Digest - Washington Post

Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa was rescued Thursday night from a hospital where he had been trapped much of the day by police, incensed by a new law that cuts their benefits.

Hundreds of protesting officers had roughed up and tear-gassed Correa, shut down airports and blocked highways in a nationwide strike, plunging the small South American nation into chaos.

Before the rescue, the Organization of American States' secretary general, Miguel Insulza, had called the situation "a coup d'etat in the making," and Bolivian President Evo Morales called for an emergency meeting Friday of South America's presidents in Buenos Aires.

At least one person was killed and six injured in clashes between police and Correa supporters outside the hospital, where the leader was being treated for the tear-gas exposure. The rescue operation left at least one member of the security forces wounded.

Upon his return to the presidential palace, Correa, 47, told cheering supporters that the uprising was more than a simple police protest.

"There were lots of infiltrators, dressed as civilian and we know where they were from," he shouted. But he did not blame anyone specifically.

The violence began when Correa, 47, tried to speak at a police barracks in the capital, Quito. Officers incensed by a law approved by Ecuador's congress on Wednesday shoved the president around and pelted him with tear gas and water.

Police also took over barracks in Quito, Guayaquil and other cities. Some set up roadblocks of burning tires, cutting off highway access to the capital.

The government responded by declaring a state of siege, putting the military in charge of public order, and suspending civil liberties. The commander of Ecuador's armed forces later declared the military's loyalty to Correa.

While Correa's leftist allies voiced their concern, with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez asserting that the Ecuadorean leader was "in danger of being killed," the United States didn't go that far. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged "all Ecuadoreans to come together . . . to reach a rapid and peaceful restoration of order."

- Associated Press

First official photograph of Kim Jong Eun released

North Korea's state news agency on Thursday published a photograph and video footage of Kim Jong Eun, whose image the outside world had not seen in about 15 years. According to experts, the move qualified as another benchmark in the unveiling of Kim Jong Il's youngest son and presumed successor.

The photo, published in North Korea's official Rodong Shinmun newspaper, shows Kim Jong Eun sitting on a red chair, surrounded by delegates to a recent political conference in Pyongyang. He has chubby cheeks, reminiscent of his grandfather, North Korean founder Kim Il Sung. Two seats to his left sits Kim Jong Il.

Until this week, Kim Jong Eun qualified as the best-concealed figure in the world's most secretive state. At this week's conference, though, the North's leadership strongly signaled a father-to-son power transfer, naming Kim Jong Eun to key political and military posts.

North Korea cares very much about the faces of its leaders, Seoul-based observers said. Its soldiers wear pins showing the faces of Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung, and portraits of both Kims must be displayed in every North Korean home.

- Chico Harlan

5 NATO troops killed in attacks in Afghanistan: Five NATO service members were killed in southern Afghanistan, the scene of heavy fighting as troops push into areas long controlled by the Taliban. Three died when a homemade bomb exploded, and two were killed separately, one after an insurgent attack and another in an explosion, the coalition said.

U.S. billionaires talk to China's wealthy: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and billionaire investor Warren Buffett said they were impressed by the passion for giving back to society that they saw among China's super rich during a dinner in Beijing. The American businessmen said they will try to hold a similar event in India next year.

New Dutch government seeks to ban burqa: Two center-right parties agreed to ban the burqa in the Netherlands as the price for parliamentary support for their minority government from the anti-Islam Freedom party. The Netherlands would become the second European Union country after France to ban the face-covering Muslim garb.

- From news services

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Calif. governor's race upended by immigrant maid - msnbc.com

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Republican Meg Whitman struggled to steady her campaign for California governor after disclosures about her former housekeeper — an illegal immigrant — threatened to cut into her support among Latinos just weeks before election day.

The campaign that for months was dominated by talk of schools, the state's $19 billion deficit and jobs has become a swirl of accusations pitting the word of Whitman, the billionaire former eBay chief executive, against a 39-year-old maid who worked in her home for nearly a decade.

Whitman says the woman provided what appeared to be a valid Social Security card and driver's license when she was hired through an employment agency in 2000. At issue is whether Whitman knew about a 2003 letter from the Social Security Administration that raised discrepancies about her housekeeper's documents — a possible tip-off that she could be in the United States illegally.

