27 indicted around the world for child porn

A total of 27 people in the United States, Canada, Australia and Britain have been indicted on charges of using an Internet chat room to traffic in thousands of images of child pornography, including streaming live molestations over the Web, federal authorities announced Wednesday.

"The behavior in these chat rooms and the images many of these defendants sent around the world through peer-to-peer file sharing programs and private instant messaging services are the worst imaginable forms of child pornography," U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said.

Judge orders Vioxx whistleblower to testify

The Food and Drug Administration whistleblower who has criticized the agency's handling of Vioxx will be deposed, a judge ruled, offering evidence that could aid thousands of lawsuits over the withdrawn pain killer.

A federal judge refused to grant a government motion to quash plaintiffs' lawyers subpoena of drug reviewer Dr. David Graham, who testified at a 2004 Congressional hearing that the Merck & Co. drug caused as many as 160,000 heart attacks and strokes.

Former gang member describes prison killings

SANTA ANA, Calif. -- A former prison gang member told jurors he read Machiavelli and helped kill another inmate to impress gang leaders as testimony began Wednesday in the federal government's racketeering case against four reputed leaders of the Aryan Brotherhood.

Clifford Smith, a convicted murderer and Aryan Brotherhood member from 1978 to 1984, was the first witness in the case alleging a gang conspiracy to kill inmates who cheated on drug deals or snitched to prison authorities.

Wearing an eye patch and prison jumpsuit, Smith told the jury how his initiation included helping kill one gang enemy and stabbing another. The gang killed as a way to keep the power needed to conduct criminal activities involving drugs, extortion, fraud and identity theft, he said.

Study: Genes a large factor in anorexia

Researchers studying anorexia in twins conclude that more than half a person's risk for developing the sometimes fatal eating disorder is determined by genes.

Most experts already believe there is a strong genetic component to the disorder, which mostly affects girls and women. The new study "hammers home the fact that these are biologically based disorders," said Cynthia Bulik, lead author of the study who is a psychiatrist at the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

"We need to stop viewing them as a choice. ... The patients feel guilty, the providers tell them things like they should just eat, parents are blamed, the insurance companies won't fund treatment because they think it's a choice. It's held us back for decades."

Breakdown in Trade Center talks threatens rebuilding plans

NEW YORK -- State officials walked away from negotiations with the developer of the World Trade Center site after the two sides failed to come to terms over who should control the building of the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower at ground zero.

They also couldn't agree on how to split billions of dollars in rebuilding money.

The dispute threatens to hold up the entire project.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the trade center site, wants to take over construction of the tower, saying it fears developer Larry Silverstein could run out of money before finishing the job. The agency has proposed to leave Silverstein in charge of the smaller office buildings planned at the site.

Miners go back to work at Sago Mine

BUCKHANNON, W.Va. -- With the tragedy still fresh in their minds, miners went back underground Wednesday and started digging coal at the Sago Mine for the first time since the explosion that killed 12 of their comrades 2 1/2 months ago.

"Everybody I've talked to is ready to go back," said Rocky Starkey, who worked at the mine for three years before the Jan. 2 accident that killed his good friend and longtime roof-bolting partner, Jerry Groves.

The Sago Mine had 145 employees before the explosion, and nearly all of them were expected to go back, in what Starkey called an eerie but necessary experience.

Killer caught on tape sentenced to death

SARASOTA, Fla. -- A former mechanic convicted of raping and murdering 11-year-old Carlie Brucia, whose abduction was caught on a car wash security camera, was sentenced to death Wednesday for her murder.

The jury that convicted Joseph P. Smith recommended that he be executed, and the judge agreed. Smith, 39, showed no emotion Wednesday as Judge Andrew Owens read the official sentence.

Last month, Smith had tearfully apologized during a hearing, saying: "I take responsibility of my crimes. I don't understand how this could have happened. ... Every day I think about what I did and beg God for forgiveness."

Contents of New York City's Plaza Hotel on sale

Bidders snapped up bar stools, martini glasses, candelabras and a Steinway baby grand piano -- in the name of owning a piece of New York City history -- at an auction Wednesday of the storied Plaza Hotel's contents.

About 400 people attended the auction at Christie's Rockefeller Center galleries, with most of the items going for many times the pre-sale estimate.

An oil painting of the Plaza, as viewed from nearby Central Park, was estimated at $1,000 to $1,500 but sold to a telephone bidder for $78,000. The painting, measuring 36 inches by 47 inches, is by an unknown artist and hung in the lobby of the 59th Street hotel.

The Steinway baby grand, which graced the hotel's famed Oak Room, sold for $42,000 to a telephone bidder.

The 805-room Plaza closed for renovation last year and is scheduled to reopen in the fall as a mix of high-priced condominiums and a smaller hotel.

Christian evangelist reaffirms Islam criticism

The Rev. Franklin Graham, who outraged Muslims in 2001 when he said that Islam "is a very evil and wicked religion," told an interviewer for Wednesday's edition of ABC News "Nightline" that he hasn't changed his mind about the faith.

Asked by ABC correspondent John Donvan whether Muslim groups had succeeded in altering his outlook about Islam, Graham said "No."

"Do they want to indoctrinate mefi Yes. I know about Islam. I don't need an education from Islam," he said. "If people think Islam is such a wonderful religion, just go to Saudi Arabia and make it your home. Just live there. If you think Islam is such a wonderful religion, I mean, go and live under the Taliban somewhere. I mean, you're free to do that."

Franklin Graham is the successor to his father as head of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, based in Charlotte, N.C.

Ex-con acquitted of killings but charged with two more

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. -- A charismatic ex-con who was found with at least five sets of human remains buried in his yard was acquitted of murder Wednesday but within hours was charged with two more killings.

Hugo Selenski was cleared of killing two suspected drug dealers whose remains were believed to be among those found in his yard. The jury also acquitted him of two robbery counts and a conspiracy count, but convicted him of abusing the two corpses.

But authorities charged him later Wednesday in the deaths of a pharmacist linked to drug dealing who had been missing since 2002, and the man's girlfriend. Their corpses were unearthed from a shallow grave near Selenski's house.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A3.