Ohio animal menagerie owner was bitten after suicide (Reuters)

ZANESVILLE, Ohio (Reuters) ? Dozens of exotic animals including tigers, lions and bears were let loose on Ohio farmland by their owner before he committed suicide, sparking a shoot-to-kill hunt in which 49 of the wild beasts, including 18 endangered Bengal tigers, were killed.

As the huge animals roamed inside and outside the 73-acre (30-hectare) farm near Zanesville in eastern Ohio, schools were shut and panicked residents were told to stay inside on Wednesday.

Authorities killed 49 of the 56 animals, some at close range, including the tigers, six black bears, two grizzlies, two wolves and 17 lions, said Muskingum County Sheriff Matt Lutz.

A macaque monkey, possibly carrying the Herpes B virus, remained at large. A wolf Lutz said was on the loose actually had been killed on Monday night, the sheriff's office said.

One of the escaped big cats reached an interstate highway and was hit by a car. Authorities posted electronic warning signs, "Caution Exotic Animals" for motorists.

"We are not talking about your normal everyday house cat or dog. These are 300-pound Bengal tigers that we had to put down," Lutz said. "I gave the order ... that if animals looked like they were on their way out, they were put down."

The dead animals have been buried on the farm, he said. Survivors were taken to the Columbus Zoo, including three leopards, a grizzly and two macaque monkeys.

Owner Terry Thompson, 62, who had been charged with animal cruelty 11 times since 2004, was found dead from an apparently self-inflicted wound when authorities went to the farm on Tuesday after reports of animals running free, Lutz said. They found gates and animal pens open, but no suicide note.

"There were animals running loose outside the fenced area," he said. Some, including primates, were captured at the farm.

Lutz said animals kept at the farm included many types of big cats such as cheetahs, mountain lions and leopards, in addition to lions and tigers.

Authorities said they had received about 35 calls about the menagerie over the years, ranging from animals running loose to animals not being treated properly, Lutz said.

"We've handled numerous complaints here, we've done numerous inspections here," he said. "So this has been a huge problem for us for a number of years."

There were complaints that Thompson left horses undernourished, then fed them to lions when they died, said Larry Hostetler, executive director of the Muskingum County Animal Shelter.

However, he met the bare minimum requirements for keeping the animals, he said.

Thompson was released last month from federal prison on a firearms conviction. Lutz said Thompson's wife, Marian, was no longer living at the farm. She will return to care for some remaining horses, he said.

DANGEROUS ANIMALS

Lutz described the freed animals found as "mature, very big and aggressive."

The sheriff said they tried to shoot some of the animals with tranquilizer guns but encountered problems.

"We just had a huge tiger, an adult tiger that must've weighed 300 pounds that was very aggressive," Lutz said. "We got a tranquilizer in it and this thing just went crazy."

Barbara Wolfe, a veterinarian, said she shot a tranquilizer dart into the tiger, but it got up and charged her from 15 feet away. A deputy shot the tiger dead.

"I've never been in fear of my life more than then," Wolfe said. She works at The Wilds, a refuge not far away from Zanesville that keeps exotic animals like rhinos and giraffes.

Lutz said he issued a shoot-to-kill order on Tuesday evening and stationed officers on Interstate 70 about a mile west of the Zanesville city limits to prevent animals from crossing.

He said he also ordered the schools closed on Wednesday. "We didn't want kids standing at the bus stop" while wild animals were loose, Lutz said.

Jack Hanna, director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo, told the news conference Lutz and his deputies did the right thing.

"These are dangerous animals," Hanna said. "If you had 18 Bengal tigers running around these neighborhoods, you wouldn't have wanted to see what would have happened."

(Additional reporting by Andrew Stern, Doina Chiacu and Lauren Keiper; writing by Doina Chiacu; editing by Bill Trott and Mohammad Zargham)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111020/us_nm/us_ohio_animals_loose

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Gadhafi goes from 'strongman' to 'madman' in China (AP)

BEIJING ? China moved to embrace Libya's new government Friday after Moammar Gadhafi's death, updating its references to the former leader in state media ? from the "strongman" who defied the West to the "madman" whose time ran out.