Obama to unveil Emanuel's replacement Updated 10 minutes ago President Barack Obama is making it official: White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, the relentless enforcer of his agenda, is resigning to run for mayor of Chicago. Full story

Updated 96 minutes ago 'Now is not the time to quit,' Obama tells young voters Updated 7 minutes ago Calif. governor's race upended by immigrant maid Veteran's family denied WH tour because of shorts The GOP's weak 2012 front-runner

The letter is at the center of claims by Nicky Diaz Santillan that Whitman and her husband knew for years about her legal status, but kept her on the job anyway at their Silicon Valley home.

Seeking to quiet the uproar, Whitman tried to turn the discussion in another direction. "This is a distraction on what I think Californians really care about," she said, referring to unemployment and public schools.

Video: Meg Whitman’s ‘illegal’ problem? (on this page)

But damage might already be done.

"When news headlines are saying 'Whitman hired an illegal alien,' you have a problem," said Jack Pitney, a political scientist at Claremont-McKenna College in Claremont, Calif. "A Republican in California has a tough sell among Latinos to begin with. This makes it tougher for her."

'Please check this'
On Thursday, Whitman disclosed that her husband might have seen the 2003 letter and jotted a note on it telling the housekeeper to "please check this."

For two days, Whitman forcefully denied receiving any such letter and said she fired the $23-an-hour housekeeper last year immediately after learning she was illegal.

But Whitman's husband changed course Thursday after a letter surfaced with what appeared to be his handwriting, forcing him to say he may have been aware of the correspondence back in 2003.

Whitman has denounced the allegations as a "baseless smear attack" by Democratic challenger Jerry Brown in what has become a dead-heat race to run the nation's most populous state. Hispanics are projected to comprise just 15 percent of voters in the Nov. 2 general election, but both sides have aggressively targeted them as potential swing votes.

Spanish-language ad slams Whitman for housekeeper

Now, the focus is on whether the billionaire GOP nominee for governor will take a polygraph test to respond to allegations brought by a celebrity-seeking attorney and her mysterious housekeeper client. The Los Angeles Times reported that Whitman said she would be willing to undergo such a test.

Accusations of hypocrisy
Revelations about the illegal housekeeper have also thrown Whitman's carefully managed campaign completely off track and opened the door for Democrats to accuse her of hypocrisy.

Whitman has called for tougher sanctions against employers who hire illegal workers, and the fact that she employed an illegal immigrant maid from Mexico for nine years could undermine her credibility. She has also spent millions courting Latino voters, who could play a key role in determining the outcome of the race.

After Whitman's denials, the housekeeper and lawyer Gloria Allred produced a copy of the letter Thursday that they say shows Whitman's husband, Dr. Griffith Harsh III, partially filled it out.

Allred said the housekeeper recognized the writing as belonging to Whitman's husband, and a handwriting specialist may be brought in to analyze her husband's penmanship. She claims it could prove that Whitman and her husband knew years earlier that Diaz Santillan was not a U.S. citizen.

In a statement released by the campaign, Harsh said he did not recall receiving the letter, although it's possible he scratched out a note asking Diaz Santillan to follow up. He noted, however, that the letter does not say Diaz Santillan is illegal, it merely asks for more information.

"The essential fact remains the same, neither Meg nor I believed there was a problem with Nicky's legal status," the husband said. "The facts of this matter are very clear: Ms. Diaz broke the law and lied to us and to the employment agency."

Campaign adviser Rob Stutzman said "it's reasonable" the letter could be authentic, but added the campaign has questions about its whereabouts for seven years and if it is legitimate. At one point Thursday, the campaign said that Diaz Santillan may have intercepted the letter since she was in charge of the mail at the house.

The story has consumed two full days of news cycles just as Whitman and Brown are preparing for a Saturday Spanish-language debate that will include questions of importance to the Hispanic community.

One of the state's largest public employee unions immediately released a Spanish-language attack ad accusing Whitman of a double standard on illegal immigration.

Whitman: 'I'm just getting used to the smear politics'
Whitman, who has revealed few details about her personal life since announcing her first run for office last year, was forced to spend 45 minutes answering questions from reporters about what she knew and when she knew it, her husband standing awkwardly by throughout.

"You know, I've only been in politics for two years. I'm just getting used to the smear politics, I'm just getting used to the politics of personal destruction," she told dozens of reporters hastily gathered at a hotel in Santa Monica.

