USA
Army Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba, who submitted a 53-page report critical of the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that a failure of leadership was responsible for the "sadistic, blatant, and wanton criminal abuse." He also left open the possibility that personnel of the Central Intelligence Agency and civilian contractors may be culpable in the commission of the acts that reservists such as Pfc. Lynndie England have been accused of. On Monday, England's lawyer said she was ordered to pose in photos staged by intelligence agents for the purpose of intimidating other prisoners. "The [soldiers] pictured were congratulated. They were told the photographs were successful in gathering information," attorney Rose Mary Zapor said. England was to meet with another of member of her defense team Tuesday in Fort Bragg, N.C., where she is currently stationed.
If the presidential election were held today, President Bush would win, according to results of the latest Christian Science Monitor/TIPP poll. The survey of 823 registered voters, taken May 2-8, gave Bush a 46 percent to 41 percent margin over Democrat John Kerry, with independent Ralph Nader at 5 percent. In a two-way race, Bush would win by 47 percent to 44 percent. The poll also shows that Bush backers are more intense in their support than Kerry's.
A small minority of unruly students are dragging down classroom teaching throughout the US, a new study released by the nonpartisan research group Public Agenda said. Among its findings: that more than three in four teachers in grades 5 through 12 said they could do their jobs more effectively if not for discipline problems that disrupt learning for a majority of students.
The Justice Department reopened the 1955 murder case of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African-American from Chicago murdered in Money, Miss, purportedly because his whistling offended a white female store clerk. No one was convicted of the crime, which helped ignite the civil rights movement, but two white men, now dead, were acquitted by an all-white jury. Interest in the case has been revived by a forthcoming documentary that reveals as many as 10 people may have been involved in the crime, in which Till was kidnapped, beaten, and dumped in the Tallahatchie River. Although federal prosecution is not possible at this point, state charges can still be brought.
