In brief: Haiti’s president, opposition say deal may end impasse
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Haiti’s president said Sunday he has forged a last-minute accord with leaders of four opposition parties after days of closed-door negotiations, possibly creating a viable path to ending a political standoff stalling long-delayed elections.
“Through this agreement, we are sure to achieve normalization of the political situation in the country,” Martelly said at a Port-au-Prince hotel following talks with the chiefs of opposition factions, including the Unity party of former President Rene Preval.
Martelly and opposition lawmakers have been embroiled in a political showdown over legislative elections due since 2011, when he was supposed to call a vote for a majority of Senate seats, the entire Chamber of Deputies and local offices.
After days of fruitless negotiations with lawmakers, Martelly on Sunday finally achieved consensus to try and end the impasse. The electoral law must still be approved by lawmakers and an emergency session was scheduled for today after the Senate failed to achieve quorum Sunday night. The government feels it now has the support needed to win the vote.
Holder promises fair Petraeus review
WASHINGTON – An investigation into whether retired Army Gen. David H. Petraeus illegally shared classified information will be conducted fairly, Attorney General Eric Holder said Sunday in the wake of reports that federal prosecutors have recommended that Petraeus be charged.
Holder, or his successor, would have to make the final decision about whether to file felony charges. Petraeus is suspected of sharing classified information with his mistress while serving as CIA director.
Holder said he would not comment on an ongoing investigation. But he said on ABC’s “This Week” that “any investigation that is ongoing will be done in a fair and an appropriate way.”
Petraeus led U.S. forces in Iraq during the surge that turned the tide of the war there and is credited with drafting the military’s counterinsurgency doctrine. He also commanded NATO troops in Afghanistan before taking over the CIA. He was popular politically until the affair with his biographer came to light and he resigned.
He has admitted showing poor judgment in having the affair but said he never gave the woman classified information. Law enforcement agents have reportedly found such material on her home computer in North Carolina.
Asked on CNN’s “State of the Union” about the reports, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California defended Petraeus and argued against charges. “This man has suffered enough, in my view,” she said. “… People aren’t perfect. He made a mistake. He lost his job as CIA director because of it. I mean, how much do you want to punish somebody?”
Man in hospital standoff had gun
TOMBALL, Texas – A father who became distraught over his son’s condition at a southeast Texas hospital and caused a standoff did have a gun and pointed it at a nurse, a police spokesman said Sunday.
George Pickering has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, Tomball police Sgt. Gary Hammond said. No injuries were reported in the standoff, which lasted about four hours.
Hammond said Pickering, 57, pointed a 9 mm pistol at the nurse Saturday night in his son’s critical care room at Tomball Regional Medical Center, about 30 miles northwest of Houston. When pulling the gun, Pickering told those in the room, “I’ll kill all of y’all,” according to Hammond.
Another son struggled with Pickering and got the gun from him, Hammond said. That son eventually turned the pistol over to police.
Pickering surrendered without incident about 11 a.m. after more than a dozen SWAT officers and the Harris County Sheriff’s Department negotiating team reported to the hospital.
Drug-laced bread sickens dozens
SANTA ANA, Calif. – Investigators were trying to determine how a synthetic drug made its way into holiday bread that sickened dozens of people in Southern California.
Police were called in because the Rosca de Reyes bread was made at the local Cholula’s Bakery, which was ordered closed last week after consumers complained of heart palpitations, dizziness, numbness and hallucinations.
The bakery will not reopen until the property is professionally cleaned, all ingredients used to make the tainted bread are thrown away and staff members are trained in food safety, Nicole Stanfield, spokeswoman for the Orange County Health Care Agency, told the Orange County Register.
Preliminary laboratory results turned up indications of a synthetic drug but specialists will need to identify it, police said.
U.S. gas drops to $2.20 per gallon
CAMARILLO, Calif. – The average price of regular gasoline nationwide has dropped 27 cents a gallon in the past three weeks, to $2.20.
Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said it’s the lowest in more than five years and more drops are possible, although probably not as steep.
The highest-priced gas in the Lower 48 states was found in San Francisco, at $2.66 a gallon. The lowest was in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at $1.76 a gallon.
No contamination after Ohio explosion
LIMA, Ohio – No dangerous contaminants were released into the air by an explosion at an Ohio oil refinery that was felt 10 miles away and sparked a fire that burned for more than 14 hours, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency said Sunday.
Testing was done by the U.S. EPA, Allen County and Husky Energy for a variety of contaminants, including benzene, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen sulfide and asbestos, said Ohio EPA spokeswoman Heidi Griesmer.