Whitman has spent a record $119 million of her own money on the race, and her campaign has been marked by its uncanny ability to stay on message. That marks a notable contrast with Brown, the state's attorney general and a former governor known for talking off-the-cuff, sometimes too much.

The timing of the allegations so close to the Spanish-speaking debate, the lack of extensive documentation, and Allred's Democratic ties left her open to questions about motive. Allred once gave money to Brown, and she was a Hillary Rodham Clinton delegate at the Democratic National Convention in 2008.

Allred, who is well-known for orchestrating media stunts, has not permitted Diaz Santillan to answer a single question from reporters over two days of news conferences. The former housekeeper read a brief, prepared statement Wednesday that alleged brusque treatment during her nine-year tenure. Whitman said it was "not the Nicky I know."

Allred said Thursday she is not providing any financial support to her client and added her involvement with Diaz Santillan started "within the last week."

Housekeeper remains mystery
Two days after she made the allegations that reordered the race for governor, Diaz Santillan remains a mystery. Virtually nothing is known about her activities or whereabouts from the time Whitman fired her in June 2009 until she appeared Wednesday with Allred at her Los Angeles law office.

In her 2000 employment application, Diaz Santillan revealed she went to high school and college in Mexico City and says she would like to go back to school to take computer administration. The mother of three said she has 11 brothers and sisters, eight of them living in the San Francisco Bay area. Whitman's campaign says Diaz Santillan used her sister's documents in her fraudulent application.

Whitman was repeatedly asked why she didn't just own up to this huge political liability earlier to avoid a late election-cycle surprise such as this, particularly since she has repeatedly stressed the need to hold employers accountable for hiring illegal workers.

She said she didn't want to subject Diaz Santillan to the scrutiny — and left unsaid, deportation — that could have resulted from her reporting it. Whitman also noted that in California, employers bear no responsibility to report illegal worker, only to not knowingly hire and employ them.

"Because Nicky had worked for us for 10 years, I was very fond of Nicky and I didn't want to make an example of her. It's not an obligation of the employer to turn in illegal employees," she said.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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NATO fuel tankers torched in Pakistan - Washington Post

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Armed men torched dozens of NATO fuel tankers in southern Pakistan Friday, police said, as supply convoys remained blocked at a vital entry point to Afghanistan for a second consecutive day.

Police in the town of Shikarpur said 10 "extremists" shot and set fire to at least 30 NATO trucks stopped at a filling station, destroying the vehicles but injuring no one. Much of the fuel and other supplies bound for coalition forces in Afghanistan arrive at the southern port of Karachi, then are trucked north toward border points at Torkham or Chaman.

The Torkham pass, in the northwest, remained closed to NATO trucks Friday, one day after Pakistan blocked their passage in apparent retaliation for recent U.S. air incursions into Pakistan, including an airstrike on Thursday that allegedly killed three Pakistani soldiers.

The incidents drew a strong rebuke from Pakistan and deepened tensions with the United States, an ally. Pakistan's ambassador to Belgium lodged a protest over the incursions with NATO on Friday, while Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani told parliament that the government "will consider other options if there is interference in the sovereignty of our country."

Lt. Col. John Dorrian, a NATO spokesman in Afghanistan, said Friday that military officials have not yet confirmed that Pakistani border troops were killed in the NATO airstrike.

He said the Pakistani border crossing closure has had minimal impact on NATO operations so far.

"We're still bringing in a lot of stuff" via supply routes into the landlocked country from the north and south, he said. "There has not been an immediate impact."

A border security official in Pakistan's northwestern region said passenger vehicles and non-NATO supplies were being allowed to pass at Torkham on Friday. The Chaman border crossing remained open to all vehicles, and Pakistani media reported that the NATO trucks burned in Shikarpur were heading in that direction.

It is not uncommon for Islamist insurgents to attack NATO fuel trucks. But the incidents typically occur in the northwestern mountains, where several militant groups are based and wield influence. In the normally placid Chitral district near the Afghan border on Thursday, police officials said 200 militants held a dozen policemen hostage and stole their weapons.

Correspondent Ernesto Londoño in Kabul and special correspondent Haq Nawaz Khan in Peshawar contributed to this report.

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New Bin Laden Tape Addresses Pakistani Floods - ABC News

Osama bin Laden released his first audio tape since March today calling for Muslim relief and charity in places like flood-ravaged Pakistan.

