svangjour3101

For the article about the man who stabbed and decapitated his wife, the articles I looked at before writing were all published at different times and had different angles. The initial article would most likely be the New York Times article, which contained basic information about the case. The Yahoo! News article took the subject a step further and talked about how the public reacted when others suggested the slaying had motives from the Muslim faith. The Buffalo News article went beyond Yahoo! News and spoke of how the couple had problems at home that often involved the police, which supports the argument of the killing being an "honor killing."

Each of these stories use a different angle to let the public learn about possible motives behind the killing. Because they were published at different times, they became in-depth articles about the issue and were written to help explain the situation the couple was in. In-depth articles are used not only to explain the issues at hand, but also to increase readership, and because the three sources used different angles, they were most likely competing for audiences.

Posted by vangx570 at 3:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A New York man stabbed and decapitated his wife at the Muslim-American television station they founded.

On the evening of Feb. 12, Muzzammil Hassan, 44, went to the Orchard Park Police to report his wife's death. The New York Times reported Hassan told the police that they could find the body of her wife, Aasiya Zubair Hassan, 37, at the nearby office of the television station Bridges TV.

Chief Andrew Benz told the New York Times they later arrested him on charges of second-degree murder.

The killing occurred just days after Hassan's wife filed for divorce and served him with the papers for divorce and an order for protection against him, said Chief Benz.

Some have suggested that the killing had been some kind of "honor killing" based on religious or cultural beliefs, angering Muslim leaders.

Hassan's lawyer told Yahoo! News neither religion nor culture played a role in what happened.

Police reports from the past two years show the couple had domestic issues. According to Buffalo News, Aasiya told police in 2006 the abuse had been going on for six years.

Posted by vangx570 at 3:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Robert Allen Stanford was tracked down Thursday in Virginia and served by FBI agents with legal papers in a multibillion-dollar fraud case.

According to FBI spokesman Richard Kolko, the FBI were acting on the behalf of the Securities and Exchange Commission and served Stanford, 58, the papers in Frederisburg, Va.

Officials told the New York Times they suspect Stanford's company, the Stanford Group, used artificially inflated certificates of deposit at its bank to bilk investors.

The SEC alleged Stanford and three of his companies committed and $8 billion fraud that lured investors with promises of high returns on certificates of deposit and other investments.

Yahoo! News reported until the SEC had help from the FBI on Thursday, they had not been able to find Stanford.

An law enforcement official, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to discuss specifics in the case, told Yahoo! News authorities did not believe Stanford was purposely hiding or fleeing. Stanford had to surrender his passport under the terms of the court case.

Stanford was not charged with any crime nor arrested, but authorities are still investigating his case.

Posted by vangx570 at 3:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A gas explosion in a coal mine in northern China killed at least 74 people early Sunday morning.

The miners were in the Tunlan Coal Mine in Gujiao city in Shanxi province. The explosion occured at 2:17 a.m., a Chinese state news agency, Xinhua, reported.

The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, a State Administration of Work Safety duty officer, Zhang, told Yahoo! News.

According to the New York Times, 436 people were wroking underground at the time of the explosion. 114 miners had been hospitalized, with six listed in critical condition, according to rescue workers. The miners were suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.

The ventilation system in the mine had broken down and the miners were told to try to escape. A survivor told Xinhua the power supply underground was cut off and the miners had to walk to the surface.

Rescuers with breathing equipment and helmets with headlamps were deployed into the mine to help carry out miners, Xinhua said.

The explosion was the deadliest coal-mining accident in China in more than a year. Xinhua said the mine had among the best facilities of any mine in China, and that there had been no major accidents there in five years before the explosion occurred.

Posted by vangx570 at 3:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A man was shot and killed by two Shakopee police officers Saturday in a confrontation.

The man, whose name had not been released, was armed and wanted for second-degree assault, second-degree domestic assault and voilating an order of protection, the Shakopee Police Department told the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press.

The man was critically wounded and died at a hospital, according to the Pioneer Press.

The officers involved will be on paid administrative leave while the shooting is investigated by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Posted by vangx570 at 3:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

An off-duty Minneapolis police officer's gun accidentally discharged Saturday, injuring a retired St. Paul police officer.

The Minneapolis officer was sitting in a chair when the gun holster caught on the chair, Minneapolis police spokesman Sgt. Jesse Garcia told the Star Tribune.

Both men were working at the Minneapolis Gun Show at the Minneapolis Convention Center, Garcia said.

