Girl, 12, dies after being shot in head

Reuters

A 12-year-old girl who was shot in the head in Manchester died on Tuesday, police said. Her 16-year-old brother has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

The girl, who has not been named, was taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary on Monday night, suffering from critical injuries following the incident in the Gorton area of the city.

She was later transferred to Pendlebury Children's hospital but died on Tuesday morning.

Greater Manchester Police Superintendent John O'Hare said officers were called to a house in Gorton after reports of a shooting, but declined to say what type of gun had been fired.

"It is a powerful weapon, and it's a weapon that has killed a 12-year-old girl," he told reporters.

"It's a weapon that you shouldn't have and it's a weapon that shouldn't have been with the individual last night."

He said the shooting brought home "the tragic and really evil consequences of firearms within our community."

Russia will counter U.S. missile shield, says Putin

By Oleg Shchedrov

President Vladimir Putin on Friday renewed criticism of U.S. plans to deploy a missile shield in Eastern Europe, saying Russia would take "appropriate measures" to counter the system.

Putin told Czech President Vaclav Klaus at a Kremlin meeting that the proposed missile shield would be used to track Russian military activities.

"These systems will monitor Russian territory as far as the Ural mountains if we don't come out with a response," Putin told Klaus. "And we will indeed do this. Anyone would."

"We will not get hysterical about this. We will just take appropriate measures," he said, without elaborating.

Russia views the U.S. plan to base 10 missile interceptors in Poland and radar in the Czech Republic from 2012 as a major threat to its national security.

Washington says the system is needed to defend Europe and U.S. forces there against what it calls "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea. But top Russian politicians say the U.S. plan could disrupt European stability and fuel a new Cold War-style arms race.

Moscow's top brass say the missile shield does not pose any immediate military threat for Russia, but warn that Russia will have to develop new anti-missile technology to counter it.

Speaking at a news conference with Klaus, Putin compared the missile shield plan with the deployment of U.S. Pershing-2 missiles in Western Europe in the early 1980s, which triggered a bitter diplomatic crisis in the final years of the Cold War.

In Washington, U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom H. Casey said the defense shield should not be seen as "altering the strategic balance or changing the fundamental nature of the relationship between Russia and the West."

"I think there's a tremendous difference between the situation in 2007 versus the situation in, say, 1987," Casey told a daily briefing.

But the dispute over missile defense has strained already stormy relations between Moscow and Washington, with some officials talking of a new Cold War.

In a sign of growing tensions, Putin announced in a speech Thursday that Russia was freezing its commitments under the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty, a 1990 deal hammered among NATO and former Warsaw pact nations at the end of the Cold War to maintain the regional strategic balance.

"For the first time, elements of the U.S. strategic nuclear system are appearing on the European continent," Putin said on Friday. "This element dramatically changes the security situation in Europe.

"We do not understand ... what is happening in Europe now that requires such aggressive actions," Putin said. "We see no arguments for deploying the missile shield in Europe."

European Commission President Manuel Barroso, visiting the United Nations in New York on Friday, criticized Putin's stance.

"The announcement regarding CFE was disappointing and, in fact, it is sending a signal that is not the best signal, not the most helpful for the kind of relations that we in Europe want to have with Russia," Barroso told reporters.

Oil prices rise after arrest of 172 Saudi militants

By JOHN WILEN, AP Business Writer

Oil prices pushed above $66 a barrel Friday after Saudi Arabia announced the arrests of 172 Islamic militants, some of whom planned to attack oil fields.

Traders didn't initially react to the news, analysts said. But then they started thinking.

"The concern is that we know al-Qaida's number one priority is to hit an oil field in Saudi Arabia," said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago. "They're just not going to quit."

Light, sweet crude for June delivery rose sharply after vacillating between gains and losses this morning. It settled up $1.40 at $66.46 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude settled 76 cents higher at $68.41 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

Gasoline futures settled up 7.1 cents on the Nymex at $2.3613 after falling earlier.

Some of the arrested militants had planned to use airplanes to attack Saudi oil fields, an Interior Ministry spokesman said Friday. Other attacks were planned on public figures and refineries.