The new message comes despite a record number of drone attacks along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border targeting Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters. Both Bin Laden and Al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman Zawahiri are believed to be hiding in the mountainous border region.

The 11-minute message could not be immediately authenticated but was released on a variety of known extremist websites with an old still photo of the al Qaeda leader. The message was largely addressed to Pakistani citizens affected by recent devastating floods.

Although there is no date referenced, the recent floods in Pakistan suggest the recording is no more than two months old.

In several recent messages bin Laden has shifted slightly from militancy and addressed geopolitics, climate change and environmental disasters, seeking to appear as a humanitarian. His previous message, however, threatened the US with violence if 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Muhammed is executed by the US government.

Today's tape is also the third in a series of recent al Qaeda messages focused on Pakistan and the flooding there. Al Qaeda number two Ayman al Zawahiri and American Adam Gadahn both released recent messages attacking the Pakistani governments slow and ineffectual response to flooding in that country. The shift reveals al Qaeda's most recent strategy, which is stoking resentment inside Pakistan against the government there.

Although bin Laden doesn't directly threaten the West, the message comes after European and US intelligence uncovered a terror plot personally requested by bin Laden.

According to European and American intelligence officials, bin Laden asked al Qaeda affiliates to attack England, France and Germany using a "Mumbai- style" attack aimed at "soft and economic" targets.

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New HP CEO to bank salary of $1.2 million - Reuters

Then-Chief Operating Officer of SAP Leo Apotheker addresses the TMT 2006 Global Tech Media and Telecom Summit in Paris February 28, 2006.

Credit: Reuters/Mal Langsdon

NEW YORK | Fri Oct 1, 2010 9:19am EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co will pay its new chief executive Leo Apotheker an annual salary of $1.2 million, plus a signing bonus of $4 million to lead the technology powerhouse after a scandal toppled its last top executive.

Apotheker, the former chief executive of the German software company SAP, will also be granted 76,000 shares of restricted stock, according to an HP regulatory filing on Friday. Restrictions are due to be released on 50 percent of the shares on October 31, 2011.

Apotheker's annual bonus will be at least 200 percent of his base salary, with a cap at 500 percent.

HP also said in the filing it would pay a $4.6 million relocation allowance to Apotheker. No exact figure was given for Apotheker's severance package, but HP said it would not equal more than 2.99 times Apotheker's base salary.

HP on Thursday named Apotheker to succeed Mark Hurd, who quit amid a scandal involving a female contractor.

(Reporting by Liana B. Baker; Editing by Derek Caney)

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Obama's new chief of staff helped make him president - USA Today

Sorry, I could not read the content fromt this page.

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Ecuador attempted coup: president vows to punish rebels - The Guardian

President Rafael Correa was trapped inside a hospital during a police revolt over austerity measures. South American leaders met to condemn the rebellion Link to this video

The Ecuadorean president, Rafael Correa, has vowed to punish protesters who rebelled against his leadership, saying there would be "no forgiving nor forgetting" for those who plunged the country into anarchy.

Addressing cheering crowds from the balcony of the Carondelet Palace after being rescued from a besieged hospital in the capital, Correa said the uprising was not a simple police insurrection over pay-related grievances but an attempt to overthrow him.

"Those people made the institution look so bad that they attacked their co-citizens, that they abused the weapons given to them by the society to which they belong, that they dishonoured the police uniform. Of course, all the people who can be identified will have the corresponding sanction. There will be no forgiving nor forgetting."

Earlier today soldiers stormed the hospital with automatic gunfire and stun grenades in a battle which left at least two dead and dozens injured, and enabled Correa's swift and triumphant return to the presidential palace.

Emotional and euphoric, Correa told supporters he would make an example of those responsible.

"What loyalty, what support," he shouted to loud applause. "This will serve as an example for those who want to stop the revolution not through the ballot box but with weapons."

The rescue was the climax to a dramatic day in which a police revolt over austerity measures spiralled out of control, leaving airports and motorways blocked, borders sealed, the president assaulted and businesses looted.

The Ecuadorean police chief, Freddy Martinez, resigned this afternoon after failing to stop the rebellion, a spokesman for the force told Reuters.

The protests were triggered by a law passed by Congress on Wednesday that would end the practice of giving medals and bonuses with each promotion, part of Correa's effort to save costs and slim bureaucracy.