China initially refused to support the rebels or to criticize Gadhafi, but started building ties to the insurgents as the months-long Libya conflict wore on. Jetisoning any last vestige of neutrality, China's Foreign Ministry called Friday for the rapid launch of an inclusive political process and economic reconstruction in Libya.

Meanwhile, state media outlets began referring to Gadhafi in disparaging terms not seen before. As recently as late August, Gadhafi had been portrayed in relatively complimentary terms as a "Middle Eastern strongman" who defied Western threats and pressure. On Friday, however, the Web sites of both the official Xinhua News Agency and People's Daily newspaper ran photos of him, including those of his corpse, alongside side captions describing him as insane.

"The death of Gadhafi concludes the Middle East's era of madmen," people.com.cn said, while xinhuanet.com wrote simply, "The Middle Eastern madman Gadhafi."

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu also urged national unity and the restoration of social stability in Libya, but it did not directly comment on Gadhafi's death.

"We have noted the relevant reports. At present, a new page has been turned in the history of Libya," Jiang said.

"We hope Libya will rapidly embark on an inclusive political process, maintain ethnic solidarity and national unity, swiftly establish social stability, begin economic reconstruction, and allow the people to live in peace and happiness," she said.

China abstained in the U.N. Security Council vote on whether to use force to protect civilians from Gadhafi's troops and was highly critical of the NATO air campaign that helped unseat the dictator. During the fighting, Beijing maintained contacts with Gadhafi's regime, even while gradually opening links to the rebels.

Beijing was the last member of the U.N. Security Council to formally recognize on Sept. 12 the transitional council as the ruling authority of Libya, and only after it had provided Beijing with assurances that business contracts signed under Gadhafi would continue to be honored.

China had accused NATO of overstepping its U.N. mandate, and Chinese diplomats say that strengthened Beijing's opposition to similar action against Syria's regime, which was accused of atrocities against civilian protesters.

China joined with Russia earlier this month in vetoing an already watered-down U.N. resolution criticizing the Syrian leadership, saying it objected to its holding open the possibility of sanctions against it.

Considerable sympathy for Gadhafi remained on Internet forums, including the popular Weibo microblogging site where ordinary Chinese feel freer to express personal views.

"Deeply mourn Libya's former leader Gadhafi, friend of the Chinese people. He died a heroic death," read one comment, signed "Yuan Jun."

"Heroic warrior against Western imperialism, slain by the Western bullets wielded by his own people," read another on the Sohu site, signed simply "Shanghai Internet user."

China's negative views of the uprisings in Libya, Syria, Egypt and elsewhere do not come without risk.

Spokesmen for Libya's new government have said they may discriminate against Chinese companies because of Beijing's failure to provide strong support, in contrast to France, Italy and other countries that early on condemned Gadhafi and fervently backed the air campaign.

China had invested billions of dollars in Libyan projects, including housing and railway construction, and was forced to send military cargo planes and a navy frigate to aid in the evacuation of more than 30,000 Chinese workers in the country when the conflict erupted in February.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111021/ap_on_re_as/as_china_libya

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Android Ice Cream Sandwich: What will it look like on a tablet? (video)

Is there such a thing as too much Ice Cream Sandwich? We didn't think so either, and booted up Google's own Android Emulator to play around with version four-point-oh -- in tablet proportions. We don't know whether manufacturers will end up slathering their own interpretation of Ice Cream Sandwich on top of the vanilla original, but this is probably very close to what we'll be dealing with when arrives on tablets sometime this quarter. Scrollable, resizeable widgets are here, as is a tabbed, synchronizing web browser. There are some minor niggles; we hope they'll make some adjustments to the comically over-sized native keyboard, but the main thing we took away from this stuttering simulation is that the UI is nigh-on identical to what we were using on the Galaxy Nexus. Android looks like it has any future convergence issues in order -- this version will feel at home on both your phone and tablet. Android Beam has never sounded better. If you can forgive the low-performance emulation, check out the video after the break for more Ice Cream Sandwich, king-size.

