< • •
i i
Rare whale
trapped off
coast of
Cape Cod
BOSTON (AP) — A rare
right whale swimming off Cape
Cod has a rope deeply embed
ded in both sides of its upper jaw
and may not survive, marine sci
entists said Sunday.
The rope, a five-eighths-
inch-diick plastic line, is cutting
into the whale’s rostrum, or up
per jaw, and has cinched around
it, said David Manila of the Cen
ter for Coastal Studies in
Provincetown.
“The first question is, will it
survive if we don’t remove the
entanglement? It’s pretty unlike
ly from our experience,” Mani
la said. “The rope will continue
to irritate the whale and it will
die of infection.
“The second question is, will
it heal if we get it out? That’s a
long shot too, frankly,” he
added.
Matilla, director of the cen
ter’s disentanglement team, said
the whale is still feeding and ap
pears to be in good health, but
its prognosis is not good.
Tissue around both sides of
its mouth is dying or dead, evi
dence that infection has set in.
Matilla was part of a team that
observed the huge mammal Sat
urday and attached a telemetry
buoy so marine scientists could
track it. As of Sunday night, the
whale was about 80 miles off the
coast of Cape Cod, near
Georges Bank.
The whale is traveling north
and is thought to be on its way
to the Bay of Fundy. Rescuers do
not know if it is a male or female.
Rough conditions at sea will
keep rescuers from going out
Monday, Matilla said. But they
will consult with veterinarian^
and marine biologists to plot
their next step.
Right whales frequent the
Massachusetts coast in spring
and fall. It is estimated there are
just 300 of the animals left. The
whale will remain endangered
until the population is at least
1,200.
The New England Aquarium
in Boston estimates about 60
percent of right whales have
scarring from fishing lines.
“Lines can get wrapped
around flippers or tails when
feeding, especially with the right
whale,” said Alison Glass of the
Gloucester-based Whale Center
of New England.
Practice makes perfect
BERNARDO GARZA/Th£ Battalion
Art Thomason uses the empty parking
lot at Reed Arena to practice for the
upcoming X-trials competition in
Bristol, Gonn. Thomason will be com
peting in the flatland event and has
beer riding for 14 years.
Philippine government refuses
to give ransom for the hostages
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AP) — Worried
about feeding a cycle of kidnappings, the Philip
pine government stood firm Sunday on its no
ransom stance even as the clock was ticking on
a deadline set by Muslim rebels threatening to
kill three American hostages.
Thousands of troops scoured the southern is
land of Basilan, where the Abu Sayyaf rebels
have said they will behead a Kansas couple and
a Californian they held captive unless the Philip
pine government appoints two Malaysians to
negotiate their release.
A rebel leader, Abu Sabaya, said Thursday
that the deadline was after 72 hours, meaning
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News in Brief
Videotaping of
McVeigh's death
denied by court
WASHINGTON (AP) —
The Supreme Court, without
comment, Sunday turned
down a request to allow the
videotaping of Timothy
McVeigh's execution.
The request, which had
no bearing on McVeigh's
case, had come from
lawyers for a Pennsylvania
man who could face the
same method of execution.
His lawyers argued the
videotape could be helpful
in their effort to show lethal
injection is cruel and unusu
al punishment, and there
fore unconstitutional.
The justice Department
asked the high court not to
allow the videotaping, say
ing it would sensationalize
the Oklahoma City
bomber's death, scheduled
for Monday morning. Tap
ing also poses security and
privacy problems, agency
lawyers said.
"In lightof the ubiquitous
interest in the Oklahoma
City bombing, the mere cre
ation of a videotape of
McVeigh's execution would
present the government
with unique challenges,"
Acting Solicitor General Bar
bara Underwood wrote.
Bush to visit
Spain despite
some protest
MADRID, Spain (AP) —
Thousands of Spaniards
marched peacefully through
downtown
Madrid on
Sunday to
protest the up
coming visit of
President
Bush.
Demon
strators car
ried signs say
ing “Bush G
BUSH
o Home” and
criticized the president’s stance
on the death penalty, the' envi
ronment and trade, as they
marched from Madrid’s Plaza
de Espana to the Puerta del Sol
square.
Bush arrives Tuesday in the
Spanish capital for talks with
conservative Prime Minister
Jose Maria Aznar on the initial
stop of his first major overseas
trip.
The six-day, five-nation tour
will put Bush face to face with
European leaders critical of his
policies on missile defense, trade
and the environment.
In Spain, unions, anti-global-
ization and anti-death penalty
groups have planned several
days of protests.
Spanish foreign minister
Josep Pique said Sunday he un
derstood the desire to protest
against capital punishment dur
ing Bush’s visit because “unfor
tunately in American society a
majority is still in favor of the
death penalty.”
Police estimated more than
2,500 people attended the rally,
filling the four-lane Gran Via
boulevard for about an hour. A
helicopter hovered overhead.