Ecuador is one of South America's most volatile countries, with a tradition of protests, but nobody expected to see scores of uniformed men overrunning the main airport of the capital, Quito, forcing its closure and the declaration of a state of emergency.

It was just the beginning. Hundreds of rank and file soldiers and police took over barracks in Quito, Guayaquil and other cities. They also set up roadblocks of burning tyres and occupied Congress, shouting "respect our rights!" and "long civil war!".

Smoke wafted over Quito and sporadic looting left several banks and supermarkets ransacked. A state TV channel showed police trying to enter its studio. The channel said the police shattered windows and tried to cut the power supply.

Correa, a 47-year-old economist with a firebrand style, went to a regimental barracks to try to negotiate with protesters but was surrounded, punched, doused with hot water and almost blinded with teargas.

A government helicopter tried to evacuate him but was unable to land. The president was spirited to a hospital but police rebels laid siege.

"This is a coup attempt," Correa told state-run TV. "They're trying to get into my room, maybe to attack me. I don't know. But, forget it. I won't relent. They are a bunch of ungrateful bandits. No one has supported the police as much as this government."

Civilian crowds loyal to the president confronted police, prompting Correa to address the throng from his hospital window: "If they want me, here I am," he shouted and ripped his tie loose. "I leave here as president or they take me out as a corpse."

The foreign minister, Ricardo Patino, led another pro-government crowd to the Carondelet Palace, the president's home.

Latin American leaders from across the political spectrum united in support of Correa, as did the US and the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon. Colombia and Peru sealed their borders in solidarity with the embattled president. The Opec nation's turmoil pushed global oil prices to nearly $80 (£50) a barrel.

Loyalist army units broke the siege in a 35-minute gun battle that left at least two police dead, according to the Red Cross. One report said the president was smuggled out of the hospital in a wheelchair under cover of darkness as gunfire blazed. A four-wheel-drive vehicle rushed him to the palace. At least 74 people were reported injured during the day's clashes.

Venezuela's president, Hugo Chávez, backed his ally's contention that the unrest was a coup attempt. Doris Solis, an Ecuadorean cabinet minister, disagreed. "This is not a coup," she told CNN.

The head of the armed forces, Ernesto Gonzalez, said troops remained loyal to Correa. "We are in a state of law. We are loyal to the maximum authority, which is the president."

Even before the protests, the government's proposed austerity measures had triggered a political crisis and revolt by the president's own party, the Country Alliance. Correa threatened to dissolve parliament and rule by decree until elections.

Correa, who has a Belgian wife, was elected in 2006 promising a "citizens' revolution" to spread the benefits of oil, gas and other revenues to the poor in the Andean mountains, Amazon forests and Pacific coast slums. He defaulted on a $2.8bn debt, calling it illegitimate, and boosted spending on education and health.

He was re-elected under the new constitution last year but since then public sector workers and indigenous groups, among others, have accused him of breaking promises.

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Explosions rock Nigerian capital on independence day - The Hindu

The Hindu : News / International : Explosions rock Nigerian capital on independence dayArchivesSubscriptionsRSS FeedsSite MapePaperMobileSocialSEARCHHomeNewsOpinionSportBusinessArtsLife & StyleS & TEducationHealthClassifiedsToday's PaperTopicsInternationalNationalStatesCities: BangaloreChennaiCoimbatoreDelhiHyderabadKochiMaduraiMangaloreThiruvananthapuramTiruchirapalliVijayawadaVisakhapatnam News» InternationalAbuja,October 1, 2010Explosions rock Nigerian capital on independence dayPTIShare  ·  print  ·   Three explosions rattled Nigeria’s independence day festivities on Friday — one of them at the venue of the President’s celebration — killing at least seven people in the capital.

The explosions came after Nigeria’s main militant group sent a warning that there is “nothing worth celebrating after 50 years” as the people of the Niger Delta have had their land and resources stolen.

One of the explosions occurred at the Eagle’s Square where President Jonathan Goodluck was present to witness the military formation.

Several foreign delegates are in the country to attend the celebrations, including Corporate Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, who arrived here on Thursday.

Another explosion at the millennium park near the Eagle Square, killed at least seven people, an eyewitness told PTI.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the rebel group of the Niger Delta, had earlier issued a statement warning that it had planted bombs to stall the 50th anniversary celebrations.