One round hit the floor after the pistol discharged and the bullet fragmented, hitting the St. Paul officer in the left leg and hand. Garcia also said the retired St. Paul officer, 61, had minor injuries and was treated and released Saturday.

Fragments also grazed the Minneapolis officer, but no medical attention was needed. The officer will not be placed on paid leave pending investigation because the accident was not a critical incident, said Garcia.

Posted by vangx570 at 3:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Plane that crashed near Buffalo was on autopilot

In the Associated Press' article about the reasons that led to the crash of Continental Flight 3407, the reporter uses the fact block formula taught in class. Because this story has had wide media coverage in the past few days, the most recent news is stated first. This is effective because readers who know about the crash do not want to be reading the same thing over and over again. The article is quite long, but it has been updated multiple times with new information. The oldest news is at the bottom, and whenever there is information that needs to be clarified (like terms or specific, more complex details that pertain to the topic) it is done so in a short and clear manner, usually in the rest of the paragraph.

If this article was written on news that just happened yesterday, the order it is written in would not make sense. Because the general information on this news topic has been in the media for a few days, the reporter expects the reader to either know the background information or read the whole article.

Posted by vangx570 at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The body of a man who was struck by a train was found Saturday in East St. Paul.

According to the Pioneer Press, a Union Pacific Railroad worker notified authorities of the body of a 33-year-old man whose name has not been released.

St. Paul police Cmdr. Kevin Casper said it is not known when the man was struck.

The Star Tribune reported police told KSTP-TV the man apparently fell asleep or passed out on the tracks.

Posted by vangx570 at 4:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In honor of national Freedom to Marry Week, Minnesotans gathered to rally at the state Capitol.

According to the Star Tribune, legislators said they would push a bill that would allow gay couples to marry. Already introduced to the Senate, the House plans to introduce it in their chamber soon.

Many people stood holding signs and banners in support of the bill, but some signs said marriage should be between only a man and a woman.

Posted by vangx570 at 4:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A preliminary investigation revealed the commuter plane that crashed into a house near Buffalo, N.Y., was on autopilot when it went down.

According to the New York Times, the Bombardier Dash 8Q400 flying to Buffalo from New Jersey was reported to have landed on its belly and pointing in the opposite direction it was headed. The plane lost momentum and slowly fell, crashing into a house and killing the 49 on the plane as well as the owner of the house.

Severe icy weather requires pilots to operate the plane manually, said Steve Chealander, a National Transportation Safety Board member.

Chealander told the Associated Press removing the bodies will take a few days. DNA and dental records will be used to identify the remains.

Posted by vangx570 at 4:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A New york man was arrested and charged for the killings of two people in a hospital and is being investigated for the shootings of two others.

According to the New York Times, WHEC News 10 in Rochester, N.Y., reported Frank Garcia, 34, had recently been fired from Lakeside Memorial Hospital, where the first shootings occurred.

Two people, Randall Norman, 41, and Mary Sillman, 23, were killed. Another woman was wounded, according to the New York Times.

Garcia was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder in the shootings outside the hospital, Monroe County Sheriff Patrick O'Flynn told the Associated Press.

Ontario County authorities told the New York Times they suspect Garcia to be connected to the shootings of a couple, Christopher Glaz, 45, and Kimberly Glatz, 38, in Canandaigua.

Posted by vangx570 at 4:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Two missiles suspected to be fired from American aircraft killed more than 30 people in Pakistan on Saturday.

The missiles struck three compounds by the Pakistan border with Afghanistan, and one of the compounds Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud and his fighters sometimes gathered at, officials and residents told the New York Times.

The Los Angeles Times reported most of the people thought to be killed were Taliban or Al Qaeda. Sources told the paper the dead included Arabs and Uzbeks.

An anonymous official who was not authorized to speak to the press told the New York Times Mehsud was not killed in the airstrike. If the missiles had been fired at him, it would be the first time American missiles were aimed at him.

Posted by vangx570 at 4:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Somalian pirates release Ukrainian arms ship

In the Guardian’s article about the release of the Ukrainian arms ship off the coast of Somalia, all of the newest information is attributed. The list of sources includes officials from the Ukraine (along with a statement made from them), an anonymous negotiator, and an official from a group monitoring piracy in Somalia.

All the attributed information does not come in the form of quotes. Instead, most of it is paraphrased and dispersed through the first part of the article, which contains the newest and most important information. This is most effective in telling the news of the event and keeping opinions out of the article. The attribution is placed where it would create the least amount of confusion for a reader, which is at the beginning for the paraphrased paragraphs.

