July 02, 2008 06:04 pm
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Ex-convict suspected of killing 8 in 2 states captured outside of southwestern Illinois bar
GRANITE CITY, Ill. (AP) — An exhaustive, two-state manhunt for an ex-convict suspected in eight grisly slayings has ended with the man quietly arrested outside a bar known as a police hangout.
Nicholas T. Sheley's capture was only a matter of time because of the intense publicity surrounding the case, said Tim Lewis, police chief in the St. Louis suburb of Festus, Mo. Police knew from a number of witness reports that Sheley was in the area, he said.
"He was desperate and he gave up without a fight," Lewis said Tuesday night. "He looks rough. He's had a rough two days."
Sheley was taken into custody around 6:40 p.m. Tuesday while smoking a cigarette outside Bindy's, a bar in Granite City about 10 miles north of St. Louis, witnesses said.
He ordered a glass of water and went to the bathroom before an employee and customer recognized him, bartender Katie Ronk said. The customer, Gary Range, said he left the bar and notified a police officer parked in the lot outside.
Key energy forum has no answers on when — or if — oil prices will come down
MADRID, Spain (AP) — As crude soared to a new record, the head of the International Energy Agency declared that the world was in the grip of an "oil shock," and the president of OPEC acknowledged he could not say whether prices would flatten out or continue to soar.
The comments by IEA chief Nobuko Tanaka, OPEC chief and Algerian Energy minister Chakib Khelil and other industry leaders at the 19th World Petroleum conference reflected the concern surrounding record oil prices that seem ready to spike higher.
An IEA report released at the conference confirmed what most consumers fear: that supplies of oil will remain tight, whether for cooking fires in the poorest countries or powering cars and cooling or heating homes in the richest. And that's despite record prices and reduced demand as costly crude dampens the world's oil hunger.
Reflecting the world's oil price doldrums, light, sweet crude for August delivery rose 97 cents to settle at a new high of $140.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices at one point rose as high as $143.33, just 34 cents shy of Monday's trading record.
"We are clearly in the third oil price shock," declared Tanaka, comparing the effects to periods of soaring prices in the 1970s and 1980s.
McCain to tour Colombian drug interdiction efforts after praising Uribe for anti-drug efforts
CARTAGENA, Colombia (AP) — Republican John McCain planned to tour a Colombian port by boat Wednesday to get a firsthand look at the country's drug interdiction programs, a day after he praised President Alvaro Uribe for Colombia's anti-drug efforts but pressed him to improve the government's record on human rights.
The Republican presidential hopeful was on a three-day visit to Colombia and Mexico, where the eradication of illegal drugs topped the agenda. McCain was also promoting free trade deals like NAFTA he said would benefit the U.S. economy over time, even though such agreements have been deeply unpopular in several general election swing states like Ohio and Michigan.
The Arizona senator was also meeting with cabinet ministers and business leaders. He was scheduled to depart Wednesday afternoon for Mexico City.
McCain met with Uribe Tuesday night at the Colombian leader's seaside retreat here. The two talked for nearly two hours and addressed the country's problematic human rights record, McCain said.
"I've been a supporter of human rights for my entire life and career," McCain told reporters after the meeting. "We have discussed this issue with President Uribe and will continue to urge progress in that direction. I believe progress is being made and that more progress needs to be made."
With Obama atop Dem
ticket, candidates from Mississippi to Wisconsin use race as wedge issue
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A Republican congressional candidate in a majority-white Mississippi district runs ads trying to tie his Democratic rival with Barack Obama's former pastor, seen by some as an anti-white firebrand. Democrats distribute fliers accusing the Republican of wanting a statue to honor the founder of the Ku Klux Klan.
The only black justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court is defeated after his rival runs an ad with the justice's picture next to that of a black convict. A watchdog group calls it a "disgraceful attack."
In South Carolina, a Republican challenger for the U.S. Senate airs an ad with people stepping over wire fencing and protesters holding "Secure Our Borders" signs. It includes a man and woman saying, "Muchas gracias, Lindsey Graham," the incumbent Republican.