However, the programme continued, with foreign heads of states and delegates in attendance and President Jonathan hosting the Golden Jubilee celebration of the country’s independence from Britain.

MEND had earlier asked for an immediate evacuation of the entire arena before 10:30 a.m. on Friday informing that bombs had been planted.

“Several explosive devices have been successfully planted in and around the venue by our operatives working inside the government security services. In evacuating the area, keep a safe distance from vehicles and trash bins,” MEND had said in a statement, also emailed, to PTI.

The group argued the people of the Niger Delta have been deprived of control over their region’s resources.

“The constitution before independence which offered resource control was mutilated by illegal military governments and this injustice is yet to be addressed,” the group said.

The group which claims to be fighting for resource control in the Niger Delta region claimed responsibility for detonating two car bombs in the Niger Delta city of Warrion on March 15 this year.

MEND, which is part of a group of rebels fighting for resource control in the Delta region, said “a third and most powerful” bomb did not explode but would be used for future attacks.

Militants in the delta have targeted pipelines and resorted to kidnappings, while fighting government troops since 2006.

Late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua had granted amnesty to the militants but MEND had rejected it, opting for a negotiation with the government through mediators.

Keywords: Nigeria serial blasts, MEND, Niger Delta rebels

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Email the Editor SlideshowDay in Pictures - September 30, 2010The Queen's baton relay arrives in New Delhi, the Paris Auto Show gives visitors a preview of things to come, and the RAF guards the nation on the day of the Ayodhya verdict. A collection of images from India and around the world. more slideshows»Latest in this sectionMusharraf hints at forming political party Explosions rock Nigerian capital on independence dayIndian sentenced to life in AustraliaKidnapped Nigerian school children releasedPentagon in talks with Pak to re-open its Afghan supply routeEcuador troops rescue President from rebel cops Terrorists attack 15 NATO oil tankers in SindhBerlusconi wins confidence vote In a galaxy far, far awaySuu Kyi to be freed Most PopularMost CommentedDay in Pictures - September 30, 2010India's inflexibility prevented talks in New York, says PakistanPakistan cuts NATO supply lineIn a galaxy far, far awayIndian sentenced to life in AustraliaExplosions rock Nigerian capital on independence dayPentagon in talks with Pak to re-open its Afghan supply routeApple told to show Arunachal as part of ChinaRajapaksa approves Fonseka jail termFutile run-offs continue in NepalApple told to show Arunachal as part of ChinaProtests against austerity plans in EuropeMumbai-style plot uncovered
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5 dead as drenching rains take aim at New England - The Associated Press

5 dead as drenching rains take aim at New England(AP) – 30 minutes ago

NEW YORK — Torrential downpours from a faded tropical storm marched into the Northeast on Friday, a day after claiming five lives in North Carolina, knocking out power and dousing some East Coast cities with more rain in hours than they normally get in months.

Massachusetts was in line for a soaking as the storm began making its way across New England on Friday. The torrential downpours and high winds struck the Berkshires early in the morning and were expected to hit the Boston area by midday.

The weather also snarled air, road and train traffic in the New York City area Friday morning. Motorists and pedestrians there coped with sheets of rain, poor visibility, slick roads and strong wind gusts as they made their way to work. The Federal Aviation Administration reported flight delays of up to three hours at New York's LaGuardia airport.

The massive rainstorm drove up the Eastern Seaboard from the Carolinas to Maine on Thursday, the worst of it falling in North Carolina where Jacksonville took on 12 inches in six hours - nearly a quarter of its typical annual rainfall.

Four people, including two children, were killed when their SUV skidded off a highway about 145 miles east of Raleigh and plunged into a water-filled ditch, North Carolina troopers said. A fifth victim likely drowned when his pickup veered off the road and into a river that was raging because of the rain.

Forecasters warned of the danger of flash floods as rain drove across the densely populated East Coast cities with buffeting winds on a drive to New England. The Friday morning rush hour was a challenge as subway lines experienced delays and traffic slowed on rain-slicked roadways.

Water rushed through the streets of the flood-prone Philadelphia suburb of Darby, covering cars and lapping against first-floor windows. Firefighters on Friday were using a ladder truck to check on a second-floor apartment in a row house. Rainfall totals in the Philadelphia area topped 10 inches.

