Teen in gay-bar rampage killed self, autopsy shows
Boston – The teenager accused of going on a rampage at a Massachusetts gay bar and later killing two people fatally shot himself in the head in a gunfight with Arkansas police, authorities say.
Jacob Robida, 18, of New Bedford, Mass., turned the gun on himself Saturday after he fatally shot a West Virginia woman who was in his car, Bristol District Attorney Paul Walsh said Tuesday.
Police originally said they shot Robida after he fired at them at the end of a high-speed chase in rural Arkansas.
Robida killed Gassville, Ark., police officer Jim Sell and led police on a 20-mile chase before being stopped in nearby Norfork.
Police had searched for Robida since early Thursday, when they say he used a hatchet and handgun to wound three men at Puzzles Lounge, a gay bar in New Bedford.
Walsh said Robida’s autopsy proved that he was killed by the same gun used in the bar attack. He said that gun also fired the bullet that killed Jennifer Rena Bailey, 33, an acquaintance Robida had picked up after fleeing Massachusetts. Robida was shot once, and Walsh said no police bullets penetrated the car.
Police in Massachusetts, who are investigating whether Robida had an accomplice in the bar attack, searched Robida’s room and discovered a handwritten note in which Robida bid his mother goodbye and suggested he would again resort to violence.
GENEVA
WTO: EU broke trade rules on biotech foods
The World Trade Organization has ruled that the European Union broke international trade rules by stopping imports of genetically modified foods, officials said Tuesday.
The preliminary judgment by a WTO panel concluded that the EU had an effective ban on biotech foods for six years from 1998, the officials said.
The report sided with a complaint brought by the U.S., Canada and Argentina over an EU moratorium on approval of new biotech foods, the officials said. The panel ruled that individual bans in six EU member states – Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Italy and Luxembourg – violated international trade rules.
ANAHEIM, Calif.
Firefighters struggle with 3,500-acre blaze
Helicopters and air tankers bombarded a wind-driven 3,500-acre wildfire with water and flame retardant Tuesday as firefighters struggled to protect about 2,100 evacuated homes.
The blaze, which began Monday in the forest east of Anaheim and Orange, was only 7 percent contained, said a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority. The cause of the fire was under investigation.
Dry desert winds gusting up to 40 mph hampered the 900 firefighters as they worked to beat back the flames.
WASHINGTON
Asbestos legislation clears first hurdle
Legislation to set up a $140 billion fund to pay people sickened by asbestos cleared its first hurdle Tuesday after Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid removed his objection. Republicans quickly declared victory.
The behind-the-scenes maneuvering cleared the way for the bill, still facing opposition from members of both parties and a feverish lobbying campaign, to be debated by the full Senate.
At issue is legislation sponsored by Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., that would pay victims from a privately supported trust fund in exchange for halting asbestos-related court cases.
MEXICO CITY
U.S. hotel accused
of violating trade laws
Mexico said Tuesday there is evidence that a U.S.-owned hotel violated Mexican law by expelling Cuban representatives attending an oil meeting last week and that it could face fines of nearly $500,000.
The Foreign Relations Department said it had started a complaint process against the Hotel Maria Isabel Sheraton in Mexico City for violating investment- and trade-protection laws.
A U.S. Treasury official on Tuesday confirmed that the Bush administration pressured the hotel to comply with elements of the U.S. embargo against business with Cuba or Cubans.
KATMANDU, Nepal
Shootings ordered for election interlopers
Faced with opposition and rebel threats to disrupt municipal elections, Nepal’s government ordered security forces Tuesday to shoot anyone who tries to interfere with the vote for mayors and local officials.
Today’s elections will be Nepal’s first in seven years and are intended to quell the power struggle among the monarchy, political parties and Maoist rebels.
The insurgents have threatened to kill anyone who takes part in the vote – two candidates have been slain – prompting the government to take out life-insurance policies for the more than 2,000 candidates.
BAGHDAD, Iraq
Another death from bird flu suspected
Fears that bird flu may have spread to southern Iraq rose Tuesday when authorities said they were investigating whether a teenage pigeon seller had died of the virus.
In Amarah, 180 miles southeast of Baghdad, health officials said Muhannad Radhi Zaouri, 14, died Sunday. His blood was being tested for bird flu, said Dr. Haider Abdul-Ridha of the communicable-disease department at Amarah health department.
Iraq’s first confirmed human case was a 15-year-old girl who died Jan. 17 in Kurdistan. Her uncle died Jan. 27, and health authorities are waiting to learn whether he also had bird flu.
