U.S. officials to review Sean Bell killing
NEW YORK, April 25 (UPI) -- The U.S. Justice Department said Friday it would review the killing of Sean Bell, shot to death by New York City police just hours before he was to be married.
The announcement that the FBI and the department's Civil Rights Division would examine the killing came after the three detectives were cleared in the shooting by a state judge.
The FBI and division officials "will conduct an independent review of the facts and circumstances surrounding the ... shooting of Sean Bell and two others that resulted in Mr. Bell's death," a department statement said. The department said it had been monitoring the state's prosecution of the case.
Earlier Friday, State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Cooperman ruled that the three detectives bore no criminal responsibility for Bell's death or the wounding of two of his friends in a hail of police gunfire outside a Jamaica club, The New York Times reported.
The three detectives, two of them black, faced a maximum of 25 years in prison if convicted following their seven-week bench trial.
The incident was said by Bell's supporters to be another in a series of police shootings of unarmed black men and part of a pattern of abuse of police power in the black community.
Israel firm on no talks with Hamas
JERUSALEM, April 25 (UPI) -- Israeli government officials reiterated Friday there will be no talks with Hamas leaders despite the group's declaration of a six-month truce.
Unidentified sources told Ynetnews the declaration from the Israelis followed four rocket attacks into northern Gaza from the Palestinian territories.
Israeli officials said the attacks showed that talks would be futile, the sources said.
The sources said as long as Hamas ignored the three internationally prescribed conditions of recognizing Israel's sovereignty, renouncing terror and fulfilling the Palestinian Authority's obligations there would be no talks.
Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar met with Egyptian intelligence officials to discuss the cease-fire and strategy, and later said, "The ball is in Israel's court now," Ynetnews reported.
The Israeli sources told Ynetnews the Hamas cease-fire didn't hold water, as it wasn't backed by agreements with other extremist organizations.
Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman was reportedly trying to arrange meetings with the various other Palestinian groups to get them to sign on to the Hamas cease-fire, the report said.
Swimmer killed by shark near San Diego
SOLANA BEACH, Calif., April 25 (UPI) -- One man was killed Friday in what authorities believe was a shark attack north of San Diego.
People were ordered out of the water Friday morning in Solana Beach, Calif., after surfers pulled a man suffering from massive injures to his legs from the water.
KNSD-TV in San Diego said the victim was a 66-year-old man who was taking part in a group swim in Fletcher Cove. Witnesses said they saw the man flailing before he was pulled under water.
The U.S. Coast Guard and San Diego County Sheriff's Dept. dispatched helicopters to locate the shark, which is officials are speculating was probably a great white.
KGTV-TV in San Diego said people were being kept out of the water between the California cities of Del Mar and Carlsbad.
U.S. envoy criticizes Mugabe actions
HARARE, Zimbabwe, April 25 (UPI) -- Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe appears to be trying to steal the country's recent election, the top U.S. envoy to Africa says.
Jendayi Frazer, assistant U.S. Secretary of State for African Affairs, speaking in South Africa at the start of a campaign to increase international pressure on Mugabe, said she hopes the incumbent "does the honorable thing and steps down."
Frazer joins a growing chorus of international voices criticizing the handling of Zimbabwe's presidential and parliamentary elections, CNN reported.
"My preferred option would be that the will of the people will be accepted," she said. "That Mr. Mugabe does the honorable thing and steps down."
She said challenger Morgan Tsvangirai won based on the reporting of the Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network and other independent monitors. A partial recount is under way.
"I think (Mugabe) is -- with this great delay in announcement -- trying to steal the election," Frazer said. "He is intimidating (the) population and election officials as well. (We've) also heard reports of the police stuffing ballots."
Fire victim billed $48,000 for demolition
TORONTO, April 25 (UPI) -- The owner of a downtown Toronto bicycle shop destroyed in a February fire is fuming about a $48,000 demolition bill he got from the city.
Gary Duke's shop was among five old three-story buildings destroyed by the fire. He told reporters he received a letter this week from the city demanding $48,348.94 to cover the demolition contractor's fees.
"I paid my taxes and they covered fire trucks and the water. Why do I get charged for demolition?" Duke told the Globe and Mail. "And what demolition was there to do? My building was completely collapsed. The fire did it all for them."
The other four property owners were sent demolition bills totaling about $30,000, the report said.
Duke's insurance broker, Jeff Smith, said he's never seen a similar situation and called the city's demand "ridiculous."
Diana Dimmer, director of litigation for the city's legal services department, told the Globe and Mail the bills were levied under the Building Code Act's clause covering public safety.
"This is provided for in the legislation," she said. "Things were left in a state where they were unsafe."