Continue reading Android Ice Cream Sandwich: What will it look like on a tablet? (video)

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Obama in campaign mode on swing-state jobs tour (Reuters)

SOUTH BOSTON, Virginia (Reuters) ? President Barack Obama headed deeper into the 2012 race on Tuesday as he toured electoral battlegrounds of the South, underscoring how long and tough his re-election campaign is likely to be.

The second day of Obama's slow-rolling journey on a campaign-style bus, billed by the White House as part of his nationwide push to get own his jobs proposals past Congress, remained focused on courting voters in politically pivotal North Carolina and Virginia.

"The most important thing I wanted to do was to hear from people like you, because it doesn't seem like your voices are being heard in Washington right now. Times are tough for a lot of Americans," he told a crowd of 2,000 in Jamestown, North Carolina.

Obama is using the road trip not only to test out a sharper, more populist message as he seeks a second term but also to gauge whether the two traditionally conservative states he won in the 2008 election can stay in his column in 2012.

All indications are it could be a daunting task for Obama, whose poll numbers have fallen to the lows of his presidency amid public discontent over the stalled U.S. economy and high unemployment.

The bus tour is taking place more than a year before the election, a time when incumbent presidents generally are spending their campaign time raising money.

"The stronger that an incumbent is the more time they have to stay off the trail. Obama is under immense pressure to solidify his support," said Julian Zelizer, a professor at Princeton University.

Obama, whose re-election may hinge on his ability to spur hiring, is pressing Republicans back in Washington to pass his $447 billion jobs package in "bite-size pieces" after they shot it down as a whole in Congress last week.

The Senate may vote as early as this week on the first part of the package, a $35 billion measure to create or save 400,000 jobs for teachers, police officers and firefighters, funded by a 0.5 percent surtax on millionaires.

Obama's strategy is to force Republicans to accept his proposals or be painted as obstructionists in the way of economic recovery as campaigning for the November 2012 presidential and congressional elections heats up.

Republicans, who see Obama's plan as laden with wasteful spending and job-killing tax hikes on wealthier Americans, say the Democratic president is playing electoral gamesmanship.

"As the only person elected to represent every American, the president should speak for all Americans, especially in times of crisis, not divide them for short-term partisan political gain," said top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell.

The impasse has extended the deadlock that brought the United States to the brink of default in August until Democrats and Republicans agreed on the outlines of a deficit-cutting plan as part of a deal to raise the U.S. debt ceiling.

CAMPAIGN MODE

As Obama's black armored bus rolled along, there was little denying the shift into full campaign mode in what political experts see as must-win states for him next year.

Sandwiched between speeches in which he made full-throated attacks on Republicans, there were choreographed stops, like Obama buying Halloween candy at a family-owned store, and presidential moments, like when he lifted a 1-year-old from his mother's arms and pronounced him a "good-looking boy."

But North Carolina's mixed views on the president's record were also on display during a lunchtime stop at a diner in Reidsville, where Jerry Talley's green John Deere cap caught Obama's eye, who paused to chat and shake hands.

After Obama had moved on, the 63-year-old retired high school principal, who now works part-time as a landscaper, said his support for Obama was wavering.

"I was for him at first. Right now, I'm not so sure. I'm waiting to see what he does with the economy," he said.

After crossing the border into Virginia a short while later, Obama got a stark reminder of the mixed -- and even conflicting -- views on his record in another swing state.

As his motorcade slowed through the small town of South Boston, Virginia, dozens of supporters on one side of the road cheered, some shouting his 2008 campaign motto "Yes, we can!"

On the other side, a smaller but just as vocal group booed and held aloft signs that said "Hope is on the way -- No-bama 2013" and "Never again." One man turned thumbs down as Obama's entourage drove past.

North Carolina and Virginia had been solid Republican strongholds until Obama carried both states in 2008, but polls now show him in danger of losing them.

A recent Elon University poll put Obama's approval rating at 42 percent in North Carolina, where Democrats will convene their presidential convention next summer.

A Quinnipiac University poll last week showed Obama's approval ratings at 45 percent in Virginia and put Republican presidential contenders Mitt Romney and Herman Cain in a statistical dead-heat with him in a theoretical matchup.