In the first year a major party is poised to choose a black nominee for president, American politicians are still appealing to voters' racial fears, with varying degrees of success.
"Racial fears and racial conflict are certainly not segregated to the South," said Michael Dawson, a University of Chicago political scientist who has studied race in politics. "Certainly, I think we see it in most parts of the country."
Who's not following the government's advice on identity theft? The government
WASHINGTON (AP) — When it comes to the risks of identity theft, the U.S. government isn't taking its own advice.
The nation's Medicare agency and the Pentagon compel at least 52 million Americans to carry their Social Security numbers in their wallets, contrary to warnings by the Federal Trade Commission that people should avoid doing so.
At least 44 million Medicare insurance cards include the beneficiary's full Social Security number.
Social Security numbers also appear on 8 million Defense Department identity cards used by active duty and reserve forces and their dependents, and on identification cards issued to military retirees. The Pentagon plans to remove the numbers but won't complete the effort until 2014.
And the Internal Revenue Service still tells taxpayers to write their Social Security number on checks used to make payments, a potential problem for those using the mail rather than filing electronically.
Chinese party boss in Tibet attacks Dalai Lama while envoys from both sides hold talks
BEIJING (AP) — China's Communist Party boss in Tibet delivered a fresh attack on the Dalai Lama Wednesday, even as envoys of the region's exiled leader met for a second day with Chinese officials for talks aimed at easing tensions following anti-government riots.
The official Tibet Daily quoted hardliner Zhang Qingli as saying that supporters of the Dalai Lama were behind the violence that began with deadly rioting in Tibet's capital Lhasa on March 14 and quickly spread throughout Tibetan areas of western China.
"The March 14 incident was a seriously violent criminal incident by the Dalai clique. The organized and orchestrated incident was created by Tibetan separatists after long-term preparation, with the support and instigation of Western hostile forces," Zhang was quoted as saying.
He said the violence was timed for the run-up to next month's Summer Olympics in Beijing.
"At a sensitive moment, they harbored the evil intention of turning the incident into a bloodbath, of disrupting the Beijing Olympics and destroying Tibet's stability and political harmony," Zhang said.
Pentagon balks at dropping recruitment waiver requirements for petty crimes
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has revised its policy for recruits who must get waivers for past bad behavior, but officials stopped short of eliminating waiver requirements for petty crimes, The Associated Press has learned.
After a lengthy review, the Defense Department bowed to insistence from the services that they be allowed to set their own guidelines for what offenses trigger a waiver. Instead, officials say the Pentagon will unveil a policy Wednesday that improves and simplifies the reporting process, grouping the waivers into four broad categories.
Several officials spoke about the new policy on condition of anonymity because it has not yet been released.
Last year, under the continuing strain of Iraq and Afghanistan, the number of recruits with waivers for bad conduct increased. Senior military leaders at the time suggested the department might be able to eliminate waiver requirements for some less serious crimes or lay out guidelines for what offenses demand a waiver.
After months of discussion with the military services, however, that did not pan out.
GM hangs on to title of US sales leader as auto industry sees worst June sales in 17 years
DETROIT (AP) — A last-minute no-interest financing offer and strong sales of some cars helped General Motors Corp. keep its U.S. sales over Toyota Motor Corp. last month, but it was still the worst June for the industry in 17 years and a harbinger of more misery ahead.
"We're going to continue to see declines for the rest of the year," predicted Jesse Toprak, chief industry analyst for auto information site Edmunds.com.
All major automakers but Honda Motor Co. reported steep sales declines for June as buyers continued to flee from trucks and sport utility vehicles to more fuel-efficient models. High gas prices and a sluggish economy helped keep sales low.
Even Toyota, with its flexible, efficient factories, couldn't make the shift from trucks to cars as quickly as American drivers. Its sales for June shrank 21 percent from a year earlier, and it fell far short of some analysts' predictions that it would overtake GM.
June sales at GM had a still-dramatic drop of about 18 percent, as the overall market fell 18.3 percent, according to Autodata Corp.
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