"The market really didn't respond to (the Saudi arrests)," for the first half hour after the news was reported, said Jim Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch & Associates in Galena, Ill. "The initial response almost looked a little bearish."

While news of the arrests was contributing to the afternoon rally, Ritterbusch thinks traders remain more focused on Wednesday's Energy Department inventory report.

Prices rallied Wednesday after an Energy Department report showed a large, unexpected drop in U.S. gasoline stockpiles of 2.8 million barrels last week — when analysts had expected a gain of 200,000 barrels. The report also said U.S. refinery use declined 2.6 percentage points to 87.8 percent of capacity.

"Refinery capacity this last week was very disappointing," said James Cordier, president of Liberty Trading Group in Tampa, Fla. "The gasoline inventory's very scary."

Continuing refinery problems — including a brief fire at Marathon Oil Corp.'s Garyville, La., refinery on Thursday and reports of temporary shutdowns or delayed starts at other facilities — is contributing to the supply concerns. With the start of the summer driving season about a month away, some analysts wonder whether gasoline supplies will be adequate to meet demand.

"Concerns about U.S. gasoline supply are underpinning the crude oil futures market," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. "It seems U.S. refineries have had a lot of bad luck recently. And U.S. gasoline inventories are at a historic low. It's going to be a tight situation."

But the Commerce Department's report this morning that economic growth slowed to 1.3 percent in the first quarter has spooked some traders, who worry tepid growth means consumers will use less fuel.

"(That was) a very weak economic number this morning," Cordier said.

And a possible improvement in the tense situation in Iran also gave the market a reason to depress prices. Iran's top nuclear negotiator said talks with a senior European Union official had brought them closer to a united view of how to break a deadlock over a U.N. Security Council demand that Tehran freeze its uranium enrichment program.

The upbeat comments by Ali Larijani boosted hopes that he and Javier Solana, the European Union's top foreign policy official, had chipped away at differences over enrichment — a potential pathway to nuclear arms — in two days of talks.

"The statement took some heat out of the market," said Vienna's PVM Oil Associates. "Furthermore, healthy U.S. crude inventories ... (were) probably another easing factor."

"If that actually develops with diplomacy and so on, there's about $4 to $6 of geopolitical premium built into (the price of)crude oil right now," Cordier said.

In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures settled 2.44 cents higher at $1.9135 a gallon, while natural gas prices rose 22.9 cents to settle at $7.831 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Mugabe: Zimbabwe opposition trying to create anarchy

By Godfrey Marawanyika

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe accused the opposition of trying to foment anarchy Wednesday as the troubled southern African nation marked the 27th anniversary of its independence from Britain.

In a keynote speech at a packed football stadium in Harare, Mugabe fired a fresh broadside at his foreign critics, including the former colonial power, and accused opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai of being a puppet of the West.

The celebrations have been overshadowed by an economic meltdown and mounting political violence but 83-year-old Mugabe said he would deal with "conspirators" trying to end his 27-year rule with the full force of the law.

"We have observed how of late this conspiracy has attempted to transform into a militant, criminal strain, characterised by the puerile attempts of misguided opposition elements to create a state of anarchy," Mugabe said.

"As government, our message remains clear: that we will never hesitate to deal firmly with those elements who are bent on fomenting anarchy and criminal activities," added Mugabe, who has been in power since the former Rhodesia gained independence on April 18, 1980.

Mugabe, already subject to Western sanctions over allegations he rigged his re-election in 2002, has come in for withering criticism from the United States and the European Union over the recent arrest and assault on senior members of the Movement for Democratic Change, including Tsvangirai.

The president, who has previously said Tsvangirai effectively asked for his treatment, again swatted away accusations he did not tolerate dissent.

"The opposition has all the room for its activities, provided they act legally. Once they start acting illegally they come up against the laws of the country," he said.

Tsvangirai was again accused by Mugabe of being used by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W. Bush as part of a campaign to bring about regime change.

"Blair and Bush say they don't recognise the president of Zimbabwe, they don't recognise the elections of 2002 and then Tsvangirai says: 'Yes, I agree with you'. That's where we differ with Tsvangirai," said Mugabe.

"If only he had ideas to improve the welfare of the people we would gladly accept those ideas. The only idea he has is that Mugabe should go and I, Tsvangirai, should come in."