(Additional reporting by Laura MacInnis; Editing by Eric Beech)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111018/pl_nm/us_obama

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Cardinals' Freese making most of second chance (AP)

ST. LOUIS ? David Freese had given up on baseball. His passion for the game had vanished, and not even a scholarship offer from Missouri could lure him back to the field.

"I was burnt out," Freese recalled. "I lost the love."

Freese was content to live the life of a college student, rebuffing the Missouri coaches every time they called to see if he'd changed his mind. It wasn't until about a year out of high school that the itch to play finally came back, and it grew to the point where scratching it no longer worked.

Freese gave in and enrolled at Meramec Community College, and his play there caught the attention of the coaching staff at South Alabama. The fifth-year senior eventually blossomed into the San Diego Padres' ninth-round selection in the 2006 draft.

Fast forward through a trade to the Cardinals and couple years of growth, and Freese is at third base heading into Game 1 of the World Series against the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night.

"It's completely surreal. It's exciting," said Freese, who grew up in the St. Louis suburb of Wildwood, Mo. "It's flattering hearing and seeing all the excitement from my family, all the Cardinals nation. I can't believe it. It's what I dreamed about."

Freese said it took time away from the game ? "I played video games, I partied and just went to school," he said ? before he understood that his sweet swing could take him places.

Like the NL championship series, where he emerged as the unlikliest of MVPs after batting .595 with three homers and nine RBIs in the six-game victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.

"He's one of my favorites. Love him to death," said Cardinals hitting coach Mark McGwire. "His story could be a movie, what he's gone through."

There would be plenty of plot twists. Freese needed season-ending surgery to repair a torn tendon in his right ankle last year, and broke his left hand when he was hit by a pitch earlier this season. He was hit by another pitch again in August and sustained a concussion.

Each time, he's come back better than before.

"He and I have had long talks about adversity," McGwire said, "and how there are usually good things that come at the end of it."

A trip to the World Series certainly qualifies.

"I don't think nervous is the right word for this, because it's too exciting," Freese said. "That takes the presure out of it a little bit. We're on a big stage. Why not? That's what it's about.

"I'll have a bunch of people here," he said. "The cool thing about it is the city loves this team so much, a lot of my friends and family already have tickets. That's one less thing for me to worry about."

___

STARTERS ON DECK: Rangers manager Ron Washington announced Tuesday that Colby Lewis will start Game 2 on Thursday night. He'll go against the Cardinals' Jaime Garcia.

The rest of his World Series rotation is still to be determined, but Washington felt comfortable pitching Lewis after Game 1 starter C.J. Wilson because that's the way it's been most of the year.

"He's rested, he's ready to go, he's been throwing the ball extremely well," Washington said. "With him and C.J. back to back, it worked all year, and we finally got back to that one-two punch."

Lewis allowed one run over six innings in a 4-3 win over Tampa Bay in their division series, but gave up four runs and eight hits in 5 2-3 innings in the ALCS last week against Detroit.

Garcia went 13-7 with a 3.56 ERA in the regular season, but has struggled in three postseason starts. The left-hander gave up all three runs in a 3-2 loss to the Phillies, allowed six runs in four innings against Milwaukee in the NLCS opener and scattered seven hits over 4 2-3 innings in Game 5 against the Brewers.

"You have to remember that he's young, and there are times when he has an issue that he's learning how to make the adjustments," Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said. "But right now he's plenty good enough, and he's pitched very well, especially in our park."

La Russa said that Kyle Lohse will likely take the mound when the series shifts to Texas for Game 3, and Edwin Jackson will go for the Cardinals in Game 4.

"But that might change when we talk a little more," La Russa said.

___

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Texas is starting the World Series on the road for the second straight year.

Before the winner of the All-Star game started determining which league would host Game 1, home-field advantage for the World Series alternated between the American and National leagues.

Under the old rules, Texas would have hosted at least one opener over a two-year period.

"I've never been a big fan of it, even when the American League was winning all those years in a row," Rangers first baseman-DH Michael Young said. "An exhibition game that happens in July, with about 95 percent of the guys who aren't even in (the World Series), dictates where it's played. I have a tough time wrapping my arms around that."