At the Puerta del Sol, a baw ,
ner stretched across the \ v
er’s platform said: “No to ir lor senior
ventionism. No to neolibeS HoustOf
globalization. No to the • r
. -• r-u r * » PSemor mforr
struction or the climate. R
u'i'L • • i-n L nations mana
1 he visit ol Bush reprix .1 d Carren „
the evil image ot the Empt j in the Hou ,
union leader Adolfo Jinie.Sjp, e circur
told the crowd. ounding Garr
‘VVe cannot hut condemn iot yet known
cooperation of the Spanish? js his parents,
eminent with the United Sq: barren of Wea
by allowing American trooj> iot be reached
Spanish bases, he added, i JS will be h(
3,500 Americans are static Wednesday a
on military bases in Spain. B ted Methc
The death penalty is a Weatherford,
theme of anti-American sr §— st«
ment in Spain, followingSs
day’s return of a Spanish cin.Maint0 PI 2
who spent more than t b *| , usbl0c| f)
years on death row in the I T
ed States. Jb AN ANT0
“Thank you, Spain!”Joacf4-y e ar-old
Jose Martinez said as he arrr«n was killei
at Barajas airport. “Thereart ie was crushe
words that can describe whn an office bu
feel. All I can say is Tmc Police said J
proud to be Spanish rights r 'fr> the eleva
Last week, a Florida jui]| ^ some e< I l
retrial acquitted Martinez a t° r acc ' d(
double slayinu a ft er pleas • I ° n J'pP 0
Spanish King Juan Carlos
the Madrid government.Tb
sands of Spaniards contril
rushed betw<
nd the shaft
looi door lev<
Police are ii
it would have passed Sunday afternoon. But in
talks with a government negotiator, the rebels
put the deadline at Monday. The exact time
Monday was not announced.
The guerrillas want the government — cur
rently advised by three FBI hostage specialists
— to bring in two Malaysian go-betweens who
helped work out a deal for the release of foreign
tourists taken hostage last year.
Libya reportedly brokered that ransom deal
involving millions of dollars, money the military
says the rebels used to buy the arms and speed
boats employed in the May 27 raid of a south
western Philippine beach resort.
Eight children
killed in Japan
school massaert
IKED A, Japan (AP)
Mourners surrounded Mayuko
Isaka with her favorite things —
candy, flowers and toys — at a
funeral Sunday for the sunny 7-
year-old. Later, schoolchildren
watched as a hearse carried away
her tiny casket.
Mayuko’s funeral was one of
five Sunday in this quiet suburb
of Osaka, where eight children,
I sow her in the
morning. She
was chirpy and
warm. The next
time I saw her, her
body was cold.”
Yoshitaka Isaka
victim's father
first- and second-graders, were
knifed to death by a mentally
disturbed former janitor two
days earlier.
“I saw her in the morning.
She was chirpy and warm. The
next time I saw her, her body
was cold,” Mayuko’s father,
Yoshitaka Isaka, said tearfully at
her funeral.
Police said Mamom Takuma,
37, walked into the Ikeda ele
mentary school unimpeded Fri
day and went classroom to class
room slashing his victims until
two teachers managed to re
strain him 15 minutes later.
“I thought I would be sen
tenced to death if I kill many
children of the elite and intelli
gent,” Takuma later said, ac
cording to police.
At the funeral of another vic
tim, 7-year-old Ayano Moriwa-
ki, a framed picture of the girl
to the defendant’s legal fee* | eath as an a ,
At the rally, demonstn
condemned Monday’s sc ;UU TflGy,
tiled execution of Time :hange c
McVeigh, convicted inthi 3 enef j t fl
lahoma Gity bombing, anc
manded a new trial for Mi# HOUSTON
Abu Jamal, the black U.S. itorm Allison'
nalist sentenced to death were no t
murder. and p
The artists,
Vaite, postpi
on date of tf
our to Aug. ;
jp.the c.W.
^scheduled <
Mefit for flc
"Our hear
eople of Ho
st their lives
teir propert
rist Neal Sc
Jhe first r
ie 2001 At
was flanked by flower bouftason hit
and letters from her classnuiutheast Te
After the service, a hearsecarde ground v
ing her tiny casket droveoff:^ leaving v\
crematorium. Kyodo V 5 but up as i
Agency said the funerals of ()Und paH
en victims total were held in r °‘ 11; 1
, ci Ti e storm
Osaka area Sunday. |e and
Seven gir s and oneboyS;^ mi||jon
6 to 8 were killed, and liotfc, F| ooc |iny
students and two teack e Arena T
wounded. Eight victims invest Houstc
reported in serious conditiotiesday's co
making a steady recover)', Kan Dennis
do said.
It was Japan’s worst m
killing since a deadly nerve!
attack on Tokyo’s subways
years ago and the latest ina
ries of fatal slashings in acd
try that has strict gun laws
has prided itself on a lower
rate.
News reports said Takuma
a man with a history of niei’j
illness — launched his kil
spree just hours before hew
he interrogated about a fight
year in a hotel in Osaka, Ja]
second-largest city.
He reportedly had taken
times his daily dose of anti<
pressants before the alleged
tack. Investigators have sei;
hatchet, a cutter knife and an
pick as well as 300 unspecif
tablets from Takuma’s hoi
police said.
Police said he also was
ed two years ago on suspici
slipping tranquilizers into
tea of teachers at the elemei
school where he worked.
Media reports said he
not charged because he
deemed mentally unstai
then was sent to a hospi
where he was diagnosed
schizophrenic and even
released after treatment.
mi