Posted by vangx570 at 5:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Minnesota legislatures introduced a bill Monday that would help high school students pass the new math test required for graduation.

According to the Star Tribune, the state’s graduation rate could plunge because of the new set of tests needed to get diplomas. The math questions are the main cause of concern.

The Pioneer Press reported two-thirds of juniors failed to meet the standards on the math portion of the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments, the tests that this year’s juniors must pass in order to graduate.

The bill introduced would allow students who fail the new math and reading graduation tests to get their diplomas if they complete all other state and district graduation requirements, participate in the district’s remediation program for the subject the failed, and try to pass the test two more times.

An alternate suggestion brought to the policymakers is substituting the tests for end-of-course exams, which students would take after completing a course instead of having to demonstrate how much they learned over the course of several years.

Supporters argue end-of-course exams motivate students more and are better at determining whether or not a student has mastered the subject, according to the Pioneer Press.

Posted by vangx570 at 5:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A Minneapolis man was charged on two accounts of groping after being arrested on Tuesday by Minneapolis police.

Phillip William Acosta, 41, was taken into custody after groping two females Tuesday on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities’ West Bank campus. In addition to the two counts of criminal sexual conduct in the fifth degree, he also admitted to eight earlier incidents on campus, charging documents said.

He told police he was attracted to female buttocks, the Pioneer Press reported.

According to the Star Tribune, police said Acosta had inappropriately touched a woman in front of the McNamara Alumni Center. Officers on the West Bank campus spotted a man matching the description given to police.

Another incident had occurred about 20 minutes earlier in front of Moos Tower, and the two most-recent victims identified Acosta as their attacker while he was in custody.

Posted by vangx570 at 5:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The FBI seized a computer and boxes of files from a man’s house Wednesday they believe could help solve a 26-year-old case.

James W. Lewis, 62, also known as the ‘Tylenol Man,’ was never charged with the deaths of the 1982 Tylenol poisonings, but he was convicted of extortion in 1983 when he admitted to sending a letter to Johnson & Johnson demanding $1 million “to stop the killing.�

Lewis denied having a hand in the killings, and said he was trying to exploit the crisis. He also gave a detailed account of how the killer might have done it.

According to Yahoo! News, the FBI said there are new leads in the Tylenol case. It cited advances in forensic technology and said the 2007 anniversary led to many tips from the public.

“Given the many recent advances in forensic technology, it was only natural that a second look be taken at the case and recovered evidence,� a statement released by the FBI office in Chicago said in a New York Times article.

Posted by vangx570 at 5:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Japanese police arrested a businessman Thursday who they believe to have defrauded thousands of investors of $2.5 billion over eight years.

Kazutsugi Nami, the chairman of bankrupt bedding supplier Ladies & Gentlemen, or L&G, and 21 other executives were arrested by the Metropolitan, Miyagi and Fukushima Prefectural police departments in Tokyo a Metropolitan Police Department official said to the International Herald Tribune.

In what could be the biggest scam in Japanese history, Nami promised investors cash returns of 36 percent a year for their money. The investment also gave investors Enten, or Paradise Yen, a virtual currency that they were told would become legal tender in a post-recession era, according to the Guardian.

In September 2007, L&G filed for bankruptcy. Earlier that year L&G refused to allow investors to cancel membership and began paying them in dividends.

Posted by vangx570 at 5:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pirates off the coast of Somalia released a Ukrainian ship carrying arms and tanks Thursday after they received a $3.2 million ransom.

The ship, MV Faina, had been held for five months by the pirates, the Guardian reported.

The U.S. Navy told the Associated Press it did not want to endanger the lives of the 147 seamen held as hostages by the pirates on other hijacked ships by seizing the pirates that took the MV Faina.

The initial demanded ransom was $35 million, but after five months $3.2 million was agreed on.

The hijacking of the MV Faina, whose cargo included grenade launchers and 33 Russian-made taks, brought attention to the piracy activities off the coast of Somalia. Countries across the globe, including the United States, India, Britain, France, Germany, China, Saudi Arabia and South Korea, have sent warships to patrol the area in an anti-piracy campaign.

“It showed Somali piracy no longer affected just small coastal vessels but important and dangerous cargos,� said Roger Middleton, a London-based analyst, to the Associated Press.

Posted by vangx570 at 5:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)