Ron Washington of the Rangers was the AL All-Star manager this year, and C.J. Wilson ? who starts Game 1 for Texas on Wednesday night ? was the losing pitcher.

"I said that when we lost, that I would have liked to have had home field advantage. But right now, that's only wishing," Washington said. "You've got to go play baseball, it's not wishing."

Last year, the Rangers lost the first two games of the World Series in San Francisco. They won Game 3 at home before losing two in a row and ending the series.

___

HOT TO COLD: After playing 27 home games this season when the temperature was 100 degrees or more at first pitch, the Rangers are going to need long-sleeve shirts and jackets for the World Series.

The weather forecast for Games 1 and 2 in St. Louis calls for wind and a temperature in the upper 40s ? and overnight lows in the 30s.

"I think we will say 'refreshing,' that's it," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "Both teams have to play under the same conditions. We're just going to strap it on."

Washington said he was going to make sure that equipment manager Hoggy Price packed enough warm clothes for the players ? and the manager.

"I will definitely be warm in the dugout," Washington said. "No doubt about it."

The coldest game for the Rangers this season was May 16 at the Chicago White Sox, when it was 43 degrees and breezy at first pitch. Things worked out just fine that chilly night. Texas starter Colby Lewis threw a five-hitter for his first career shutout in a 4-0 victory.

When the series switches to Texas this weekend, the forecast is for upper 70s.

Temperatures in St. Louis were ideal the first two rounds, 80 degrees for both games in the division series and 66, 67 and 63 degrees for three NLCS games.

Game 1 starter Chris Carpenter has been known to sweat through three or four jerseys on a muggy summer night. This works, too.

"It's no different, just go out and pitch," Carpenter said. "I'm going to be nice and warm anyway because I'll be doing my thing. I'm not concerned about what the weather is doing, unless it's raining and we don't get to play. That's no fun."

___

AP Sports Writers R.B. Fallstrom in St. Louis and Stephen Hawkins in Dallas contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111019/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bbo_world_series_notebook

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Philly police: Disabled victimized by theft scheme

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey waits to address the media on Monday, Oct. 17, 2011 in front of the Philadelphia apartment building where four weak and malnourished mentally disabled adults, one chained to the boiler, were found locked inside a sub-basement room on Saturday. Police arrested three adults staying in an apartment upstairs, including the person accused of being the ringleader, Linda Ann Weston, in what authorities say is a scheme to steal the Social Security disability checks of defenseless and vulnerable people. (AP Photo/Ron Cortes, Pool)

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey waits to address the media on Monday, Oct. 17, 2011 in front of the Philadelphia apartment building where four weak and malnourished mentally disabled adults, one chained to the boiler, were found locked inside a sub-basement room on Saturday. Police arrested three adults staying in an apartment upstairs, including the person accused of being the ringleader, Linda Ann Weston, in what authorities say is a scheme to steal the Social Security disability checks of defenseless and vulnerable people. (AP Photo/Ron Cortes, Pool)

The dank sub-basement room in Philadelphia where four weak and malnourished mentally disabled adults, one chained to the boiler, were found locked inside on Saturday is shown Monday, Oct. 17, 2011. Police arrested three adults staying in an apartment upstairs, including the person accused of being the ringleader, Linda Ann Weston, in what authorities say is a scheme to steal the Social Security disability checks of defenseless and vulnerable people. (AP Photo/Ron Cortes, Pool)

This undated photo provided by the Philadelphia Police Department shows Linda Ann Weston. Weston is one of three people charged following the discovery of four malnourished mentally disabled adults chained to a boiler in a locked northeast Philadelphia basement room that was too small for an adult to stand up straight and also reeked of waste from the buckets they used to relieve themselves, police said Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011. (AP Photo/Philadelphia Police Department)

This undated photo provided by the Philadelphia Police Department shows Thomas Gregory. Gregory is one of three people charged following the discovery of four malnourished mentally disabled adults chained to a boiler in a locked northeast Philadelphia basement room that was too small for an adult to stand up straight and also reeked of waste from the buckets they used to relieve themselves, police said Sunday, Oct. 16, 2011. (AP Photo/Philadelphia Police Department)

