NE
f HE BATTa[|
lTION
BATTALION
Wednesday, January 29, 2003
udge refuses to release shoe bomber’s letters
By Denise Lavoie
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge refused to
;ase would-be shoe-bomber Richard Reid’s jail-
ise letters Tuesday after prosecutors warned he
»ht be trying to send or receive coded terrorist
ssages.
U.S. District Judge William Young said last week
that he planned to release the letters written by Reid
to his family and others unless prosecutors submit
ted additional evidence that the al-Qaida member
was trying to communicate in code. Prosecutors
filed a sealed affidavit Monday from the FBI.
Young cited the affidavit in his decision to keep
Reid’s letters sealed. He did not elaborate further
in his two-sentence ruling.
The Boston Globe and the Boston Herald had
sought release of the letters.
Reid, a 29-year-old British subject who convert
ed to Islam, is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday
for trying to blow up a Paris-to-Miami jetliner in
December 2001 with plastic explosives hidden in
his shoes. He faces 60 years to life in prison.
Passengers and crew members overpowered
Reid after he tried to light a fuse protruding from
one of his shoes.
Reid pleaded guilty in October to trying to
blow up the plane and kill all 197 people aboard.
In entering his guilty plea, Reid said he was a fol
lower of Osama bin Laden and declared his hatred
for the United States.
Prosecutors have repeatedly expressed concern
that Reid had tried to communicate with other ter
rorists from prison, despite tight restrictions
placed on him.
“The exceptional facts of this ease com-
,onsumer
onfidence
ecreases
once again
By Rebecca Gomez
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
ki> • THE BATTALION
out by noon and
NEW YORK (AP) — The
eat of war with Iraq con
futed to the second straight
nthly drop in U.S. consumer
cfifidence.
■The Conference Board’s
insumer Confidence Index
iped in January to 79 from
in December. The index is
;ed on a survey of 5.000 U.S.
seholds and is calculated
from a base of 100 in 1985.
“Overall readings continue
tpreflect the country’s lackluster
economic activity,” said Lynn
Fnnco, director of the
C inference Board’s Consumer
Bsearch Center. “Now, with
H ffl: threat of war looming, con-
. in a hotel pat: * “ ** 8 row " increasingly
lentallywir*. 1 lhe 'I'""
itors say chose to* 100 '
ight. The wow
t the same hotel"!
ried on Valentk
is faces upfliUJ
rmine she
f sudden pa.‘
iter sentence of W
Consumer confidence
Here is a look at the Consumer
Confidence Index from a survey
of 5,000 U.S. households.
Seasonally adjusted, 1985= 100
130
20
Current 79.0
One month ago 80.7
One year ago 97.8
FMAMJ JASONDJ
2002 2003
URCE: The Conference Board AP
|U.S. manufacturing, howev-
is limping. New orders to
factories for big-ticket
ods — also known as durable
ods — rose a paltry 0.2 per-
tit in December, the
Jmmerce Department said.
|onomists were expecting an
pease of 1 percent.
(“The manufacturing sector is
ep in the dumps, and this
jiort gives little hope of
Iprovement,’’ Gonzalez said.
I In the consumer confidence
rvey, consumers expressed
pre worries about the job front
the next six months, and
ver people said they plan to
§y a car or major appliance.
] “There’s no doubt the uncer-
fnties about geopolitical events
:igh on people’s minds,” said
Jsh Feinman, chief economist
!" th Deutsche Asset
anagement in New York. “Is
ere going to be a war?
brtainly, that’s contributing to
[ople’s anxiety.”
NEWS IN BRIEF
flayors of New York
and Philadelphia
|ropose cutbacks
JNEW YORK (AP) - With New
I irk City facing its worst fiscal
Gsis since the '70s, Mayor
Michael Bloomberg proposed a
billion budget Tuesday that
eludes more than $550 million
cuts in services and assumes
ssage of a commuter tax that
e governor is against.
Bloomberg's budget plan does
t call for immediate layoffs in
e city's work force of 250,000.
In Philadelphia, meanwhile,
ayor John Street proposed the
imination of about 1,600 jobs
rough layoffs and attrition.
Bloomberg's spending plan
Iso includes $600 million in sav-
igs from the city's municipal
ork force.
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