After a mostly dry summer around the Northeast, the fall storm provided inches of much-needed rain. New Jersey has been under a drought watch for nearly two months.

Forecasters said much of the rain would continue its advance across New England during the day, though it likely won't be the deluge that hit North Carolina.

Meteorologist Tim Armstrong with the National Weather Service in Wilmington declared the 22.54 inches to be the rainiest five-day period there that he could find on record since 1871. It easily beat Hurricane Floyd's 19.06 inches in 1999.

"We've measured the last drop of rain in our bucket for this event," Armstrong said. "I went through Floyd also and I thought I knew what rain was. Then I went through this."

He marveled at how a wet week changed everything: "We were praying for rain and we slipped into a moderate drought last week. It all turned around in a hurry."

As skies cleared over Wilmington, heavy rain pushed through the Mid-Atlantic, New York City, eastern Pennsylvania and beyond.

Forecasts said a large high pressure system over Canada was expected to push the storm further offshore and likely spare New England the kind of extreme rainfall that flooded roads and homes.

Sheila Mezroud said sandbags kept floodwaters out of her Carolina Beach home for only a short time. "I have to walk through an inch of water to get from the living room to the bathroom," she said.

The rain was part of a system moving ahead of the remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole, which dissipated over the Straits of Florida on Wednesday.

But the rain caused several other wrecks Thursday, including a crash between two transit buses in Maryland that left 26 people injured. Standing waters and fallen limbs on tracks slowed several Amtrak trains, while some Northeast airports reported flight delays of up to three hours. Parts of Virginia had 7 inches.

Forecasts called for cooler, drier air in many areas once the storm passed.

Associated Press writers Sandy Kozel in Washington; Jim Fitzgerald, Deepti Hajela and Frank Eltman in New York; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, S.C.; Ben Nuckols in Baltimore; Tom Foreman Jr. and Tom Breen in Raleigh, N.C.; and Holly Ramer in Concord, N.H., contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Prosecutor Considering Adding Bias Discrimination to Criminal Charges Against ... - ABC News

A series of tweets and Internet postings in the weeks before the suicide of a Rutgers University student appear to show that the freshman's sexual orientation had been an issue from the start.

Authorities in New Jersey are investigating the events that led to the death of Tyler Clementi and are considering whether they can pursue more charges against his roommate, Dharun Ravi, and another student, Molly Wei, who allegedly filmed Clementi engaged in a sexual encounter with another man and broadcast it on the Internet.

Ravi tweeted on Aug. 22, "Found out my roommate is gay," according to Forbes.com, and then posted a link to a gay men's website where Ravi said Clementi had placed posts.

Gawker reported it was that same website, JustUsBoys, that Clementi was believed to have turned to once he found out that Ravi had secretly filmed Clementi's sexual encounter with another man.

"So my question is what is next," the posted cti2mo, believed to be Clementi, wrote on Sept. 21. "I could just be more careful next time ... make sure to turn the cam away."

And then, in the same post, "I'm kind pissed at him (rightfully so I think, no?)"

Former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey, who resigned from office after disclosing he was gay, said he was "filled with great sadness and pain" after learning of Clementi's suicide and the online torment he faced.

"Coming to terms with your sexual orientation is very much an individual journey. ... You say to yourself, 'I'm different. I'm distinct,'" he said. ""For some gay Americans it's still that much difficult."

The explosion of social media in the last several years has made it that much easier, he said, for gay youth to become a target.

"I think this is actually a very difficult time," he said.

McGreevey said he'd like to see more adults held responsible for the bullying of gay and lesbian youth, much in the same way children are protected against racial or religious discrimination.

"Authority has to instruct children that it's not only morally wrong," he said, "but it won't be tolerated and there are consequences of that happening."

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie also spoke out, calling Clementi's suicide an unspeakable tragedy and saying on Thursday that he couldn't imagine how the two students accused of secretly filming Clementi could sleep at night "knowing that they contributed to driving that young man" to suicide.

The governor spoke hours after a body that was pulled from the Hudson River was identified as Clementi. The student leaped to his death after his roommate allegedly secretly filmed him during a sexual encounter with a man and posted it live on the Internet.

The medical examiner's office said an autopsy revealed the 18-year-old had drowned and suffered blunt impact injuries to his torso.

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