hove property, transfer of anproperty order over a Southampton property owned by McCartney in which Sonya Mills lives, and relief in respect of chattels. Further, Mills asked the Court “to place a significant monetary value on compensation for loss of earnings, contribution and conduct.’ She would retain her own properties at Pean’s Wood in Robertsbridge, Sussex and at Angel’s Rest in Hove. Overall her claim amounted to about £125 million (approximately a quarter of a billion US dollars). She also sought an order for costs.

McCartney’s position was set out in a letter of 6 February. Overall he said his former wife should exit the proceedings with total assets of £15 million (after a deduction for conduct) made up as Sonya Mills’ home and the mortgage on Fiona’s home to be transferred to Mills at a combined value of £683,000; Angel’s Rest (which has now been valued at £2 million); the net value of Pean’s Wood; the value of funds that either Mills has or should have; and a balancing lump sum provided certain art is returned to him. Further, McCartney would meet the reasonable cost of security for Mills and for their child, Beatrice, for 2 years not exceeding £150,000 per annum. For Beatrice, McCartney would pay periodical payments at £35,000 per annum and for a nanny not to exceed £25,000 per annum. Both these figures would be index-linked. The periodical payments would continue until Beatrice is 17 years old or completes secondary education, whichever is the later. Further, he would pay the school fees, uniform and reasonable extras, and health insurance premiums. He sought no order as to legal costs.

‘The barest outline of the background would be that the wife and the husband met in the spring of 1999, became engaged on 22 July 2001, married on 11 June 2002, separated on 29 April 2006 and ever since have been engaged in protracted matrimonial litigation,’ Justice Bennett said in his judgement. ‘They have one child, Beatrice born on 28 October 2003 who is therefore now 4 years old.’

‘By the time of the parties’ first meeting in May of 1999 the wife says that she was wealthy and independent with, as she told me in evidence, properties and cash totalling between £2 million and £3 million,’ said Judge Bennett.

‘She earned her living as a TV presenter, a model and public speaker. She began to cohabit with the husband from March 2000 which led seamlessly into marriage and thus the relationship lasted 6 years. This is denied by the husband. The wife says that the husband’s attitude towards her career was one of constriction such that the opportunities for the development of her career fell away during their relationship. He dictated what she could or could not do. She thus seeks compensation for the loss of her career opportunity in that during their cohabitation and subsequent marriage she forewent a lucrative and successful career. She seeks an award commensurate with being the wife of, and the mother of the child of, an icon. She places great weight on the contributions she says she has made to counselling the husband’s children by his former marriage and to the husband’s professional career. She asserts that his assets are worth in excess of £800 million and that she is entitled to share in the “marital acquest,’ said Bennett.

‘During the course of this judgment I shall have to determine certain matters of fact,’ the judge wrote in his judgement.

‘Many of the issues of fact involve a head on conflict between the evidence of the wife and the husband, in which I shall also have to examine the relevant and important documents. It is therefore appropriate that I should briefly say something at this stage about the evidence of each of the parties,’ he said.

‘The wife is a strong willed and determined personality. She has shown great fortitude in the face of, and overcoming, her disability. I refer to the loss of her left leg below the knee. As I shall show she is a kindly person and is devoted to her charitable causes,’ said Justice Bennett. ‘She has conducted her own case before me with a steely, yet courteous, determination.’

‘The husband’s evidence was, in my judgment, balanced. He expressed himself moderately though at times with justifiable irritation, if not anger. He was consistent, accurate and honest.’

‘But I regret to have to say I cannot say the same about the wife’s evidence,’ the judgement said. ‘Having watched and listened to her give evidence, having studied the documents, and having given in her favour every allowance for the enormous strain she must have been under (and in conducting her own case) I am driven to the conclusion that much of her evidence, both written and oral, was not just inconsistent and inaccurate but also less than candid. Overall she was a less than impressive witness.’

Mills, in her evidence, told of significant earnings she made as a TV presenter and for fees made on the public speaking circuit, following the accident in which she lost her leg, after being hit by a police motorcycle. She told of her many trips to Croatia and her charity work.

‘Before I met Paul, I was speaking all over Europe and was considered one of the top ten female public speakers in Europe,’ she said in testimony. ‘I would speak on the same bill with eminent individuals such as Mark McCormack, Neil Armstrong and others. I commanded a fee ranging from £10,000 to £25,000 for a one hour speech ….”

She asserted in her affidavitt, ‘The assets I held at the time that I met Paul included the following:

a. A penthouse flat in Piccadilly worth approximately £500,000;

b. A property on Cross Street in Brighton, worth £250,000.

c. I rented a 5 bedroom barn in Hampshire, at a cost of £750.00 per month. I had maintained a London apartment and a country property since 1992. An example of this is attached….

d. I also owned a Green Mercedes, a Saab, and then a Rover as, I was sponsored by Saab and Rover. I also had my own driver, Trevor, and a free Saab limousine ….

e. I often lent money to friends, as I could afford to do so. An example of such loans is shown in my Form E.

I was wealthy and financially independent in my own right prior to our marriage.”

‘I have to say I cannot accept the wife’s case that she was wealthy and independent by the time she met the husband in the middle of 1999,’ Justice Bennett wrote. ‘Her problem stems from the lack of any documentary evidence to support her case as to the level of her earnings. I do not doubt her commitment to charitable causes. She is passionate about them, particularly those that involve working for, and with, amputees. The DVDs shown to me in court amply bear that out. I do not doubt that she modelled successfully and was a public speaker. But the investigation in this case of her assets and earnings as at 1999 when the parties met do not bear out her case.’

‘The penthouse flat in Denman Street was not worth £500,000 in 1999,’ said Justice Bennett. ‘She sold it on 20 March 2001 for £385,000 after the London property market had risen substantially since 1999.’

‘She did not in 1999 own the property in Cross Street in Brighton. That was not bought until March 2000 when she gave up her property near King’s Somborne in Hampshire.’

‘During her cross-examination she asserted for the first time that in addition to property assets she had £2 million to £3 million in the bank,’ said Bennett. ‘No mention of such assets was made in her affidavit. There is no documentary evidence to support that assertion. During the hearing she was asked repeatedly to produce bank statements, which she said she thought she had in Brighton, to verify this claim. No bank statements were ever produced.’

‘The first tax return that the wife has been able to produce is for the year ending 5 April 1999,’ said the judgement. ‘The Revenue has not been able to supply any prior tax return. However her tax returns for the years ending 5 April 1999 and thereafter to 2006 are in the papers. Her gross turnover and net profit declared for “acting, modelling and public speaking” for the tax years 1999 to 2002 are, respectively (to the nearest £500) £62,000 and £11,500; £42,000 and £6000; £112,000 and £58,000; and £78,000 and £49,500. Thus her tax returns for 1999 and 2000 do not support the wife’s case of very significant earnings as set out in her affidavit.’

‘The wife’s riposte is that much of her earnings, which are not included in the tax returns, were sent direct to charities of her nomination,’ said the judge. ‘In her evidence she told me that as much as 80% or 90% of her earnings went direct to charities.’

‘However, the wife had to accept in her cross-examination that there was no documentary evidence, for example letters from the relevant charities, that her fees wer