Sgt. Joseph Green stands in the dank basement room in Philadelphia where four weak and malnourished mentally disabled adults, one chained to the boiler, were found locked inside, Monday, Oct. 17, 2011. Police arrested three adults staying in an apartment upstairs, including the person accused of being the ringleader, Linda Ann Weston, in what authorities say is a scheme to steal the Social Security disability checks of defenseless and vulnerable people. (AP Photo/Ron Cortes, Pool)

(AP) ? A woman convicted in the starvation death of a man nearly 30 years ago is facing charges of kidnapping and false imprisonment for allegedly preying on four mentally disabled adults, locking them in a basement and wresting control of their Social Security disability checks.

Linda Ann Weston was charged Monday with kidnapping, false imprisonment and other offenses, with bail set at $2.5 million after her landlord stumbled upon the four adults, all weak and malnourished, in a dank, foul smelling boiler room on Saturday.

Also charged were Eddie "the Rev. Ed" Wright, 50, whom Weston described as her boyfriend, and Gregory Thomas, 47.

Detectives also found dozens of ID cards, power-of-attorney forms and other documents in the apartment, suggesting the alleged theft scheme involved more than just the four captives.

In 1983, a 13-year-old Philadelphia boy testified that his older sister had beaten another sister's boyfriend with a broomstick and locked him in a closet. The man died of starvation weeks later.

Linda Ann Weston was convicted of murder, but it's not clear from court records how much time she spent in prison.

She's now behind bars in another heinous scheme that echoes the earlier case.

Weston, now 51, is accused of preying on four mentally disabled adults, and locking them in a basement crawlspace in northeast Philadelphia. A landlord found them Saturday, weak and malnourished.

Police suspect Weston and two others were keeping them in squalor while wresting control of their Social Security checks. One victim said he met Weston through an online dating service.

"That was real dirty of (her). That was wrong," Derwin McLemire told KWY-TV on Monday. "I escaped one time to one of the house that we used to live in, of hers, and I didn't get away so they got me."

He and two others told the station they had been on the move for about a year with their alleged captors, traveling from Texas to Florida to Philadelphia.

"They moved them around," Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey said Monday after examining the boiler room-turned-dungeon inside a small apartment house. "Whenever it looked like people knew what was going on, they moved."

The landlord found the victims Saturday morning after he heard dogs barking in the area. He found the door to the foul-smelling room chained shut. Inside, Turgut Gozleveli lifted a pile of blankets to find several sets of eyes staring back at him. One man was chained to the boiler.

Philadelphia police soon arrested Weston at her daughter's apartment upstairs, along with two other men.

"Without a doubt. This is just the beginning of this investigation," Lt. Ray Evers said Monday. "She's been out of jail for a period of time, and we think she's being doing this for quite some time."

Exactly how long, how much money the scheme brought in, precisely how the disabled were deceived, and how many people in all were victimized are still unclear, investigators said. The FBI has joined the investigation.

"Talk about preying on the weak and weary," Evers said.

A Florida girl missing since July 4 from West Palm Beach, where neighbors said the group had come from earlier this month, was also located by Philadelphia police. The mother of 15-year-old Benita Rodriguez told WPTV-TV her daughter had been friends with Thomas' son. Rodriguez was not in the basement with the adults and it wasn't clear how she connects to the case.

As of Monday, the defendants did not appear to have lawyers.

The victims, a woman and three men, were found in a crawlspace that reeked of urine and was too shallow for an adult to stand up. There were mattresses and blankets, but the only food found was a container of orange juice. The adults shared their space with three dogs.

Gozleveli called police, suspecting they were squatters, then watched as officers and ambulance workers helped them up the steps to the street in a working-class section of the city's Tacony neighborhood.

The victims, ages 29 to 41, had the mental capacity of 10-year-olds, along with some physical disabilities, authorities said. One could barely see.

Neighbors said the defendants and their alleged captives had arrived in an SUV from West Palm Beach about two weeks ago, though it does not appear the victims spent the entire time in the basement.

Danyell "Nicky" Tisdale, a block captain in the neighborhood, said that about a week ago, a man and woman and four mentally disabled adults held a yard sale, selling piles of shoes, jackets and other clothing on the sidewalk.