Mugabe delivered his speech at a stadium in Harare's oldest township Mbare, a traditional stronghold of his ZANU-PF party where the first independence celebrations were held 27 years ago.

The 35,000-capacity stadium was full and security guards even had to turn away supporters.

The crowds repeatedly chanted "Gushungo, Gushungo", Mugabe's clan name. Many also held placards bearing messages of support and T-shirts bearing the slogan "Zimbabwe at 27".

Vice President Joyce Mujuru, who has been rumoured to be eyeing the presidency, was among those in attendance but heads of state from other southern African countries were noticeable by their absence.

While regional leaders have been wary of publicly criticising Mugabe, they are increasingly worried about the fallout from a country where inflation is zooming towards 2,000 percent and four out of five people are unemployed.

Tsvangirai was also absent but the MDC said there was little to celebrate.

"We would have wanted to attend this national event but who in his right sense would want to subject themselves to insults and risk being physically attacked," said MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa.

"Independence is about jobs, proper health care, freedom and justice but all these critical ingredients of independence are not there," he added.

Gun control returns as issue for 2008 candidates

By CALVIN WOODWARD, Associated Press Writer

Gun control has been treated with a mix of silence and discomfort in the presidential campaign, a stance that may become insupportable once the nation finds its voice in the aftermath of the Virginia Tech mass murder.

Democrats have been deliberately muted for months on an issue that, by their own reckoning, contributed to and perhaps sealed their defeat in the 2000 presidential election. That's when Al Gore's call for gun registration cost him votes in rural America and dulled the party's appetite for taking on the gun lobby.

Top Republicans in the race are trying to close ranks with their party's conservative base on a variety of issues, making gun control an unusually sensitive one for them, too, thanks to their liberal views in the past.

Enter the massacre at Blacksburg, Va., an attack so horrific it froze the presidential campaign in place. Candidates called off events and expressed only sorrow, not opinion, in the first hours.

Advocates of any stripe raised their gun agenda at their peril.

"I think that people who want to take this within 24 hours of the event and make it their political hobby horse to ride ... I've got nothing but loathing for them," Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine said. "To those who want to try to make this into some little crusade, I say take that elsewhere."

But the bloodiest shooting rampage in modern U.S. history, with 33 dead, is certain to set off a debate that those who would be president can hardly sit out in the days and weeks ahead.

Rudy Giuliani waded gently into it Wednesday, a day after GOP rival John McCain said that the attack did not throw him off his support for constitutional gun rights.

"Obviously, this tragedy does not alter the Second Amendment," Giuliani said in a statement. "People have the right to keep and bear arms and the Constitution says this right will not be infringed."

His emphasis on state-by-state solutions to gun control in the GOP primaries contrasts with his past enthusiasm for a federal mandate to register handgun owners — an even stiffer requirement than registering guns.

Giuliani, as New York mayor and former Senate candidate, and Mitt Romney, as Massachusetts governor, supported the federal ban on assault-type weapons, background checks on gun purchases and other restrictions reviled by many gun-rights advocates.

The other New Yorker in this race, Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, also supported proposals for state-issued photo gun licenses, as well as a national registry for handgun sales, in positions laid out for crime-weary New Yorkers in 2000.

In this campaign, candidates in both parties who've ever taken a shot at a prey are playing up their hunting credentials. Others are highlighting their allegiance to the constitutional right to bear arms or avoiding the question altogether.

Now such questions are unavoidably in their face.

"Not talking about an issue may be successful in the short term but it's never a successful long-term strategy," said James Kessler, policy and gun-control specialist at Third Way, a Democratic centrist group. "I don't think that a candidate will be punished for supporting gun safety measures this time around."

But, he said he thought that after Columbine, lawmakers could pass legislation requiring background checks on weapons bought at gun shows "and we didn't."

Mass shootings have often been the catalyst for legislative action on gun control, with mixed results.

And with Democrats controlling Congress partly on the strength of new members from rural parts of the country, few lawmakers were expecting the Virginia Tech assault to revive the most far-reaching gun-control proposals of the past, such as national licensing or registration.