Since the arrests, police have slowly and patiently been trying to elicit information from the alleged captives. All four were treated at hospitals and placed with social service agencies.

The woman had been reported missing by her family in Philadelphia in 2005, police said. One of the men was also from Philadelphia, and a second one from North Carolina. Their relatives were contacted. Police were having trouble finding family members for the fourth victim, 40-year-old Herbert Knowles.

According to an investigative report obtained by The Associated Press, Knowles was reported missing in Norfolk, Va., in December 2008 after a mental health case worker couldn't reach him and family members failed to hear from him.

The case worker reported that Knowles' Social Security checks were going to a Philadelphia address. The report said Philadelphia police went by the address and were told no one there had ever heard of Knowles.

Knowles' government benefits were stopped at one point after his mail was forwarded to Philadelphia, but Weston took the man to a Philadelphia social service agency in 2008 and showed identification, and the checks resumed, Norfolk police said.

Norfolk police spokesman Chris Amos said police did not continue looking for Knowles because as an adult he was under no obligation to report to his case worker.

"It's not illegal to be missing," Amos said. "A lot of people are missing by choice."

Scam artists can get control of a disabled person's checks by visiting the Social Security office with the victim, who then designates the other person to receive the payments, said Nora J. Baladerian, a clinical psychologist in Los Angeles and advocate for people with disabilities.

Only if there is a report of suspected abuse would social service agencies enter the picture, she said.

In Florida, Weston and Thomas appeared to live with several disabled adults, including a man and woman who had bruises on their faces, neighbors in a poor section of West Palm Beach said. The woman also had what looked like a large burn mark on her face, neighbor Ronald Bass said.

He said he often heard yelling, apparently from the disabled women, and that police frequently went to the house.

Another neighbor, Sadie Pollard, said she saw bruised lips and other facial injuries on the disabled people, but was told they had been fighting with each other.

Mark Riordan, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Children and Families, said a search of its databases as well as vital statistics and school records, found no record of the alleged perpetrators, the victims, or the children who lived with them.

"This family has clearly led a nomadic lifestyle and had become quite adept living beneath the radar. Until now," he said.

___

Associated Press Writers Randy Pennell and JoAnn Loviglio in Philadelphia, Dena Potter in Richmond and Matt Sedensky in West Palm Beach contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-10-18-Locked%20In%20Basement/id-0b6f60e551f346a6b406365673e58183

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Wall St. lower as banks drag on Germany, earnings (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Wall Street stocks fell more than 1 percent on Monday as Germany's finance minister dimmed hopes an upcoming summit would result in a breakthrough in Europe's debt crisis.

Optimism the euro zone was making progress in resolving its sovereign debt crisis has pushed the S&P 500 to the top of a two-month trading range but left it vulnerable to pullbacks. The index had risen for two straight weeks for the first time since July and recorded its best two-week performance since 2009.

"The past couple of weeks have been obviously a phenomenal little run-up. The problem is it's a delicate run-up," said Chris Hobart, chief executive of Hobart Financial Group in Charlotte, North Carolina.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said European Union governments would adopt a five-point plan at the Brussels meeting on October 23, but "we won't have a definitive solution this weekend," he added.

Schaeuble's comments also sent the euro lower against the dollar and weighed on financials. The KBW bank index (.BKX) lost 2.6 percent. Compounding pressure on the sector were disappointing earnings from Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N), which fell 6.3 percent to $24.99 and was the biggest weight on the S&P 500.

"What we are looking at today in the market is obviously a direct correlation to what is going on in Europe," said Hobart.

"Everything seems to be going well with Europe for a while, and you get this little news and it reconfirms the fears that everybody has."

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) dropped 162.84 points, or 1.40 percent, to 11,481.65. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX)(.INX) lost 15.55 points, or 1.27 percent, to 1,209.03. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) declined 39.89 points, or 1.50 percent, to 2,627.96.

Events in Europe overshadowed a $21 billion deal by Kinder Morgan Inc (KMI.N) to buy rival El Paso Corp (EP.N), combining the two largest natural gas pipeline operators in North America in a huge bet on the fast-growing market for that fuel.

El Paso's shares surged 23.8 percent to $24.25 and Kinder Morgan shares jumped 6.4 percent to $28.62.

In its quarterly results, Wells Fargo missed Wall Street's earnings estimates by 1 cent a share as interest income fell below expectations.

Shares of Citigroup Inc (C.N) edged down 0.6 percent to $28.24. The bank reported higher third-quarter earnings as it set aside less money to cover bad loans and recorded an accounting gain banks can take in turbulent markets.

Of the 45 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings, 62 percent have beaten analyst expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111017/bs_nm/us_markets_stocks

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FDA chemist pleads guilty to scam involving pharmaceutical stocks

Cheng Yi Liang admitted Tuesday in federal court that he carried out a $3.7 million insider-trading scam, using a tracking system for new drug applications.

A Food and Drug Administration chemist pleaded guilty on Tuesday to using confidential government information about pending FDA drug approvals to make millions in profits by trading pharmaceutical company stocks.

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Cheng Yi Liang of Gaithersburg, Md., admitted in federal court that he carried out a $3.7 million insider-trading scam from July 2006 to March 2011.

He used his access to the FDA?s password-protected computerized tracking system for new drug applications. By studying the progress ? or failings ? of a proposed new drug on the computer system, Mr. Liang was able to time his stock purchases or sales to benefit from the market effect of FDA public announcements.

Overall, he purchased and sold securities for 27 pharmaceutical companies ? all with pending drug applications at the FDA, according to federal documents.

In announcing the guilty plea, Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer called the scam ?a shocking abuse of trust.?

?Mr. Liang used inside information about pharmaceutical companies ? information he had access to solely because of his position at the FDA ? to pocket millions in illicit profits,? Mr. Bruer said in a statement.

As part of his plea agreement, Liang admitted to one count of securities fraud and one count of making false statements. He faces up to seven years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines, $5.25 million in fines, and restitution of $3.77 million.

Liang had been working as a chemist at the FDA?s Office of New Drug Quality Assessment since 1996.

To avoid detection, Liang set up a network of trading accounts in the names of family members and associates. In reality, Liang controlled the accounts. He purchased and sold the stocks through online trading accounts with TD Ameritrade and Scottrade.

Throughout the five-year scam, Liang did not list his trading income on government-required financial disclosure forms.

Authorities pieced the scheme together by installing software on Liang?s office computer that permitted investigators to take regular ?screen shots? of data displayed on his computer screen. They discovered he was accessing confidential information about pending drug applications. Investigators linked the company information to stock transactions carried out in close proximity to FDA announcements.

Prosecutors highlighted Clinical Data Inc. as an example of Liang?s scam. The company had applied in 2010 for FDA approval of the drug Viibryd. After discovering the drug would win approval, Liang began buying Clinical Data stock. From Jan. 6 to Jan. 20, 2011, Liang purchased 46,875 shares of Clinical Data stock using the disguised accounts he controlled.

The FDA approval was announced Friday, Jan. 21, after the markets closed for the day. When the markets reopened on Monday, Clinical Data?s stock jumped from $15.03 a share to $24.76.

Liang sold all 46,875 shares of Clinical Data stock and netted a profit of $384,000, according to federal documents.

He pulled off a similar scam purchasing stock in Vanda Pharmaceuticals in 2009 while the company had a pending application at the FDA.

From March 30 to May 6, 2009, Liang bought 202,550 shares of Vanda stock at prices ranging from 82 cents per share to $1.14. When the company?s FDA approval was announced, the stock rose from $1.08 on May 6, 2009, to $9.96 the next day.

Liang sold 125,065 shares at prices ranging from $8 to $11.37. He made $1.02 million.

Other stocks targeted by Liang?s insider-trading include Progenics Pharmaceuticals for $466,351; MiddleBrook Pharmaceuticals for $269,710; and Momenta Pharmaceuticals for $131,200.

US District Judge Deborah Chasanow set sentencing for Jan. 9.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/Ydg3_5-q-SQ/FDA-chemist-pleads-guilty-to-scam-involving-pharmaceutical-stocks

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