In 1999, after the Columbine High School killings in Colorado left 15 dead,lawmakers unsuccessfully introduced dozens of bills to require mandatory child safety locks on new handguns, ban "Saturday night specials," increase the minimum age for gun purchases and require background checks on weapons bought at gun shows.

A month after the Columbine shootings, then-Vice President Gore cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate to advance a juvenile crime bill that included gun show restrictions. But the bill died in negotiations with the House.

McCain has a long record of voting for gun rights in the Senate but changed some of his views, sponsoring legislation to support the gun show restrictions he once opposed.

And Democratic candidate John Edwards, despite recently highlighting his boyhood outings hunting birds, rabbits and deer as well as his respect for gun ownership rights, backed his party's main gun control measures when he was in the Senate.

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama as a state lawmaker in the 1990s, supported a ban on semiautomatic weapons and tougher state restrictions on firearms.

Gun control seemed far from the minds of voters before the murders Monday. In an AP-Ipsos poll taken last week in which respondents were asked to name the most important problem facing the country, few if any spontaneously mentioned guns or gun control. That's likely to change in response to the Blacksburg rampage.

The Virginia Tech senior and Korean native identified as the gunman, Cho Seung-Hui, was a legal permanent resident of the U.S., meaning he could legally buy a handgun unless he had been convicted of a felony. The campus killings were carried out with 9 mm and .22-caliber handguns.

"I think when a guy walks in and shoots 32 people it's going to cause there to be a lot of policy debate," President Bush said. "Now is not the time to do the debate until we're actually certain about what happened and after we help people get over their grieving."

Tiny Faberge chair sells for $2.28 million at auction

Associated Press

Tiny chair, huge price tag.

A 2 1/4-inch Faberge chair sold for $2.28 million at a Sotheby's auction Tuesday, easily surpassing the $1 million presale estimate.

The chair, made of gold and enamel by the Russian jeweler Carl Faberge, was included in a two-day Russian art sale that totaled $50.9 million, slightly higher than the $48.7 million presale estimate.

Sotheby's auction house said Faberge miniature furniture, such as the empire-style chair, is among the rarest of the artist's creations and is not often auctioned.

The sale price included an auction house commission. The buyer was not named.

The sale also featured other Faberge works: A timepiece sold for $1.38 million, and a desk clock doubled its estimated price and sold for $240,000.

A number of paintings also were sold, including a Mikhail Nesterov work entitled "Vision of St. Sergius When a Child," which went for $4.29 million, more than doubling its $2 million estimate.

Study: Britain has worst drug abuse problem in Europe

Yahoo News (AFP)

Britain has the worst level of drug abuse in Europe, and the second highest level of drug-related deaths, a report said Wednesday.

The value of trade in illegal drugs is estimated at five billion pounds a year, according to the study by Professor Peter Reuter of Maryland University in the US and Alex Stevens of Kent University in Britain.

The study showed that around a quarter of 26 to 30 year-olds have tried "class A" banned drug such as heroin or cocaine at least once, and around 45 percent of young people have used cannabis.

Overall, Britain has the highest number of addicts with 0.85 percent of the population -- more than twice that of European countries such as France and Sweden (0.4 percent) or Germany and the Netherlands (0.3 percent).

The lowest rates of drug abuse are in Poland and Germany, said the study.

In terms of deaths linked to drug abuse, Britain comes second only to Denmark -- although both are well behind the United States and Australia. France has the lowest number of acute drug-related deaths.

Drugs are cited in the deaths of 34 people per million of Britain's adult population.

The British government has underlined its commitment to fighting drug abuse.

"We are determined to continue tackling drug misuse through enforcement, education, early intervention and treatment," Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker said.

He said Britain was spending "unparalleled sums" on drugs strategy "which has been vindicated by record numbers of people in drug treatment and significant falls in drugs misuse and drug related crime.

"We are proud of our record and intend to build on our success," he said.

However, the new report was scathing about efforts to cut drug abuse through education.

"There is little international or UK evidence to suggest that drug education and prevention have had any significant impact on drug use," it said.

Its authors urged the government to focus efforts more on developing treatment and harm reduction programmes, which it said had been shown to reduce levels of crime, ill-health and death linked to drugs.